Grand Junction Rockies


The Grand Junction Rockies are a Minor League Baseball team in the Pioneer League based in Grand Junction, Colorado, United States, where they play at Suplizio Field. They are the Rookie affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. The Grand Junction Rockies mascot is Corky Coyote.

Franchise history

The Butte Copper Kings, named for the once-powerful owners of the copper mines of Butte, Montana, began play in the Pioneer League in as a co-op team with players from the Philadelphia Phillies, Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers organizations as well as a few free agents.
Beginning in, the franchise had been operated by Silverbow Baseball. It was sold in to the Goldklang Group in a move necessary to stem conflict-of-interest issues when Silverbow head Jim McCurdy had taken the position of President of the Pioneer League in. Silverbow had attempted to sell the franchise in 1994 to investors from California, but the deal fell through when it was determined that Silverbow owned a lesser percentage of the franchise than it had purported to own.
Following the season, the team relocated to Casper, Wyoming as the Casper Rockies and affiliated with Colorado.
On January 13, 2011, Casper Professional Baseball Club, LLC announced the sale of the team to Monfort Investment Group, a group headed by Colorado Rockies General Partners.
October 17, 2011, Grand Junction city officials unanimously approved a lease agreement to the team, making Suplizio Field home to the newly renamed Grand Junction Rockies.

Roster

Notable players

Butte Copper Kings, Casper Rockies and Casper Ghosts players who have made appearances on Major League teams: