APRIL 1883 – The first mention is made of an organized Longview Base Ball Club.
SUMMER 1894 – Mobberly Park opened in the Junction area, east of downtown Longview.
MAY 21, 1895 – The Longview Base Ball Club beats the Galveston Sand Crabs of the Texas- Southern League 15-8 at Mobberly Park. Defeating the professional Galveston club gains the Longview semi-pros mention as one of the best ball clubs in the state at any level.
JUNE 3, 1895 – Longview beats the San Antonio Missionaries of the Texas-Southern League 7-0 at Mobberly Park. C. B. Cunningham, who was covering the game for the local newspaper, summarized the game by writing, “The poor San Antonio Missionaries were eaten up by the Longview Cannibals today.” The name stuck, and from that day forward the Longview Base Ball Club would be known as the Longview Cannibals.
JUNE 6, 1895 – A three game series between the unbeaten Longview Cannibals and the undefeated Corsicana Base Ball Club begins with a 13-7 Longview triumph. The following afternoon in Corsicana, the Longview club wins a close 4-3 decision. The last game of the series was played on Saturday afternoon and ended with a 15-0 mauling of the Corsicana club by the Cannibals. Sweeping the series from the previously unbeaten Corsicana team propelled the Longview Cannibals to the top of the semi-pro ranks in the state of Texas.
SEPTEMBER 7, 1903 – Longview claims the final game of the highly successful 1903 season with a 9-8 win over Mineola. Jose Munden earned the victory for the Cannibals during the Longview Labor Day celebration at Rembert’s Park.
WINTER 1908 – Lee Merrill takes control of the Longview Baseball Club.
APRIL 11, 1908 – The Longview Cannibals take the field at Rembert’s Park for the first game of the Lee Merrill era.
JUNE 19, 1908 – Hick Munsell joins the Longview Cannibals after being lured away from the Nacogdoches Baseball Club. Munsell would shut out Athens 10-0 in his first Cannibal start and remain the club’s ace pitcher over the next three seasons.
JULY 2, 1908 – Brown’s Park, the new home of the Longview Cannibals is opened with a 3-2 come from behind victory over Jacksonville.
AUGUST 26, 1908 – The Cannibals defeat the Marshall Blues at Brown’s Park to pull ahead two games to one in the East Texas Championship Series.
AUGUST 29, 1908 – Gene Moore strikes out 13 Marshall batters in the 3-1 Longview victory at Marshall that gave the Cannibals the 1908 East Texas Championship with a four games to two series win over the Blues. Longview finished the season with a record of 50-20-3, and the club also laid claim to the 1908 Texas semi-pro championship, having defeated the top clubs in north and east areas of the state.
JULY 22, 1909 – The semi-pro Longview Cannibals defeat the Shreveport Pirates of the Texas League 3-2 with a dramatic rally in the bottom of the ninth inning at Brown’s Park.
AUGUST 5, 1909 – Longview beats McKinney 4-2 at Brown’s Park behind the pitching of Wingo Anderson to take a one game lead in the best of three Texas Championship Series between McKinney, the champions of North and West Texas, and the Cannibals, champions of East Texas.
AUGUST 7, 1909 – Hick Munsell clinches the Texas semi-pro championship for the Longview Cannibals with a 2-1 complete game victory over McKinney at Brown’s Park. Longview finished the season with a 51-14-4 record.
JUNE 27, 1910 – Hick Munsell shuts out Kaufman 1-0 at Brown’s Park.
JUNE 28, 1910 – Grady White drives in both runs in a 2-1 victory over McKinney that gives the Cannibals the series over the highly regarded McKinney Baseball Club.
JULY 1910 – The Marshall Baseball Club irritates Longview fans by claiming the East Texas Championship before the season was concluded. Eventually a championship series was scheduled between the two clubs. The games were to be played from July 25 through July 30 but the series was canceled.
JUNE 1911 – The Longview Cannibals begin the season 9-0 before the club was disbanded.
FEBRUARY 1, 1912 – Longview officially joins the professional South Central League for the upcoming 1912 season.
APRIL 23, 1912 – The Longview Cannibals win the club’s first professional game with a 4-1 victory over the Texarkana Twins in Longview.
MAY 9, 1912 – Cannibal pitcher Paul Trammell no-hits Cleburne in a 3-2 win in Longview.
MAY 25, 1912 – Paul Trammell no-hits Texarkana in a 6-0 win on the Longview diamond.
JUNE 23, 1912 – Jim Gardiner takes over as manager of the Longview Cannibals from Tully Spear.
AUGUST 18, 1912 – The Longview Cannibals finish the South Central League’s 1912 season with the league’s best combined record of 63-51, seven games ahead of the Marshall Athletics, but miss out on the championship due to a split season format of scheduling.
SEPTEMBER 6, 1920 – Hick Munsell’s Longview Cannibals sweep a season ending doubleheader from Marshall to claim the 1920 East Texas semi-pro championship.
MARCH 15, 1923 – The Longview Baseball Club officially joins the new professional East Texas League.
APRIL 21, 1923 – The Longview Cannibals lose 7-0 to the Marshall Indians at Fair Park in the club’s first East Texas League contest.
APRIL 23, 1923 – Longview beats the Marshall Indians 4-2 in Marshall behind the pitching of Grady Finley for the club’s first East Texas League win.
JUNE 27, 1924 – Longview’s string of 42 consecutive scoreless innings pitched comes to an end in 16th inning of a 2-1 loss to Sulphur Springs.
JUNE 8, 1925 – The consolidation of the Longview, Mount Pleasant and Sulphur Springs clubs takes place as part of the East Texas League’s reorganization. Tex Crosby takes over as manager of the club from Jack Johnston.
JULY 11, 1925 – The Longview Cannibals return as the Longview Baseball Club purchases the remaining debt of the Mount Pleasant club as well as that club’s share of the franchise. Abe Bowman takes the mound at Fair Park in 7-1 Cannibal victory over the Tyler Trojans.
JULY 14, 1925 – Longview native and future major leaguer Sam West makes his debut in right field for the Longview Cannibals.
JULY 19, 1925 – Sam West hits for the cycle in 9-5 win at Texarkana.
AUGUST 23, 1925 – Longview wins the final game of the season 10-6 in Greenville. The victory was the Cannibals’ 8th consecutive win and improved the club to 37-26 in the season’s second half and a tie for first place with Paris. The Cannibals lost out on the second half title by percentage points to the 36-25 Paris club.
JUNE 19, 1926 – The Longview Cannibals clinch the East Texas League’s 1926 first half title with a 9-6 victory over the Tyler Trojans at Fair Park. Grady White’s bases loaded double in the seventh inning gives Longview the lead.
JUNE 22, 1926 – Longview ends the 1926 season’s first half with a 39-22 record. Abe Bowman, the club’s ace pitcher, finished the first half with a 13-1 mark.
AUGUST 12, 1926 – The Cannibals record the club’s 17th consecutive win with an 8-1 victory over the Texarkana Twins at Legion Park in the Twin City. The streak was the longest by a professional club at any level during the 1926 season. In Paris the following afternoon the streak came to an end.
AUGUST 22, 1926 – The Longview Cannibals finish the second half of the 1926 East Texas League season with a 44-17 record to sweep both titles, eliminating the need for a championship series. By winning 25 of the club’s final 27 games, the Cannibals finished with a combined 83-39 record.
AUGUST 29, 1926 – Longview defeats the Palestine Pals 3-1 at Fair Park behind the pitching of Abe Bowman to claim the first game of the Lone Star Series.
SEPTEMBER 2, 1926 – Longview wins the third game of the Lone Star Series by a 3-0 score in Palestine. Abe Bowman recorded the complete game shutout to put the Cannibals on top two games to one in the series.
SEPTEMBER 3, 1926 – The Cannibals go on top three games to one in the Lone Star Series with a 5-3 victory over the Pals in Palestine. Randy Moore’s two run double in the eleventh inning gave Longview the lead.
SEPTEMBER 6, 1926 – Abe Bowman won his third game of the Lone Star Series with a 6-0 Labor Day victory over the Palestine Pals at Longview’s Fair Park. The Cannibals claimed the 1926 Class D Texas Championship of professional baseball, taking the series four games to two.
SEPTEMBER 14, 1926 – The Longview Cannibals beat the Dallas Steers of the Texas League 7-6 on Abe Bowman’s two run game-winning walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning in Tyler, during the second game of a six game exhibition series to end the club’s amazing 1926 season.
FEBRUARY 6, 1927 – Longview joins the new professional Lone Star League.
APRIL 22, 1927 – The Cannibals win the club’s 1927 home opener 7-6 over the Marshall Indians. Speck Dockery’s three run seventh inning home run provides the margin for victory.
APRIL 9, 1930 – Longview joins the revived East Texas League.
APRIL 29, 1930 – The Cannibals win the 1930 season opener 5-4 over the Kilgore Gushers at Fair Park.
MAY 19, 1932 – Longview joins the Texas League when the Wichita Falls Spudders franchise is moved to the East Texas city by the St. Louis Browns.
MAY 21, 1932 – The Longview Cannibals record the club’s first Texas League win with a 5-3 victory on the road over the Tyler Sports. Lester White earned the win, while Ollie Bejma drove in the go ahead run in the eighth inning.
MAY 25, 1932 – Cannibal Park, the newly rebuilt home of the Longview Cannibals, was opened with a 4-2 victory over the Ft. Worth Cats in the club’s first home game since joining the Texas League.
JUNE 20, 1932 – The Longview Cannibals beat Schoolboy Rowe and the Beaumont Exporters 8-1 behind the pitching of Hal Wiltse.
JUNE 28, 1932 – Longview finishes the 1932 Texas League season’s first half with a 39-38 record, having played .561 ball with a 23-18 record since the franchise moved to East Texas.
JULY 4, 1932 – In a doubleheader between the Longview Cannibals and the Ft.Worth Cats at LaGrave Field in Fort Worth, the clubs set a minor league record for the longest single admission doubleheader by game time. Longview won the first game 7-6 in 3 hours and 25 minutes and also claimed the nightcap 2-1 in 1 hour and 35 minutes for a combined 5 hours of baseball.
SEPTEMBER 11, 1932 – The 1932 Texas League season ended with Longview playing .544 ball at Cannibal Park with a 31-26 record. Overall, the club struggled to a 69-83 record and a fifth place finish.
APRIL 2, 1933 – The Longview Cannibals join the newly formed Dixie League.
APRIL 6, 1933 – Abe Bowman named manager of the Longview Cannibals.
APRIL 28, 1933 – The Longview Cannibals win the club’s inaugural Dixie League home opener 6-0 behind the shutout pitching of “Smokey” Joe Cantrell.
JULY 27, 1933 – The first night game in Longview is played at Cannibal Park. Team president, J. Marcus Wood, who led the drive to install lights at the ballpark, presided over the night’s ceremonies.
MARCH 5, 1934 – J. Marcus Wood, the president of the Longview Baseball Club reaches an agreement with the Dallas Steers, for the Texas League club to take operational control of the Cannibals.
MARCH 31, 1934 – Ray Flaskamper is named manager of the Longview Cannibals.
APRIL 26, 1934 – The Longview Cannibals win the club’s West Dixie League season opening game 6-5 in Paris.
APRIL 27, 1934 – Ralph “Joe” Pate is credited with the win in the Cannibals’ 4-2 home opening victory over the Paris Pirates.
JULY 1, 1934 – Tex Jeanes makes his first appearance in a Cannibal uniform, contributing a two RBI single in his first at-bat during the 8-6 Longview win over the Tyler Governors at Fair Park.
JULY 12, 1934 – The Longview Cannibals move into first place in the West Dixie League standings following a 5-2 complete game victory by Al Baker over the Jacksonville Jax at Fair Park.
JULY 20, 1934 – Tex Jeanes calls Al Baker’s shot, as the Cannibal pitcher, who was playing outfield, hit a ninth inning home run to tie the game at Henderson, as the Cannibals rallied for a 6-4 ten-inning victory over the Oilers.
AUGUST 9, 1934 – “Ray Flaskamper Night” is celebrated at Fair Park, as the Cannibals beat Henderson 7-5 to improve to 28-16 in the season’s second half.
AUGUST 23, 1934 – The largest crowd in East Texas baseball history filled Fair Park in Longview, as over 8,800 spectators in the town with a population of approximately 10,000 citizens, came to witness the conclusion of the previous evening’s game against Jacksonville which had been forfeited to the Jax and had ended in a riot at the ballpark. Longview’s 4-3 victory moved the Cannibals to within two games of the league leading Jacksonville club with a 38-20 record.
FEBRUARY 13, 1935 – Tex Jeanes is named manager of the Longview Baseball Club.
APRIL 24, 1935 – The Longview Cannibals win the club’s 1935 season opening game at Fair Park against the Shreveport Sports by a 5-1 score behind the pitching of Hugo Klaerner.
MAY 25, 1935 – Smokey Wood’s twelve inning 3-0 shutout of the Jacksonville Jax at Fair Park improved the first place Cannibals to 21-7 on the season. The victory was the club’s 14th consecutive win.
AUGUST 25, 1935 – The Longview Cannibals clinch a playoff spot with a 4-2 victory over the Tyler Trojans at Fair Park on the final day of the season. Longview ace, Hugo Klaerner earned his 20th win of the season. Longview finished 72-60 on the season and in third place in the West Dixie League standings.
AUGUST 28, 1935 – Neal Baker hurls a complete game 4-3 victory over the Tyler Trojans at Fair Park to even the first round playoff series at one game apiece.
AUGUST 29, 1935 – The Longview Cannibals win the third game of the West Dixie League playoffs with a 7-4 victory over the Tyler Trojans, to take a two games to one lead in the series.
APRIL 5, 1936 – Longview claims a 5-4 exhibition game victory over the Texas League Dallas Steers.
APRIL 13, 1936 – The Longview Cannibals defeat the champions of Japanese baseball, the Tokyo Giants, 9-5 in an exhibition contest at Longview’s Fair Park.
APRIL 23, 1936 – After an undefeated exhibition season, the Longview Cannibals traveled to Gladewater and claimed an 8-7 victory over the Bears in the East Texas League’s season opening contest.
May 14, 1936 – Merv Connors makes his Cannibal debut in Kilgore.
May 18, 1936 – Merv Connors hits a game winning home run in the bottom of the eighth inning in his home debut at Fair Park, as the Cannibals beat Henderson 5-2.
JULY 13, 1936 – Ray Flaskamper asks for his release from the Longview Cannibals in order to retire due to lingering injuries.
AUGUST 31, 1936 – The Longview Cannibals clinch a spot in the 1936 East Texas League playoffs.
SEPTEMBER 7, 1936 – The Cannibals win the nightcap of an away and home doubleheader with the Gladewater Bears at Fair Park by a score of 5-2 behind the pitching of manager Tex Jeanes. Longview completed the 1936 East Texas League season with a record of 86-64 and a third place finish in the league standings.
SEPTEMBER 8, 1936 – Merv Connors leads the Cannibals to an 8-2 victory in the first game of the East Texas League playoff series with the Gladewater Bears at Fair Park. The Longview slugger contributed four base hits including a three run home run as the Cannibals took a one game lead in the series.
APRIL 21, 1937 – The Longview Cannibals defeated the Tyler Trojans 6-4 on opening day of the East Texas League’s 1937 season in Tyler.
MAY 16, 1937 – Wally Paschall and Merv Connors make their 1937 debuts with the Longview Cannibals after Paschall agreed to take over as manager of the Longview Baseball Club. The Cannibals welcome the pair back by sweeping the Sunday afternoon doubleheader from the Henderson Oilers at Fair Park by the scores of 2-1 and 5-0.
AUGUST 24, 1937 – Merv Connors received the call from the Chicago White Sox that the American League club had purchased his contract from the Longview Cannibals and he would be expected to report to the club as soon as the East Texas League season was completed.
AUGUST 26, 1937 – “Merv Connors Night” was celebrated at Longview’s Fair Park as the Cannibals defeated the Henderson Oilers 5-4.
MAY 29, 1938 – The Cannibals move into first place in the East Texas League with a 10-2 victory over the Palestine Pals at Cannibal Park.
JUNE 6, 1938 – Oscar Tuero’s improbable ninth inning game winning base hit leads the Cannibals to an incredible 13-12 come from behind victory over the Marshall Tigers in front of a large “Dime Night” crowd at Cannibal Park.
JULY 17, 1938 – Cannibals Bob Kennedy and Kirk Haynes are named starters for the North team in the inaugural East Texas League All-Star Game. Harry Boyles, Charley Smith and Blabber Sanders are also named as reserves.
AUGUST 5, 1938 – Still suffering from the effects of malaria, Ralph “Joe” Pate takes the mound at Cannibal Park against the Texarkana Liners and earns a 10-4 victory in the club’s home opener.
APRIL 24, 1939 – Ed Lopat earned his first victory as a Cannibal with a 2-1 win over Jacksonville at Cannibal Park. Lopat limited the Jax to one base hit and one unearned run in the contest.
JUNE 9, 1939 – The 45 year existence of the Longview Cannibals comes to an end when team officials decide to rename the club the Longview White Sox to show support for the parent club in Chicago.