El Paso Diablos

Independent baseball team
name = El Paso Diablos
founded = 2005
city = El Paso, Texas

cap
current league = American Association
current division = South Division
past league = * Texas League (1974-2004)
* Central Baseball League (2005)
currentname = El Paso Diablos (1974-2004), (2005-present)
colors = Black, Red, White
ballpark = Cohen Stadium
pastparks =
leaguechamps = None
divisionchamps =
owner = Mark Schuster
manager = Butch Henry
gm = Matt LaBranche
media = KHEY 1380 AM
website = http://www.diablos.com www.diablos.com

The El Paso Diablos are a professional baseball team based in El Paso, Texas, in the United States. The Diablos are a member of the South Division of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. Since the 2005 season to the present, the Diablos have played their home games at Cohen Stadium. The team's name means "devils" in the Spanish language.

A Maverick Beginning...

The team has its roots going back to 1892, when the team was originally called the El Paso Browns. The name eventually changed to the Mavericks. In 1913, the El Paso Mavericks played in the Copper League, which consisted of teams from Silver City, Hurley, and Santa Rita, New Mexico. Despite coming in third place that season, the Mavericks went on to win the post season tournament, becoming the Southwestern Champions of 1913. In 1915, the Mavericks joined the Rio Grande Association, a Class D minor league. Though the league folded after a year, the Mavericks continued to play in some form or another.

In 1924, the longtime home for the team, Dudley Field (known, locally as the "Dudley Dome") named for El Paso Mayor R.M. “Dick” Dudley, was constructed in South El Paso. While technically not a Dome in the sense of the word, the stadium had the unique ability to keep the temperature inside the stadium the same as the outside of the stadium. Another unique feature of the park was that the facade was constructed out of adobe. A final feature, one that would be used by the Brewers to test their pitchers in the future was that it was notoriously hitter friendly. Due to its cozy dimensions (340-395-340), pitchers had to work hard to make sure their ERAs would at least be below five.

In 1922, Syd and Andy Cohen played for the Mavericks and later played in the Major Leagues. Andy Cohen was a second baseman for the New York Giants, and Syd was a pitcher for several different teams in the American League, though he would be the last pitcher to strike out Babe Ruth. Syd also pitched in the Mexican leagues and later managed the Juarez team.

From Mavericks To Texans

In 1930, the team, now known as the El Paso Texans, was admitted to the Arizona State League in 1930 to replace the defunct Mesa Jewels. The Arizona State League included teams from Phoenix, Tucson, and Douglas. El Paso was the only Texas team in the league and missed winning the pennant by only half a game, losing to the Bisbee Bees.

The Texans remained in this league for decades. In 1931, the Arizona State League became the Arizona Texas League, which ran from 1931-32 and revived in 1937-1941. In 1940, the League was made into a Class C league. The league halted play from 1942 to 1946 because of World War II, though the Texans did play in the Mexican National League for one year, in 1946. The Arizona-Texas League play resumed in 1947, until 1950, when the league merged with the Sunset League to form the Southwestern International League. This league only lasted for a year before reverting back into the Arizona-Texas League.

In 1950, owner Jack Corbett sold the team in August to Dick Saunders and Tom Love, two young El Paso building contractors. Saunders and Love hired John Phelan to be the general manager. The Texans finished in second only to their rivals, the Juarez Indios, at the end of the season.

In 1951, the New York Yankees (featuring a young rookie named Mickey Mantle) came to El Paso to play an exhibition game against the Texans, winning 16 to 10. In 1954, the team was sold to Dick Azar, the El Paso Coors distributor who brought beer to the ballpark for the first time. Beer was sold during the game and was given to the players in their dressing room free of charge after the games.

After losing money for two seasons, Azar sold the team to Pat McLaughlin in 1956. The team won the Southwestern League pennant that season, but only 51,386 fans came to see the Texans play all season. Due to money problems, McLaughlin handed the team in 1957 to Tom McHugh, S.E. Adams and Jimmy Hamilton. At the end of the season, the Southwestern League dropped the El Paso Texans.

The Dawn of the Sun Kings

Professional baseball was not played in El Paso again until 1961 when a group of 40 people, known as the Sports Development Committee of the El Paso Chamber of Commerce, took it upon themselves to revive it. John Phelan, the Texans former manager, was named Vice President and General Manager. Each of the 40 people put up to $500 to help finance the team. Phelan and the committee managed to get the organization into the independent Sophomore League and renamed the team the El Paso Sun Kings. The Sun Kings had a terrific season, finishing in third, and, for the first time, turned a profit.

In 1962, the Sun Kings were invited to join the Class AA Texas League. The organization's rookie season was a huge success, as they won the Texas League championship. In 1963, the team hit 207 home runs, setting a new league record for most home runs in a season.

From 1961 to 1964, the El Paso Ball club had been affiliated with the San Francisco Giants, their most notable player coming through the system at the time being Jesús Alou of the famous baseball family. In 1965, the Sun Kings became a farm team for the California Angels.The Sports Development Committee sold the team to Angels owner Gene Autry for $1, fulfilling their mission of bringing professional baseball back to El Paso. John Stanfill replaced John Phelan as general manager in 1967, and the team came in second to Albuquerque, which won the Texas League pennant that season. During the Sun Kings' tenure as an Angel Affiliate, one of their most famous prospects passed through their system: a young second base prospect by the name of Kurt Russell. Russell led the league in hitting with a .563 batting average. However, during a play, he was hit in the shoulder by another player running to second base, the collision resulting in a torn rotator cuff in his shoulder. The injury forced his retirement from baseball in 1973, and he returned to acting. Russell recently told Sports Illustrated that before his injury, he was going to be called up.

The partnership with the Angels lasted till 1970. The team was without an affiliate for one season until 1972, when the Los Angeles Dodgers brought theirs to El Paso.

From Sun Kings to Diablos

In 1974, Jim Paul bought the team, creating what is arguably the golden age of El Paso baseball. The name was changed from the Sun Kings to the Diablos; Paul also held numerous promotions and promoted a lively, fan-friendly atmosphere at the ballpark. The Diablos became the first Double A team to ever draw 300,000 fans. The Dodgers’ partnership with the Diablos ended in 1974, after which the Diablos resumed their affiliation with the Angels from 1974 until 1981 (the Dodgers' AA affiliate moved to San Antonio). Among the many Diablos who played in the Major Leagues include Mike Witt, Darrell Sconiers and Tom Brunansky.

In 1980, the Diablos began airing all of their baseball games on radio station KTSM AM-1380, with current UTEP football announcer John Teicher as one of its first play-by-play announcers.

In 1981, the Diablos became an affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers, a relationship which lasted until 1999.

Also in 1981, Texaco installed a $70,000 electronic scoreboard at Dudley Field. The Diablos won the Texas League Pennant in 1986. In 1988, the Diablos also had a young prospect named Gary Sheffield.

However, as the decade continued, the old Dudley Dome was showing its age. It became apparent that the team would need a new facility, as the city was expanding and the area around the Dudley Dome was becoming increasingly destitute. Construction began in the growing Northeast area of El Paso on a new facility, with the stadium completed in time for the 1990 season. In 1989. the Diablos said farewell to the Dudley Dome, their home of 65 years, and greeted their new ballpark, Cohen Stadium, named after the Cohen brothers, who had returned to El Paso to work for the club. Both Cohen brothers died within 6 months of each other in El Paso in 1988. The Dudley Dome continued to have tenants however, hosting the El Paso Patriots Soccer Club before its current tenant, the El Paso Scorpions Rugby Club. The Dome was finally demolished on November 5, 2005.

In 1990, Cohen Stadium opened to the public, becoming an immediate success for the team. That same year, it became the only minor league ballpark to grace the cover of "National Geographic". The Diablos won the Texas League pennant again in 1994 and remained competitive for several years after.

In 1999, the Diablos ended their relationship with Brewers, and soon agreed to become the Double A affiliate for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Around the same time, Paul, after years of building the Diablos into the model franchise, sold the team to Brett Sports and Entertainment, a sports conglomerate headed by former major leaguer George Brett.

The Death of the El Paso Diablos?

This change instead signaled the beginning of the end of Minor League baseball in El Paso. The Diablos ceased many of the promotions that made the team successful earlier, and the lack of strong players (save for the brief time that Brad Penny spent in the organization) in the Arizona system rendered the team weak and unsuccessful. With the exception of making the playoffs in 2000, the team was largely dismal and the atmosphere around the park had largely changed from the lighthearted atmosphere that had existed during the Jim Paul era.

One other factor that affected attendance was the constant rumors that the team would be moved, rumors that Brett Sports and Entertainment would refuse to admit or deny. With every stadium construction that seemed to take place around the country, the Diablos would always be linked as a possible tenant. Furthermore, Brett Sports and Entertainment demanded the city of El Paso make millions in renovations to Cohen Stadium, which the city refused when there was no indication that the team would be staying. There was a brief spike in attendance on July 11, 2003 when Randy Johnson made a rehab start, but attendance remained low and the team began to hemorrhage money.

In 2004, with the Diablos’ contract with the Diamondbacks soon to expire, ownership made no move to re-sign with the Diamondbacks. While there was speculation of the team possibly changing teams, Diablo fans' worst fears were realized when it was announced that the team had been sold to the St. Louis Cardinals for an estimated $9.8 million. Public backlash resulted; Brett Sports and Entertainment attempted to search for a team to replace the departing Diablos, but in the end, the Diablos moved to Springfield, Missouri to become the Springfield Cardinals.

The Rebirth of the El Paso Diablos

However, the move of the team signalled a new beginning of the Diablos. In 2005, it was announced that the independent Central Baseball League had granted a franchise to Mark Schuster, who brought back the Diablos to begin play that same year. Former Los Angeles Dodgers utilityman Mike Marshall was selected to manage the team. The front office returned to the management style that had been in use during the Jim Paul era, bringing back many fans that had become disenchanted with the team in recent years.

The team's debut on May 6, 2005, set a league attendance record of 10,116. Though the team finished in last during the first half of the season, the Diablos came alive in the second half, finishing in third and just missing the playoffs. The team set an attendance record for the league, finishing with an attendance of 190,429. The team also had several other special moments throughout the year. On Friday, July 8, 2005, former Major Leaguer and El Paso native Rocky Coppinger took the mound for a start. On July 27, the Florida Marlins purchased the contract of RHP Andy Torres from the Diablos.

Following the end of the season, the Diablos announced that they would join with several fellow Central League members including the Coastal Bend Aviators, the Fort Worth Cats, the Pensacola Pelicans, and the Shreveport Sports and join with former Northern League teams the Saint Paul Saints, Sioux City Explorers, the Sioux Falls Canaries, and the Lincoln Saltdogs to form the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball as an independent minor league. The league began play in 2006 with a 96 game schedule along with an expansion team in St. Joseph, Missouri known as the Blacksnakes. The league's first All-Star game was in El Paso, Texas and played against the Can-Am League in July 2006.

With the second season beginning in May 2006, the Diablos had an air of hope around them and were expected to contend in their new league. However, the team had vastly changed from the year before thanks to the purchase of closer Derrick DePriest by the Kansas City Royals on February 13, 2006. Also, upon Marshall's request, several members of the San Angelo Colts were signed, giving the Diablos possibly the most powerful offensive unit in the league, but the pitching staff that had been so mediocre the year before was unchanged. The team stumbled badly at the start of the season. The offense was dormant through much of the time, a factor that was worsened when offensive star Juan Camacho was bought by the Chicago White Sox on May 29. With the team floundering, on June 16, 2006, Marshall was released and replaced in the coming days by former Major League pitcher Butch Henry, a graduate of El Paso's Eastwood High School. Though Henry provided some improvement, the team was still terrible and continued to struggle. The Diablos would lose shortstop Albenis Machado on August 13 when he was sold to the Chicago Cubs and eight days later would be on the receiving end of a no-hitter by Fort Worth Cats pitcher Joel Kirsten. The Diablos would ultimately finish last in the Southern Division.

With new manager Butch Henry on board the Diablos were expected to be a much better team for the 2007 season, and they did finish the first half of the season in first place in the Southern Division with 28 wins and 23 losses and 4 games ahead of second place Sheveport and automatically getting a spot for the league play-offs - their first play-off appearance since the 2000 season when they were in the AA Texas League. Another exciting thing happened in the first half of the season on the 4th of July, the Diablos set the league attendance single-game record with more than 11,000 fans attending a game.

Notable Diablo Alumni

*Jim Anderson
*John Balaz
*Ralph Botting
*Tom Brunansky
*Andy Cohen
*Syd Cohen
*Paul Dade
*Bob Ferris
*Teddy Higuera
*Randy Johnson
*Byung-Hyun Kim
*Fred Kuhaulua
*Carney Lansford
*Lyle Overbay
*Brad Penny
*Kurt Russell
*Darrell Sconiers
*Gary Sheffield
*Chad Tracy
*Dan Uggla
*Brandon Webb
*Mike Witt
*Cory Lidle
* John Jaha

External links

* [http://www.diablos.com El Paso Diablos official website]
* [http://www.ballparkreviews.com/elpaso/dudley.htm Ball Park Reviews Page on Dudley Field]
* [http://www.aabfan.com/elpaso/ aabfan.com El Paso Diablos Guide]

References

* [http://www.aabfan.com/league/ aabfan.com] - yearly league standings & awards (American Association)