Bisbee Copper Kings

The Bisbee Copper Kings are a semi-pro baseball team in Bisbee, Arizona. They were founded in 2006 as the Bisbee Kings by Bob Lipp. The played in a loose league organization known as the Border Series, and will compete in a more organized league this year in the Centennial League. They won the league championship in 2006.

As of July 7 2006, the team had compiled a record of 13-2. The Kings play their home games at the Warren Ballpark in Bisbee, Arizona, however a doubleheader against the Borderland Cowboys was played in Copper King Stadium in Douglas, Arizona as part of Douglas's fourth of July festival. The team is owned by Bob Lipp, who also serves as the general manager. Butch Hammett is the field manager of the kings, and also managed the Bisbee-Douglas Copper Kings team in 2003.

The Kings opened their season in Naco, Sonora, against the Naco Aguilas(Eagles), there was some tension that there would be border issues between the two teams, but none surfaced. The game was held as a charitable event to raise for Naco's little league team to participate in the Sonora State Tournament.

The Kings home opener was a double-header against the Aguilas. The Kings were not originally scheduled to play the Aguilas, but the scheduled team, the San Luis Banditos, were unable to make the game because they were participating in a tournament in Mexicala and advanced beyond the point that they thought they would. The kings won the games 8-6 and 8-0 to advance their record to 3-0.

The Kings had been scheduled to play Naco again the next weekend, but because they didn't want to play each four times in a row, Bob Lipp arranged for a three game set against the Borderland Cowboys in El Paso, and one game in Deming, New Mexico. However a Deming city ordinance against charging admission to any event in a city park could not be worked around, and the Cowboys agreed to come to Bisbee to play a three game set. However, the Cowboys decided they didn't have the depth for a three game series, and Lipp arranged for a Friday night game against the Nogales Tigers. The kings beat the tigers 6-4, then defeated the cowboys 10-0, and 10-3.

On June 16, 17, and 18, the Kings almost got their schedule right. They defeated the Cananea Mineros 15-2 at home, then beat them 12-0 in Cananea. However, the Sunday game against the Nogales Tigers was cancelled. The Kings record was 8-0.

On June 23, the Kings played against the Amarillo Ace and won 6-2. After the game Butch Hammett said, "That was probably the best team we have played so far." The Ace proved that the next day handing the Kings their first loss 6-3 in the second of a doubleheader. The Kings won the first game 7-6 in walkoff fashion. In the second game, the Ace had a 6-3 lead when the sprinklers went on at Warren Ballpark, ended the game because Know One had a key to the sprinkler shed. The next day, the Kings were playing the Arizona Diamondjaxx in Chandler. The game was tied at 1 when the Kings 3rd baseman Manny Davila broke his leg sliding into second base. The game was called due to unsafe playing conditions.

The Kings beat the El Paso(formerly Borderland) Cowboys 6-0 and 10-4 in Douglas as part of the fourth of July festival. The Kings lost their second game of the season the next day to the Tucson Stars in Bisbee, 6-3. That following Tuesday, the Kings were scheduled to play the Casa Grande Cotton Kings in Bisbee. In the bottom of first inning, the rain started to fall and was soon coming down in torrents. The dugouts, locker rooms, and offices were soon all flooded. The only open entrance was on the first base side of the stadium, and water was coming through a foot deep. Eventually they called 911 and police came and opened the 3rd base gate. The game was rained out by an Arizona Monsoon.

Sources

• warrenballpark.com The official website of the Bisbee Kings
• borderbaseball.com The official website of the Border Baseball seriees
• svherald.com

The team plays at Warren Ballpark and is managed by Butch Hammett.