The Sonoma County Crushers were a minor league baseball team located in Rohnert Park, California. They were a member of the independent Western Baseball League, and were not affiliated with any Major League Baseball team.
The team was one of the founding members of the league, beginning play in 1995. They won the WBL championship in 1998. The team folded with the league after the 2002 season; they were the only team to participate in all eight seasons of the WBL. At one point, former San Francisco Giants outfielder Kevin Mitchell managed the Crushers.
The team played in Rohnert Park Stadium, which was built in 1981 for the California League's now-defunct Redwood Pioneers. The stadium was demolished in 2005, three years after the Crushers' final season.
The Crushers embraced the local wine industry in multiple ways. The stadium's home run fence included a wall in left field, covered in local wine advertisements, which was called the Wine Sign or the Grape Monster (a play on Fenway Park's Green Monster). The team also sold wine bottles at the stadium, autographed by the players. The team mascot was Crusher, the Abominable Sonoman, with large purple feet for stomping grapes, in reference to the surrounding Wine Country region.
Like many independent minor league teams, the Crushers relied on a mix of young players hoping to get recognized by pro teams and older players sticking around after playing in higher leagues. Cuban defectors joined the Crushers to showcase their skills. The most notable professional baseball player to develop with the Crushers is Chad Zerbe, who pitched for the San Francisco Giants from 2000–2003, including three appearances and a win in the 2002 World Series against the Anaheim Angels.
Season-by-season results Sonoma County CrushersSeasonLeagueDivisionOverallWin %FinishManagerPlayoffs 1995 WBL South 44–46 3rd Paul Deese Did not qualify 1996 WBL South 34–56 4th Dick Dietz Did not qualify 1997 WBL South 56–34 1st Dick Dietz Lost in playoffs vs. Chico 1–2 1998 WBL South 49–41 2nd Dick Dietz Won in playoffs vs. Chico 3–0 League champions vs. Western 3–0 1999 WBL — 41–49 3rd Dick Dietz Did not qualify 2000 WBL South 38–52 3rd Jeffrey Leonard Did not qualify 2001 WBL North 48–42 3rd Tim Ireland Did not qualify 2002 WBL North 49–41 2nd Kevin Mitchell Lost in playoffs vs. Chico 1–3 Totals 359–361 — — 8–5
Notable players José Alguacil Lance Blankenship Bobby Bonds Jr. Darrell Brown Tim Cossins Carlos Crawford Glenn Dishman Bo Durkac Curtis Goodwin Donald Harris Wayne Housie Hansel Izquierdo Kurt Knudsen James Lofton Walt McKeel Keith Mitchell Kevin Mitchell Andy Morales Eric Newman Kevin Pickford Víctor Rosario Makoto Sasaki Tim Scott Garry Templeton J. J. Thobe Tom Thobe Steve Wojciechowski Kerry Woodson Chad Zerbe
References
External links Rohnert Park, California at Baseball Reference