From Sun Kings to Chihuahuas: the Evolution and Impact of Baseball in El Paso

El Paso baseball goes back to the 1890s, but in 2005 The Diablos baseball team was started, which was the first minor league team in El Paso. In 2014 started the new El Paso baseball team who are known as The Chihuahuas. Over the years the team has grown and exceeding tremendously. Baseball in El Paso has become more popular and the stadium gets filled each game day.

Previous to the Diablos having ""The Diablos"" as their team name, it was the ""Sun Kings.

"" The team name changed in 1974 when the team was still a Texas league. After 2004 the team's 31 years of being in the Texas League ended. In 2005, the El Paso Diablos played in the independent Central Baseball League, they joined the newly formed American Association the following season. ""The Diablos have played in the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball since 2006. In 2005, the team played in the Central Baseball League"" (kvia.com, 2011). In 2006, the Diablos became El Paso's first minor league baseball team. The Diablos had many good seasons from 2005 - 2010. In 2011 the Diablos had a disappointing season. The Diablos owner, Schuster sold the Diablos to the Tigua Tribe, a Native American tribe in June 2011. ""The team won't be leaving El Paso. Who is a part of the local ownership group remaining a mystery"" (kvia.com, 2011). Even though the Diablos had ended, there was going to be another El Paso baseball team announced.

In 2012, the announcement of the new baseball team was made, which are now known as the ""El Paso Chihuahuas."" The Chihuahuas are the Triple-A affiliate of the Major League baseball team, the San Diego Padres. The El Paso Chihuahuas officially started their first season in 2014 and they recently just ended their fifth season. The El Paso Chihuahuas stadium is the Southwest University Park. In the beginning of their season the stadium was under construction, they played their first 24 games on the road. Their first home game at their stadium finally took place on April 28th. ""We at Southwest University are extremely excited to become a part of the Chihuahuas' baseball family, (ballparkdigest.com, 2014)"" said Yolanda Arriola, president of Southwest University. Going inside the Southwest University park you can feel the excitement of the fans and you can see how much the players enjoy the game.

The El Paso Chihuahuas have had many achievements throughout all their season. Many of the former Chihuahuas players are now playing in the Major Leagues. Adam Cimber is one of the players that had the most experience with the Chihuahuas out of the 2018 MLB postseason participants. Cimber pitched for the Chihuahuas in 2015, 2016, and, 2017, he is now playing for the Cleveland Indians (milb.com, 2018). Other players such as, Yonder Alonso, Tony Sipp, and Edwin Jackson, have all played for the Chihuahuas and are now playing for Major Leagues teams. Going from being in a Minor Leagues to now being in a Major League is a huge accomplishment to players that have achieved that. Other achievements the Chihuahuas have made were having an audience of more than 8,000 people per game. Every year they have at least 7,000 to 8,000 people in their audience. In 2017, the El Paso Chihuahuas had drawn almost three million fans in just four seasons. ""Thank you for the love and support this season and the 4 before!! We can't do it without you, we truly have the best fans in baseball! (twitter.com, 2018)."" The accomplishment of having that many people constantly attend the baseball games must be a good feeling to the players and the coaches. The players truly appreciate and thank all the fans that show up to all their games.

Baseball in El Paso is a huge part of El Paso's community. People look forward to baseball season and look forward to going to games. Baseball in El Paso has always brought people together. The sport has always been around, but to see how much it has grown over the past couple of years is amazing. The El Paso Diablos left a legacy on the El Paso Community, and the Chihuahuas are continuing it. Having former Chihuahua players represent in another state is also huge for our community. From being on the road for the first few games and now having over 8,000 people attending each game is a huge accomplishment for the Chihuahuas and for the Community. El Paso continues to grow every year, having events like baseball games bring the community together.

Works Cited:

@epchihuahuas. ""Saving our last tweet of the night for the best, you, the fans! Thank you for the love and support this season the 4 before!! We can't do it without you, we truly have the best fans in baseball!"" Twitter 10 Sep 2018, 04:56 p.m., Twitter.com/epchihuahuas/status/1039014731942649856.

2018 Minor League Baseball. ""El Paso Chihuahuas."" MiLB.com,. www.milb.com/el-paso.7th Oct. 2018,

Reichard, Kevin. ""New for 2014: Southwest University Park."" Ballpark Digest, 6 Mar. 2014, ballparkdigest.com/201403067148/minor-league-baseball/news/new-for-2014-southwest-university-park.

Knight, Bill. ""El Paso Chihuahuas Bring Fun, Good Baseball and Large Crowds in Last Four Years."" El Paso Times, El Paso Times, 31 Mar. 2018, www.elpasotimes.com/story/sports/baseball/chihuahuas/2018/03/29/el-paso-chihuahuas-baseball-attendance/1085238001/.

Ochoa, Adrian. ""Chihuahuas' Success Means More People Are Coming to Downtown El Paso."" KVIA, KVIA, 4 Sept. 2018, www.kvia.com/news/el-paso/chihuahuas-success-means-more-people-are-coming-to-dowtown-el-paso/790159507.

Hunt, Darren. ""Source: El Paso Diablos To Be Sold This Week."" KVIA, KVIA, 23 Aug. 2016, www.kvia.com/news/source-el-paso-diablos-to-be-sold-this-week/53352068.

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