The La Junta Railroaders were a

minor league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

team based in

La Junta, Colorado La Junta is a home rule municipality in, the county seat of, and the most populous municipality of Otero County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 7,322 at the 2020 United States census. La Junta is located on the Arkansa ...

. The Railroaders played in the 1912 season as members of the Class D level

Rocky Mountain League The Rocky Mountain League was a minor league baseball league that operated in 1912 in sports, 1912. The Class D (baseball), Class D level league featured teams based in Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming. The short–lived Rocky Mountain League fol ...

. La Junta hosted home games at City Park.

History

In 1912, minor league baseball began in La Junta, Colorado, when the La Junta "Railroaders" became charter members of the four–team Class D level

. The league started the season with the

Cañon City Swastikas The Cañon City Swastikas were a minor league baseball team based in Cañon City, Colorado, in 1912. Cañon City briefly played in the 1912 season as members of the Class D level Rocky Mountain League, before the Cañon City franchise relocated to ...

Colorado Springs Millionaires The Colorado Springs Millionaires were a minor league baseball team, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado that played primarily in the Western League. History The first Colorado Springs team played in the Colorado State League in 1889 and 1896 ...

and

Pueblo Indians The Pueblo peoples are Native Americans in the Southwestern United States who share common agricultural, material, and religious practices. Among the currently inhabited Pueblos, Taos, San Ildefonso, Acoma, Zuni, and Hopi are some of the ...

teams joining the La Junta Railroaders in Rocky Mountain League play. The "Railroaders" moniker corresponds to local industry, with the city of La Junta located along the railroad line and the founding of the city being tied to the railroad access. Both freight and passenger trains accessed La Junta, which had a large rail yard, as well as a passenger depot built in 1895 called the El Otero. Today, the rail yard is still utilized by

BNSF BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that provide ...

and the La Junta station serves

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

passengers. Before the 1912 season was scheduled to conclude, the Rocky Mountain League permanently folded on July 5, 1912. The La Junta Railroaders were in fourth place with a 11–22 record when the league disbanded. The Railroaders finished 13.0 games behind the first place Pueblo/

Cheyenne Indians The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...

team in the final standings. The La Junta Railroaders were managed by J.F. Waller,

Bill Annis William Perley Annis (May 24, 1857– June 10, 1923) was a 19th-century American Major League Baseball outfielder. He played for the 1884 Boston Beaneaters. He continued to play baseball in the minor leagues through 1892. Career Annis made his ...

and Tubby Graves. At the time he managed La Junta, Tubby Graves was serving as the head football,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

coach at

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

. La Junta was the only Rocky Mountain League franchise that did not relocate during the season. After 1912, La Junta has not hosted another minor league team.

The ballpark

The 1912 La Junta Railroaders played minor league home games at City Park. City Park was established in 1905 and is still in use today as a public park. The park is located at 10th Street and Colorado Avenue in La Junta, Colorado.

Timeline

Year–by–year records

Notable alumni

(1912, MGR) * Tubby Graves (1912, MGR) * J.F. Waller (1912, MGR) * Complete roster information for the 1912 La Junta Railroaders is unknown.

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

La Junta - Baseball Reference
Defunct minor league baseball teams Professional baseball teams in Colorado Defunct baseball teams in Colorado Baseball teams established in 1912 Baseball teams disestablished in 1912 Rocky Mountain League teams Otero County, Colorado 1912 establishments in Colorado 1912 disestablishments in Colorado