California League

The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified as a low minor league throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganization of the minor leagues. The league temporarily operated for the 2021 season as the Low-A West before re-assuming its original moniker in 2022.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, league attendance continued to increase each season, with over one million fans attending games per year, part of a general nationwide growth and expansion to smaller towns, cities, and regions below those in the National League or American League with Minor League Baseball at various levels of play in growing popularity in the last few decades.

History There were various attempts in the late 1800s and early 1900s to form a "California League" on the West Coast. At the time, the major leagues only had teams as far west as St. Louis and were restricted at first until World War I by long-distance train travel. The first organized California League lasted from 1887 to 1889, then another followed in 1891, and 1893, and finally in 1899–1902. After the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, an organization of minor leagues was formed in 1902, (following the "truce" and agreements between the older National League of 1876 and the newly "upstart" American League of 1901), the California League operated outside the NAPBL system as an independent league in 1902 and again from 1907 to 1909. This led to huge differences in the quality of teams competing with each other. In 1907, the San Francisco team was 3–34, while later in 1908 San Francisco was 9–67 and Oakland was 4–71. Oakland and San Francisco competed in every year of these various state leagues, with San Francisco having two teams during 1887–88.

The latest version of the California League was founded in 1941, and included teams in Anaheim, Bakersfield, Fresno, Merced, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, and Stockton. The following year, as a result of World War II, the league dropped to four teams, then suspended operations altogether, although major league baseball and some minor leagues continued as much as possible with limited availability of players during the war years. It reorganized and came back in 1946, adding teams in Visalia, San Jose, and Ventura by 1947. Further east, Reno, Nevada joined the league in 1955 with the movement of the old Channel Cities Oilers in Santa Barbara and continued as a member for 37 years.

For its first two decades, the California League was a Class C league, equivalent to a Rookie-level league today. It was promoted to Class A in 1963 when classes B, C, and D were abolished, and was promoted to Class A Advanced in 1990. As a Class A Advanced league, it featured prospects who had been promoted for the second or third time, as well as high first-round picks who had previously played collegiately.

Though nicknames and affiliations shifted, the California League's postwar configuration was largely stable by the late 1950s; four of the six cities in the league in 1960 would still be part of the league 50 years later. The league reached eight clubs in 1966 and would hold that for ten years, briefly dipped to six before wavering between eight and nine clubs in the early eighties, then reached ten in 1986 and held that configuration for thirty-one seasons. From 1996 to 2016, the league had a remarkably stable alignment for Class A baseball, with no teams moving or folding for twenty-one years. After the 2016 season, the Bakersfield Blaze (the last charter member from 1941 still in its original city), long dogged by inadequate facilities and unable to negotiate significant repairs, and the High Desert Mavericks, suffering from falling attendance and a lease dispute with the city of Adelanto, were folded. The High-A level replaced them by expanding the Carolina League to ten teams.

The start of the 2020 season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic before ultimately being cancelled on June 30. As part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganization of the minor leagues, the California League was demoted to Low-A and temporarily renamed the "Low-A West" for the 2021 season. Following MLB's acquisition of the rights to the names of the historical minor leagues, the Low-A West was renamed the California League, and the Low-A classification was renamed Single-A effective with the 2022 season.

Current teams +California League teamsDivisionTeamMLB affiliationCityStadiumCapacity NorthFresno GrizzliesColorado RockiesFresno, CaliforniaChukchansi Park10,650San Jose GiantsSan Francisco GiantsSan Jose, CaliforniaExcite Ballpark5,208Stockton PortsAthleticsStockton, CaliforniaBanner Island Ballpark5,200Visalia RawhideArizona DiamondbacksVisalia, CaliforniaValley Strong Ballpark2,468 SouthInland Empire 66ersSeattle MarinersSan Bernardino, CaliforniaSan Manuel Stadium8,000Lake Elsinore StormSan Diego PadresLake Elsinore, CaliforniaLake Elsinore Diamond5,160Ontario Tower BuzzersLos Angeles DodgersOntario, CaliforniaONT Field6,000Rancho Cucamonga QuakesLos Angeles AngelsRancho Cucamonga, CaliforniaMorongo Field6,588

League champions Year by Year list of league champions:

Complete team list (1941–1942, 1946–present)

Anaheim Aces: 1941 Bakersfield Badgers: 1941–1942 Bakersfield Bears: 1957–1967 Bakersfield Blaze: 1995–2016 Bakersfield Indians: 1946–1955 Bakersfield Boosters: 1956 Bakersfield Dodgers: 1968–1975; 1984–1994 Bakersfield Mariners: 1982–1983 Bakersfield Outlaws: 1978–1979 Central Valley Rockies: 1993–1994 Channel Cities Oilers: 1954–1955 Fresno Cardinals: 1941–1942 Fresno Giants: 1958–1987 Fresno Grizzlies: 2021–present Fresno Suns: 1988 Fresno SunSox: 1957 High Desert Mavericks: 1991–2016 Inland Empire 66ers: 2003–present Lake Elsinore Storm: 1994–present Lancaster JetHawks: 1996–2020 Las Vegas Wranglers: 1958 Lodi Crushers: 1966–1969; 1984 Lodi Dodgers: 1976–1983 Lodi Orioles: 1974–1975 Lodi Lions: 1973 Lodi Orions: 1972 Lodi Padres: 1970–1971 Merced Bears: 1941 Modesto A's: 1975–2004 Modesto Colts: 1962–1964 Modesto Nuts: 2005–2025 Modesto Reds: 1946–1961; 1966–1974 Mudville Nine: 2000–2001 Ontario Tower Buzzers: 2026–present Palm Springs Angels: 1986–1993 Rancho Cucamonga Quakes: 1993–present Redwood Pioneers: 1980–1985 Reno Padres: 1982–1987 Reno Silver Sox: 1955–1964; 1966–1981; 1988–1992 Riverside Pilots: 1993–1995 Riverside Reds: 1941 Riverside Red Wave: 1988–1990 Salinas Angels: 1976–1980 Salinas Packers: 1954–1958; 1973–1975 Salinas Indians: 1965 Salinas Mets: 1963–1964 Salinas Packers: 1954–1958; 1973–1975 Salinas Spurs: 1982–1987; 1989–1992 San Bernardino Stampede: 1996–2002 San Bernardino Stars: 1941 San Bernardino Spirit: 1987–1995 San Jose Bees: 1962–1976; 1983–1987 San Jose Expos: 1982 San Jose Giants: 1988–present San Jose JoSox: 1956–1957 San Jose Missions: 1979–1981 San Jose Owls: 1942 San Jose Pirates: 1958 San Jose Red Sox: 1946–1953 Santa Barbara Dodgers: 1947–1953; 1964–1967 Santa Barbara Rancheros: 1962–1963 Santa Barbara Saints: 1941–1942 Santa Clara Padres: 1979 Stockton Flyers: 1941 Stockton Mariners: 1978 Stockton Ports: 1946–1972; 1979–1999; 2002–present Ventura Braves: 1950–1952 Ventura County Gulls: 1985–1986 Ventura Oilers: 1953 Ventura Yankees: 1947–1949 Visalia A's: 1960–1961 Visalia Cubs: 1946–1952; 1954–1956 Visalia Mets: 1968–1975 Visalia Rawhide: 2009–present Visalia Redlegs: 1957–1959 Visalia Oaks: 1977–1992; 1995–2008 Visalia Stars: 1953 Visalia White Sox: 1962

The Los Angeles area, Riverside, San Bernardino, Palm Springs, Yuma (AZ) and Las Vegas (NV) were also major league spring training site cities, as well possessed California League teams on different occasions.

Cities that have had California League teams

Adelanto (1991–2016) Anaheim (1941) Atwater (late 1950s–early 1960s) Bakersfield (1941–1942, 1946–1975, 1978–79, 1982–2016) Fresno (1941–1942, 1946–1988, 2021–present) Lake Elsinore (1994–present) Lancaster (1996–2020) Las Vegas, Nevada (1958) Lodi (1966–1984) Merced (1941) Modesto (1946–1964, 1966–2025) Palm Springs (1986–1993) Rancho Cucamonga (1993–present) Reno, Nevada (1955–1964, 1966–1992) Riverside (1941, 1988–1990, 1993–1995) Rohnert Park (1980–1985) Salinas (1954–1958, 1963–1965, 1973–1980, 1982–1987, 1989–1992) San Bernardino (1941, 1987–present) San Jose (1942, 1947–1958, 1962–1976, 1979–present) Santa Barbara (1941–1942, 1946–1953, 1962–1967) Santa Clara (1979) Stockton (1941, 1946–1972, 1978–present) Ventura (1947–1955, 1986) Visalia (1946–1962, 1968–1975, 1977–present)

Modesto has hosted a California League team longer than any other city, hosting a team in all but seven of the CL's 82 seasons.

League timeline

Team list (prior incarnations)

1906–1909

Alameda Grays/Alameda Encinals 1906–1908 Fresno Tigers/Fresno Raisin Growers 1908–09 Oakland Commuters 1906–1909 Sacramento Cordovas/Sacramento Senators 1906–1908 San Francisco Orphans 1906–1909 San Jose Prune Pickers 1906–1909 Santa Cruz Sand Crabs 1908–09 Stockton Millers 1906–1909

1896, 1898–1902

California of San Francisco 1896 Fresno 1898 Imperials of San Francisco 1896 Los Angeles Angels 1901–02 Oakland 1896 Oakland Reliance/Oaks/Commuters/Clamdiggers 1898–1902 Sacramento Gilt Edges 1899–1902 San Francisco Metropolitans 1896, 1898 San Francisco A's 1899 San Jose 1896, 1898 San Jose Brewers/San Francisco Brewers 1899–1900 San Francisco 1902 Santa Cruz Sand Crabs 1899 Stockton 1896, 1898 Stockton Wasps/San Francisco Wasps 1900–1901 Watsonville Hayseeds 1899

1879–1893

Los Angeles Seraphs/Los Angeles Angels 1892–1893 Oakland Colonels 1889–1893 Oakland Greenhood & Morans 1886–1888 Oakland Pioneers 1879 Sacramento Altas 1886–1887, 1889 Sacramento Senators 1890–1891 San Francisco 1880, 1884–1885 San Francisco Athletics 1879–1881 San Francisco Bay City 1880 San Francisco Californias 1879–1880, 1882–1883 San Francisco Friscos/Metropolitans 1891–1893 San Francisco Haverlys 1883–1890 San Francisco Knickerbockers 1881 San Francisco Nationals 1882 San Francisco Mutuals 1879 San Francisco Niantic 1883 San Francisco Occidental 1884–1885 San Francisco Pioneers 1886–1888 San Francisco Reddingtons 1883 San Francisco Reno 1881–82 San Francisco Star 1884–1886 San Jose Dukes 1891–1892 Stockton 1888–1890 Stockton River Pirates/Sacramento Senators 1893

California League Hall of Fame

The California League inducted its first class of 15 inductees into its Hall of Fame in 2016.

Awards

Most Valuable Player

The California League Most Valuable Player Award was established in 1941.

Pitcher of the Year For award winners, see footnote

Rookie of the Year For award winners, see footnote

Manager of the Year For award winners, see footnote

Doug Harvey Award The Doug Harvey Award—established in 2010—is for the umpire of the year.Go to the (Minor League Baseball; retrieved on 2017-05-23), click on "About" and then "League Award Winners" and then scroll down through the five awards. The Doug Harvey Award is at the bottom.

See also

References

External links