Alpine Cowboys Baseball

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History

For 77 years, area baseball fans have enjoyed baseball at Alpine's historic Kokernot Field, a.k.a " The Best Litte Ballpark in Texas." Beginning with the Alpine Cowboys in 1947, Kokernot Field has played host to semi-pro, collegiate, high school and minor league diamond action. Over the years, at least three Hall of Famers- Gaylord Perry, Satchel Paige and Ernie Banks- made Kokernot Field appearances. Perry spent a summer with the Cowboys, while Paige and Banks played exhibition contests. Sul Ross State University graduate Norm Cash also wore an Alpine Cowboys uniform before signing a Major League contract with the Chicago White Sox. In 1961, then with Detroit, Cash won the American League batting title. The long list of talent to grace Kokernot includes Major Leaguers Don Newcombe, Bob Turley and Jim Fregosi.  Herbert Kokernot, Jr., owner of the Kokernot o6 Ranch, built the stadium at a cost of $1.25 million. Kokernot Field's storied features made it a showcase for spectators and players alike. For 12 years, from 1947-58, the Alpine Cowboys ranked among the finest semipro teams in the nation, making a number of trips to the national tournament.  With the decline of semipro baseball, the Cowboys became a professional franchise- a Class D sophomore minor league team- under the Boston Red Sox from 1959-61. Fregosi, Dalton Jones and Joel Horlen were among the Cowboys who eventually reached the Major Leagues. Fergosi, who enjoyed an 18-year Major League career and later managed, called Kokernot "the best ballpark I ever played in" in a 1989 Sports Illustrated article by Nicholas Dawidoff.  The Sophomore league franchise folded in 1962 and the Sul Ross Lobos were the stadium's major tenant. When Sul Ross discontinued the baseball program after the 1968 season, Kokernot gave the field to Alpine ISD. In 1984, Sul Ross revived baseball, leased the fields and over the years has made substantial restorations. Kokernot Field has gained state and nationwide attention, including The Boston Globe, Sports Illustrated, Texas Monthly, The Houston Chronicle the Fort Worth Star Telegram and Texas Country Reporter.  It remains a major tourist attraction of Brewster County, which also features Big Bend National Park, 108 miles to the south. The Cowboys won the championship in 2012 and in 2019 and today the Alpine Cowboys, a non-profit 501c3 organization, continue what Mr. Kokernot envisioned for Kokernot Field and the community.  The Kokernot family is very much involved with the Alpine Cowboys and Mr Kokernot's great granddaughter, Kristin Lacy Cavness, is the General Manager of the Team.
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Articles

Texas Monthly - Diamond in the Rough
Herbert Lee Kokernot Jr. loved two things: cattle and baseball. So in 1947, right outside his O6 Ranch, in Alpine, he built a stadium for people who adored the game as much as he did. Kokernot Field still stands today, and Kokernot’s great-granddaughter, Kristin Cavness, serves as the general manager of the Alpine Cowboys. [READ MORE]

Texas Monthly - King of Diamonds
The story is this: in 1946 Herbert Kokernot Jr., the owner and operator of the massive Kokernot 06 Ranch, which spans Brewster, Jeff Davis, and Pecos counties, took over a local semipro baseball team, the Alpine Cats. Mr. Herbert, as he was known, was very fond of baseball. As a young man, he’d played for a previous Alpine team called the Independents. His new team was average, and the stadium it played in was just some chicken wire, corrugated tin, and a few old wooden planks, but Mr. Herbert took pride in it, painting his ranch’s brand on the outfield fences. When his father saw the field, he said, “Son, if you’re going to put the 06 brand on something, do that thing right.” [READ MORE]