houston buffs

[Brownie31]

Dizzy Dean

The Houston Buffs' 20 year old phenom, Dizzy Dean, shakes
hands with 43 year old Ray Caldwell of the Birmingham Barons
just prior to their faceoff in the opener of the 1931 Dixie Series.
Caldwell defeat Dean 1-0 before 20,000 fans at Birmingham's
Rickwood Field. (Rickwood.com photo)

Brownie31

[bluezebra]

I thought the houston buffs were a Texas nudist group.

Bob

[bobby young]

#11

i think Jo Russell probably has all the rosters for the Buffs from the late 40's to the late 50's. if my old memory isnt too faded, i think the Buffs became the AAA Houston Rangers when Chicago bought the team. Ron Santo played for us and a few other soon to be Cubbies. Trivia question: who played for the AA and AAA Buffs and Colt 45's? Pidge Browne for sure. (Maybe Al Papai and Bobby Tiefenauer too) oops cant get the delete button to work:ebd

[RootHouston]

Sorry to revive such an old thread, but after about 11 years, I do have an answer to the original question. With a lengthy bit of research (you can't find this info in books, and it is mostly pieced from old newspapers), I would say that the Houston Buffs sort of split into two teams, which were the Houston Colt .45s (now the Astros) and the Oklahoma City 89ers (now the RedHawks). The Houston Sports Association had purchased the Buffs in January 1961 in order to obtain territorial rights for the big league club. In July, it was decided that the club would continue as the AAA affiliate in a move to Oklahoma City, and in September, the Buffs' last manager Harry Craft was announced as the first manager for the Colt .45s.

Not exactly sure when they were officially added to the 40 man roster, but there were many 1961 Buffs players who played with the 1962 NL club. J.C. Hartman, Pidge Browne, Jim Campbell, Ron Davis, Dave Roberts, and Dave Giusti were all promoted. Aaron Pointer was promoted in 1963. Buffs GM Spec Richardson stayed in Houston, but as business manager until 1967 when he was promoted to GM again. Grady Hatton, who had briefly managed the Buffs before, became director of player personnel for the 1962 Colts, but then returned to manage the 89ers from '63-'65 before eventually becoming Astros manager in 1966. Broadcasting crew Loel Passe and Gene Elston moved from the Buffs to the Colts.

The Astros owned the Oklahoma City club until 1970, when they sold the team to P.C. Dixon. In '73, the minor league agreement was finally ended, and the 89ers became an Indians affiliate. In 2011, the team again became the Astros AAA affiliate, where they remain today. Hope this clears things up.