For baseball in Texarkana, Lusk and McCulloch are two names as big as the cheers that swelled in Burnett Stadium and Lee Park, the local and long-gone baseball park as it was known back in the Texarkana Bears’ glory days.

And for descendants of Gabby Lusk and Bit McCulloch, that sense of local history lives just as large today.

Both McCulloch and Lusk rocked the longball and adopted other roles within the Bears organization in the years after World War II. The club operated in the East Texas League and then the Big State League in those years.

Lusk didn’t quite make it in the real big leagues before arriving in Texarkana, though he’d had the chance, say his grandsons.

Kelly Lusk, one of those grandsons, said Gabby could’ve played for the White Sox, but he believes Gabby turned down a major league contract because he could make money with Dick Burnett, the first Texarkana Bears owner, down here in Texarkana.

Lusk said Burnett sent Gabby here to turn the team around, which ultimately happened with great success in the later 1940s. The name had changed to the Bears and better days were ahead for the team in town.

Burnett was a millionaire oil man who came to Texarkana via Gladewater, Lusk said.

“During the war years Gabby was sent to the shipyards down in Beaumont and played there for a couple years,” Lusk said, noting his granddad was also a baseball scout for a major league team at one time.

Scouts were one way minor league teams could make money as player contracts were sold to other teams.

“There were other scouts always beatin’ the bushes,” said Lusk.

But his grandfather Gabby served several roles for the Bears here in Texarkana that helped make Burnett’s team successful: player, manager, general manager. He may have even sold tickets, said Lusk.

He said Gabby was successful enough that when the team showed a profit in the late ‘40s the boss, Burnett, bought him a new home and paid cash for it.

“He was one of their stars but he wasn’t their best ... that just shows you the popularity of the team in this town,” said Lusk, who notes he’s recognized to this day because of his name and connection to a local baseball legend.

That even happened during a job interview when the grandson was told Gabby was a hero to the man conducting the interview, said Lusk. He said according to family lore major leaguers like Paul “Daffy” Dean and Casey Stengel would pop into town to visit with Gabby.

His brother Mike Lusk also recalls the importance baseball held in the heart of his granddad Gabby.

Having grown up in Coolidge, Texas (“a hole in the road,” says the older Lusk brother), Gabby signed with a major league team but just played in the farm system, said Mike Lusk.

Back in Texas, Gabby was going to school in Waco and then eloped.

“He was on the way to Monroe, La., to scout a ballplayer and they were on their honeymoon. So that’s how dedicated to baseball he was,” said Mike Lusk.

“He was a player, coach, manager and general manager all at one time at some point over the years,” he said. “Baseball was his life. Period.”

Lusk said his granddad’s playing must’ve been pretty good because old-timers would always remark upon Gabby’s skill. His grandson recalls seeing cartoons about him in the Gazette.

Louie Graves, a Gazette sportswriter who captured the drama and flavor of the games back in those days, captured a bit of Lusk’s personality when writing about a 1946 game against Tyler.

“Wide-eyed and innocent, likable Gabby Lusk got the umpire’s heave-ho at Tyler Wednesday, marking the first time he has been ejected and fined in organized baseball. With the Trojans ahead 4-3 and Joe Kracher on first, nobody down, Johnny Wood bunted and Catcher Joe Rossi threw wildly to first, the Bears advancing to second and third, but Umpire Price ruled that Wood stepped on the plate and was out,” wrote Graves.

“During the heated argument that ensued, a Bear player ‘bumped’ into Price’s back, then stepped aside. Lusk was rushing to break up the argument and unluckily stepped into the umpire’s line of sight when the arbiter whirled to find the offender.

‘You’re out of the game and that’ll cost you $25,’ Price roared,” wrote Graves.

Malin Gordon McCulloch was a professional baseball player who passed away in January. A Texarkana resident, he was known as Bit.

Along the way, he played for the Bears, the Chicago White Sox, Dallas Steers, Tennessee Smokies and the team in St. Paul.

His sister, Ruth Webster, remembers something distinct about family life when her older brother batted and fielded for that St. Paul team up in Minnesota.

“Bit batted left-handed and I can remember these big cartons of Wheaties coming to our house. And that’s what I had a lot of mornings for breakfast,” said Webster. She thinks the team must’ve sent them down to the McCulloch family.

“My daddy would say, ‘Well, Bit’s hit another home run,’ and he’d bring the case in,” Webster said.

She remembers a family trip to go see her brother play up there. They went through a big tunnel to get to the box seats, young Ruth only about 5 or 6 years old.

“They announced it over the PA system, and oh I thought that was big time,” said Webster.

She remembers the players being kind and gracious. She’d keep score of his games and still has them in a book.

“I could hardly wait for him to come home every year because my mother would cook like he was royalty, which he was to us,” she said. Soon, pies, cakes, hams and chicken were cooked up.

“I can remember when he came he always ate four eggs and six pieces of bacon and three pieces of toast ... he was skinny as a rail but he had a hearty appetite,” she said.

Marilyn McCulloch, Bit’s daughter, said it was George Washington who lured her dad back into playing the game after he served during World War II.

“He played professional baseball and then Uncle Sam ruined his career. And then he moved back to Texarkana,” said the daughter.

“He came back and he ran into George Washington, and George conned him into playing ball again. George was fishing somewhere and Daddy just happened to be around, and told him he needed to come back and start playing for the Bears. And Daddy, his whole life he has loved baseball. That’s his passion. So he was just really excited and went back and played for a while. And then he said the aches and pains were just too much.”

From there, McCulloch managed the concessions stand, providing treats for the fans who swarmed to see Texarkana face the Big State League challengers.

Marilyn still has many of the mementos that speak to her dad’s love and passion for baseball: his last pair of cleats, a baseball glove.

One is a small, complimentary-sized bat. A letter explains its importance.

“Louisville Slugger wrote him this letter back in ’35, asked him for the exclusive right to use his signature on their bat and they paid him a big $5,” reminisced Marilyn McCulloch.

“His comment was from the time he was old enough to know what was really going on in the world he ate, slept and drank baseball,” she said.

Bit McCulloch wrote a bit about his history with the game for a speech he gave. His daughter shared some of his prepared notes.

McCulloch wrote that he got his start in the Texarkana Amateur Baseball League and the company he worked for, Loreco Oil Co., was one of the sponsors.

“I was lucky enough to lead the league in hitting and they named me ‘Most Valuable Player,’” recalled McCulloch, noting a player on the team had a cousin on the Boston Braves.

“Bill (Moore) asked me if I would like to play pro ball. I sure didn’t say no,” wrote McCulloch.

From there, he made it to the Dallas Steers (“my hero team”). “For a young guy who loved something physical, his dream had come true, and for the years I got to play, I can say again, God has blessed this old man,” McCulloch wrote.

After he passed away, baseball was a natural way to celebrate his life during the funeral service.

“Everybody sang ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game,’” said McCulloch’s daughter.