ATY0205p012-022 12/17/04 12:32 PM Page 13 [ Logo/Mascot Profile ] Mascot of the Colorado Springs Sky Sox attracted mostly rich aristocrats beauty from atop Pikes Peak—one to their extravagant winter of the tallest points in the Rocky Photograph Photograph Courtesy of the Harlem Globetrotters homes. When Colorado Mountains at 14,100 feet—that she Springs’ first baseball team wrote America the Beautiful on began their inaugural season the spot. The second reason was in 1901, it was no coinci- that the Sky Sox played, and still dence they were humorously play, in the nation’s highest nicnamed the Millionaires. ballpark—home plate is a whopping Unfortunately for the 6,531 above sea level! A mere eight Millionaires, the actual years after their inaugural season, millionaires in town did the entire Western League disap- not embrace baseball peared into the sunset, ending yet Photographs Photographs by Ernie Photography Ferguson in the community another short era of Colorado and the team folded Springs baseball. WHEN THE HAWAII IS- after only four seasons. Following a While Colorado Springs’ man- LANDERS MOVED from the hot, 12-year professional baseball hia- agement chose their current nick- sunny Pacific beaches to the tus, residents of Colorado Springs name to pay tribute to the region’s chilly high altitudes of Colorado caught a brief glimpse of it once baseball heritage, the lineage of Springs, Colo., in 1988, climate again in 1916 when Wichita’s team today’s Sky Sox does not overlap was not the only drastic change. moved west halfway through the with their namesake’s. The present- The team needed a fresh name to season. Once the 1916 season con- day franchise began play in 1918 in appropriately represent its new cluded, another 34 years passed Sacramento, Calif., as the Solons. region and heritage. After contem- before Colorado Springs boasted a (Strangely, a solon is a “wise legisla- plating the matter long and hard, baseball team again. tor.” A word derived from the name management named the new fran- In 1950, Colorado Springs of an ancient Athenian lawmaker chise the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, joined the eight-team Western and poet.) The Solons moved fur- which begs the questions: What are League, which included: Omaha, ther west in 1960 and became the Sky Sox and what do they have to Pueblo, Sioux City, Lincoln, Des Hawaii Islanders. They remained in do with Colorado Springs? Moines, Wichita and Denver. As the the nation’s 50th state until 1988, Until the past 20 years, baseball Single-A affiliate of the Chicago returning to the continental U.S. as had no firm place in the culture of White Sox, Colorado Springs named the Sky Sox, a Triple-A affiliate of Colorado Springs. Nestled high in their team the Sky Sox. the Cleveland Indians. the Rocky Mountains, the city is The “Sox” part of the name In 1993, only five years after a best known for its skiing and beau- identified the team’s affiliation; the ball club returned to Colorado tiful scenery. At the turn of the “Sky” portion had a dual meaning. Springs, baseball became perma- twentieth century, the One reference was to the city’s pic- nently ingrained in the state’s her- region turesque skyline. In fact, Katharine itage when the Colorado Rockies Lee Bates was so inspired by the began play at Coors Field in Denver. AT THE YARD | February 2005 13 ATY0205p012-022 12/17/04 12:32 PM Page 14 [ Logo/Mascot Profile ] FAN APPRECIATION: Sox the Fox mingles with fans in the stands as part of his daily routine. With this new addition to the major used on an alternate hat of sorts. tines or riding motorcycles, fans leagues, it was only appropriate The team initially invented SOCKO. never can predict what the sly fox that the nearby Sky Sox, former Socko was a silver bat-swinging will perform next. The team’s bat- cross-state rivals with Denver in the sock that appeared on Sky Sox hats ting practice hat, which has Sox’s Western League days, became for several years before coming to mug plastered on it, has also the Rockies’ Triple-A affili- a sudden “death”—as team become one of the most popular ate. The relationship has management fondly calls minor league hats in the nation. stuck ever since and the his vanishing—in 2000. After a late run at the Pacific teams recently signed a Socko’s demise was a Coast League pennant last season, contract to keep the result of his lacking Sox the Fox and the Sky Sox will two together through versatility; it was implau- come out of hibernation to swat the 2007 season. sible to make an interac- home runs through the thin Rocky Unlike many other tive mascot out of a Mountain air once again. Their 2005 minor league clubs, the life-size sock. season starts on April 7 when they Sky Sox do not sport a After contemplating play host to the Las Vegas 51s. flashy or trendy logo on other animals, including [] Eric Karlan their uniforms and a trout, as mascots, caps. The team’s on-field cap is Colorado Springs fans were intro- black with an interlocking green “C” duced to Sox the Fox on Opening HATS OFF! and “S.” The team’s official logo has Day 2000. Team management chose not changed since 1993—”Sky Sox” a fox as their mascot because they << home is written in green cursive with a sil- are native to the forests of Colorado ver outline and a silhouette of Pike’s and the name rhymes with “sox!” Peak beneath the team name. Sox the Fox was purposely While the Sky Sox’s official designed as a comical cartoon, logo is classic, the team spent the resembling the Baltimore Orioles’ latter half of the ‘90s in search of official logo during the 1970s and batting the perfect mascot—a fun figure ’80s. Standing tall at six feet, Sox practice >> that would have an uplifting pres- became an instant hit at Sky Sox ence at the stadium and could be Stadium. Whether it’s acrobatic rou- 14 AT THE YARD | The Game Starts Here.