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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, In a fitting tribute to an outstanding career, |
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baseball star Willie Wells was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall |
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of Fame on February 7, 2011; and |
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WHEREAS, Willie James Wells was born in Austin in the early |
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years of the 1900s and excelled in both football and baseball at |
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Anderson High School; while still a teenager, he began his |
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professional career with the Austin Black Senators of the Texas |
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Negro League; his success there earned him a promotion to the St. |
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Louis Stars of the Negro National League; and |
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WHEREAS, In an era when shortstops were not known for their |
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power, Mr. Wells made a reputation with both his bat and his glove; |
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though not as large as most sluggers, he was an accomplished power |
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hitter, and in 1926 he set the league record for home runs with 27; |
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in addition, he was a skilled fielder at the most demanding |
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defensive position; and |
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WHEREAS, Mr. Wells helped the Stars win championships in |
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1928, 1930, and 1931; he went on to play for such famous teams as the |
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Homestead Grays, the Kansas City Monarchs, the Chicago American |
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Giants, the Newark Eagles, and the New York Black Yankees, being |
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named an all-star eight times between 1933 and 1945; in the |
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off-season, Mr. Wells played winter ball in Cuba, where he was a |
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two-time most valuable player, and during the 1940s, he played for |
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Veracruz, Tampico, and Mexico City in the Mexican League; it was |
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there that he was given his nickname, El Diablo, because of the |
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intensity he brought to the diamond; in his later years, he managed |
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the Birmingham Black Barons and the Winnipeg Buffaloes; and |
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WHEREAS, Further notoriety was achieved by Mr. Wells when he |
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became one of the first players to wear a batting helmet; after |
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being hit in the head by a pitch in 1942, he soon began stepping into |
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the batter's box with something that looked very much like a |
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construction worker's hard hat on his head; such protective |
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measures were practically unheard of at the time, and it would be |
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decades before they would become mandatory; and |
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WHEREAS, This exceptional athlete was one of many African |
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American stars who were prevented from playing in Major League |
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Baseball because of the league's prohibition against black players; |
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by the time Jackie Robinson, to whom he had taught the finer points |
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of the double play pivot, broke professional baseball's color line |
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in 1946 and 1947, Mr. Wells was already near the age of 40, and his |
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prime playing days were behind him; though his achievements were |
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overlooked for years, he was finally elected to the National |
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Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, in 1997, eight years |
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after he passed away in Austin in 1989; and |
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WHEREAS, This notable Texan delighted crowds in the United |
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States, Mexico, and Cuba with his skill and determination on the |
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ball field, and he is richly deserving of this prestigious honor; |
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now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas |
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Legislature hereby commemorate the induction of Willie Wells into |
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the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and pay tribute to the memory of this |
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legendary athlete. |