By SANDRA TUMBERLINSON
San Benito Historical Society
hat San Benito native of Lebanese ancestry worked in the Major and Minor Baseball Leagues all his life? Mr. Sam Ayoub, last surviving child of the original Ayoub who immigrated to San Benito from Syria at the turn of the century, committed his life to the All-American game of baseball. He will be inducted into the RGV Sports Hall of Fame, Saturday, July 13, 2024 with three nephews, Ben Fry, Mike Ayoub and Jack Ayoub receiving the award for him.
According to Virginia Ayoub Burroughs, Emil Ayoub was born in Tripoli, Syria (now Lebanon) in 1889. Because the Turkish Muslims were persecuting Christians, he immigrated to the United States in 1901 with his family, his father George and his mother Marianna, a sister-Fautine, and three brothers, Willie, James and Fred. When Emil was 26 or 27, he met and married Mary Alkek of Victoria.
They moved to San Benito in 1916 or 1917. By then, Emil had bought a piece of property, 307 S. Dowling St. from Mr. Welch. That is where he and Mary built their home and raised six children; George (1918), Jack (1919), David (1921), Pauline Fry (1924), Virginia Burroughs (1926), and Sam (1934). Sam married Rachel Guerrero of Harlingen in 1960 and had one son, Samuel Laurence “Larry” Ayoub.
So how did a young, Lebanese American man from San Benito get involved with major league baseball? After graduating from San Benito High School, Ayoub worked at Dave’s Texaco on Stenger St. Undecided about exactly what career he wanted to pursue, he listened to Coach Jim Barnes, who was an influential figure in Sam’s life, and convinced him to attend University of Texas becoming an assistant student trainer under Coach Darrell Royal.
While working at UT, “the Braves- they were the Milwaukee Braves then- moved to Austin. (They would later become known as the Atlanta Braves),” according to a file story by Jacob Lopez. The Braves trainer became ill and in 1960, Sam Ayoub was offered the job. With Coach Royal’s support, Sam began a career that made life-changing friendships and presented him endless opportunities. His nephew, Ben Fry proudly states, “Uncle Sammy always encouraged and supported my professional career choice and has always been a hero to me. I have held him in high esteem because of all his accomplishments in the world of baseball.”
Sam had a knack for working with various players and their personalities. “I had a good rapport with the players. That was my strongest, I don’t know what you’d call it, trait, I guess?” he told Jacob Lopez in a 2015 interview. Sam believed that his strong relationship with the Braves was based on ensuring his players were happy. His 33rd year on the job, Sam Ayoub was named Minor League Trainer of the year by the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society.
In another San Benito connection, Sam says, “I was born in San Benito in 1934, and I went to school with Bobby Morrow.” When Bobby was running in the Texas Relays in 1958, Sam recalls, “I worked on his legs, because he was having cramps.” Bobby Morrow is also a member of the RGV Sports Hall of Fame.
Being bilingual meant he was to become the first American trainer invited to work in Venezuela where he spent 10 winters with the club. “I learned all my Spanish in Texas, because all of my friends were Spanish-speaking.
I had to know it to get in the game,” laughs Ayoub. At the wedding in April, 88 year old Uncle Sam reminded Ben Fry how he got his first bicycle during the depression. Ben recalled, “My uncle never tires of telling me the story of when my father, Wilson Fry, went to the junk yard and put together a bicycle and painted it green and gave it to Uncle Sammy because he didn’t have a bicycle and all the other kids did. Those were the Good Old Days in San Benito. Uncle Sammy has never forgotten that.”
In Sam Ayoub’s Richmond, Virginia apartment, there’s a picture on the wall of him holding a bat with Hank Aaron, taken during Aaron’s playing days with the Braves. It is one of Sam’s prized possessions, having worked with Aaron as an athletic trainer for the Braves for 42 years. A couple of years ago when Hank Aaron died, Ayoub reminisced, saying, “It’s a sad day. I was looking forward to calling Aaron on his birthday in February as I did every year.” Ayoub served as the trainer for the Triple-A Richmond Braves from 1968-1991. Their friendship spanned much of Hank Aaron’s playing days in the majors and his time in the Braves’ front office.
When Aaron died, Sam recalled, “Hank Aaron was a special individual. He never acted like he was the home run leader of all time. He just acted like a good friend.”
Jerry Lindquist wrote, “Many of the players who owe Ayoub a lot, in some cases, their careers, stay in touch. Like back-to-back National League MVP Dale Murphy, who came to Richmond as a catcher, suddenly/inexplicably couldn’t throw to the pitcher, and became a standout in the outfield. Then there was Luis Tiant, whose career was about to end in 1971 when he joined the local club as a free agent.
After a month working with Ayoub to recondition an ailing right shoulder, Tiant was beginning to look sound enough to warrant a contract with the A-Braves. ‘I begged them to give me another two weeks, that he would come around…but they couldn’t wait. I talked to their trainer about him, what I’d been doing to make the shoulder stronger,’ Ayoub recalled. A year later Tiant, with his signature back-to-the-plate windup, was dazzling the American League again, as he had during his earlier MLB days with the Indians, only better. Tiant, 82, didn’t forget who made it possible. ‘I talked to him maybe six weeks ago,’” said Ayoub in 2015.
Regarding his life and career, “I’ve been very lucky,” said Ayoub to SBNews reporter Jacob Lopez.
When the San Benito-based Ayoubs gathered a year ago at the marriage of Sam’s grandson, they also celebrated the influence patriarch “Uncle Sam” had in their lives, his contribution to the history of their hometown, his continued celebration of their Lebanese heritage, and of course, baseball. Batter Up!!
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