1930 “Town Ball” in the Texas German Belt: a New Baseball Book by Dick Butler
Long-time PLAAY gamer Richard “Dick” Butler has written a book about baseball, and we want to spread the news about it! "Hill Country Ball: Depression-Era Baseball in the Texas German Belt" is to be published in September 2026 by Texas Tech University Press. It's all about the first formal league of "town ball" teams in the Texas Hill Country, and features historical information, anecdotes, and plenty of statistics. When Dick told us about his book, I immediately suggested we make a card set for History Maker Baseball based on the league, as a way to bring the book to life on people's game tables. Well, after about a year of planning, here it is: The 1930 Hill Country League (HCL) card set for History Maker Baseball!
For the book, Dick researched box scores to compile the statistics for the HCL, so he had the numbers readily at hand to create the cards. The download package includes the player and umpire cards we created for the set from Dick's ratings and research, based on the real-life 1930 HCL season. The download also includes a special bonus team, The Kerrville All-Stars, which Dick discusses in the liner notes as well as in his book.
The overview that follows below is excerpted from the afore-mentioned liner notes, which are also included in the free download using the link above. These notes include detailed historical team summaries and statistics, the official league schedule and more, and are intended to enhance your enjoyment of “town ball” when playing the History Maker Baseball game with this set. Our hope is that this package will give you an enjoyable gaming experience by simulating “town ball” as played on the hardscrabble diamonds of the Texas Hill Country and perhaps pique your interest in learning more about it by reading Dick's book!
1930 Hill Country League Overview
The 1930 Hill Country League consisted of six teams: Boerne White Sox, Comfort Broncos, Fredericksburg Giants, Kerrville Athletics, Llano Cowboys, and Mason Mavericks. The league played a 26-game schedule starting in April, playing once a week on Sunday afternoons. The top two teams at the end of the regular season played a best-of-three championship series. The complete 1930 standings and championship series results are included in the liner notes package that comes with the cards.
Teams featured rosters of 15 players who played without compensation except that the HCL permitted each team to pay no more than two players (who were typically pitchers). Other than any “ringers,” the players played for their hometowns and came from all walks of life such as ranch hands, laborers, clerks, and bank employees. The teams did not have owners in the same way that major and minor league baseball did. Instead, clubs were typically run by an association directed by local businessmen who hoped to garner good will through the team. In 1930, adult admission prices were 40 cents (in response to the Depression, prices were later reduced to 25 cents). Admission revenues were used to offset the costs of uniforms and equipment as well as other expenses such as the home team paying two umpires to officiate the game.
Fans enthusiastically supported their teams on Sunday afternoons, taking a well-deserved respite from the rigors of ranching and rural life while cheering their local heroes to victory over rival towns.
Although the towns represented in the HCL were relatively small by today’s standards and the Texas Hill Country was remote, the quality of play in the HCL was remarkably high. The 1930 HCL featured one former major leaguer (Llano’s C.L. “Chink” Taylor, an outfielder who played eight games for the Chicago Cubs in 1925) and two future major leaguers (Fredericksburg pitcher Hugo Klaerner, who was called up to the Chicago White Sox in 1934 for three starts, and Boerne Shortstop Charlie English, who enjoyed stints with the Chicago White Sox (1932-33), New York Giants (1936), and Cincinnati Reds (1937) as a backup infielder).
“Town ball” in the HCL was different statistically from major league or even minor league baseball at that time in some striking ways. Dick details these differences in the set's liner notes, and includes suggestions on how to modify/adjust the History Maker Baseball game book results to better reflect the unique nuances of Hill Country baseball of the era.
We hope you enjoy your "Town Ball" experience! If you have any comments or questions, please let us know!
"Hill Country Ball: Depression-Era Baseball in the Texas German Belt" is scheduled to be published this September (2026) by Texas Tech University Press. You can read more about the book and pre-order a copy by using this link. (This link is provided as a courtesy, we get no revenue from sales of the book!)
