At one of Denver’s most historic high school sports venues, game day doesn’t happen without Manny Esparza.
For nearly 30 years, Esparza has been the man behind the scenes at All City Stadium, making sure the field is ready — rain, snow or shine.
“I get to work at five in the morning,” Esparza said. “Depends on tournaments or if it's snowing, and I could put in 16 to 19 hour shifts.”
Esparza has worked for Denver Public Schools for 29 years, most of them at All City Stadium, maintaining roughly 11 acres year-round.
“We do all the prepping, from custodial to the grounds maintenance,” he said.
If anyone knows just how much effort Esparza puts in, it’s Mark Hurd, grounds manager for DPS.
“Very few games do we cancel at All City Stadium,” Hurd said. “So most of the time, it doesn’t matter what it takes to do it, Manny makes sure that it gets done.”
That commitment was never more evident than on the eve of the state baseball playoffs, when a freak storm rolled through Denver and flooded the field.
“Manny immediately kicks into gear,” Hurd said. “He won’t admit to staying up all night long or staying here all night. I’ve been in the industry long enough myself to know that he was up all night long. All the games went off that day. You would not have believed that the night before, it was underwater.”
Despite the long hours, Esparza finds fulfillment in the moments most fans don’t see.
“My rewards [are] just seeing the kids play,” he said. “A lot of the pats on the back come in just with smiles. We might be the only district that day playing.”
Unlike most operations of this size, Esparza does it all solo.
“This is not like Manny has a team of experts, or anything else like that,” Hurd said. “This is a one-man show.”
Esparza said it’s about pride and connection.
“It is a lot of pride. It feels good,” he said. “A lot of times when I stop in the store or wherever I’m at, I still got my uniform on, my shirt, and people talk about it saying ‘I used to run there, I used to play there.’ And it just tells you how great it looks.”
But perhaps the highest compliment comes from Hurd, who knows Esparza’s absence will be felt long after he’s gone.
“People aren’t going to realize the true impact of Manny Esparza until Manny Esparza decides to hang up the glove,” Hurd said. “Because nobody’s going to replace him.”
