8/14/2014--Manager reflects on 1200th win as the Fuego head into the playoffs

If you were to meet 69 year-old Bill Moore on the street or in a check-out line at the supermarket, you would think that he's just an average senior citizen enjoying the golden years of retirement. On closer examination, you would notice his faded tattoos and sun-dried skin and imagine that he's had a rough life working hard under the hot Arizona sun. Well, that's only partially true. Moore worked hard under the hot Arizona sun but not in the way one might imagine. A hard day at work for Moore, is a day spent at the baseball field coaching baseball players to be the best they can be.

"This is my office," said Moore pointing at the baseball field. "Some people are locked away in an office building all day long. I get to spend the day in the sunshine coaching the best game on earth."

Moore recently reached a milestone in his baseball career. On May 17th, he recorded his 1200th win as a head coach. This took place in Taos, New Mexico during a game where his team, the Santa Fe Fuego, had a 14-8 win over the Taos Blizzard. Moore is presently a field manager in the Pecos League, an independent minor league that operates in New Mexico, Colorado, Texas and Arizona.

"I feel very blessed," he said. "I've been around a great group of players in my career who have won the games for me."

These "great group of players" include 23 former and current Major League Baseball players. Men like Andre Ethier of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Paul Konerko who last played for the Chicago White Sox, Albie Lopez who last played for the Kansas City Royals in 2003 and Matt Perisho who last played for the Boston Red Sox in 2005 just to name a few.

But May 17th was significant to Moore for more than recording his 1200th win, that day would have been his late father's 98th birthday. "This win is special to me in many ways," said Moore. "I dedicate these 1200 wins to his memory. He was a significant mentor in my life when I was a young guy. He always encouraged me to play baseball and I would think there would be a gleam in his eye today."

Moore recalls that his 1000th win came on July 4th, 2009 at Warren Ball Park in Bisbee, Arizona as the manager of a visiting team. Two years later on Memorial day, he recorded his 1100th win as the head coach for the Bisbee Copper Kings. "As a head coach, assistant coach and baseball player for the last 50 years, I believe I've been involved in somewhere around 5,000 games since high school," he said.

As the current field manager for the Santa Fe Fuego, Moore will be adding more games to his estimated 5,000 game total as the Fuego head into the Pecos League's northern division playoffs. His future goals include even more baseball games. "My plans for the future is to keep coaching until everybody on the planet sends me home. No one has more fun at the ball park than Bill Moore."