Longview Cannibals

The Longview Cannibals played in various leagues throughout Texas between 1893 and 1939 and had one of the most unusual monikers in all of sports. The Cannibals nickname came from a newspaper reporter's story. The San Antonio Missions of the much bigger Texas League came to Longview in 1895 and surprisingly lost to Longview's semi-pro club, and San Antonio's reporter wrote that the Longview team had "ate up" San Antonio. That's how the name came to be, and it stuck over the years.

The Cannibals were successful on the field beyond that one game, too. They bounced between a number of leagues but over time sent more than 60 players to the majors. Their lone league title came in the East Texas League in 1926. After 1939 the team was renamed the White Sox to match Longview's major league affiliation, and the Cannibals name was no more.

For a deep dive on the Cannibals, check out Jeff Barnhart's book The Longview Cannibals: A Complete History of East Texas' Most Celebrated Baseball Club.