Grand Junction Jackalopes

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The Grand Junction Jackalopes were an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. They were located in Grand Junction, Colorado, and played their home games at Suplizio Field. They were formerly named the Rockies, after the Colorado Rockies, who were their major league affiliate from 2001 to 2020 prior to the league becoming independent.

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 Template:Baseball year 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Beginning in Template:Baseball year, the franchise had been operated by Silverbow Baseball. It was sold in Template:Baseball year 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 Template:Baseball year.<ref name="goldklang">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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 he had purported to own.<ref name="silverbow">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Following the Template:Baseball year season, the team relocated to Casper, Wyoming as the Casper Rockies (and was renamed the Ghosts before the Template:Baseball year season,<ref name="ghosts">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>) and affiliated with Colorado.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref name="monfort">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On 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.<ref name="Grand Junction">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

File:Grand Junction Rockies logo.svg
Logo of the Grand Junction Rockies, used until 2022

In conjunction with a contraction of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the Pioneer League was converted from an MLB-affiliated Rookie Advanced league to an independent baseball league and granted status as an MLB Partner League, with Grand Junction continuing as a member.<ref name=MLBann>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

On November 4, 2022, the team officially announced their new name of the Grand Junction Jackalopes.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2025, the Jackalopes announced that they would adopt the name Grand Junction Humpback Chubs, after a fish found in the Colorado River, for Wednesday home games.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The Jackalopes announced they will be relocating from Grand Junction to a new location in 2026. <ref name=GJRelocation>Template:Cite press release</ref>

Roster

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Notable players

Butte Copper Kings,<ref name="butte-alumni-mlb">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Casper Rockies and Casper Ghosts<ref name="casper-alumni-mlb">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> players who have made appearances on Major League teams: Template:Div col

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References

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