Abilene Prairie Dogs

• Location: Abilene, TX
• League: Texas-Louisiana League 1995-1999; North American League 2012
• Affiliation: None
• Ballpark: Crutcher Scott Field

Team Bio

The Abilene Prairie Dogs joined the Texas-Louisiana League in 1995. They went 17-33 in the first half that year, finishing last, but improved to 23-27 in the second half. Managed by Charlie Kerfeld, the club drew 73,954 fans, 4th in the league. The team had no All-Stars. The top performer was arguably outfielder-1B Barry Jones, who hit .332 and slugged .470, driving in 80 runs.

Abilene dominated the league in 1996 under the guidance of Phil Stephenson. They won both halves (35-15 and 32-16) and swept the playoffs 2 games to 0 over the Amarillo Dillas and 3 games to 0 over the Lubbock Crickets. Attendance fell to 5th (68,297). All-Stars were C Jack Johnson (.263, .407 slugging), 3B Manny Gagliano (.290), OF Rod Brewer (.325, .572 SLG, 19 HR, a league-leading 87 RBI and the MVP), RP Ken Winkle (1-0, 27 Sv, 1.42) and SP Dave Haas (13-4, 2.43, the league leader in ERA). OF Paul Coleman (.334, .508 slugging) was third in the league in average.

The Prairie Dogs fell into a hole in 1997, going 36-51 to finish last again. They also drew the fewest fans (65,489). Jones now managed the team, whose lone All-Star was reliever George Preston (3-2, 10 Sv, 4.36).

The team reformed in 2012, playing in the North American League.

Year-by-Year Record

Year	Record	Finish	Manager	Playoffs
1995	40-60	6th	Charlie Kerfeld
1996	67-31	1st	Phil Stephenson	League Champs
1997	36-52	6th	Barry Jones
1998	39-45	3rd (t)	Barry Jones
1999	46-38	3rd	Dan Madsen	Lost in 1st round
2012	36-53	9th	Bobby Brown

Sources: 1996-1998 Baseball Almanacs