Free State of Galveston biggest names in the entertainment business, including Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Guy Lombardo, Jack Benny, Gene Autry, Phil Silvers, Jane Russell, George Burns, Duke Ellington, and Bob Hope. The Texas League, a baseball league, was founded in the 1800s, temporarily discontinued, and then restarted in the early 1900s evolving into a minor league. During the 1930s investors in Galveston, particularly Shearn Moody, established the Galveston Buccaneers baseball team, a successor to the former Galveston Pirates. The Buccaneers won the league championship in 1934 but the team was sold in 1937 after Moody's death. After the war, the new Gulf
Free State of Galveston Coast League was established and the Galveston White Caps team was created. Galveston won the championship in 1953 but the team then faded and was disbanded in 1955 as the rest of Galveston's economy was collapsing. The city created the Oleander Bowl football tournament in 1948, which evolved into the Shrimp Bowl and lasted until the late 1950s. Originally a tournament between colleges in the region, it eventually became a contest between local military units. The tournament was never especially successful only bringing in modest crowds at its peak. Following the 1900 hurricane, Galveston adopted a commission government (in 1960