Minor league baseball will make its return to Abilene in 2012, when the Abilene Blue Sox return to the diamond as part of the Pecos League of Professional Baseball.
The Blue Sox will make their second appearance as an Abilene minor league team after the original team left Abilene in the mid-50’s after the West Texas-New Mexico League moved up to Class B in 1955.
The Blue Sox are slated for official approval in early January of 2012 and expect to begin playing games at McMurry’s Walt Driggers Field when the Pecos League season begins.
“The Blue Sox will play at Driggers field for the upcoming neutral site games and next season,” said Director of University Relations at McMurry Nancy Smith.
The Blue Sox will become the seventh minor league team to try and find a niche in the crowded Abilene sports market. The last team to try to find a spot in Abilene was the Abilene Prairie Dogs, who ultimately failed after the 1999 season. Kemp however is optimistic that the Abilene connection the Blue Sox already have will help the long-term vitality of his club.
“The Blue Sox connection to Howard Green is a big reason why we are bringing them back,” said the Blue Sox principle owner Richard Kemp.
Green, a graduate of McMurry, was the original founder of the Abilene Blue Sox in 1946, when he and a few other veterans of World War II decided to start a team after the war. Green kept the Blue Sox in Abilene for more than a decade until 1957, when the team left the city.
The Blue Sox will found a scholarship fund in honor of Green. Proceeds from the upcoming neutral-site games will serve as fundraisers for the scholarship fund.
“We are all motivated to honor Howard’s legacy,” said Kemp. “There is a lot riding on the success of the neutral site games and the future of the Blue Sox.”
The neutral site games will be held on May 27-28 and June 19-21. The first series of games in May will feature the Alpine Cowboys against the Ruidoso Osos in two doubleheaders on May 27 and 28. In June, the Alpine Cowboys will return to face the Carlsbad Bats in a three-game set.
In order for the Blue Sox to buck the failing trend of other minor league teams attempting to settle roots in Abilene, they will need to secure a field of their own in the coming years.
“The long term-viability of minor league team is having a dedicated facility,” Kemp said.
Kemp would like to see a facility that would seat around 1000 fans and have the ability to sell beer, something McMurry’s field does not allow.
The Blue Sox are set to begin play in 2012.
