OXFORD, Miss. – Pepper Thomas always knew the highlight of his baseball
career was winning the Texas League Championship in 1959. But he never
imagined that 50 years later he would receive a standing ovation from
thousands of fans for the accomplishment.
Thomas, a former University of Mississippi baseball player and
alumnus, recently attended a reunion for surviving members of the 1959
Austin Senators. The Senators won the Texas League Championship that
year, and became the first team to win the Pan-American Championship.
The victory gave Austin its first-ever, playoff-formatted championship
and its last for more than four decades.
“Playing for the
1959 Austin Senators was the biggest treat that I’ve ever had, because
as players we all wanted to end up as champions.” Thomas said. “I
enjoyed all the years of playing and the experience.”
The reunion was held in Austin and hosted by the Round Rock
Express team. Eleven of the original Austin Senators were present, as
well as the original team business manager. Thomas was eager to see his
old teammates again.
“It was just like a class reunion,” he said.
At the gathering, the players were treated to three Round Rock
Express baseball games. The entire weekend was themed around 1959, with
music from that year, an organist providing old-time ballpark
entertainment and video-board images in black-and-white. The Round Rock
Express team even honored the players by wearing replica Senators
jerseys at each game.
“Our CEO and founder, Reid Ryan, came up with the idea of
honoring the 1959 Austin Senators,” said Laura Fragoso, director of
special events for Round Rock. “He had the concept of making the entire
weekend a ‘throwback’ weekend to 1959, and it just grew from there.”
The second game of the weekend was entirely dedicated to the
Senators. The first 3,000 fans got throwback Senators baseball caps. At
the beginning of the game, the former Senators rode onto the field in
antique Mustang convertibles before each threw ceremonial first
pitches. Self-described as a modest man, Thomas was overwhelmed by the
crowd’s reaction when they rode onto the field.
“Everyone in the audience just stood up and clapped and yelled –
I felt like a big celebrity,” Thomas said. “It was a great time.”
The players even got to sign autographs for fans.
“We signed autographs for about four hours,” Thomas said. “It
seemed like all the people at Round Rock came to get an autograph. It
was unbelievable.”
The highlight of the game was an emotional ceremony at the top
of the seventh inning. During this time, Express Manager Marc Bombard
and Ryan presented championship rings to all 11 players.
“When we realized that the Senators never received championship
rings, it just made it that more special,” Fragoso said. “Everything
came full circle. Our players funded the rings with the money collected
from Home Run Dollars, so they were giving back to the players of the
past.”
Thomas began playing baseball in high school, and then came to
Ole Miss on scholarship. He played for the Rebels in 1954 and 1955
under Coach Tom Swayze before moving to semi-pro ball in Lake City,
S.C. It was in Lake City that he married his wife, Nita, on a pitcher’s
mound.
In 1956, Thomas was approached by a talent scout and persuaded
to sign up with the Milwaukee Braves Baseball Organization. He jumped
at the opportunity to play.
“I was kind of small – I was only 5-foot-8 and 160 pounds,” he
said. “But I wanted to play ball and I played pretty well, so they
asked me to sign up.”
For the next eight years, Thomas played for teams all over the
country. He was even recruited to play for teams in Canada and Mexico.
While playing for the Senators, he drove in 50 runs, scored 93 times
and picked up three hits as the lead-off hitter in the final game of
the Texas League Championship.
After retiring from baseball, Thomas returned to Mississippi. He
moved to Oxford in 1986 after selling two businesses he owned in
Meridian. The university hired him as manager of the Ole Miss Golf
Course, where he worked for 19 years before retiring in 2008.
You can still find Thomas out at the golf course; however, he still talks about his baseball years quite a bit.
“I always think back on the experience that I had playing baseball –
going around the country, meeting all kinds of people,” he said. “It’s
something that stays with you forever.”