Texans and Sports

Texas Best Professional Baseball Team

• Texas Rangers
  http://www.texasrangers.com/

Arlington, Texas
• Houston Astros
  http://www.astros.com/
  Houston, Texas
  Expansion team 1962.

Texas Best Female Athelete

• Babe Didrikson Zaharias
  Beaumont, Texas
  Voted woman of the year six times by the associated press. She won every major golf championship at least once. Three time All American in basketball. Held or tied world records in four track and field events. Babe died of cancer in 1956. She has a memorial museum at 1750 I 10E, Beaumont, Texas 77704. 409-838-6681.

Texas Best Baseball Pitcher Hall of Fame

• Nolan Ryan
  Refugio, Texas.
  Born 1-31-1947
  Nolan Ryan broke the record for setting records in major league baseball. He holds over 50 major league records. Nolan is the only player to have his number retired by three professional teams California Angels, Houston Astros and Texas Rangers. Records include 319 wins, Most seasons pitched at 27, most strikeouts 5714 and most no-hit games at 7.
  Mail: PO Box 1111, Arlington, Texas 76004.

Texas Best Pro Baseball Players Hall of Fame

• Ted Lyons
  1923-1946, Chicago Whitesox, 260-130 lifetime pitching record.
• Roger Hornsby
  St. Louis, with batting records of .401 1923, .424 1924 and .403 1925
• Ross Youngs
  New York Giants. Admitted to the Pro Baseball Hall of Fame, 1972.
• Tris Speakers
  Cleveland Indians on the 1920 World Series team. .344 lifetime batting average.
• Ernie Banks
  1958 and 1959 National league MVP. Pro Baseball Hall of Fame, 1977.
• Don Baylor
  19 year major league career. Current manager of the Colorado Rockies. Admitted to the Texas Sports Hall of Fame 1996.

Texas Best Baseball Texas Ranger, 1996

• Juan Gonzales

American League MVP 1996. Recorded tying 5th home run in the 1996 post season playoffs against the New York Yankees.

• Pudge Rodriguez

Golden glove awards, All star games and lightning quick.

Texas Best College Baseball Coach Hall of Fame

• Cliff Gustafson
  University of Texas. 21 Southwest Conference Titles and 17 College World Series.

Texas Best Professional Basketball Team

• Houston Rockets
• San Antonio Spurs.
  www.nba.com/spurs
• Dallas Mavericks
  http://www.nba.com/mavericks/

Texas Best Pro Basketball Player Hall of Fame

• Elvin Hays
  Played in 12 NBA All Star Games.
• George Gervin
  Ranks 8th in the NBA all time scoring list in 12 years with the San Antonio Spurs.

Texas Best Dallas Maverick,1996

• Jason Kidd
  Dallas Maverick Basketball
• Popeye Jones
  Dallas Maverick Basketball

Texas Best College Basketball All Americans

• James Krebs
  SMU, 1957.
• Elvin Hays
  Houston, 3 time All American, 1965-1968.
• Dick O'Neal
  1955
• Robert Kinney
  1942 and 1943
• Jackie Robinson
  Baylor, 1948

Texas Best High School Basketball Coach Hall of Fame

• Jimmy Kitts
  Athens High School, 1929-1930. Won a National High School Title.

Texas Best College Basketball Coach Hall of Fame

• W.J. Wisdom
  Tarlton Jr. College, 1921-1942. Won 86 consecutive Games and went undefeted for 4.5 years winniing 111 out of 112.
• Don Haskins
  UT El Paso, 26 seasons. The only Texas coach to win a NCAA Division 1 National Title.
• Floyd Wagstaff
  Tyler Jr. College for 30 years. 743 Wins- 225 Losses.

Texas Best Professional Football Team Hall of Fame

• Dallas Cowboys, Texas, USA
  www.nfl.com/teams/cowboys/cowboys.html
  Mail: One Cowboy Parkway, Irving, Texas 75063

Texas Best Professional Football Quarterback, 1996

• Troy Aikman (Honorary Texas, W. Covina, Ca.)
  Dallas, Texas
  Born 11-21-1966
  http://www.texnews.com/cowboys/troy/index.html

Texas Best Professional Football Runningback, 1996

• Emmit Smith ( Honorary Texan, Pensacola, Fl.)
  Born 5-15-1969
  Dallas Cowboys running back.

Texas Best Pro Football Hall of Fame

• Yale Cary
  11 seasons with Detroit, 4 time all NFL defensive back. Pro Football Hall of Fame 1979
• Roger Staubach
  Dallas Cowboys, 1969-1979. Pro Football Hall of Fame, 1985
• Slinging Sammy Baugh
  Washington Redskins, 1937-1952. Pro Football Hall of Fame, 1963.
• Bulldog Turner
  Chicago Bears, 1940-1952. Pro Football Hall of Fame, 1966.
• Tom Landry
  New York Giants, 1950-1955. Pro Football Hall of Fame, 1990.
• Doak Walker
  Detroit Lions, 1950-1955. Pro Football Hall of Fame, 1986.
• Bob Lilly
  Dallas Cowboys, 1961-1974. Pro Football Hall of Fame, 1980.
• Mean Joe Green
  Pittsburg Steelers, 1969-1981. Pro Football Hall of Fame, 1981.
• Bobby Lane
  Chicago Bears, 1948, NY Bulldogs, 1949, Detroit Lions, 1950-1958, Pittsburg Steelers, 1958-1962. Pro Football Hall of Fame, 1987
• Randy White
  Outland Trophy and Lombardi Award. Eight time All Pro with the Dallas Cowboys.
• Bobby Dillon
  All American Safety at U.T. and four time Pro Bowler with the Green Bay Packers. Admitted to the Texas Sports Hall of Fame 1996.

Texas Best College Football Team, 1996

• University of Texas
  Texas won the Big 12 Championship with an upset over Nebraska 37 to 27.

Texas Best High School Football Team, 1996

• Lewisville High School Fighting Farmers
  Lewisville, Texas
  Lewisville won the Class 5A, Division 1 State championship game 58 to 34 over the Converse Judson Rockets. Records set in the game included 537 yards on the ground and most total points in a title game.

Texas Best Heisman Trophy Winner

• Davey O'Bryan, 1938, TCU
• Doak Walker, 1948, SMU
• Roger Staubach, 1963, Navy
• Earl Campbell, 1977, University of Texas
• Andre Ware, 1989, Houston

Texas Best All Time Football Coach

• John Heisman

Texas Best High School Football Coach Hall of Fame

• Chuck Moser
  Abilene High School 1953 to 1959. Also coached at McAllen High School from 1946 to 1952. In the hayday of awsome West Texas football, Chuck Moser had a 55-20-0 record with three consecutive State championships and a 49 game winning streak.
• Milburn Catfish Smith
  Did most of his coaching at Mt. Vernon, Texas, High School where he posted a record of 60-5-1
• Gordon Wood
  Brownwood High School among others where he posted an amazing lifetime record of 405-88-12 with 9 state championships.
• Pete Shotwell
  Did the majority of his coaching at Breckenridge High School and posted a lifetime record of 262-90-18 and retired in 1969.

Texas Best College Football Coach

• Darrell Royal ( Honorary Texan, Hollis, Ok. )
  Born 7-6-1924
  University of Texas 1957 to 1976. 11 SW Conference Championships. Actually born in Hollis Oklahoma.
• Gene Stallings
  Paris, Texas
  Born 3-2-1935
  Played for Bear Bryant, coached under Tom Landry at Dallas for 14 years, and took over at Alabama in 1990 where he retired in 1996.

Texas Best Pro Football Coach Hall of Fame

• Tom Landry
  Misson, Texas
  Born 9-11-1924
  Dallas Cowboys, 1960-1988. Won 2 Super Bowls (1971 and 1977) out of 5 appearances. Admitted to the Pro Football hall of Fame, 1990.
• Jimmy Johnson
  Port Arthur, Texas
  Born 7-16-1943
  Coach of the Dallas Cowboys 1983-1988. Won 2 Superbowls in 1992 and 1993. Jimmy is currently coaching the Miami Dolphins.
  Mail: 7500 W. 30th St., Davie, Fl. 33329.
• Jack Pardee
  Washington Redskins
• Forest Gregg
  Cleveland, Toranto and Cincinatti
• Buddy Parker
  Detroit, 1951

Texas Best Boxer Hall of Fame

• George Forman
  Houston, Texas
• Jack Johnson
  Galveston, Texas
  Born 3-31-1878
  The first black to win the heavyweight boxing championship. The search for the great white hope started as a result. Admitted to the Texas Sports Hall of Fame 1971 and the International Boxing Hall of Fame 1990

Texas All Time Best Golfer Hall of Fame

• Ben Hogan
  Won 4 US Open, 2 Masters, 2 PGA and the British Open
• Lee Trevino
  Dallas, Texas
  Born 12-1-1939
  Won 2 US Open, 2 British Open and 2 PGA.
  Mail: 5757 Alpha Road, 620, Dallas, Texas 75240.
• Byron Nelson
  From 3-11-1945 to 8-4-1945 Byron won 11 tournaments in a row. He also won a US Open and the Masters.
• Don January
• Ben Crenshaw
  Austin, Texas
  Born 1-11-1952
  Won the Masters in 1995.
  Mail: 2905 San Gabriel 213, Austin, Texas 78705.
• Miller Barber
  The only three time winner of the U.S. Senior Open. He was admitted to the Texas Sports Hall of Fame 1996.

Texas Best Female Golfer Hall of Fame

• Betty Jameson
  LPGA Hall of Fame, 1968.
• Kathy Whitworth
  Monahans, Texas
  Born 9-27-1939
  Won at least one tournament a year for seventeen consecutive years with eighty eight career victories.

Texas Best Golf Course

• Colonial Country Club
  Fort Worth, Texas Barton Creek Country Club - Fazio
  Austin, Texas
• Champions
  Houston
• Prestonwood, Dallas
• The Quary Golf Club
  San Antonio, Texas

Texas Golf Hall of Fame Museum

Texas Best Olympic Track and Field Gold Medalist, 1996

• Michael Johnson
  Born in 1967, Waco, Texas
  1996 gold medalist and the greatest 200/400 meter runner in history.
• Sheryl Swoops
  Born 1971
  1996 Womens Olympic Basketball.
• Carla Overbeck
  Born 1969, Richardson, Texas
  1996 Captain US Womens National Soccer Team
• Josh Davis
  Born 1972, San Antonio, Texas
  1996 Olympic 3 gold medal winner in 400 meter relay, 400 meter free style, 800 meter freestyle relay.
• Carl Lewis (Honorary Texan, Birmingham, Al.)
  Born 1961
  

Texas Best Olympic Track and Field, Gold Medalist Hall of Fame

• Carl Lewis (Honorary Texan, Birmingham, Al.)
  Born 7-1-1961
  1984 won 4 gold, 1988 won 2 gold and in 1992 won 2 gold. University of Houston.
• Jim Hines
  1968 2 gold.
• Fred Hansen
  Cuero, Texas. 1964 gold in pole vault.
• Dean Smith
  1952 gold in the 440 relay.
• George Forman
  1968 gold in boxing.
• Randy Matson
  1968 gold in shot put
• Bobby Morrow
  Born 1935
  2 gold for sprints and 1 for the 4 x 100 relay in 1956.
• Walter Davis
  1952 gold for high jump.
• Jill Sterkel
  Born 1961
  First woman to make 4 Olympic swim teams in 76,80,84, and 88.
• Jim Montgomery
  Born 1955
  Won 3 gold in the 1976 Olympics.

Texas Best Tennis Athletes Hall of Fame

• Maureen Connally Brinker
• Dick Stockton

Texas Best Jockey Hall of Fame

• Willie Shoemaker
  Fabiens, Texas.
  7000 winning races for over 80 million winnings.

Texas Best Polo Team Hall of Fame

• Cecil Smith
  In 1939, Smith's Texas Rangers swept every major polo title in England.

Texas Best Polo Club

• Houston Polo Club
  8552 Memorial Drive
  Houston, Texas
  713-681-8571
  Sunday matches in the spring and fall.
• Willow Bend Polo Club
  5845 W. Park Blvd.
  Plano, Texas
  972-248-6298
  Sunday matches in May, June, September, October and November..

Texas Best Marksman Hall of Fame

• Ad Topperwein
  Set 14 world records in 36 years. In a 1907 exibition lasting 10 consecutive days, sponsered by Winchester Arms Ad Topperwein shot 2.25 inch wood blocks airborn at 25 feet and missed nine out of 72,500.

Texas Best Auto Race Track

• Texas International Raceway
  PO Box 970600
  Ft. Worth, Texas 76197
  888-690-7223
  This is a new track opening in April of 1997 with the Inaugural 500 on April 6th. The track has 150,000 grandstand seats and will feature NASCAR races. The Longhorn 500 indy car race will be held under lights June, 7 1997.
• Texas World Speedway, Texas 6 at Texas 30, Bryan, Texas. 903-690-2500
  Grand Prix course and a two mile oval. Seats 26,000

Texas Best Race Drivers Hall of Fame

• A.J. Foyt
  Houston Texas
  Born 1-16-1935
  Won four Indy 500's.
  Mail: 6514 Toledo, Houston, Texas 77008
• Johnny Rutherford (Honorary Texan, Coffeyville, Kansas)
  Born 3-12-1938
  Won three Indy 500's in 1974, 1976 and 1980. Oldest driver to win an Indy race.
• Carroll Shelby
  Won 122 events in 7 years between 1954 and 1960.

Texas Best Boat Drivers Hall of Fame

• Eddie Hill
  Wichita Falls, Texas
  Drag boat driver

Texas Best Bull Fights

• Plaza De Toros
  Monumental Arizpe
  Eagle Pass, Texas
  773-3224
  Bullfights are across the border in Piedras Negras, Mexico
• La Fiesta Bullring
  Laredo, Texas
  722-9895
  Bullfights are across the border in Old Mexico.

Texas Best Bowling Alley

• Don Carters All Star Lanes
  6343 E. Northwest Hwy.
  Dallas, Texas
  214-363-9418

Texas Best All Time Bowler

• Bill Lillard
  American Bowling Congress Hall of Fame, 1972.
• Billy Welu
  Won 5 American Bowling Congress titles and won Masters Championships in 1964 and 1965.