2012 Santa Fe Fuego Season Recap - The Expansion Team That Changed the Pecos League

The inaugural 2012 Santa Fe Fuego season was not a success by the traditional measurements of professional baseball, but it became one of the most important seasons in the early history of the Pecos League. The expansion Fuego finished 23-47, won only seven games on the road and failed to qualify for the playoffs in the six-team league. At one point during the summer, the club was even dubbed the worst professional baseball team in America. Despite all of that, the Fuego succeeded in an area that mattered enormously to the young Pecos League: Santa Fe embraced professional baseball.

Getting a team established in the City of Santa Fe was a major accomplishment for the Pecos League. The league had begun play in 2011 primarily in smaller communities throughout New Mexico and West Texas, and Santa Fe represented something different. It was the capital of New Mexico, an internationally recognized tourism destination and a city with a strong identity of its own. Establishing a successful franchise there gave the Pecos League credibility, visibility and a market that had the potential to become one of the foundations of the league.

There were plenty of questions about whether professional baseball could actually work at Fort Marcy Park. The ballpark was unlike a conventional professional baseball stadium. It sat at approximately 7,000 feet above sea level and featured extremely short outfield fences, measuring around 300 feet in places. The combination of the elevation, thin mountain air and small dimensions seemed almost certain to produce outrageous offensive numbers. Some questioned whether Fort Marcy was appropriate for professional baseball at all, and there were legitimate concerns about what games would look like once professional hitters began taking advantage of the conditions.

Then the Fuego started playing games, the fans started filling Fort Marcy and many of those concerns quickly became part of the attraction. Instead of hurting the franchise, the unusual ballpark helped create its identity. Fans sat close to the action, home runs could happen at almost any moment and no lead ever seemed completely safe. Fort Marcy became an entertaining and unpredictable place to watch baseball, and the Fuego did extremely well in attendance during their inaugural season.

There was also the famous "Beer Jail," which quickly became part of the Fort Marcy experience. It wasn't a luxury club or a modern stadium bar. It was exactly the type of unusual feature that fit the personality of independent baseball in Santa Fe. Fans could come to Fort Marcy, have a beer and watch professional baseball from only a short distance away. The ballpark wasn't trying to imitate a Major League stadium, and that became one of its greatest strengths. Fort Marcy was different, the Fuego were different and Santa Fe fans embraced it.

The arrival of the Fuego also finally gave Bill Moore his opportunity to manage in the Pecos League. Moore had been involved with the league long before the first Fuego game was played. He had participated in the original Pecos League foundation meetings and had been interested in becoming part of the new league from the beginning. Moore had spent decades managing the Bisbee Copper Kings and Garden of Gears and had been managing baseball since 1982. He wanted to bring the Bisbee Copper Kings into the Pecos League, but he was unable to convince Copper Kings owner Tom Mosher to join the new professional league.

That left Moore watching a league he had helped discuss and develop begin play without him. When the Santa Fe opportunity became available, he wasn't going to miss another chance. Moore made what would prove to be one of the best decisions of his baseball career and signed on to lead the expansion Santa Fe Fuego as the first manager in franchise history. After years of managing in Bisbee and being involved in the discussions that helped lead to the Pecos League, Bill Moore was finally a Pecos League manager.

Moore brought decades of baseball experience to Santa Fe, but even that experience couldn't completely prepare him for what he was about to encounter. The Pecos League had unusual fields, difficult travel, constantly changing rosters and ferocious hitters playing in high-altitude environments. Fort Marcy took those challenges to another level. A fly ball that might have been a routine out somewhere else could sail over the fence in Santa Fe, and pitchers who couldn't adjust quickly could find themselves in serious trouble.

Moore had always believed strongly in coaching and developing his players. If a player struggled, his instinct was to work with him and make him better. During the 2012 season, he learned that the short and unforgiving Pecos League schedule sometimes required a completely different approach. Moore eventually summarized the lesson perfectly: "In the Pecos League you can't make players better, you get new players. I loved our guys and I thought I could make them better. I was wrong."

That statement became an appropriate description of Moore's first Pecos League season. His instinct was to remain loyal to his players and coach them through their struggles, but the league moved quickly. There wasn't always time to wait several weeks for a pitcher or position player to develop. Managers had to recognize problems, make roster changes and find players who could immediately compete. The inaugural Fuego gave Moore an unforgettable introduction to that reality.

One of the most memorable players on the inaugural roster was 43-year-old Santa Fe pitcher Rodney Tafoya. Having a local player take the mound gave the expansion Fuego an immediate connection with the community, and it was fitting that Tafoya would start the Fuego's home opener against the Trinidad Triggers at Fort Marcy.

The first home game provided a perfect introduction to what professional baseball in Santa Fe was going to become. Trinidad scored twice in the top of the first inning, but the Fuego immediately answered with four runs in the bottom half. Santa Fe added another run in the second and exploded for six runs in the third. The Fuego eventually defeated Trinidad 17-8, giving the new franchise a memorable victory in front of its home fans.

Tafoya started the game before the Fuego eventually turned things over to the bullpen. Chris Treibt delivered an outstanding relief performance, throwing three scoreless and hitless innings while allowing only one walk and striking out five. Treibt earned the victory and became another important name from the inaugural Fuego roster.

The game lasted nearly four hours and featured 25 combined runs, 19 combined hits and 15 combined errors. It was chaotic, entertaining and completely unpredictable. In other words, it was a nearly perfect introduction to Pecos League baseball at Fort Marcy.

The ballpark quickly established itself as one of the most extreme hitter's parks in professional baseball. At approximately 7,000 feet above sea level with fences around 300 feet in places, almost any well-hit fly ball had a chance to leave the park. Pitchers had to adjust to both the dimensions and the way the baseball traveled through the thin mountain air. Games could become offensive shootouts almost instantly, and Fort Marcy allowed an extraordinary number of runs during the season.

A five-run lead at Fort Marcy wasn't necessarily comfortable. On some nights, neither was a ten-run lead. The conditions could be paradise for hitters and brutal for pitchers, and that became part of the identity of Santa Fe Fuego baseball almost immediately.

Chris Brown provided perhaps the best example of what a power hitter could accomplish in the environment. Brown hit 23 home runs in only 175 at-bats, producing one of the most impressive power displays on the inaugural roster. Fort Marcy rewarded hitters who could elevate the baseball, and Brown repeatedly demonstrated just how dangerous the ballpark could become when a legitimate power hitter stepped to the plate.

Despite the extreme offensive environment, the Fuego did receive several strong pitching performances during the season. Santa Fe native Jerome Romero finished 4-0 with a 4.51 ERA and became one of the team's best pitchers. Jonathan Sintes also emerged as one of the stronger arms on the staff, while Trent Evins provided badly needed durability by throwing 73 innings. In an environment where pitching staffs could be exhausted quickly, having pitchers capable of consistently taking the baseball was extremely valuable.

Chris Treibt also became an important member of the inaugural pitching staff. His scoreless relief work in the first home victory against Trinidad demonstrated exactly how valuable effective bullpen innings could be at Fort Marcy. In a ballpark where runs could accumulate rapidly, any pitcher capable of putting zeroes on the scoreboard gave the Fuego an opportunity to win.

One of the biggest problems for Santa Fe was what happened when the Fuego left home. The team became accustomed to the unusual style of baseball played at Fort Marcy. Fuego hitters understood the dimensions, became comfortable with the altitude and knew that almost no deficit was impossible to overcome. The home crowds also gave the club a legitimate home-field atmosphere.

On the road, everything changed. Balls that sailed over the fence in Santa Fe could become routine fly balls elsewhere. The dimensions were different, the atmosphere was different and the Fuego had difficulty adjusting. Santa Fe won only seven road games during the entire season, and that inability to win consistently away from Fort Marcy became one of the primary reasons the club never seriously entered the playoff race.

The Fuego eventually finished 23-47 and did not qualify for the playoffs in the six-team Pecos League. By traditional standards, the inaugural season was a difficult one. There were too many losses, too many runs allowed and too many nights when the pitching staff couldn't keep opposing hitters under control.

The struggles eventually became so pronounced that the team attracted attention far beyond Santa Fe. Writer Abe Streep documented the strange and fascinating existence of the inaugural Fuego in "The Legends of Last Place," a story centered around a club that had been dubbed the worst professional baseball team in America. The Fuego's struggles could have become an embarrassment for a new franchise, but instead they became part of the legend surrounding that first season.

The remarkable part was that losing didn't destroy the operation. Fans continued coming to Fort Marcy. The Beer Jail remained busy. The atmosphere remained entertaining. Home runs kept flying over the fences and the Fuego developed a personality that extended far beyond the standings. Santa Fe residents weren't simply being asked to watch a baseball team. They were becoming part of an unusual independent baseball experience that belonged specifically to their city.

That was enormously important to the Pecos League. For a young independent league trying to establish itself, a new team didn't necessarily have to win a championship to prove that a market worked. It needed fans. It needed community interest. It needed a ballpark where people wanted to spend summer evenings. Most importantly, it needed an identity strong enough that people cared enough to come back.

Santa Fe had all of those things almost immediately. The Fuego might have been struggling on the field, but the franchise itself was working. That distinction mattered much more to the long-term future of the Pecos League than the team's 23-47 record.

Fort Marcy became one of the defining ballparks of the league. The small dimensions weren't something the Fuego needed to apologize for. They became part of Santa Fe baseball. The altitude wasn't something anyone could change, so it became part of the strategy. The Beer Jail wasn't something fans would find at a conventional professional stadium, and that made it even more memorable.

Most importantly, the crowds kept coming.

The Fuego had discovered something that would become increasingly important throughout the history of the Pecos League. Independent baseball didn't need to look exactly like affiliated Minor League Baseball to succeed. In some markets, being different was the entire point. Fort Marcy offered fans something they couldn't experience anywhere else. They were close to the players, close to the field and close to every part of the game. Home runs flew over short fences, runs piled up and almost anything could happen before the final out.

Bill Moore's inaugural team never figured out how to consistently win, but Moore and his players helped establish something much more important than a single season's record. Moore had been there during the original Pecos League foundation meetings. He had hoped his Bisbee Copper Kings could become part of the league, but he couldn't convince owner Tom Mosher to join. When Santa Fe became available, Moore finally got the opportunity he had wanted and signed on to become the Fuego's first manager.

It became one of the best decisions of his baseball career. Moore became the inaugural manager of a franchise that would develop into one of the most recognizable teams in the Pecos League. The first season didn't produce the record he wanted, and the Pecos League forced him to rethink some of the philosophies he had developed over decades of managing the Bisbee Copper Kings and Garden of Gears, but Moore helped establish professional baseball in a city that would become enormously important to the league.

That is why the 23-47 record doesn't adequately explain the 2012 Santa Fe Fuego season. From a baseball standpoint, the Fuego struggled. They finished outside the playoffs, won only seven road games and spent much of the summer attempting to find enough pitching to survive the extraordinary offensive environment of Fort Marcy.

From a franchise standpoint, the inaugural season was a success.

Santa Fe embraced the Fuego. The crowds proved professional baseball could work at Fort Marcy. The short fences created an identity rather than destroying the concept. The 7,000-foot elevation created outrageous offensive baseball that fans remembered. The Beer Jail became part of the ballpark's personality. Local players such as Rodney Tafoya and Jerome Romero gave the club genuine connections to the community.

Even being called the worst professional baseball team in America couldn't kill the enthusiasm surrounding the Fuego. Instead, their story became "The Legends of Last Place," ensuring that the inaugural team would be remembered for far more than its 23 victories.

For the Pecos League, however, the most important result had nothing to do with the standings. The league had successfully established professional baseball in the capital of New Mexico. Fans came to Fort Marcy, the ballpark developed an unmistakable identity and the Santa Fe Fuego became a recognizable part of the community.

The inaugural Fuego might have finished 23-47. They might have won only seven times on the road. They might have been labeled the worst professional baseball team in America. They might have played in a ballpark where pitchers sometimes wondered whether any lead could possibly be safe.

But the 2012 Santa Fe Fuego accomplished something far more important than winning a championship. They proved professional baseball belonged in Santa Fe, they established Fort Marcy as one of the signature environments in the Pecos League and they gave the young league one of the most important markets in its history.

Bill Moore finally got his opportunity to manage in the Pecos League, and the decision to take the Santa Fe job connected his long baseball career to a franchise that would become one of the foundations of the league.

The record said 23-47.

The future told a much different story.