Becoming An Aggie

From the humblest of beginnings–at least enrollment-wise (six students comprised the student body upon dedication of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas in 1876)–hundreds of thousands of young men, and eventually young women, forged a path to the A&M campus.

From near and far.

Wally Moon was a young man who had never ventured far from his home in the tiny northeast-Arkansas township of Bay. By reputation alone, Moon was recruited to play baseball and basketball at Texas A&M, becoming a member of the Class of ’51.

Which means he left home to become an Aggie in the late summer of 1947.

Wally Moon, Texas A&M Class of '51, began a 12-year Major League Baseball career by winning the National League's Rookie of the Year Award with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1954. Later traded to Los Angeles, Moon starred with the Dodgers, winning three World Series Championships with the club. After retiring as a player following LA's 1965 World Series title run, Moon coached baseball and served as athletic director at John Brown University in Siloam Springs, AR. Later, he returned to professional baseball, serving as both a Major League and Minor League coach. He died in Bryan, TX, on February 9, 2018