| Alpine Cowboys | |
| Founded: | 1946 |
| City: | Alpine, Texas |
| Ballpark: | Kokernot Field |
| League: | Pecos League (2011–present) |
| Former Leagues: |
|
| Former Names: | Big Bend Cowboys (2009–10) |
| Retired Numbers: | Jared Strait (57) |
| Colors: | Red, white (red, green and white from 2009–10) |
| Owner: | Big Bend Community Baseball and Softball Inc. (nonprofit) |
| President: | Bob Ward |
| General Manager: | Kristin Cavness |
| Manager: | Sean Persky |
| Media: | KVLF 1240AM/98.7FM |
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 a Major League Baseball organization. They play their home games at Kokernot Field, a 1,200 seat stone and wrought-iron replica of Chicago's Wrigley Field that dates from 1948.
In 1946, Herbert L. Kokernot, Jr., son of Texas cattle rancher and entrepreneur Herbert L. Kokernot, retooled the semi-professional baseball team the Alpine Cats into the Alpine Cowboys.[1] 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 $1.5 million, the elaborately decorated stadium included imported infield clay shipped by train from Georgia. The Cowboys used the stadium as its home field from 1947 through 1958, during which time they took a dozen titles in the regional and were runners up for a national championship. 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 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. The team featured future major league stars, including Norm Cash, Gaylord Perry, and Joe Horlen. 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.
In a 2007 article, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram described the team as "one of the state's finest semiprofessional teams".[2] The team launched a number of baseball professionals, including two Hall of Fame inductees. Among them was coach Tom Chandler. Team members included Gaylord Perry and Norm Cash.[2]
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.[3] The new Cowboys immediately won the Class D Sophomore League title and set the record for the highest winning percentage of any Red Sox minor league team.[4] [5] [3] The 1959 champion team was managed by future Red Sox manager Eddie Popowski and featured three future major leaguers, pitcher Don Schwall, who two years later won the American League Rookie of the Year Awards; second baseman Chuck Schilling, who finished fourth behind Schwall in the same balloting; and pitcher Guido Grilli. The 1960 team featured future California Angels all-star 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.
In 2009, the Cowboys finished fourth with a 37–23 record. The Cowboys then defeated Bay Area in the semifinals, earning them a berth in the championship. They were then defeated by Alexandria two games to none.[6] In 2010, the final year of the CBL, the Cowboys went 33–15 in the regular season. They then defeated Las Cruces in the championship, earning them their first Ferguson Jenkins trophy.[7] [8]
After the 2010 season, Alpine reorganized as a nonprofit corporation and became charter members of the Pecos League alongside Las Cruces. In 2011, the Cowboys retired "Big Bend" and returned to the Alpine Cowboys name.
In 2012, the Cowboys won their first Pecos League championship, defeating Roswell.[9]
In 2019, the club captured their second Pecos League championship, defeating Bakersfield in the finals.[10]
On June 9, 2023, pitcher Jared Strait passed away in a car crash outside of Eldorado, Texas while on a road trip to play Austin. The team retired his number, 57.[11]
In 2024, Alpine held a league best 45–4 record. The team set the Pecos League record with a winning percentage. On August 5, 2024, infielder James Prockish became the all time Pecos League hits leaders.[12]
| Alpine Cowboys | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | League | Division | Record | Win % | Finish | Manager | Playoffs | MLB affiliate | Class |
| 1959 | South | 88–34 | 1st | Won Semifinals (Hobbs) 2–0 Won Finals (Carlsbad) 2–0 | D | ||||
| 1960 | SOPH | – | 76–52 | 1st | Dick Kinaman | Won First Half Lost Finals (Hobbs) 1–2 | D | ||
| 1961 | SOPH | – | 62–63 | 4th | Did not qualify | D | |||
| Totals | 226–149 | — | — | — | — | ||||
| Alpine Cowboys | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | League | Division | Record | Win % | Finish | Manager | Playoffs |
| 2009 | – | 37–23 | 4th | Donnie Randell | Won Semifinals (Bay Area) 2–1 Lost Finals (Alexandria) 0–2 | ||
| 2010 | CNTL | – | 33–15 | 1st | Donnie Randell | Won Finals (Las Cruces) 2–1 | |
| 2011 | – | 36–30 | 4th | Ryan Stevens | Lost Semifinals (Roswell) 1–2 | ||
| 2012 | Pecos | – | 45–24 | 1st | Ryan Stevens | Won Semifinals (Trinidad) 2–0 Won Finals (Las Cruces) 2–1 | |
| 2013 | Pecos | South | 43–26 | 2nd | Ryan Stevens | Lost South Finals (Roswell) 0–2 | |
| 2014 | Pecos | South | 48–20 | 1st | Ryan Stevens | Won South Finals (Roswell) 2–1 Lost League Finals (Santa Fe) 1–2 | |
| 2015 | Pecos | South | 43–26 | 1st | Brett Kennedy | Lost South Finals (Roswell) 2–3 | |
| 2016 | Pecos | South | 32–32 | 3rd | Thomas Nelson | Lost South Semifinals (Roswell) 0–2 | |
| 2017 | Pecos | Mountain | 43–18 | 1st | Austin Prott | Lost Mountain Division Championship (Roswell) 1–2 | |
| 2018 | Pecos | Mountain | 48–15 | 1st | Austin Prott | Won Mountain Division Championship (Trinidad) 2–0 Lost Pecos League championship (Bakersfield) 1–2 | |
| 2019 | Pecos | Mountain | 41–16 | 1st | Sean Persky | Won Mountain Division Semifinals (Roswell) 2–0 Won Pecos League championship (Bakersfield) 2–0 | |
| 2020 | Pecos | Season cancelled (COVID-19 pandemic) | |||||
| 2021 | Pecos | Mountain South | 31–25 | 2nd | Sean Persky | Lost Mountain Division Quarterfinals (Roswell) 1–2 | |
| Pecos | Mountain South | 32–17 | 1st | Sean Persky | Lost First Round (Trinidad) 1–2 | ||
| Pecos | Mountain | 36–16 | 2nd | Sean Persky | Lost First Round (Trinidad) 1–2 | ||
| Pecos | Mountain South | 45–4 | 1st | Sean Persky | Won Mountain Division Semifinals (Tucson) 2–1 TBD Mountain Division Finals (Garden City) | ||
| Totals | 593–307 | — | — | ||||