Chasing Santa Fe: CHASING THE SANTA FE FUEGO BASEBALL TEAM!

THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD...

For a team that started out at the bottom of the pack, The Santa Fe Fuego - part of the semi-professional Pecos League - has come a long way. Veteran Manager Bill Moore worked his baseball magic and in three seasons the team became the 2014 PECOS LEAGUE champions and will be defending that championship in the 2015 playoffs.

I stopped by Fort Marcy Ball Field the other day to catch the team during practice, and had fun taking some candid shots in the dugout
and at batting practice.

What I didn't know about the team is that the players come from all over the United States and even Japan; two players are from Hawaii.

And host families in Santa Fe offer them rooms for the season.

Their dedication is apparent and when asked about this they all concurred- they love baseball; they get to play ball every day; and are basically willing to do whatever it takes to make it to the next level - another independent league or the the big, big carrot on the stick, the major leagues.

For Fuego Manager Bill Moore (above), baseball and coaching has been a life-long passion - 43 years to be exact. I asked him to describe the spirit of the team and their passion and motivation for the game.

"We have no fear; we're relentless. It doesn't matter what the score is, we always play as if we're going to win. We've been down as many as 12 runs in the 7th inning and come back and won the game. I think that this speaks to the character of these young guys.