2015 White Sands Pupfish Season Recap - Mickey Speaks Brings Winning Baseball Back to Alamogordo in a Season That Ends With Tragedy

The 2015 White Sands Pupfish season began with a young manager from North Carolina trying to prove himself in independent professional baseball. It ended with the best White Sands team since the inaugural Pupfish season and, only one day later, devastating news for the man who had helped make professional baseball in Alamogordo possible.

Mickey Speaks arrived in New Mexico for his first season managing the Pupfish with a strong baseball background and a lifetime spent around the game. His father, Marvin Speaks, was a longtime North Carolina baseball coach who had built teams, developed players and helped young men find opportunities to continue their careers. Mickey had grown up around that environment.

But managing in the Pecos League was going to be different. Very different. The Pecos League was not summer college baseball. It was not a controlled developmental environment where schedules were comfortable, pitching staffs were deep and tomorrow could always be used to fix today's problem.

This was professional baseball in New Mexico and West Texas. Long road trips. Thin pitching staffs. Hot weather. High-altitude ballparks. Roster changes. Players looking for their next opportunity. Managers responsible for nearly everything.

Mickey Speaks learned very quickly that the Pecos League was no joke. He also proved very quickly that he could manage in it.

The Pupfish finished 37-28, their first winning season since 2011 and one of the best records in franchise history. The official Pecos League historical record lists White Sands at 37-28 for 2015. They did not make the playoffs. But after three consecutive losing seasons, winning baseball had returned to Griggs Park.

And Mickey Speaks had established himself as one of the league's successful new managers.

Then, almost immediately after the season ended, baseball became insignificant. Matt McNeil suffered a fatal heart attack the day after the White Sands season concluded.

For an organization so closely connected to McNeil from its beginning, the news brought a painful ending to what otherwise had been one of the most encouraging summers the Pupfish had experienced.

The 2015 White Sands season therefore occupies a unique place in franchise history. It was a comeback season. It was the beginning of the Mickey Speaks era. It was proof that White Sands could still compete with the strongest clubs in the Pecos League. And it became the final Pupfish season Matt McNeil would see completed.

White Sands Needed a New Direction

The Pupfish entered 2015 searching for stability. The franchise had started brilliantly in 2011, finishing 41-29 and immediately becoming one of the Pecos League's strongest original teams.

The following seasons had been more difficult. White Sands went 28-33 in 2012. The Pupfish went 26-40 in 2013. They finished 28-33 again in 2014. The official league history confirms that progression before the 2015 turnaround.

The club had produced memorable individual players, including Yermin Mercedes in 2014, but it had not returned to the success of that inaugural season. White Sands needed something different.

The organization looked east. All the way to North Carolina.

The Speaks Baseball Family Comes to Alamogordo

The Speaks family already had deep roots in baseball. Marvin Speaks had spent years coaching and developing players in North Carolina. His baseball operation became a source of players looking for opportunities beyond college baseball.

Mickey Speaks followed his father into coaching. The two understood the developmental side of the game and the challenge faced by players who had exhausted their college eligibility but had not been selected in the Major League Baseball Draft. Independent baseball offered those players another route.

Marvin became involved with White Sands while Mickey took over the field-management responsibility. A later profile of one of their players specifically identified Marvin Speaks as the general manager of the White Sands Pupfish and Mickey Speaks as his son and the club's manager. ([IndianaRBI][1])

It gave White Sands a new recruiting pipeline. North Carolina players who might otherwise never have heard of Alamogordo suddenly had a path into professional baseball.

For Mickey, however, recruiting the players was only the beginning. Now he had to manage them in the Pecos League.

Welcome to the Pecos League

Anyone coming into the Pecos League for the first time quickly learns that conventional baseball expectations do not always apply. A five-run lead isn't necessarily safe. A rested bullpen can become exhausted in two days. One injury can completely change a pitching rotation. A player can be signed by another professional organization and disappear from your lineup immediately.

Road trips can stretch for hours across desert highways. A team can play in cool mountain weather one night and brutal desert heat the next. Managers don't simply manage nine innings. They manage personalities, transportation, roster limits, injuries, housing, pitching availability and the constant reality that almost every player is trying to move somewhere else.

Mickey Speaks experienced all of it during his first summer.

The Pecos League had also become substantially stronger by 2015. The league itself later identified 2015 as an important turning point, with a strictly enforced 22-man paid roster and an age limit designed to create younger, more competitive clubs.

The days when an experienced roster could simply overwhelm a collection of rookies were disappearing. White Sands had to earn every win.

The Pupfish Start Fast

Speaks' team gave an early indication that 2015 would be different. By May 28, White Sands was 7-1 after defeating Alpine 7-5 at Kokernot Field. Aaron Olivas reached base four times in the victory, while Alex Embler earned the win.

Two days later, the Pupfish beat Alpine again, 13-6, to improve to 8-3. Shamir Ubiera had four hits, including a home run, and drove in four.

Those victories mattered because Alpine was not an easy place to play. Kokernot Field had long been one of the premier venues in independent baseball, and the Cowboys were consistently one of the strongest organizations in the Pecos League.

The new manager from North Carolina was learning quickly. His team was winning quickly too.

A Balanced Team Begins to Emerge

The 2015 Pupfish were not built around one superstar. They had production throughout the lineup.

Joe Borowski became the team's primary power threat and finished with 13 home runs and 63 RBIs according to the surviving statistical record. Aaron Olivas hit .362 and became one of the club's most consistent offensive players. Cameron Powers led the pitching staff with eight victories.

Joe McCarty became one of the league's most effective pitchers, posting a 1.88 ERA while working in 29 games. ([Stats Crew][2])

The roster also included players such as Brandon Burkes, Michael Brandi, Wesley Wallace, Ben Lott, David Steele, Anthony Pastrana and others who contributed throughout the summer. Mickey Speaks had enough pieces to compete.

The question was whether he could keep them functioning together through an entire Pecos League season.

Speaks Learns That Nothing Comes Easily

The early success did not mean the season became easy. White Sands quickly experienced the swings that define Pecos League baseball.

On June 4, the Pupfish edged Alpine 8-7 at Griggs Park. David Steele improved to 3-0 while Wesley Wallace collected three hits. A week later, White Sands hammered Alpine 16-5. Then came another 12-6 victory at Kokernot Field on June 15.

Those games demonstrated how dangerous the Pupfish could be. They also demonstrated one of the first lessons every new Pecos League manager learns: there are very few comfortable innings.

A team has to keep scoring. Pitching has to be managed carefully. And yesterday's result means almost nothing when the same opponent is waiting again the following night.

White Sands Can Beat Anyone

One of the clearest signs of White Sands' improvement came against Roswell. The Invaders were on their way to becoming the dominant franchise of the league's first five seasons. Roswell had already won championships in 2011 and 2013. The Invaders would win another one in 2015.

White Sands nevertheless showed it could beat them. On May 25, the Pupfish went into Joe Bauman Park and defeated Roswell 7-1. Five days later they returned and won again, 6-5.

Then came perhaps the strongest statement of the season. On July 2, White Sands defeated Roswell 15-1 at Joe Bauman Park.

This was the eventual Pecos League champion. And the Pupfish had beaten them by 14 runs in Roswell.

For a White Sands organization that had struggled badly against the league's better teams in previous seasons, that result meant something. The Pupfish were no longer simply trying to survive the schedule. They could beat the best team in the league.

Thirty Wins Before the Middle of July

By July 8, White Sands had established itself as one of the biggest turnaround stories of the season. The Pupfish traveled to Kokernot Field and defeated Alpine 19-7. Joe Borowski homered twice and drove in four runs.

White Sands improved to 30-17. Thirty wins before the middle of July.

For comparison, White Sands had won only 28 games during the entire 2014 season. Mickey Speaks had already surpassed the previous year's victory total with weeks remaining on the schedule.

The difference was obvious. White Sands was relevant again.

The South Division Gives Mickey His Real Education

The problem for White Sands was the quality of the teams around them. The South Division was loaded. Alpine was excellent. Roswell was excellent. White Sands was excellent enough to remain in the race. But only so many teams could advance.

The official final standings list Alpine at 41-26, Roswell at 40-28 and White Sands at 37-28. ([Baseball Reference][3]) White Sands finished only a few games from first place.

That is where Mickey Speaks learned perhaps the biggest Pecos League lesson of all. Being good wasn't necessarily enough.

A team could win more than half its games. It could beat Roswell. It could beat Alpine. It could score 19 runs at Kokernot Field. And it could still find itself outside the postseason.

The Pecos League was no joke.

A Brutal Final Stretch

White Sands remained directly involved in the race late into July. On July 24, the Pupfish defeated Alpine 8-3 at Griggs Park to improve to 37-26. Brandon Burkes collected three hits, while Joe McCarty struck out seven in four scoreless innings.

That win demonstrated how close the Pupfish were. They were 11 games over .500 with the season nearly complete.

But the final games turned against them. Alpine defeated White Sands 5-4, then 10-8, then 11-5 at Kokernot Field.

The late losses ended White Sands' postseason hopes. A season that had contained so much improvement finished without a playoff appearance.

It was disappointing. But it was difficult to call the season unsuccessful.

37-28 Changes the Direction of the Franchise

The official Pecos League record recognizes White Sands at 37-28. That was nine more victories than the Pupfish had recorded in 2014. It was 11 more than 2013. And it was the franchise's first winning season since Keith Essary's inaugural 2011 club.

The progression told the story: 2012 - losing record. 2013 - losing record. 2014 - losing record. 2015 - 37-28.

Mickey Speaks had arrived from North Carolina and immediately restored winning baseball to Alamogordo. He had done it while learning one of the most difficult leagues in independent baseball on the fly.

North Carolina Meets New Mexico

The Speaks connection also gave the Pupfish an identity that was different from previous White Sands teams. Marvin Speaks had spent years developing players in North Carolina. Mickey understood those players. White Sands became a destination where players from that network could get their first professional opportunity.

The relationship continued beyond 2015. One later player profile explained that Marvin Speaks had seen pitcher Tyler Kahre in a North Carolina summer league and invited him to White Sands, where Mickey managed the club. ([IndianaRBI][1])

That became one of the defining pieces of the Speaks era. Instead of recruiting solely from traditional independent baseball circles, White Sands could bring players directly from college and summer baseball into the Pecos League.

It fit perfectly with the direction the Pecos League itself was taking. The league wanted younger players. It wanted rookies. It wanted players trying to begin professional careers. The Speaks family knew how to find them.

The Manager Had Earned Respect

By the end of July, Mickey Speaks was no longer simply Marvin Speaks' son coming from North Carolina to manage an independent baseball team. He had established his own Pecos League record.

He had won 37 games. He had kept White Sands in a difficult divisional race. He had managed through the constant pitching problems, roster changes and travel difficulties that come with the league. And he had learned that managing in the Pecos League required something different almost every night.

The result was one of the best White Sands seasons ever. Only the 2011 Pupfish had won more games. Mickey had done a great job. There was reason to believe the organization had finally found some stability.

Then came the news nobody expected.

The Day After the Season Ends

The Pupfish had spent the entire summer thinking about baseball: wins, losses, pitching matchups, playoff races, roster moves and bus trips.

The final games were played and the season ended. One day later, none of those things seemed particularly important.

Matt McNeil suffered a heart attack and died.

The timing made the loss especially shocking. The 2015 Pupfish season had just ended. Players were leaving Alamogordo. The organization had barely begun evaluating what had been one of its strongest seasons.

Then suddenly one of the men most closely associated with bringing the Pupfish and Pecos League baseball to Alamogordo was gone.

Matt McNeil and the White Sands Pupfish

Matt McNeil's connection to White Sands went all the way back to the beginning. The Pecos League's own historical account remembers McNeil as the person who insisted that the Coastal Kingfish concept become a full-time Alamogordo franchise and named that team the White Sands Pupfish.

That made him part of the foundation of the league. Before the Pecos League had spread across multiple states, before championship teams and television shows and California expansion, there had to be actual communities willing to host professional baseball.

Alamogordo became one of those communities. White Sands became the Pecos League's first official team. And Griggs Park became one of the league's foundational ballparks. McNeil had been part of making that happen.

By 2015, the Pupfish were completing their fifth season. The fact that the team was still playing at Griggs Park represented the realization of something that had started years earlier as an idea.

Five Seasons of Professional Baseball in Alamogordo

The end of 2015 therefore represented more than the conclusion of another baseball schedule. White Sands had now completed five Pecos League seasons.

The franchise had survived managerial changes. It had survived losing seasons. It had produced one of the league's first great teams in 2011. It had produced players such as Yermin Mercedes. It had hosted Pecos League events. It had become one of the league's recognizable original identities.

And now it had returned to winning baseball under Mickey Speaks.

The official franchise history shows the 2015 club at 37-28, its second-best win total during the Pupfish's nine-year existence. Matt McNeil had lived long enough to see that turnaround season completed. He had seen the Pupfish become a winner again.

Then he was gone.

A Season With Two Very Different Endings

From a baseball standpoint, White Sands could leave 2015 encouraged. The Pupfish had missed the playoffs, but they had clearly improved. They had a winning manager. They had beaten the league's best teams. They had stayed in the race deep into July.

They had also scored more runs than they allowed. Surviving statistics show the Pupfish produced 497 runs while allowing 431, another indication that their winning record was no accident. ([Stats Crew][2])

There was a foundation for the future.

Emotionally, however, the season ended very differently. The death of Matt McNeil immediately placed the summer in a different context.

Baseball organizations are ultimately built by people. Ballparks do not become professional venues by themselves. Teams don't simply appear in cities. Someone has to believe the idea will work before anyone else does.

McNeil had been one of those people for professional baseball in Alamogordo.

Mickey Speaks Would Return

The first season could easily have been overwhelming enough to send Mickey Speaks back to North Carolina. Instead, he returned in 2016.

That mattered because there was unfinished business. The 2015 Pupfish had proven they could win. They had not reached the playoffs.

Speaks had learned how quickly a season could turn. He had learned how difficult the South Division could be. He had learned how different managing professional independent players was from any other form of baseball. And he had learned the Pecos League itself.

That experience would matter the following summer. What had begun as an experiment involving a North Carolina baseball family was becoming an important chapter of White Sands history.

The Legacy of the 2015 White Sands Pupfish

The 2015 White Sands Pupfish did not make the playoffs. That fact alone does not accurately describe their season.

They went 37-28. They produced their first winning season in four years. They beat Roswell multiple times, including a 15-1 victory at Joe Bauman Park. They reached 30 wins by July 8 after scoring 19 runs against Alpine at Kokernot Field.

They stayed alive in one of the league's toughest divisional races until the final portion of the schedule. They established Mickey Speaks as a successful Pecos League manager in his first season. And they restored credibility to a franchise that had spent three consecutive seasons below .500.

Mickey came to Alamogordo from North Carolina with baseball knowledge, a strong recruiting connection through his father Marvin and confidence that he could build a winning team. What he did not yet have was Pecos League experience.

He got plenty of it.

The league tested him immediately. He discovered that good teams could still lose three straight games. He discovered that a 37-win team could still miss the playoffs. He discovered that pitching depth could disappear overnight. He discovered that every road trip and every opponent presented a different problem.

Most importantly, he discovered that the Pecos League was no joke. And he succeeded anyway.

That should have been the final story of the summer: a new manager, a winning team and a proud comeback season at Griggs Park.

Instead, the story changed one day after the season ended with the sudden death of Matt McNeil. The man who had helped insist that Alamogordo receive a full-time professional baseball team and helped establish the White Sands Pupfish would not see another Pecos League season.

It gave the 2015 season an emotional significance that no standings page can explain. White Sands had returned to winning. Mickey Speaks had arrived. A new era of Pupfish baseball had begun.

And at almost the exact moment that season ended, one of the people who had helped make the entire White Sands story possible was lost.

2015 White Sands Pupfish

Manager: Mickey Speaks
General Manager/Baseball Connection: Marvin Speaks
Home: Griggs Park - Alamogordo, New Mexico
Official Pecos League Record: 37-28
First Winning Season Since 2011
Finished behind Alpine and Roswell in a highly competitive South Division
Joe Borowski: 13 Home Runs, 63 RBIs
Aaron Olivas: .362 Batting Average
Cameron Powers: 8 Wins
Joe McCarty: 1.88 ERA

The first season of the Mickey Speaks era proved White Sands could win again - and proved to its new manager that nothing in the Pecos League would ever come easily.