| El Paso Chihuahuas | |||||
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| Minor league affiliations | |||||
| Class | Triple-A (2014–present) | ||||
| League | Pacific Coast League (2014–present) | ||||
| Division | East Division | ||||
| Major league affiliations | |||||
| Team | San Diego Padres (2014–present) | ||||
| Minor league titles | |||||
| League titles(1) | 2016 | ||||
| Conference titles(2) |
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| Division titles(5) |
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| Team data | |||||
| Name | El Paso Chihuahuas (2014–present) | ||||
| Colors | Black, red, tan, white | ||||
| Mascot | Chico | ||||
| Ballpark | Southwest University Park (2014–present) | ||||
Owner/ Operator | MountainStar Sports | ||||
| General manager | Brad Taylor | ||||
| Manager | Pete Zamora | ||||
| Website | milb.com/el-paso | ||||
TheEl Paso Chihuahuas are aMinor League Baseball team based inEl Paso, Texas. The Chihuahuas compete in thePacific Coast League (PCL) as theTriple-A affiliate of theSan Diego Padres. The team plays its home games atSouthwest University Park, which opened in 2014. The Chihuahuas moved to El Paso fromTucson, Arizona, where they were known as theTucson Padres.[1] The team played in the PCL until the 2021 restructuring of the minor leagues when they shifted to the Triple-A West, but this league was renamed the PCL in 2022. The Chihuahuas won thePCL championship in 2016.
The Chihuahuas' heritage can be traced back to the establishment of the originalLos Angeles Angels in 1903. These Angels (the namesake of the currentLos Angeles Angels) were one of the eight "core teams" of the PCL during its heyday in the 1950s. In 1957, the team was sold toBrooklyn Dodgers ownerWalter O'Malley as a harbinger of theDodgers' move to Los Angeles the following year.
For 1958, the Angels moved toSpokane, Washington, and became the (original)Spokane Indians. In 1972, the team moved again, this time toAlbuquerque, New Mexico. As theAlbuquerque Dukes, many of the team's star players and managerTommy Lasorda formed the core of a Dodgers franchise that won the1977,1978, and1981 pennants and1981 World Series title.
After nearly two decades, the Dukes moved toPortland, Oregon, and became the latest version of thePortland Beavers in 2001. That franchise lasted 10 seasons until the inability to get anew ballpark to replace what is nowProvidence Park (renovated to accommodate thePortland Timbers ofMajor League Soccer) led to a relocation. At first, the plan was to move toEscondido, California, about 40 miles (64 km) north ofSan Diego, as a club owned by theSan Diego Padres. But once again, a new ballpark proved elusive, and the team landed inTucson, Arizona, as theTucson Padres.
On July 30, 2012, the Pacific Coast League gave preliminary approval to MountainStar Sports Group to buy the Padres, with the intent to relocate the franchise to El Paso for the 2014 season. The deal was approved on September 17, 2012, pending approval for a ballpark by the city council. Ballpark approval was made on September 18, with the mayor deciding not to veto the deal.[2] The final sale of the Padres to MountainStar Sports was approved on September 26, 2012.[3]
A name-the-team contest was held to decide the team's nickname. Finalists were Aardvarks, Buckaroos, Chihuahuas, Desert Gators, and Sun Dogs. The winning name was submitted by Shae Vierra. On October 22, 2013, the Chihuahuas name, logo and colors were announced.[1] The name is a reference to theChihuahuan Desert encompassing the area. The team logo is a growlingchihuahua dog. In 2014, the team adopted a chihuahua dog from theAmerican Humane Society and allowed fans to vote for her name by donating one dollar to the Humane Society. The winning name was Lola.[4]
Due to construction delays at the site ofSouthwest University Park, the Chihuahuas played their first 24 games of the 2014 season on the road, including a four-game series against theReno Aces that was moved from El Paso to Tucson. The home opener finally took place on April 28, a 2–1 loss to theFresno Grizzlies.[5]
in 2014, the team wore a jersey design featuring a photograph of the face of a chihuahua dog. The jersey design received widespread and was described as the "best jersey in sports" byUSA Today.[6] The jersey design was used again for an event in 2023, and the game-worn ones were sold at auction for charity.[7]
On September 17, 2016, the Chihuahuas plated a run in the 11th inning to defeat theOklahoma City Dodgers 4–3 to claim the El Paso's first ever PCL championship in just the franchise's third year of existence.
In conjunction withMajor League Baseball's restructuring of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the Chihuahuas were organized into theTriple-A West.[8] El Paso ended the season in fifth place in the Eastern Division with a 46–74 record.[9] No playoffs were held to determine a league champion; instead, the team with the best regular-season record was declared the winner.[10] However, 10 games that had been postponed from the start of the season were reinserted into the schedule as a postseason tournament called the Triple-A Final Stretch in which all 30 Triple-A clubs competed for the highest winning percentage.[10] El Paso finished the tournament tied for 13th place with a 5–5 record.[11] In 2022, the Triple-A West became known as the Pacific Coast League, the name historically used by the regional circuit prior to the 2021 reorganization.[12]
| League | The team's final position in the league standings |
|---|---|
| Division | The team's final position in the divisional standings |
| GB | Games behind the team that finished in first place in the division that season |
| ‡ | Class champions (2014–present) |
| † | League champions (2014–present) |
| § | Conference champions (2014–2020) |
| * | Division champions (2014–2022) |
| Season | League | Regular-season | Postseason | MLB affiliate | Ref. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record | Win % | League | Division | GB | Record | Win % | Result | ||||
| 2014 | PCL | 72–72 | .500 | 10th | 2nd | 9 | — | — | — | San Diego Padres | [13] |
| 2015 * | PCL | 78–66 | .542 | 5th (tie) | 1st | — | 1–3 | .250 | Won Pacific Conference Southern Division title Lost Pacific Conference title vs.Fresno Grizzlies, 3–1 | San Diego Padres | [14] |
| 2016 * § † | PCL | 73–70 | .510 | 5th (tie) | 1st | — | 6–3 | .667 | Won Pacific Conference Southern Division title Won Pacific Conference title vs.Tacoma Rainiers, 3–1 WonPCL championship vs.Oklahoma City Dodgers, 3–1 LostTriple-A championship vs.Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders[15] | San Diego Padres | [16] |
| 2017 * § | PCL | 73–69 | .514 | 5th | 1st | — | 5–3 | .625 | Won Pacific Conference Southern Division title Won Pacific Conference title vs.Reno Aces, 3–0 LostPCL championship vs.Memphis Redbirds, 3–2 | San Diego Padres | [17] |
| 2018 * | PCL | 82–57 | .590 | 2nd (tie) | 1st | — | 2–3 | .400 | Won Pacific Conference Southern Division title Lost Pacific Conference title vs.Fresno Grizzlies, 3–2 | San Diego Padres | [18] |
| 2019 | PCL | 80–60 | .571 | 3rd (tie) | 2nd | 3 | — | — | — | San Diego Padres | [19] |
| 2020 | PCL | Season cancelled (COVID-19 pandemic)[20] | San Diego Padres | [21] | |||||||
| 2021 | AAAW | 46–74 | .383 | 10th | 5th | 25 | 5–5 | .500 | Won series vs.Sugar Land Skeeters, 3–2 Lost series vs.Oklahoma City Dodgers, 3–2 Placed 13th (tie) in the Triple-A Final Stretch[11] | San Diego Padres | [9] |
| 2022 * | PCL | 85–65 | .567 | 1st | 2nd | — | 0–1 | .000 | Won Eastern Division title LostPCL championship vs.Reno Aces, 1–0[22] | San Diego Padres | [23] |
| 2023 | PCL | 62–88 | .413 | 9th | 4th | 29 | — | — | — | San Diego Padres | [24] |
| 2024 | PCL | 64–86 | .427 | 9th | 4th | 29+1⁄2 | — | — | — | San Diego Padres | [25] |
| 2025 | PCL | 81–68 | .544 | 4th | 2nd | 2+1⁄2 | — | — | — | San Diego Padres | [26] |
| Totals | — | 796–775 | .507 | — | — | — | 19–18 | .514 | — | — | — |
| Players | Coaches/Other |
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Pitchers
| Manager
Coaches
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