In this episode of The Boerne Brew on Boerne Radio 103.9 FM, host Kerry Barboza (sports editor of the Boerne Star) interviews author Richard Butler Jr. about his book Hill Country Ball: Depression-Era Baseball in the Texas German Belt, published by Texas Tech University Press. They discuss the origins of the book — sparked by a photograph of the Boerne White Sox at the Old Jail Museum — and dive into nearly four years of research and writing. Topics include the Hill Country League and Mountain League of the 1930s, town-team rivalries between Boerne, Comfort, Fredericksburg, and Kerrville, the role of "ringers" (including soldiers from Fort Sam Houston), community life around Sunday baseball games, the Kendall County Fairgrounds as a ballpark, local baseball legends like Edgar Bergman and the Pankratz brothers, the Kerrville All-Stars of the Negro Leagues, and the surprising discovery that Hall of Famer Dizzy Dean moonlighted as a teenage pitcher for Hill Country teams under an assumed name.

0:00     Intro — welcome to The Boerne Brew; guest Richard Butler Jr. and his book Hill Country Ball

0:38     Book reception since September 15 release; library presentations and discoveries

1:08     Origin story — the Boerne White Sox photo at the Old Jail Museum

1:52     From a library newsletter article to a full book; discovering the Hill Country League and Mountain League

2:38     Richard's baseball fandom; Tigers memories (Mark Fidrych, Kirk Gibson, Norm Cash)

3:31     Research process — ~2 years of digging through local newspapers and archives

5:01     Research resources — Fredericksburg Standard, Comfort News, Kerrville papers; the Boerne Star fire that destroyed pre-1938 archives

5:46     Gaps in the record — piecing together the controversial 1935 Boerne White Sox withdrawal from the Mountain League

6:30     Research vs. writing — Richard's background as a retired attorney; ~4 years total from start to publication

7:22     Where to buy — Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Texas Tech University Press, Kendall County Genealogical Society

8:05     Baseball as Americana — Sunday games, picnics, and community life in the Hill Country

9:31     Town teams and "ringers" — $5/game hired players, Fort Sam Houston soldiers pitching on Sundays

11:33  Why the 1930s — two leagues, three future major leaguers, baseball's cultural impact during the Depression

12:57  Kendall County Fairgrounds as the Boerne White Sox's home ballpark — horse track inside, 800 fans in a town of 1,100

14:05  League history — Hill Country League (1930), Mountain League (1934), coexistence and eventual decline

15:17  Decline of town teams by the 1960s — television, air conditioning, and the rise of other sports

16:49  Bauer Field still standing; Edgar Bergman — ace pitcher, lumber company owner, and community pillar

18:01  H.O. Adler — first president of the Kendall County Fair Association and the Boerne White Sox

18:25  Family names still in Boerne — Ecker, Holtkamp, Philipp, Pankratz, Fabra; meeting descendants of players

19:30  Tom Dugas — baseball player and bowler; the Turnverein bowling league named after him

20:05  The Negro Leagues in the Hill Country — Kerrville All-Stars, Jim Crow era, limited newspaper coverage

21:14  Dizzy Dean's Hill Country connection — teenage pitcher at Fort Sam Houston moonlighting under an assumed name

23:04  Dizzy Dean confirmed at Kendall County Fairgrounds — a Hall of Famer pitched in Boerne

23:45  Final thoughts — biggest surprise was the Dizzy Dean discovery; closing remarks and where to buy the book

Original Air Date:  October 24, 2026, as heard on Boerne Radio 103.9FM

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