Chris Abdelmalek
Pueblo Chieftain | April 11, 2024
'A great night at the ballpark': Hobbs Field ribbon cutting kicks off S-CL baseball action
The 2024 South-Central League baseball season kicked off Tuesday night with several games being played between all the league teams as well as a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the reopening of historic Hobbs Field at Runyon Sports Complex.
Hobbs Field at the Runyon Sports Complex is one of the most historic spots in all of Pueblo. In 1934, field construction began and it was officially opened in 1938. Later that same year, Babe Ruth famously played an exhibition game on Hobbs Field.
Fast forward several decades later, and thousands upon thousands of games played, Hobbs Field was in desperate need of a makeover. The renovations began a few years ago, and despite several delays and weather complications, the field has finally been completed this year.
Runyon Sports Complex’s General Manager Larry Romero spoke about getting the historic field back up and running for all.
“Tonight was amazing. We were able to get a lot of people here. We have softball going on at Runyon. We have high school baseball going on at Runyon. We have a lot of people just visiting and doing the ribbon cutting. So, it's a great night here at Runyon Sports Complex,” Romero said.
“It's a great night for Pueblo. This renovation has been in the works for over 10 years I believe and it's nice to see it become a reality. The result is that we have an amazing field that our high school teams and college teams can now play on,” Romero said. “We're excited. We're working on making Runyon better. It's honestly the pride jewel of Pueblo. So, we're going to continue to work on it and make it better. It's a great night at the ballpark.”
The ceremony kicked off with a few words spoken by many who were a part of the renovations. After that, the official ribbon cutting included members of the administration staff at Runyon and some local officials including Mayor Heather Graham.
After the ribbon cutting a ceremonial first pitch was thrown.
Christopher Abdelmalek is a sports reporter for the Pueblo Chieftain and can be reached at
