Willie Wells was a baseball legend who was born and raised in Austin, Texas. He lived at 1705 Newton Street in South Austin for much of his life. Today, that house has been torn down and replaced by a new fancy structure. That area of South Austin, north of the School for the Deaf, south of Oltorf and between First Street and Congress Avenue, was built by the Swisher family as rental property for African American families.
This article was written on February 9, 1998 by Eric Enders. Who worked with the Daily Texans staff at the newspaper the Daily Texan.
Hitting home.
Negro League player recognized by City and Hall of Fame nine years after his death.
It was almost perfect. The banners flew, the bands played, the politicians spoke. The day had all the pomp and circumstance of a tribute to a living legend, Except for some, the day came about a decade too late.
On a cold and windy Friday, city and baseball officials gathered downtown to posthumously honor baseball great Willie Wells and Austinite, whose accomplishments were largely forgotten during his lifetime.
Wells, a shortstop who starred from 1924 to 1948 with the Saint Louis Stars, Chicago American Giants and the Negro League teams, was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, last August.
As part of Austin’s celebration of Black History Month, the city renamed Congress Avenue Willie Wells Avenue for the day. A proclamation was read designating Friday as Willie Wells Day in Austin. Several public officials lauded his accomplishments Friday. Including Mayer, Pro Tem Gus Garcia, Councilman Willie Lewis and former Congressman Jake Pickle.
It’s a shame.
But the ceremonies were bittersweet for members of the Wells family, Who regretted that the lifetime 0.33 two hitter never received such adulation before his death? Wells died in 1989 at age eighty-three.
“He thought he belonged in the Hall of Fame, but he always said he would be dead before they put him in. And he was right”. Said Oris Wynn, Wells’s great nephew. “It’s nice that he’s being honored by the city of Austin, and it’s nice that he was honored by the Hall of Fame, but it was a long time coming”.
Wells daughter Stella Wells said she was overwhelmed by the ceremony’s honoring her father. “I never dreamed that Congress would be renamed Willy Wells Avenue, even for a day”, she said. “This is a blessing”. But James Riley, a Negro league historian and Wells biographer, criticized the Hall of Fame for keeping Wells out for so long.
Willie was one of the greatest baseball players who ever lived. If you can visualize. Quizzes Smith hitting 0350, That’s what Willie Wells was like. He is the caliber of player who ordinarily would be elected for the Hall in the first ballot.
“It’s a shame that he didn’t go into the Hall of Fame 12 years ago so he could have had the opportunity to smell the roses”, he said. “You can point a finger at the Cooperstown Board of Directors and the Veterans Committee. They are the ones who control who gets in”.
Pickle said he tried to convince the committee members to induct Wells while he was still alive. “When I was in Congress, I recommended Willie for the induction into the Hall of Fame, and we tried two or three times”, Pickle said. “We were unsuccessful at the time, but I hope our efforts helped pave the way for this eventual induction into the Hall of Fame”.
Of the 14 members of the veterans committee, only one ex, Kansas City Monarchs first baseball man, first baseman Buck O’Neill, had the chance to see Wells play regularly. In recent years, O’Neill has been instrumental in campaigning for the election of more **** League greats to the Hall.
It was hard to get the black guys into the Hall of Fame because they were competing with white. Major leaguers, O’Neill said. There are stats for the Major League players, but not for the Negro Leaguers. There wasn’t anybody on the committee who knew much about Willie Wells.
O’Neill said. Another Negro league great from Central Texas, Smokey Joe Williams of Seguin, is likely to be elected when the committee announces its 1998 Hall of Fame selections on March 3.
Willie could do it all.
Wells began playing baseball on the sand lots of Austin and was signed as a teenager by the St Louis Stars in 1924. He reached the pinnacle of his career with the Stars and Chicago American Giants. Winning tenants with both teams.
His twenty 27 home runs led the Negro Leagues in 1929, and he won the batting title with a 403 average in 1930. “Willie could do it all. Great hands, great range, and one of the smartest players I ever played against. O’Neill said. A young Ernie Banks played shortstop like Willie Wells, but Willie was quicker than Ernie Banks”. In 1940, after sixteen years of stardom in the Negro Leagues, Wells signed with Veracruz of the Mexican League.
