The Sonoma County Crushers were a minor league baseball team located in

Rohnert Park, California Rohnert Park is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States, located approximately north of San Francisco. The population at the 2020 United States Census was 44,390. It is an early planned city and is the sister city of Hashimoto in ...

. They were a member of the independent

Western Baseball League The Western Baseball League was an independent baseball league based in the Western United States and Western Canada. Its member teams were not associated with any Major League Baseball teams. It operated from 1995 to 2002. The league was founde ...

, and were not affiliated with any

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

team. The team was one of the founding members of the league, beginning play in 1995. They won their first and only league championship in 1998. The team folded with the league after the 2002 season. The Crushers were the only team in the WBL that remained in constant operation through the league's eight years. At one point, former

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

Kevin Mitchell managed the Crushers. The team played in Rohnert Park Stadium, which was built in 1981 for the

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leag ...

's now-defunct

Redwood Pioneers The Redwood Pioneers were a minor league baseball of California League. They were part of the California Angels farm system. The Pioneers played in Rohnert Park, California during the early 1980s (1980–85). The team produced players such as K ...

. The team mascot was Crusher, the '' Abominable Sonoman'', with large purple feet for stomping grapes, in reference to the surrounding

Wine Country Wine Country is the region of California, in the northern San Francisco Bay Area, known worldwide as a premier wine-growing region. The region is famed for its wineries, its cuisine, Michelin star restaurants, boutique hotels, luxury resorts, ...

region. The team produced one notable professional baseball player in

Chad Zerbe William Chad Zerbe (born April 27, 1972) is a former professional baseball relief pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the San Francisco Giants from 2000 to 2003. Career Zerbe played nine seasons in minor league baseball before making ...

, who pitched for the San Francisco Giants from 2000–2003, including three appearances in the

2002 World Series The 2002 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB)'s 2002 season. The 98th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Anaheim Angels and the National Leag ...

against the

Anaheim Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

. He was credited with a win in Game 5.

External links

Rohnert Park, California
at ''Baseball Reference'' Western Baseball League teams Sports in Sonoma County, California Baseball teams disestablished in 2002 Rohnert Park, California Defunct baseball teams in California Baseball teams established in 1995