Denver was home to minor league baseball for years. There were teams in the Western League, Pacific Coast League, and American Association. They were first known as the Bears and later as the Zephyrs. The final season of minor league baseball in Denver was 1992 and at the time, Denver was an affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers.
The 1991 Zephyrs team won the American Association championship with Tony Muser as the manager. They had players like Pat Listach, Dave Nilson, Cal Eldred, and Doug Henry. John Cangelosi, a recent inductee into the Appleton Baseball Hall of Fame, also played for that Zephyrs team.
The 1983 Denver Bears were a White Sox affiliate and won the American Association with Jim Mahoney as the skipper. Daryl Boston, Chris Nyman, Tim Hulett, Chuck Johnson, and Juan Agosto were just some of the ex-Rattlers on that team.
The 1980 Denver Bears went 92-70 and was rated as one of the Top 100 teams in Minor League Baseball History, but lost in the finals. Follow that second link for a lot of history of baseball in Denver and more about the team. For example:
The city of Denver, Colorado, located a mile above sea level in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, joined the minor league structure in 1886 when a team called the Mountain Lions joined the Western League. In its first foray into Organized Ball, the team won the pennant with a 54-26 record. In its remaining five years in the league, the team won one more flag in an abbreviated 1888 campaign. The city closed out its 19th century baseball involvement in 1895, when it fielded a replacement team for Omaha in the Western Association, which was in turn replaced by Dubuque.
In 1900, Denver rejoined the Western League, this time for an 18-year stay. The high point of this run was a three-in-a-row championship cluster from 1911-13, including a Top 100 team in 1911. Following a four-year absence from 1918-22, Denver returned to the Western League in 1923. As the only Colorado entry, they had to give visiting teams an additional share of the gate receipts to make up for the extra travel costs. This time the Bears stayed until 1932. In 1933, the low point of the Great Depression, Denver and Pueblo, which had returned to the Western League in 1928, were dropped to cut travel expenses. Denver owner Milt Anfenger sued the league for $150,000 for the loss of his franchise, but he lost the suit.
In the 1930s, the Denver Post sponsored a semi-pro tournament that attracted the strongest teams in the country and drew good crowds. In 1941, Denver was a member of a Class D organization, also called the Western League, which had changed its name from the Nebraska State League two years earlier. That circuit disbanded after the 1941 season.
In 1947, the Class A Western League was revived with U. S. Senator Edwin C. Johnson (D-CO) as president. With one exception, Lincoln replacing St. Joseph, it was the same six cities that comprised the league in 1900. Denver played in old Merchants Park until August 14, 1948, when new 16,000-seat Bears Stadium opened. It was enlarged to 25,000 in 1963 and expanded through the years until it reached a capacity of 76,000 in 1977. The facility, which had also become the home of the NFL Denver Broncos, was renamed Mile High Stadium in 1969. It remained the home of Denver baseball, minor and major league, until the opening of Coors Field in 1995. On July 4, 1982, the Bears drew 65,666 for the annual Fireworks Game, a minor league record for a single game.
A couple of notable players on that 1980 team:
The American Association batting title was won by 20-year-old second baseman Tim Raines, who beat out Oklahoma City’s Orlando Gonzalez by .0002, .3543 to .3541. In addition, Raines set a league record by stealing 77 bases and tied for the league lead in triples (11). His stolen base total would have been higher had he not spent 18 days with Montreal in July-August. He was named to the American Association and National Association Class AAA All-Star teams, was voted the league’s Rookie of the Year and was chosen The Sporting News’ Minor League Player of the Year. In 1981 he moved up to the majors where he stayed for 19 years, the first ten with Montreal.Bass would be better know for his time career in Japan. Jerry Manuel and Tim Wallach were also on this Bears team.
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Designated Hitter Randy Bass (.333) completed the Triple Crown for the Bears, leading the league in home runs (37) and RBI (143), as well as in runs scored (106) and slugging percentage (.644). His home run total topped the minors. Bass was named to the league and National Association Class AAA All-Star teams, was voted the American Association’s Most Valuable Player, a rare distinction for a DH, and was the National Association’s Minor League player of the Year.
What about the pitching?
Denver’s leading pitcher was 26-year-old right-hander Steve Ratzer (15-4, 3.59) who led the league in wins and percentage (.789). Ratzer started the season in the bullpen and was a perfect 6-0 with two saves before moving into the starting rotation where he went 9-4. He was named to the league All-Star team and was chosen the American Association Pitcher of the Year, giving Denver a sweep of the circuit’s end-of-the-season individual honors. He made only a brief appearance in the majors, going 1-1, 7.17 in 13 games for Montreal in 1980-81.
The Denver pitcher who went on to the most successful major league career was 21-year-old, 6’3”, 225-pound right-hander Bill Gullickson. When reporting to spring training in 1980, Gullickson was 20 pounds underweight and complained of being tired. Tests revealed he had diabetes. After undergoing treatment in the hospital for a week he rejoined the club and soon regained the lost weight and his strength. He started the season going 6-2, 1.91 with five complete games and two shutouts in nine starts, striking out 64 and walking 29 in 66 innings. On May 30 he was promoted to Montreal and finished the season with a 10-5, 3.00 record, winning nine of his last eleven starts. On September 10, at Montreal, he struck out 18 Chicago Cubs batters, a major league record for a rookie. He was named The Sporting News’ National League Rookie Pitcher of the Year and was runner-up in the Baseball Writers Association Rookie of the Year voting.
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The Bears’ top reliever was 27-year-old, 5’8 ½ “ left-hander Jamie Easterly who had a 9-8, 3.63 record with 15 saves. Easterly pitched 13 years in the majors with a 23-33, 4.62 record and 14 saves. On July 14, 1979, he pitched only the third perfect game in American Association history, for Denver against Iowa at Des Moines, a seven-inning game in which he struck out four batters.
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