January 3, 2011 © Thomas J. Kollenborn. All Rights Reserved.
The memory
and dreams of major league baseball in Apache Junction faded when
Geronimo Park was dismantled and the materials sold to the Mesa Unified
School District in 1969. Geronimo Park (where the Apache Junction Moose
Lodge stands today) had been the winter home of the Houston Colt 45s
(now Astros) some forty-eight years ago.
The Colt 45s were an expansion team in
1962, the same year the New York Mets made their major league debut.
There are not too many of us around today who remember the Colts being
here for winter training, but I recall Jerry Burgess being a batboy for the team. Jerry later graduated from Apache Junction High School and
went on to serve on the Apache Junction City Council after the city was
incorporated in 1978.
When the ballpark was planned and
construction started in the fall of 1961 the project was the “talk of
the town.” A group known as The Lost Dutchman’s Baseball Association
financially backed the project. The association contracted PG&R
Engineering Co. of Phoenix to build the park for an estimated cost of
$20,000. During construction there were weekly reports in the newspapers
about the park’s progress. Even the length of the grass (turf) and the
date it was first cut was reported in the news. By mid November 1961 the
park was rapidly taking shape. It was at this time it was discovered
the park had no name.
Gene Chambers, president of The Lost
Dutchman’s Baseball Association started a contest to name the park and
offered two season tickets to the winner. A name was not chosen until
mid-January when the “Name the park contest” ended. Victoria Vala of
Riverside, Ill. entered the winning name for the park. Her nomination,
“Geronimo Park” was selected.
The first game was played in the park on
December 5, 1961. The Colts dropped a 5-3 decision to San Francisco in
winter league play. On December 15, 1961, manager Paul Richards
announced the Colts would officially start spring training at Geronimo
Park on March 10, 1962.
According to some sources “Geronimo
Park, Apache Junction, Arizona,” would soon appear on the pages of
sports magazines and newspapers. This dateline would put Apache Junction
on the sports pages of American newspapers. This without a doubt was
one the biggest promotions of Apache Junction since it’s founding in
1923.
The new park was almost completed and
named when it ran into financial difficulty. Members of The Lost
Dutchman’s Baseball Association put out a call for funding and support
from local merchants. The local support came through and the park was
completed.
Bill Giles, traveling secretary for the
Houston Colt 45s, announced that Apache Junction was destined for fame
with baseball as a headliner. Giles further announced arrangements had
been made to broadcast all of the team’s spring training games over the
network of sixteen stations covering Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas.
It was a big day on March 12, 1962, when
William W. Creighton, president of Lost Dutchman Baseball Association
tossed out the first ball. He was a substitute for Governor Paul Fannin
who had originally been scheduled for the event.
After six weeks of Cactus League play
the Colt 45s left Apache Junction short of the $24,000 they had been
guaranteed at the gate, but vowed to return the next year for spring
training.
Yes, they did return in the spring of
1963, however after March of that year baseball’s spring training was
over in Apache Junction. Geronimo Park was a long trip from the rest of
the Valley and there was no Superstition Freeway in those days.
Unfortunately, Apache Junction (with a population of around 3,000) did
not meet the Houston Colt 45s expectations as far as attendance at their
games.
So, by
1964, no longer could you hear the crack of a bat or the cheers of the
fans in Geronimo Park. The treasure of major league baseball had slipped
away from Apache Junction.
