RIP Colorado Springs Baseball

For those of you that seen it this week, it was only a matter of time. The Rocky Mountain Vibes, the Independent League Team playing at what has been known as a lot of things but to Colorado Springs residents it will always be known as Sky Sox Stadium, announced they would not be playing any more. Thus ending a run that started in 1988 with the return of professional baseball to the city of Colorado Springs. What had happened? How did so many things go wrong that a city almost three times as big now as to when the Sky Sox came to town, could not support a professional baseball team? It leaves a ton of memories and questions about whether we will ever be able to enjoy an 80 degree summer night under the lights watching baseball happen.

I was there in 1988 when the team moved from Hawaii and started playing in Memorial Park. For those who have never seen the field, imagine just a decent sized high school field. This is where the Triple A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians started playing. The same team that year who was the subject of the movie Major League, which chronicles the tribulations of the Franchise that can't win.

Those early games were fun, and sort of a joke. One game, in the small field, the wind was blowing out to left hard. Now keep in mind that Colorado Springs is about a 1000 foot higher than Denver. The game ended with the Sky Sox victorious 33-12 over the Triple A Phoenix team. The Sky Sox hit 9 home runs that game. Ed Lynch, a pitcher for Phoenix, retired immediately following the game.

I was there when the Sky Sox opened up Sky Sox. The Stadium became known as one of the worst stadiums in sports, but it felt like Yankee Stadium to us. It was brand new, it was on a side of town that was growing, it was ours and felt like we had arrived. There was no Major League Baseball within 10-12 hours. This was our big time.

Some guys that played on that team were Terry Francona, the world series winning manager. You had guys that played ball in the majors like Dave Clark and Ron Tingly. The big name however that year, was a guy named Luis Medina. He batted 310 and hit 28 home runs and was one of the most promising prospects in Cleveland's system. His career was only a few years, but to anyone who saw that first season, he was the first star in the Springs.

Something happened the next few years. Cleveland started getting better. You could watch the new Indians players play guys from other teams that would become big stars in the 90's. You could see Jack McDowell come to town, or Kenny Loften, or Craig Biggio. Roberto Alomar would come through playing with the Las Vegas team. In a big trade Carlos Baerga and Sandy Alomar Jr became Sky Sox. Future Hall of Fame player Jim Thome played with the Sky Sox. Albert Belle was one of the most colorful players to come through. Then the unthinkable happened.

Colorado got a Major League Franchise.

Denver was awarded the Colorado Rockies and the AAA team in Denver moved to New Orleans. Could this be the end of the Sky Sox? As it turns out, it was a match made in heaven. The Rockies could have players pitch in the minors at altitude and if they needed someone, they were only an hour drive up the road to get to the ball park. Also, there was built in enthusiasm. As the Rockies fans would cheer up and coming players, they could see them before they got to the majors when they came to the small ball park. You could see Hall of Famer Todd Helton come up through the system. Vinny Castilla played short for the Sky Sox before becoming an All Star Third Baseman. Back in those days too, there was always an annual exhibition game between AAA and the Major League squad where we could see a real Major League team in our ball park. The Tulo's of the world, the Arenado's, we saw them all from just a few feet away in one of the most intimate settings in all of baseball, which a super shitty sound system and fireworks two of three times a month.

However, the major league team that saved them, also doomed them.

After a couple of decades of the teams working well together, Rockies ownership wanted better facilities in Colorado Springs. The facilities were known as the worst in AAA. Now they could have invested themselves in it. Afterall, its an investment in their future and their success, at which on a side note they are still bad at. They had invested money in the spring training facilities in Arizona. The Sky Sox took ballot measures to voters to build a downtown ball park. This was voted down multiple times and the Rockies decided Albuquerque wasn't that far and moved their AAA team there. Who would now want to put a AAA team in a town at elevation with bad facilities.

For the next few years, the Sky Sox became the AAA affiliate for the Milwaukee Brewers. I don't know that we really appreciated what we had. When the players here would move on, we wouldn't really see them like we did when they played for the Rockies. We had some really good players here. Corbin Burnes, who would win a Cy Young, Brandon Woodruff, Josh Hader, Orlando Arcia, Travis Shaw, the nucleus of what would become and still is a very good Brewers franchise. We saw them come through but never really bought in like we had before.

Milwaukee decided that having AAA players play at an altitude of 6000 ft plus above sea level wasn't good for them so they switched it up and made the Springs their single A affiliate. It was fun watching players who were just coming up, but was not what we were used to seeing.

Enter Covid.....

Post Covid, the Major Leagues decided they had too many minor league teams and shrunk all of minor league baseball, including the Colorado Springs team, now known as the Rocky Mountain Vibes. Someone decided it would be a good idea to make a mascot out a smores. Great thinking.

Colorado Springs picked up Independent Baseball which is super hard to keep afloat. You have less games, less revenue, and no Major League team helping pay contracts.

2025....it is no more.

Who is to blame? Covid? Voters for not wanting to raise taxes to build a down town stadium. Seems silly now that the soccer team does so well downtown. I personally like to point straight at the Rockies. They should have invested straight into the facilities down here and owned them. The partnership makes all the sense in the world. However, no decisions during the Monfort era make sense. They are the worst ran franchise in MLB and that includes the Oakland/Vegas A's. If anyone doubts it all you have to do is look at the trade of Arenado to the Cardinals because he cost too much, and they included half the salary TO the Cardinals in the trade.

All I know is it is the end of an era. It was great to wait for that afternoon thunderstorm to blow through, cool things down a bit, and watch baseball under the clear skies. I took batting practice at the stadium one time and came within a few feet of hitting one out. I remember the novelty of the stadium having the very first Baseball hot tub in right field and always looking to see if I could see something hot in a bikini. I watched a game with a few hundred people one night in such thick fog that the managers hit fly balls to out fielders with fungos between innings to see if they were going to play on or postpone it. I saw the San Diego Chicken multiple times. I wacthed Manny Ramirez try to ressurect his career after multiple suspensions hit one over the fence for the Sacremento Team that sounded like it was shot out of a canon when it was hit. I always had more luck getting players from the visiting teams sign autographs. I got a whole ball signed by the 2001 Memphis Redbirds team. I watched human bowling. I saw Checkov from Star Trek two hop a ball to home plate. I missed a chance to throw out a first picth one time because it happened on a night I was playing softball. We had our Softball team annual nights at the ballpark in a suite with all food catered and felt like celebrities drinking buckets of malibu rum. I watched the field behind the fence catch fire before there was a golf course there after a fireworks display. I hit golf balls at the stadium years later when I started playing golf regular. I got autographs from multiple Indians players as well as multiple Rockies players when they came down and played in our little Stadium.

More than anything I don't know that any sport means family or brings families together like baseball and without that Colorado Springs is going to be missing a big piece of its heart.

-The Dr