“A thunderous crash broke the silence of the night. Shattered glass flew in all directions. Loosened hubcaps and random pieces of metal clanged loudly on the hard pavement. An eerie ring from the powerful collision seemed to continue endlessly. Then finally there was silence.”
THOSE TWO paragraphs is how Gaines Baty ends the first chapter of the book he’s written about his father, former Texas A&M quarterback Buryl Baty who came to El Paso in 1950 and turned Bowie High School into a football powerhouse.
That head-on collision, caused by a 19-year-old who had fallen asleep at the wheel of a fully-loaded grain truck, took the lives of Bowie High School head football coach Buryl Baty and assistant coach Jerry Simmang who were in the front seat of their Plymouth automobile. It also severely injured assistant head coach Fred Rosas who had been riding in the back seat.
It was a tragic end to one of the most successful if short periods in the annals of high school sports here.
THE CRASH occurred in 1954, just about 30 miles east of El Paso. The coaches were on their way home from scouting Pecos High School which the Bears were scheduled to play next. Jerry Simmang had been driving and was feeling a little sleepy so the coaches decided to stop at Fort Hancock for a cup of coffee.
Before they got back in the car, Baty asked Simmang if he wanted him to drive. ”No, Buryl, I’m fine,” Simmang answered.
Then Fred Rosas asked Baty if he would like to change places. “I’m happy to take the front and you can stretch out back here and get a little sleep,” Rosas said.
“No, thanks, Fred,” Baty said. “I’m fine. And anyway, we’ll be home in thirty minutes.”
NEWS OF THE accident shocked and saddened all of El Paso. I know. I was just starting my sports writing career at the El Paso Herald-Post. I was barely out of my teens and had to write of the tragedy. I wept as I wrote.
Baty had been an instant success at Bowie. His team finished in first place his first year at the helm then won the district title in 1953. Many of the starters of the ’53 champions were back in 1954 and the Bears had been picked to finish first again. Broken hearted and without their coach, the Bears lost to El Paso High School and Austin High School. The latter wound up as district champion.
THE MANUSCRIPT of Gaines’ book, as yet untitled, is now being considered for publication by Texas A&M, Buryl Baty’s alma mater.
Of course the book is not only about Baty’s career at Bowie High School. It’s the biography of his entire life as seen through the eyes of his son.
Gaines’ details include his father’s glory days with the Aggies. It’s obvious Gaines spent days, months and even years working on the manuscript. There are quotes and photos of players, coaches and family members. There are also stories written during his father’s days at Bowie, including some of my long-forgotten ones.
All in all, it’s a gripping, heart-rending story of a wonderful husband, father and coach whose life was cut much too short. It brought tears to my eyes again as I re-lived that tragic October night.