Topics in History: Baseball

The Colorado Rockies, Colorado’s major league baseball team, played their first home game in front of 80,227 fans at the now historic Mile High Stadium on April 9, 1993. They beat the Montreal Expos 11-4 that day in their first big-league regular-season game. Baseball, one of the oldest sports played in Colorado, had captured the hearts of residents long before the 1993 season.

As Colorado grew and leisure time was more widely accepted, people began spending their free time on sports, either as a spectator or participant. Amateur baseball teams were often organized by businesses and social and ethnic organizations. In 1862, George Tebeau is said to have organized the first official Colorado team, The Denvers.  Tebeau would later go on to co-found the American League in 1900. The Colorado Base Ball Club staged Denver’s first official baseball game on April 26, 1862.

In Denver, baseball fields were created all over the city, with amateur games being played at River Front Park located at the intersection of the South Platte River and Cherry Creek, Wynkoop Field at Wynkoop Street and 36th Avenue, and Sonny Lawson Field between Welton and California streets and 23rd and 24th avenues. Merchants Park located at South Broadway and Exposition Streets served as Denver professional field from 1922 to 1948. Bears Stadium, at 20th and Decatur Streets, opened August 14, 1948 with just 18,000 seats. Bears Stadium, eventually renamed Mile High Stadium, was the home of the Zephyrs, nicknamed the Bears, Colorado’s minor league team from 1955-1992. Today the Rockies play at Coors field and continue to draw legions of fans every season.

Historic Newspaper Articles about Baseball

Local Baseball News

• There will be a meeting Rocky Mountain News February 5, 1866
• Base Ball Rocky Mountain News February 28, 1866
• The National Game Rocky Mountain News May 27, 1871
• Denver and Cheyenne on the Green Diamond Denver Daily Tribune June 30, 1878
• Scooped! Fort Collins Courier October 7, 1882
• We Beat Em Fort Collins Courier October 14, 1882
• Bravo for the Blues! Leadville Daily and Evening Chronicle August 20, 1888
• Intellectual Base Ball Leadville Daily and Evening Chronicle June 8, 1889
• The Lady Ball Game Boulder Daily Camera May 25, 1892
• Baseball A Good Game and Lots of Sport for Boulder Fans Boulder Daily Camera May 29, 1892
• A Series of Games (scroll down to read article) Boulder Daily Camera May 29, 1892
• Golden Wins from Lafayette; Loses to Boulder Colorado Transcript July 29, 1909
• Triple Play Features Ball Game The Weekly Courier (Fort Collins) July 31, 1914
• Tsing Qualified as a Lion Tamer Part I Record Journal of Douglas County June 15, 1923

National Baseball News

• The Base Ball Craze Leadville Daily and Evening Chronicle April 22, 1889
• Baseball Carbonate Chronicle July 22, 1901
• Rector Was a Fan Longmont Ledger May 12, 1911
• The Baseball Pest Longmont Ledger May 26, 1911
• Dizzy Ball Yarns Part I Longmont Ledger June 16, 1911
• Dizzy Ball Yarns Part II Longmont Ledger June 16, 1911
• Wilson Real Fan Plans Seeing Game Today Telluride Journal April 10, 1913
• Fans Flock to Ebbets Field Weekly Ignacio Chieftan April 11, 1913
• Baseball Eggstraordinary Weekly Courier July 3, 1914
• Among the Baseball Players Weekly Courier July 3, 1914
• Ball Players Strike is Threatened Weekly Courier July 24, 1914
• Ball Players Strike Has Been Called Off Weekly Courier July 24, 1914
• Troubles of Base Ball Leagues to be Settled Through Suit in Court Weekly Courier January 8, 1915
• Winners of American League 1917 Pennant Record Journal of Douglas County October 5, 1917
• Yank Stadium Packed Record Journal of Douglas County April 27, 1923

Baseball Comics and Advertisements

• Friendless but not Alone Morning Times October 9, 1897
• Fleischmanns Private Baseball Park Morning Times May 31, 1899
• Bi-weekly Base Ball Dances Fairplay Flume June 9, 1905
• Just Like Any Other Citizen Daily Journal April 26, 1909
• Scoop it Opened His Eye to the Fact Fort Collins Courier May 5, 1921
• Scoop Swings a Mean Bat Fort Collins Courier May 13, 1921
• The Clancy Kids Horace Wasnt Convinced Fort Collins Courier May 11, 1921
• The Clancy Kids A New Way to See A Big Game Fort Collins Courier May 20, 1921
• The Clancy Kids Horace Peels the Roll Fort Collins Courier May 21, 1921
• Benefit Dance Record Journal of Douglas County May 5, 1922
• Baseball Dance Record Journal of Douglas County July 6, 1923
• Baseball Season Opens Fairplay Flume April 16, 1926

This topic in history and the related online primary sources are brought to you by the Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection, a free online resource of primary sources.  For this and other topics, please visit the Colorado Historic Newspapers Topics page. For questions about CHNC, contact Leigh Jeremias, ljeremias@colordovirtuallibrary.org