| Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs 1965–1971 Fort Worth, Texas |
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The Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs were an American minor league baseball team in the Texas League from 1965 to 1971.[1] The team played in Turnpike Stadium in Arlington, Texas.[2]
The Spurs were created when the AAA Dallas Rangers moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1965.[3] With the opening of Turnpike Stadium, the AA Texas League's Fort Worth Cats, an affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, moved into the new venue and adopted the regional Dallas-Fort Worth designation and the Spurs nickname.[2]
The Spurs were affiliated with the Cubs (1965-67),[4][5] Houston Astros (1968),[6] and Baltimore Orioles (1969-71).[7][8] In its affiliation with Baltimore, the team featured future major league players Don Baylor,[7] Bobby Grich,[7] Enos Cabell,[8] and Wayne Garland,[8] along with managers Cal Ripken Sr.[8] and Joe Altobelli[7] and batboy Cal Ripken Jr.
The Spurs set many Texas League attendance records, especially after Turnpike Stadium expanded to a capacity of 20,500 in 1970.[9] The Dallas-Fort Worth area was considered a prime location for an expansion team or a re-located franchise, and nearly was admitted to the National League in 1969. But the league instead expanded to Montreal, Canada, with the Montreal Expos.[10]
Two years later, the struggling Washington Senators received American League permission to transfer to the area, and the Spurs were succeeded in 1972 by the Texas Rangers,[11] who moved into Turnpike Stadium (rechristened Arlington Stadium).[12]