Alpine Cowboys
Encyclopedia
The Alpine Cowboys are a professional baseball team based in Alpine, Texas
, in the Big Bend
region of West Texas. The Cowboys are a franchise of the Pecos League
, which is not affiliated with Major
or Minor League Baseball
. They play their home games at historic Kokernot Field
, a 1,200 seat stone and wrought-iron replica of Chicago
's Wrigley Field
that dates from 1948.
Alpine and the Big Bend
region have a long baseball history. From 1947 to 1958, the Alpine Cowboys, owned by West Texas
rancher and philanthropist Herbert L. Kokernot, Jr., won a dozen regional semi-pro championships and were national runners-up. The team featured future major league stars, including Norm Cash
, Gaylord Perry
, and Joe Horlen
. At the end of championship seasons, Kokernot presented each team member with a pair of handmade red cowboy boots emblazoned with the brand of his "o6" Ranch—a tradition that continues with the current Cowboys' cap insignia.
In 1959 the Boston Red Sox
moved their minor league affiliate, the Lexington Red Sox of the Nebraska State League
, to Alpine, and took the traditional name "Cowboys" for the team. The new Cowboys immediately won the Class D Sophomore League
title and set the record for the highest winning percentage (88-35, .715) of any Red Sox minor league team. The 1959 champion team was managed by future Red Sox manager Eddie Popowski
and featured three future major leaguers, rhp Don Schwall
) (who two years later won the American League Rookie of the Year award) 2b Chuck Schilling
(who finishing fourth behind Schwall in the same balloting), and lhp Guido Grilli
. The 1960 team featured future L.A. Angels
hall-of-famer [(Jim Fregosi)]. In 1962 the Sophomore League folded and the team moved to Idaho, becoming the Pocatello Chiefs
of the Class C Pioneer League.
Professional baseball returned to Alpine in 2009 with the Big Bend Cowboys of the Continental Baseball League
. The team was founded by Frank Snyder, a Fort Worth law professor, who had previously founded the CBL's Texarkana Gunslingers
and who brought several local investors from the Alpine area into the new team. It was successful on the field, losing in the league finals in 2009 to the Alexandria Aces
, and winning the Ferguson Jenkins Trophy in 2010 as CBL champions. The CBL folded at the end of the 2010 season. The Cowboys were reorganized as a nonprofit corporation and along with another CBL team, the Las Cruces Vaqueros
, became part of the new Pecos League for the 2011 season.
Herbert L. Kokernot, retooled the semi-professional baseball team the Alpine Cats into the Alpine Cowboys. While semi-professional teams were not uncommon in Texas at the time, the Alpine Cowboys had the unusual benefit of a brand new stadium, Kokernot Field, opened for them in 1947. Constructed at a cost of $1,500,000.00, the elaborately decorated stadium included imported infield clay shipped by train from Georgia. The Alpine Cowboys used the stadium as home base from 1947 through 1958, during which time they took a dozen titles in the regional and were runners up for a national championship. In addition to supporting the team and the region with a state of the art stadium, Kokernot also actively supported athletes in Alpine and elsewhere, bringing promising high school graduates onto the roster of the team and offering college scholarships to players throughout the southwest.
In a 2007 article, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram
described the team as "one of the state's finest semiprofessional teams". The team launched a number of baseball professional, including two Hall of Fame
inductees. Among them was coach Tom Chandler. Team members included Gaylord Perry
and Norm Cash
.
In the days of segregation in Texas, Kokernot arranged for many exhibition games between traveling Negro League
teams—led by such stars as Satchel Paige
-- and visiting Mexican League teams. Those exhibitions drew fans from hundreds of miles away.
Alpine, Texas
Alpine is a city in and the county seat of Brewster County, Texas, United States. The population was 5,786 people at the 2000 census, and had increased to 5,905 by 2010.-History:...
, in the Big Bend
Big Bend (Texas)
The Big Bend is a colloquial name of a geographic region in the western part of the state of Texas in the United States along the border with Mexico, roughly defined as the counties north of the prominent northward bend in the Rio Grande as it passes through the gap between the Chisos Mountains in...
region of West Texas. The Cowboys are a franchise of the Pecos League
Pecos League
The Pecos League is an independent professional baseball league Headquartered in Houston, Tx. which operates in cities in desert mountain regions throughout New Mexico, Southern Colorado and West Texas. Pecos Teams play in cities that do not have Major or Minor League Baseball teams and is not...
, which is not affiliated with Major
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
or Minor League Baseball
Minor league baseball
Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...
. They play their home games at historic Kokernot Field
Kokernot Field
Kokernot Field is a baseball stadium located in Alpine, Texas. The field has been called "the Yankee Stadium of Texas" by Texas Monthly magazine. An estimated 6,000 attended a 1951 exhibition featuring Satchel Paige's St. Louis Browns versus the Chicago White Sox...
, a 1,200 seat stone and wrought-iron replica of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
's Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field is a baseball stadium in Chicago, Illinois, United States that has served as the home ballpark of the Chicago Cubs since 1916. It was built in 1914 as Weeghman Park for the Chicago Federal League baseball team, the Chicago Whales...
that dates from 1948.
Alpine and the Big Bend
Big Bend (Texas)
The Big Bend is a colloquial name of a geographic region in the western part of the state of Texas in the United States along the border with Mexico, roughly defined as the counties north of the prominent northward bend in the Rio Grande as it passes through the gap between the Chisos Mountains in...
region have a long baseball history. From 1947 to 1958, the Alpine Cowboys, owned by West Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
rancher and philanthropist Herbert L. Kokernot, Jr., won a dozen regional semi-pro championships and were national runners-up. The team featured future major league stars, including Norm Cash
Norm Cash
Norman Dalton Cash was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball who spent almost his entire career with the Detroit Tigers...
, Gaylord Perry
Gaylord Perry
Gaylord Jackson Perry is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He pitched from 1962-1983 for eight different teams in his career. During a 22-year baseball career, Perry compiled 314 wins, 3,534 strikeouts, and a 3.11 earned run average...
, and Joe Horlen
Joe Horlen
Joel Edward Horlen is a right-handed former Major League Baseball pitcher. Horlen pitched for the Chicago White Sox from to , and the Oakland Athletics in ....
. At the end of championship seasons, Kokernot presented each team member with a pair of handmade red cowboy boots emblazoned with the brand of his "o6" Ranch—a tradition that continues with the current Cowboys' cap insignia.
In 1959 the Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
moved their minor league affiliate, the Lexington Red Sox of the Nebraska State League
Nebraska State League
The Nebraska State League was an American professional baseball league with five incarnations. At least, the name was adopted five times: in 1892, from 1910 to 1915, from 1922 to 1923, from 1928 to 1938 and from 1956 to 1959....
, to Alpine, and took the traditional name "Cowboys" for the team. The new Cowboys immediately won the Class D Sophomore League
Sophomore League
The Sophomore League was a Class D minor league baseball league that operated from 1958 through 1961. In 1956 and 1957 the league was known as the Southwestern League.- Former :...
title and set the record for the highest winning percentage (88-35, .715) of any Red Sox minor league team. The 1959 champion team was managed by future Red Sox manager Eddie Popowski
Eddie Popowski
Edward Joseph Popowski , nicknamed "Pop," was an American coach and interim manager for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball...
and featured three future major leaguers, rhp Don Schwall
Don Schwall
Donald Bernard Schwall is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher who played with the Boston Red Sox , Pittsburgh Pirates and Atlanta Braves ....
) (who two years later won the American League Rookie of the Year award) 2b Chuck Schilling
Chuck Schilling
Charles Thomas Schilling is an American former second baseman in Major League Baseball for the Boston Red Sox from 1961-65...
(who finishing fourth behind Schwall in the same balloting), and lhp Guido Grilli
Guido Grilli
Guido John Grilli is a former relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Boston Red Sox and Kansas City Athletics during the 1966 season. Listed at 6' 0", 188 lb., he batted and threw left-handed....
. The 1960 team featured future L.A. Angels
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are a professional baseball team based in Anaheim, California, United States. The Angels are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The "Angels" name originates from the city in which the team started, Los Angeles...
hall-of-famer [(Jim Fregosi)]. In 1962 the Sophomore League folded and the team moved to Idaho, becoming the Pocatello Chiefs
Pocatello Chiefs
The Pocatello Chiefs were a minor league baseball team located in Pocatello, Idaho. The team began as the Pocatello Bannocks in 1952. They played in the Pioneer League originally as an affiliate of the St. Louis Browns and then the Kansas City Athletics in 1956...
of the Class C Pioneer League.
Professional baseball returned to Alpine in 2009 with the Big Bend Cowboys of the Continental Baseball League
Continental Baseball League
The Continental Baseball League, based in Addison, Texas, was an independent minor league professional baseball league that operated for four seasons, from 2007-2010. The league conceived as a professional, independent baseball organization operating in the U.S...
. The team was founded by Frank Snyder, a Fort Worth law professor, who had previously founded the CBL's Texarkana Gunslingers
Texarkana Gunslingers
The Texarkana Gunslingers were a professional baseball team based in Texarkana, Texas, in the United States. The Gunslingers were a member of the Continental Baseball League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. From 2008-2009 the Gunslingers played their home games at George Dobson...
and who brought several local investors from the Alpine area into the new team. It was successful on the field, losing in the league finals in 2009 to the Alexandria Aces
Alexandria Aces
This article is about the Alexandria Aces of the Texas Collegiate League, who are based in Alexandria, LA. For the Alexandria Aces of the Cal Ripken, Sr. Collegiate Baseball League, see Alexandria Aces ...
, and winning the Ferguson Jenkins Trophy in 2010 as CBL champions. The CBL folded at the end of the 2010 season. The Cowboys were reorganized as a nonprofit corporation and along with another CBL team, the Las Cruces Vaqueros
Las Cruces Vaqueros
The Las Cruces Vaqueros are a professional baseball team based in Las Cruces, New Mexico that began play in 2010. The Vaqueros are a franchise of the Pecos League, an independent baseball league which is not affiliated with Major or Minor League Baseball...
, became part of the new Pecos League for the 2011 season.
History
In 1946, Herbert L. Kokernot, Jr., son of Texas cattle rancher and entrepreneurEntrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
Herbert L. Kokernot, retooled the semi-professional baseball team the Alpine Cats into the Alpine Cowboys. While semi-professional teams were not uncommon in Texas at the time, the Alpine Cowboys had the unusual benefit of a brand new stadium, Kokernot Field, opened for them in 1947. Constructed at a cost of $1,500,000.00, the elaborately decorated stadium included imported infield clay shipped by train from Georgia. The Alpine Cowboys used the stadium as home base from 1947 through 1958, during which time they took a dozen titles in the regional and were runners up for a national championship. In addition to supporting the team and the region with a state of the art stadium, Kokernot also actively supported athletes in Alpine and elsewhere, bringing promising high school graduates onto the roster of the team and offering college scholarships to players throughout the southwest.
In a 2007 article, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram is a major U.S. daily newspaper serving Fort Worth and the western half of the North Texas area known as the Metroplex. Its area of domination is checked by its main rival, The Dallas Morning News, which is published from the eastern half of the Metroplex. It is owned...
described the team as "one of the state's finest semiprofessional teams". The team launched a number of baseball professional, including two Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame
A hall of fame, wall of fame, walk of fame, walk of stars or avenue of stars is a type of attraction established for any field of endeavor to honor individuals of noteworthy achievement in that field...
inductees. Among them was coach Tom Chandler. Team members included Gaylord Perry
Gaylord Perry
Gaylord Jackson Perry is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He pitched from 1962-1983 for eight different teams in his career. During a 22-year baseball career, Perry compiled 314 wins, 3,534 strikeouts, and a 3.11 earned run average...
and Norm Cash
Norm Cash
Norman Dalton Cash was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball who spent almost his entire career with the Detroit Tigers...
.
In the days of segregation in Texas, Kokernot arranged for many exhibition games between traveling Negro League
Negro league baseball
The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams predominantly made up of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relatively successful leagues beginning in...
teams—led by such stars as Satchel Paige
Satchel Paige
Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige was an American baseball player whose pitching in the Negro leagues and in Major League Baseball made him a legend in his own lifetime...
-- and visiting Mexican League teams. Those exhibitions drew fans from hundreds of miles away.
Year-by-year record
| Season | Finish | W-L | Win% | Playoffs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 |