Abilene Prairie Dogs
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The Abilene Prairie Dogs (Abilene, Texas) were a minor-league baseball team in the former Texas-Louisiana League. Beginning in 1995, the Prairie Dogs, (or Dogs, as the fans commonly called them), began play at Abilene Christian University's Crutcher Scott Field. Under the management of Charley Kerfeld, the Prairie Dogs accumulated a dismal 40-60 record, earning them the last place in their League. 1996 brought a new Manager, Phil Stephenson, who led the Dogs to a League Championship with a 67-31 record. In 1997, the Dogs returned to last place standing (36-52) under the management of Barry Jones. Jones rallied the Dogs in 1998, to take a fourth place position with a 39-45 record for the year. In 1999, Jones moved on to the Ozark Mountain Ducks, and was replaced by Dan Madsen, who took the Dogs to a 46-38 third place League standing in their final year of play.
The franchise was plagued by low home-field attendance numbers after 1996. Most fans declined to attend games at Crutcher Scott Field, because of Abilene Christian University's smoke-free, alcohol-free policies.
