Minor League Baseball: The California League
DETAILS:
Locations:
Inland Empire 66ers (Los Angeles Angels Class A affiliate): San Manuel Stadium - 280 S E St, San Bernardino, CA 92401
Lake Elsinore Storm (San Diego Padres Class A affiliate): Storm Stadium - 500 Diamond Dr, Lake Elsinore, CA 92530
Lancaster Jethawks (Colorado Rockies Class A affiliate): The Hanger - 45116 Valley Central Way, Lancaster, CA 93536
Modesto Nuts (Seattle Mariners Class A affiliate): John Thurman Field - 601 Neece Dr, Modesto, CA 95351
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Los Angeles Dodgers Class A affiliate): LoanMart Field - 8408 Rochester Ave, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730
San Jose Giants (San Francisco Giants Class A affiliate): Excite Ballpark - 588 E Alma Ave, San Jose, CA 95112
Stockton Ports (Oakland A’s Class A affiliate): Banner Island Ballpark - 404 W Fremont St, Stockton, CA 95203
Visalia Rawhide (Arizona Diamondbacks Class A affiliate): Rawhide Ballpark - 300 N Giddings St, Visalia, CA 93291
Hours of Operation: Dependent on game time. Please see team websites below (under “resources”) for schedule.
Parking: Please see team websites for details.
Cost: Please see team websites for ticket prices. But as a general note, you can typically find seats as close as front row for $20 or less!
Time Commitment: Approximately 3 hours.
The best part about Little League was the free hotdogs we’d get after each game, so it goes without saying that I didn’t have much of a future in baseball. But for a small percentage of those who grew up playing the sport, the dream of stepping onto a major league diamond is alive and well right here in California. Besides the rare few athletes in history who’ve made the jump directly out of high school or college, minor league baseball is a rite of passage for anyone hoping to don a big league uniform. It’s baseball college without the burden of academics and “classes” take place every summer on the fields of the California League.
Established in 1941, The California League is home to the single-A affiliate of eight major league ball clubs such as the Los Angeles Dodgers and Angels. Some of the biggest names in baseball began their careers in the California League including current all-stars; Mike Trout, Cody Bellinger and Max Scherzer as well as hall-of-famers like Randy Johnson, Ken Griffey Jr., and Kirby Puckett. So it’s not a matter of if players from the California League will become household names at the next level, it’s only a question of when and how many. Yes, as strange as it may sound, the future of baseball always starts in towns like Modesto and Rancho Cucamonga.
Single-A baseball is one of the first levels you can play in the minors, so it’s the start of a long professional journey for these kids, many of whom aren’t even old enough to drink yet. Like college, minor league teams typically situate themselves in smaller areas to help players better adapt to life on their own (and in a new country for some) away from the hustle & bustle of big cities and the distractions they can bring. This allows them to be singularly focused on one thing and you can see that hunger every time they emerge from the dugout since their baseball careers weigh in the balance, each pitch bringing them that much closer to stardom or obscurity. The major benefit of these remote locales along with the fleeting anonymity of the players is that tickets come at a quarter of the price in comparison to a major league ballgame. Not much bigger than a high school stadium, every seat in the house is right on top of the action and you can sit within the first couple of rows for as little as $20. It’s nice knowing that you can still attend a professional sporting event without feeling like you’ve spent a monthly car payment in the process. Even better, you can leave with the satisfaction of knowing that you’ve just watched the next Jose Altuve or Nolan Arenado take the field.
RESOURCES:
