Colorado Springs Sky Sox

History

The Colorado Springs Sky Sox name first appeared in the 1950s, when a Class A team affiliated with the Chicago White Sox played in the Western League from 1950 to 1958, borrowing its nickname from the parent club. After a 30-year gap, professional baseball returned to the Pikes Peak region in 1988 when the Hawaii Islanders of the Pacific Coast League moved to Colorado Springs, reviving the Sky Sox as a Triple-A affiliate. From 1988 to 1992, the team was linked to the Cleveland Indians. When Denver was awarded a major league team for 1993, the new Colorado Rockies made the Sky Sox their top farm club. The team played its first season at Spurgeon Stadium before relocating to the newly built Sky Sox Stadium, later known as Security Service Field, on the city’s eastern edge. The ballpark cost $3.4 million, seated 8,500, and sits at 6,531 feet above sea level, the highest elevation of any U.S. professional ballpark. Over the years, the Sky Sox spent over $8 million on upgrades, including a video scoreboard, a new entrance plaza, a picnic area, and a banquet hall. On June 21, 2017, owner David G. Elmore announced the Triple-A franchise would move to San Antonio, Texas, in 2019, becoming the San Antonio Missions in the PCL. At the same time, the Rookie-level Helena Brewers of the Pioneer League relocated to Colorado Springs and became the Rocky Mountain Vibes. In June 2025, the Northern Colorado Owlz of the Pioneer League folded, and the league replaced them for the rest of the 2025 season with a new team branded as the latest incarnation of the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, sharing facilities with the Vibes at their blocktickets PARK.