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| NHS induction ceremony.... National Honor Society installed new officers and inducted new members last Wednesday. They are (L to R): Outgoing President Emiley McCoy, Rosalia Corrales, new member and Vice-President, Rutesh Bhakta, outgoing Admin Asst/Treasurer, Desirae Brewster, outgoing Vice-President, Isaiah Rodriguez, new member and President, and Ram Patel, new member and Admin Asst/Treasurer. |
- I heard a lot of familiar baseball sounds at Kokernot Field when I made the 99-mile trip over to Alpine with my two brothers and one of my sisters. In the cool of a Saturday evening, on a field freshly dusted and against a backdrop of the green wall, we sat in the historic seats and watched a rousing game complete with homeruns, double plays, strike-outs and three-ups-three-downs. Despite the distance, it’s a trip we’ll take again for the sake of a good baseball game.
Some of the sounds we heard are unique to Big Bend Cowboys baseball. Like the clanking of a cowbell when something good happened whether on-field or not. As the night wore on, it became a staple to the Cowboys baseball game and instead of jumping every time I heard it, I started to expect it.
The Cowboys aren’t new to Alpine and neither is Kokernot Field.
The field, built by local 06 Ranch owner Herbert L. Kokernot, Jr., opened in 1947 and served as the home to his newly purchased team, the Alpine Cowboys. Kokernot spared no expense and spent $1.25 million (nearly $12 million today) to build the replica of Wrigley Field, said Cowboys present-day manager JR Smith.
Smith, who doubles as the town’s Chamber of Commerce Director, has been managing the Cowboys for a year and said the team has been a “tremendous benefit to the city of Alpine.”
Opening night for the Cowboys was May 6 and the attendance was 605 compared to last year’s opening day attendance of 470.
The Cowboys play every Thursday, Friday, Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons for a total of 61 games, 44 of those played on their home turf.
Kokernot Field also hosts Alpine High School baseball games, serves as the field for Sul Ross University baseball and also pulses with the activity of summer Pony and Little League baseball programs. Life for Kokernot Field is not dull.
Thirty-four names are on the Cowboys roster and according to Smith, players are from a variety of places including California, South Dakota, Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, Texas, Australia, Cuba and Japan. Two of the starters are Sol Ross University graduates.
“It’s exciting to be able to have local guys contributing to the team,” said Smith.
According to this year’s program, three Major League Baseball Hall of Famers have made appearances at Kokernot Field. Gaylord Perry spent a summer with the Cowboys and Satchel Paige and Ernie Banks played exhibition games at the field. Sul Ross University graduate Norm Cash played with the Alpine Cowboys before signing onto the Chicago White Sox. Major leaguers Don Newcombe, Bob Turley, Dalton Jones, Joel Horlen and Jim Fregosi also played at Kokernot.
From 1947 to 1958, the Alpine Cowboys were among the most recognized semipro teams in the nation and later, from 1959 to 1961 became a Class D sophomore minor league under the Boston Red Sox. In 1962, the sophomore league folded and the field’s only baseball action was from the Sul Ross Lobos.
In 1968, Kokernot left the field to Alpine High School when Sul Ross dissolved their baseball program. In 1984, when Sul Ross revived their program, they began playing at Kokernot Field again. One of Kokernot’s conditions was that no advertising be displayed on the back wall of the field.
“It is sacred,” said Smith. “A tradition.”
If it’s possible to go from never having heard of the Big Bend Cowboys to being a fan, I’ve done it. And so has my whole family. I had to send text updates of the score back home to my parents who also had never heard of the Cowboys but were now suddenly enthralled with the game I was watching. Must be the power of good baseball.
Tickets can be purchased online at www.bigbendcowboys.com or at the ticket counter. Bleachers are $6.50 but I’d pay the extra dollar to have covered chair back seats. Box seats are $11 and while you have a prime view of the field, you’ll miss out on the crowd games hosted by the Cowgirls (and there’s really not that great of a distance between the chair back seats and the box seats.)
Whether you’re a fan or have never heard of the Big Bend Cowboys, you need to attend at least one game this summer. It’s affordable family fun and nearly in our backyard.
Editor’s Note: This is a weekly column featuring area summer activities. What you read about here, the author has done! If you have an idea or suggestion, please contact Holly Wise at wiseholly1@gmail.com.