Baseball in Denver

By Matthew Kasper Repplinger II

Images of Baseball: Baseball in Denver shares the city s prominent role in America s great game. The lore of baseball s first pioneers plays out in a real-life soap opera for this Western city. From the early Hall-of-Fame players to the storied baseball-talent barons of Denver s primitive days, baseball has always been on the forefront of the Denver sports horizon. From Tinker to Satchel Paige to The Babe himself, the Mile High City has been a barnstormer s oasis in a town that was nothing short of the Wild West. The Denver Post Tournament and the rich history of the Denver Bears are highlighted, as well as the many fields and landmarks throughout the city. With the inception of the Colorado Rockies, Denver once again set the stage for big-league baseball, which many of Denver s local baseball legends have been no stranger to.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: May 20, 2013
• ISBN: 9781439642214

Matthew Kasper Repplinger II

Matthew Kasper Repplinger II works for Major League Baseball as a statistician and serves as the president of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research. He is the player-manager of the Denver Browns, Denver�s top semiprofessional baseball organization.

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INTRODUCTION

Prior to the arrival of major-league baseball in the Mile High City, many Americans thought of Denver, Colorado, as a beautiful town with a view of the Rocky Mountains that other cities would die for. Others thought of Denver as the gateway to Ski Country USA and as the home of the Broncos and John Elway.

In 1991, when Major League Baseball awarded Denver a National League expansion franchise, many in the baseball world were doubtful that Denver could become a baseball town. But the city’s faithful were not surprised when, in its inaugural season in 1993, the Colorado Rockies set a single-season attendance record. Those not familiar with Denver’s sports history would be surprised to know that the city has always been a baseball town.

With Denver still in its infancy and the Civil War entering its second year, the first recorded game of base ball (in the spelling of the time) in Denver took place on April 26, 1862. The McNeils Side defeated the Hulls Side 20-7. The city of Denver grew rapidly, and the amateur game spread quickly as well. Neighborhoods and merchants established teams and issued challenges, through newspapers, for games on Sunday afternoons. As demand grew for more and more baseball, the competition for talented players became intense, and the practice of paying individual players became commonplace. In Denver and throughout Colorado, the level of play had developed to the point that the St. Louis Globe-Democrat began to cover the region’s games in 1876. The influx of professional players into Denver allowed team owners to begin charging spectators to see their clubs play. In 1879, the Denver Browns became the first fully professional team when it represented the city in a series of games against a Salt Lake City ball club.

In 1886, a team named simply the Denvers became the city’s first participant in organized baseball when it joined the new Western League. The club boasted seven men who would go on to the big leagues, including Joe Straub, Dan Dugdale, Billy Mountjoy, Baldy Silch, George Tebeau, and Flaming Darby O’Brien. The arrival of Dave Rowe and George Tebeau in Denver was vital to the expansion of professional and amateur baseball in the city in the 1880s. Rowe and Tebeau are rightly referred to as the fathers of Denver baseball. At various times, both men played major-league baseball, managed at the professional level, and owned the Denver minor-league franchise.

Major-league teams regularly barnstormed through Denver, starting when Dave Rowe brought his Kansas City Cowboys to town in 1886. Next came the Philadelphia Phillies (1887), the Chicago White Stockings (now the Cubs), and the All-America Team, which had embarked on a world tour in 1888. The St. Louis, Cleveland, and Boston teams also played in Denver in the 1880s. Denver had developed into such a hotbed for baseball that George Tebeau was able to convince the renowned Cap Anson to bring his Chicago team to the city in 1891 for spring training. Tebeau also championed the inclusion of African American professional players, such as George Taylor and William Castone, on the rosters of white teams.

Denver baseball fans knew talent when they saw it, and they saw an abundance of it. Before the dawn of the 20th century, nearly 20 of the city’s players reached the major leagues. When the Colorado Rockies took the field at Mile High Stadium on April 9, 1993, in front of over 80,000 fans, Denver became a big-league town—but Denver had always been a baseball town. Dave Rowe and George Tebeau would have been proud.

—Jay Sanford

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PIONEERS AND PLACES

The Broadway Grounds were located at Broadway Boulevard and Colfax Avenue between Sixteenth Street and Lincoln Avenue. This photograph was taken from the Colorado State Capitol Building, looking north-northwest. The domed building in the center is the Arapahoe County Courthouse, located on the future sight of the May D&F Store and the famous ice rink and clock tower. The Broadway Grounds site was used for baseball in Denver as early as 1862.

For 18 years, John Bid McPhee was the preeminent second baseman on the preeminent professional baseball team, the Cincinnati Reds. His inclusion in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, albeit only recent (2000), was just a matter of time. Bid was the last second baseman to play the position without a glove. This fact is all the more impressive,