NBC Hall of Famer Bauldie Moschetti
Bauldie Moschetti
March 12, 1909 – May 23, 1994
Boulder (CO) Collegians 1964-1980
“There’s no sense in having a team unless you’re the best.” – Bauldie Moschetti
The Italian son of a coal miner, Moschetti was born in Brookside, Colorado in 1909, and spent his entire life in the Rocky Mountain state. He began working in the Black Diamond Mine near Boulder with his father when he was just 9 years old, feeding the mules that were used to haul coal and equipment underground. He was quickly tasked with other duties, including assisting in operating the hoist. By the time he was in high school, Moschetti was driving trucks for the mine, and upon his father’s death in a mining accident on Christmas Eve 1925, he took out a loan to purchase the trucking company and managed about 20 employees at 16 years old. He continued to run the company until 1957. Following his time associated with coal mines, Moschetti owned the Baseline Liquor Store in Boulder.
Moschetti always had a love for baseball, and his experience in running multiple businesses and leading others made him a natural to take on a coaching role in 1961, when he immediately led a local Optimist Club youth team to back-to-back state championships. As the players from that team graduated from high school, they were too old to play in that league, and in 1963, they played an independent schedule, beginning a transition to semipro competition. In 1964, that transition was complete, and the Boulder Collegians were born. Along with the Alaska Goldpanners, Moschetti’s teams were the first to consist of all college-age players to participate in the NBC. They did not charge fans admission at their home games and instead raised money for expenses by passing around a hat for donations to those in attendance at each game. While at the helm of the Collegians, he compiled a record of 777-200 (.795). He led the team to 16 straight NBC World Series appearances (’65-’80), winning the tournament 4 times in ’66, ’67, ’75, and ’78. Including these championships, the Collegians finished in the top 4 thirteen times. In 1966, the Collegians became the first team ever to lose their first game and go on to win the tournament, and following that loss, set a tournament record of winning 15 straight games (’66-68). They won 10 straight Colorado state NBC championships (’66-’75), and the Collegians were the first Colorado-based team to win the National. Moschetti managed over 150 players that would sign professional contracts, including Terry Francona, Joe Maddon, Bob Welch, Mark Langston, and MLB Hall of Famers Joe Carter and Tony Gwynn. In what would be the Collegians’ final season in 1980, he led the team to a club record 64 wins against 12 losses and finished 3rd at the NBC. He was co-named NBC Manager of the Decade for the 1960s along with H.A. “Red” Boucher. Moschetti finished with a career record of 75-28 (.728) in NBC World Series play.
Moschetti had a profound impact on those he managed, as evident in 2007 when Joe Maddon was the Tampa Bay Rays manager. While on a road trip playing the Colorado Rockies, Maddon brought his then-girlfriend to Boulder with plans to propose to her at the field where Moschetti had coached him years before. Unable to find the ballfield, he instead proposed to her in front of Moschetti’s Baseline Liquor, where Maddon had also worked during the time he played there. During the 2016 playoff,s while managing the Chicago Cubs, in which they would finally win their first World Series in 108 years, he hung a picture of Moschetti in their clubhouse saying, “Bauldie is up there to support us…Bauldie is the reason I got into pro ball. He was the guy who brought me to Boulder. I got signed that summer, worked in his liquor store.”
Moschetti’s ownership of Baseline Liquor continued for the rest of his life, and in his later years, the business was run by his son. He returned to Wichita for his induction ceremony in 1991, expressing his desire to have also returned with the Collegians one day, but health problems prevented that idea from ever coming a fruition. He spoke highly of the NBC during that visit, saying, “I sure do miss the tournament. It kind of gets in your blood. It’s not a disease, but it’s pretty close to it.” Moschetti was married to Sybil for almost 52 years and passed away in 1994. The Collegians were reborn in 2013, and in April 2025, they were renamed the Boulder 64s to honor the year that Boulder’s summer collegiate baseball history began.