Tex Sanner

Roy Dale "Tex" Sanner (August 22, 1920 - January 9, 1892) was a minor league baseball player from 1941 to 1957. Sanner excelled with the bat and on the mound, hitting over 200 home runs and winning over 130 games. He batted and threw left-handed. He was six feet, three inches tall and weighed 210 pounds.
In 1948 with the Houma Indians of the Class D Evangeline League, Sanner had what authors J. Chris Holaday and Mark Presswood described as "perhaps the most impressive season any baseball player has ever had." He was later recalled to Topeka. That season he hit .274 with no home runs and 29 RBI in 43 games. On the mound, Sanner was 10-6 with a 3.07 ERA in 27 appearances. With Topeka again in 1942, Sanner hit .303 with 60 hits, 17 doubles and a home run in 73 games, but Sanner shined as a hurler, going 20-10 in 39 appearances. He led the Western Association in wins, tied Junior Walsh for the lead in appearances, finished behind Robert Playfair in innings pitched (226) and second to Ervin Liberton in walks (112) and tied Clinton Wise for third in hits allowed (199). He threw a no-hitter on August 9, 1942.
With the New Orleans Pelicans in 1943, Sanner was 10-14 with a 4.06 ERA in 30 games (25 starts), hitting .310 with 22 hits in 71 at-bats. Sanner slumped both at the dish and on the mound with the Montreal Royals in 1944, hitting .154 in 13 at-bats and going 2-3 with a 6.60 ERA in 10 games (five starts). Returning to form with New Orleans in 1945, Sanner was 15-7 with a 4.01 ERA in 29 appearances (28 starts), also contributing a .310 average with 40 hits in 129 at-bats. Sanner played for New Orleans and the Anderson A's in 1946, hitting .353 in 17 at-bats and going 1-3 with a 5.23 ERA in eight pitching appearances.
In 1947, with the Houma Indians, Sanner showed what Sanner could do when given more at-bats - Sanner hit .292 with 21 doubles and 17 home runs in 97 games (384 ABs) and also went 7-2 with a 2.65 ERA in nine games on the mound. Sanner blossomed as a hitter in 1948, hitting .385 with 198 hits, 37 doubles, 34 home runs, 126 RBI and a .660 slugging percentage in 133 games split between Houma (126 games) and the Dallas Eagles (seven games). Sanner led the Evangeline League in home runs, RBI and batting average (to win the Triple Crown), slugging percentage and total bases (329), while finishing second behind Bobby Greene in doubles and third behind Greene and Mel Clark in hits. On the mound, Sanner was 22-3 with a 2.75 ERA in 25 games. Sanner led the Evangeline League in winning percentage, finished one behind Paul Bruno in wins and was second behind James Bradshaw in ERA. He had "perhaps the most impressive season any baseball player has ever had."
Despite his excellent season at the dish in 1948, Sanner was relegated to limited duty the following year, hitting .333 with 29 hits in 87 at-bats (62 games) for Dallas. On the mound, Sanner was 9-3 with a 5.95 ERA in 26 games (17 starts). Sanner split 1950 between the Gainesville Owls (127 games) and Dallas, hitting a combined .336 with 34 doubles, 11 triples and 17 home runs in 141 games. Sanner finished third in the Big State League in triples. As a twirler, Sanner was 0-3 in nine games. With Gainesville and Dallas again in 1951, Sanner hit .284 with nine home runs in 107 games (299 at-bats) and was 6-4 with a 3.22 ERA in 26 appearances.
Sanner had another big season at the plate in 1952, hitting .368 with 211 hits, 42 doubles, 45 home runs, 388 total bases and a .677 slugging percentage in 141 games for the Texarkana Bears. Sanner led the Big State League in total bases, finished second in hits behind Buck Frierson, was second behind Dean Stafford in home runs, placed second behind Wesley Gibson in slugging percentage and was third behind Frierson and Mike Murray in doubles. Used sparingly as a pitcher that year, Sanner was 0-0 with a 7.88 ERA in three games.
1953 was another solid year for Sanner, who hit .333 with 33 doubles, 20 home runs and a .521 slugging percentage in 130 games for Texarkana. Sanner was 0-1 in a single appearance on the mound. His final great offensive season came in 1954, when Sanner hit .351 with 40 doubles, 37 home runs, 313 total bases and a .677 slugging percentage for the Port Arthur Sea Hawks. Sanner led the Evangeline League in slugging percentage, placed second behind Remy LeBlanc in home runs and was third behind LeBlanc and Bill Dossey in total bases. Sanner was 8-2 with a 2.18 ERA in 13 games (10 starts) as a hurler.
Sanner played in 108 games - including five pitching appearances - for Port Arthur and the Monterrey Sultanes in 1955, hitting .291 for Port Arthur. In 1956, Sanner hit .239 with six home runs in 62 games for Port Arthur and was 14-5 with a 2.55 ERA in 21 games (19 starts) off the bump. He had one last hurrah at the dish and on the hill in 1957, his final season, as Sanner hit .331 in 74 games for the Port Arthur/Temple Redlegs and Victoria Rosebuds. Sanner was 12-4 with a 2.80 ERA in 24 games (14 starts) as a pitcher.
Overall, Sanner played in 1,426 games and finished with at least 1,483 hits, 310 doubles and 211 home runs. Records available indicate that Sanner hit in the .320s and slugged in the .540s. As a pitcher, Sanner made 305 appearances and won at least 137 games. His ERA was in the low 3s and his winning percentage, per the record, in the .650s.

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