The El Centro Imperials was an independent professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

team based out of

El Centro, California El Centro (Spanish for "The Center") is a city and county seat of Imperial County, California, United States. El Centro is the largest city in the Imperial Valley, the east anchor of the Southern California Border Region, and the core urban ar ...

. The team started play in 1947 in the

Sunset League The Sunset League was a minor league baseball circuit that operated from 1947 through 1950. The Sunset League was a Class C level league, with franchises based in the United States and Mexico. The league expanded from six to eight teams from ...

and was folded in 1952. Another team, the Imperial Valley Brahmas played in El Centro in 1995 as part of the

Golden State League The Golden State League was an Independent Baseball league that operated in California from 1994 to 1996. The league had originally targeted eight teams and considered 10-12 potential sites, they were Chico; Fresno; Henderson, Nevada; Lodi; Lo ...

and the Imperials were revived on April 3, 2009, as one of the four charter members of the new

Arizona Summer League The Arizona Summer League (ASL) was a professional short-season instructional baseball league affiliated with the independent North American League (NAL). The league was announced on April 3, 2009, and founded in Yuma, Arizona by the now-defunct ...

, an instructional summer professional baseball league affiliated with the

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 ...

. That version of the team was managed by former

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

player Mike Marshall, but lasted just the one season.

Team history

The Imperials began as a minor league baseball team with the

from 1947 to 1950 and then the

Southwest International League The Southwest International League was a minor league baseball league that operated from 1951 through 1952. The league was formed through the merger of the Sunset League and Arizona–Texas League in 1951. The league hosted franchises based in ...

in 1951 and 1952 (the team shortened their name to the "Imps" in 1952). They played their home games at Stark Field in El Centro. They won the Sunset League championship in 1950 before moving to the Southwest League, but were the worst team in the Southwest League in 1952. They went 28-47-1 before withdrawing from the league on July 13. The club did not have past or future major-leaguers on their roster during the campaign. On April 3, 2009, the Imperials were revived and were named one of four charter teams in the

's newest instructional league, the

. They played their home games at Stark Field in El Centro, while most other teams played theirs at

Desert Sun Stadium Desert Sun Stadium is a converted soccer-specific stadium in Yuma, Arizona, originally built for baseball. It was the spring training home of the San Diego Padres from 1970 through 1993, the North American League's Yuma Scorpions minor league ...

Yuma, Arizona Yuma ( coc, Yuum) is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The city's population was 93,064 at the 2010 census, up from the 2000 census population of 77,515. Yuma is the principal city of the Yuma, Arizona, M ...

Honored by the Scorpions

In 2008, the Imperials were honored by the GBL's

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 ...

by having four games played at Stark Field during the season as Scorpions home games. The team donned special throwback uniforms of the Imperials.Our Sports Central: Golden Baseball League's Yuma Scorpions honor the El Centro Imperials
/ref> The last game was an 11-7 loss to 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 ...

on August 27.

Year-by-year record

Sunset League (1947–1950) / Southwest International League (1951–1952) Arizona Summer League (2009):

References

{{Reflist

External links

Baseball Reference
Baseball teams established in 1947 Baseball teams disestablished in 2009 1947 establishments in California 2009 disestablishments in California Defunct baseball teams in California Defunct Sunset League teams Defunct Southwest International League teams Defunct Golden State League teams El Centro, California