Diamond Dust: Depression Era Entertainment Attracted Big Crowds~The Pan American Airways Aviators

Story from a Mean Mister Brownsville contributor:

When it came to softball, the 1938 Brownsville Pan American Airways Aviators were riding high on top of Valley softball circles. 

In the upper Valley, the San Juan All-Stars mirrored the Fliers, and emerged at the end of the season with only one defeat as well. They too, were in the mix to compete in the final series of the Valley playoffs.

The title series began in Brownsville with a Monday night match-up at the old “36 Diamond” On that night, a healthy crowd saw the home team manhandle the visitors— downing the All-Stars 11 to 1.

The spectacular pitching of PAA’s Coy Damron kept the San Juan boys off the bases—as they managed to record only two singles in the game.

San Juan’s Coach Livingston parting words were, “We’ll be back Wednesday night with the situation well in hand, and annex the second game of the playoff series with ease.” And they did…

The second game was a dandy pitching duel that went 11 innings. Both pitchers were at their best, but the game came down to the circus catches by San Juan’s tenth outfielder, Daniel Rios.

In the first half of the 11th San Juan pushed what would be the winning run—when pitcher Ben Davis singled, advanced to second and scored on Glenn Hein’s hit making the final score 3-2.

The next contest was another thriller, as again, pitching took center stage. It was a 13 inning affair with San Juan scoring early in the game, but it was nothing but goose eggs for both teams for the rest of the match.

In the 13th, the aviators had a runner on the cushions when P. Lindhorn comes to the plate and pops a home run securing the game 3 to 1.

The hectic series got even better—with San Juan facing elimination, tied the series by taking game four, 6 to 1. With the win, the Stars forced a fifth and final game that was played in Brownsville.

Capacity crowd got their money’s worth…



The Wednesday night championship game was the culmination of a series of softball games held during August and September among eight Valley softball squads. The winning club was guaranteed the championship trophy along with $100, while the second place team would be awarded $50.  

They were playing for big bucks! According to the consumer price index inflation calculator—$100 in 1938 would have the same buying power as $1,658.70 in 2013.

Play Ball! With all the intangibles in place —the park at West Brownsville attracted a big crowd —jamming both grandstands and encircling the field.

The nine inning contest went on as advertised— keeping the fans on the edge throughout the game. But unfortunately the visiting team took the early advantage.

The San Juan squad brought their best hickory to the plate as they led by three runs by the end of the third stanza. All of a sudden, the once jubilant home town crowd went silent.

Aviators rally…

In the fifth inning—the Aviators gave their fans something to cheer about. Rufino Lopez, PAA catcher, starts a rally with a walk and scored all the way from first when Sam Lesser hit a whistling triple.

Lesser makes the game 3 to 2 as he crossed the plate when a San Juan infielder juggled a hard ground ball hit by “El Guero” Perez. The Flyers continued their scoring in the 6th— tying the ball game at 3 apiece.

The game continued tied, that is until the bottom half of the eight—when the Aviator’s Lesser smacked a single bringing home Jake Jones, who was at second, making the score 4 to 3.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that Jones scored on a dazzling hook slide at home. As the “diamond dust” cleared he was seen, prone on the ground tangled around the catcher—a climatic play at the plate bringing a roar from the home town crowd.

The Stars threatens to tie the score in the ninth. San Juan had a man on third with two outs as the speedy Daniel Rios hits a ground ball to short—the PAA shortstop scoops and makes a great throw to cut off the fast Rios. It was a close play at first that could have gone either way.

For pennies on the dollar, the fans saw a brilliantly played series—with the local boys stopping a ninth inning rally and taking the title game in a “comes from behind victory.” It doesn’t get any better than that.

slplayers: Manuel Garza, Jerry Lauber, G.B. McBride, J. Raben, B. Cruhm, J.G. Johnson, manager, F. Godwin, D. Martin, A. Garcia, M. Flores, K. Clark, P. Lindhorn, E. Hartman, Clemente Garcia, Rufino Lopez, Jake Jeans, “El Guero” Perez, Sam Lesser, PreJohn, Coy Damron and Ambort.



See you at the Park!