82R15601 JEN-D
By: Dukes H.R. No. 954
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, In a fitting tribute to an outstanding career,
baseball star Willie Wells was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall
of Fame on February 7, 2011; and
WHEREAS, Willie James Wells was born in Austin in the early
years of the 1900s and excelled in both football and baseball at
Anderson High School; while still a teenager, he began his
professional career with the Austin Black Senators of the Texas
Negro League; his success there earned him a promotion to the St.
Louis Stars of the Negro National League; and
WHEREAS, In an era when shortstops were not known for their
power, Mr. Wells made a reputation with both his bat and his glove;
though not as large as most sluggers, he was an accomplished power
hitter, and in 1926 he set the league record for home runs with 27;
in addition, he was a skilled fielder at the most demanding
defensive position; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Wells helped the Stars win championships in
1928, 1930, and 1931; he went on to play for such famous teams as the
Homestead Grays, the Kansas City Monarchs, the Chicago American
Giants, the Newark Eagles, and the New York Black Yankees, being
named an all-star eight times between 1933 and 1945; in the
off-season, Mr. Wells played winter ball in Cuba, where he was a
two-time most valuable player, and during the 1940s, he played for
Veracruz, Tampico, and Mexico City in the Mexican League; it was
there that he was given his nickname, El Diablo, because of the
intensity he brought to the diamond; in his later years, he managed
the Birmingham Black Barons and the Winnipeg Buffaloes; and
WHEREAS, Further notoriety was achieved by Mr. Wells when he
became one of the first players to wear a batting helmet; after
being hit in the head by a pitch in 1942, he soon began stepping into
the batter's box with something that looked very much like a
construction worker's hard hat on his head; such protective
measures were practically unheard of at the time, and it would be
decades before they would become mandatory; and
WHEREAS, This exceptional athlete was one of many African
American stars who were prevented from playing in Major League
Baseball because of the league's prohibition against black players;
by the time Jackie Robinson, to whom he had taught the finer points
of the double play pivot, broke professional baseball's color line
in 1946 and 1947, Mr. Wells was already near the age of 40, and his
prime playing days were behind him; though his achievements were
overlooked for years, he was finally elected to the National
Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, in 1997, eight years
after he passed away in Austin in 1989; and
WHEREAS, This notable Texan delighted crowds in the United
States, Mexico, and Cuba with his skill and determination on the
ball field, and he is richly deserving of this prestigious honor;
now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas
Legislature hereby commemorate the induction of Willie Wells into
the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and pay tribute to the memory of this
legendary athlete.