The Surprise Fightin' Falcons are an inactive professional baseball team based in

Surprise, Arizona Surprise is a city in Maricopa County, in the U.S. state of Arizona. The population was 143,148 at the 2020 census, up from 117,517 in 2010 and just 30,848 in 2000. The city has a Aquatics Center and Maricopa County's northwest regional libra ...

. They played in the Arizona Division of the independent

Golden Baseball League The Golden Baseball League was an independent baseball league based in San Ramon, California, with teams located in the western United States, western Canada and northwest Mexico. The GBL was not affiliated with Major League Baseball or the orga ...

, which is not affiliated with either

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), ...

''or'' Minor League Baseball. They played their homes games at the

Surprise Recreation Campus The Surprise Recreation Campus is an athletic facility based in Surprise, Arizona built in 2002. It features such amenities as Surprise Stadium (spring training home of Major League Baseball's Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers), 12 baseball fi ...

athletic facility, which includes a spring training ballpark called

Surprise Stadium Surprise Stadium is a baseball venue located at the Surprise Recreation Campus athletic facility in Surprise, Arizona, United States. The stadium opened in 2002 and seats 10,714 people. It is the spring training facility for the Kansas City ...

History

The Fightin' Falcons started as one of eight charter teams in the GBL along with the

Chico Outlaws The Chico Outlaws were a professional baseball team based in Chico, California, in the United States. The Outlaws were a member of the Northern Division of the independent North American League, which is not affiliated with either Major League Ba ...

Fullerton Flyers The Fullerton Flyers were a professional baseball team based in Fullerton, California, in the United States. They were an independent franchise, not affiliated with either Major League Baseball ''or'' Minor League Baseball. The team played from 20 ...

Long Beach Armada The Long Beach Armada were an independent professional baseball team based in Long Beach, California, in the United States. The Armada was a member of the North Division of the now-defunct Golden Baseball League (GBL), which was not affiliated wi ...

and

San Diego Surf Dawgs The San Diego Surf Dawgs are an independent professional baseball team representing San Diego, California, that played for two seasons in the Golden Baseball League, based out of San Ramon, California, and then later in the short-season instructi ...

in California, the

Mesa Miners The Mesa Miners were an independent professional baseball team based in Mesa, Arizona. They began as a member of the Arizona Division of the now-defunct Golden Baseball League in 2005. The original team became known as the Reno Silver Sox in 2 ...

and

Yuma Scorpions Yuma can refer to: Places * Yuma Desert, desert in southwest U.S. and northwest Mexico ;United States * Yuma County, Arizona ** Yuma, Arizona ** Fortuna Foothills, Arizona ** Marine Corps Air Station Yuma ** United States Army Yuma Proving Ground ...

in Arizona and a traveling team, the

Japan Samurai Bears The Japan Samurai Bears are a defunct traveling professional baseball team that played in the independent Golden Baseball League, which is not affiliated with either Major League Baseball ''or'' Minor League Baseball. They were based in the Arizon ...

that began play in May 2005. The league owns the naming rights to the team as well as the other seven original teams. In their only season, they finished 3rd in the Arizona Division with a 46-44 record. The team included the league's first ever

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

, Desi Wilson, who during the year had a league record 30-game hitting streak. Outfielder Billy Brown hit a team high 14 home runs and won a gold glove. The team was managed by

Ozzie Virgil, Jr. Osvaldo José Virgil Jr. (born December 7, 1956) is a former Major League Baseball catcher who played with the Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves and Toronto Blue Jays from 1980 to 1990. His father, Ozzie Sr., was a Major League third baseman ...

and their mascot was Luke the Falcon. The team, which played for one season, was based in the Arizona Division. Following the league suspending operations and relocation of the Miners in November 2005, the Fightin' Falcons were also dropped from the league partially to achieve a balance of six clubs instead of seven also because of no other teams being based in central Arizona, and the fact that game attendance averaged about 60 spectators per game, and extreme lack of team support.

Rebirth

The GBL has stated publicly that they would reconsider the Arizona market (Surprise and Mesa) if the league, the city of Mesa and the concessionaire at HoHoKam Park in Mesa could reach agreement on a revenue sharing agreement for concessions sales at Miners games. The Miners were the only team in the league not to receive any funds from concessions sales at their games. Should the Fightin' Falcons return to the league (which owns the rights to the team), they could be brought back as either an expansion or relocated team and there could be a push to have the team play at

, the spring training home of the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

and Texas Rangers and home of the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season sports league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during the autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are fill ...

's Surprise Rafters. That stadium is on the grounds of the Recreation Campus. But nothing is definitive. If not, the team name could be placed with an expansion team elsewhere. The team cap logo and colors were being used by the

Sonora Pilots The Sonora Pilots are a professional independent baseball team based in Yuma, Arizona and represent Sonora, Mexico. They play in the International Division of the developmental Arizona Winter League, a short-season instructional winter league sa ...

of the

Arizona Winter League The Arizona Winter League was an independent instructional winter baseball league. Arizona Winter League games were all played at Desert Sun Stadium in Yuma, Arizona. The league was founded in 2007. It disbanded in 2013 due to parent league, th ...

, the GBL's instructional league. That team has since been replaced by Team Canada.More From Yuma... SONORA PILOTS BEAT THE HEAT 12-6 IN AFTERNOON DESERT CONTEST
(Caroline, Sam, Junior & Smokey, February 14, 2008) The GBL owns the rights to the name, logos, uniforms and history of the Falcons.

Team Record

References

{{reflist

External links

Golden Baseball League
Defunct Golden Baseball League teams Sports in Surprise, Arizona Sports in Maricopa County, Arizona Professional baseball teams in Arizona 2005 establishments in Arizona 2005 disestablishments in Arizona Baseball teams established in 2005 Baseball teams disestablished in 2005 Defunct baseball teams in Arizona

History

Rebirth

Team Record

See also

References

External links