The Visalia Rawhide are a Minor League Baseball team of 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 L ...

and the Single-A affiliate of the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

. They are located in

Visalia, California Visalia ( ) is a city in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley of California. The population was 141,384 as per the 2020 census. Visalia is the fifth-largest city in the San Joaquin Valley, the 42nd most populous in California, and 192nd in ...

, and have played their home games at Valley Strong Ballpark since their inception in 1946. The team has had nine names, most of which reflected its changing major-league affiliates, most recently the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fi ...

, Oakland A's,

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home v ...

, and Diamondbacks. They took the name Rawhide in 2009.

Casey Jones/Casey at the Bat

Once per season, the team wears old-fashioned uniforms recalling Mighty Casey, the main folklore hero of "Casey at the Bat" and the "Mudville Nine", based on the

Stockton Ports The Stockton Ports are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. They are located in Stockton, California, and are named for the city's seaport. The team plays its home games at ...

in Stockton. Visalia is one of the four oldest cities of the Cal League, along with San Jose (the San Jose Giants/Bees); and

Modesto Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton ...

(the Modesto Nuts/A's).

Mascot

The Visalia Rawhide mascot is a Holstein Bull named Tipper, introduced on October 15, 2008. Tipper represents the tens of thousands of Holsteins in Tulare County, the top dairy-producing area in the country. Tipper's home is a ballpark barn – a 40' x 20' red barn which is part of the outfield fence – doubles carom off the side of the barn, and home runs land on the roof, leading to a new twist on the old baseball adage "couldn't hit the broad side of the barn" which now represents weak hitters instead of wild pitchers. The traditional red barn was built as a "community barn raising" to raise awareness for Habitat for Humanity and stands as an icon for the agricultural heritage of the valley.

Radio broadcast

The Rawhide are heard terrestrially on KJUG AM 1270 and over the internet through their website www.rawhidebaseball.com.

Notable Visalia alumni

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

alumni * Randy Johnson (2007) Inducted, 2015 * Kirby Puckett (1983) Inducted, 2001 Notable alumni *

Jack Aker Jackie Delane Aker (born July 13, 1940) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics, Seattle Pilots, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Brave ...

(1960) * Allan Anderson (1984) 1988 AL ERA Leader * Trevor Bauer (2011) *

Ken Berry Kenneth Ronald Berry (November 3, 1933 – December 1, 2018) was an American actor, dancer, and singer. Berry starred on the television series '' F Troop'', '' The Andy Griffith Show'', ''Mayberry R.F.D.'' and '' Mama's Family''. He also ap ...

(1962) MLB All-Star * Jay Bell (1985) 2 x MLB All-Star * Geoff Blum (2011) * Eric Byrnes (1998, 2008) *

Marty Cordova Martin Kevin Cordova (born July 10, 1969) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays, Cleveland Indians, and Baltimore Orioles. He was born in Las ...

(1991–1992) 1995 AL Rookie of the Year *

John Castino John Anthony Castino (born October 23, 1954) is a former Major League Baseball player. Castino played as an infielder, primarily at third base and second base, with the Minnesota Twins from 1979 through 1984. Professional career Castino gradua ...

(1977) 1979 AL Rookie of the Year *

Joe Charboneau Joseph Charboneau (born June 17, 1955) is a former Major League Baseball player for the Cleveland Indians in the early 1980s. After winning the AL Rookie of the Year award in 1980, Charboneau's career quickly flamed out amidst injuries, specifica ...

(1978) 1980 AL Rookie of the Year * Eric Chavez (1995) * Craig Counsell (1993) * Vic Davalillo (1958) MLB All-Star *

Sean Doolittle Sean Robert Doolittle (born September 26, 1986) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Washington Nationals organization. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics, Cincinnati Reds, Seattle Marine ...

* Zach Duke (2011) * Adam Eaton (2011, 2013) * Johnny Edwards (1959) 3 x MLB All-Star * Scott Erickson (1989) MLB All-Star * Tim Foli (1969) * Paul Goldschmidt (2010) 2013 NL Home Run & RBI Leader; 5 x MLB All-Star * Tom Gordon (2008) 3 x MLB All-Star *

Kevin Gregg Kevin Marschall Gregg (born June 20, 1978) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Anaheim Angels / Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Florida / Miami Marlins, Chicago Cubs, Toronto ...

(1997) * Eddie Guardado (1992) 2 x MLB All-Star * Mark Guthrie (1987) * Ken Harrelson (1961) MLB All-Star * Kent Hrbek (1981) MLB All-Star * Aubrey Huff (2006) * Ubaldo Jiménez (2004) MLB All-Star * Jake Lamb (2013) MLB All-Star *

Chuck Knoblauch Edward Charles Knoblauch (; born July 7, 1968) is an American former professional baseball player. He played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball, from 1991 through 2002, for the Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, and Kansas City Royals. He p ...

(1989) 4 x MLB All-Star; 1991 AL Rookie of the Year * Tom Kelly (1979–1980, MGR) 1991 AL Manager of the Year; Manager: 2 x World Series Champion – Minnesota Twins (1987, 1991) * Evan Longoria (2006) 3 x MLB All Star; 2008 AL Rookie of the Year * Lee Mazzilli (1975) MLB All-Star * John Milner (1969) * Jerry Morales (1968) MLB All-Star *

Denny Neagle Dennis Edward Neagle Jr. (; born September 13, 1968) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played for six teams over a 13-year career. During the 1990s, he was one of the top pitchers in baseball, but his career, and personal life, deter ...

(1990, 2003) 2 x MLB All-Star *

Vada Pinson Vada Edward Pinson Jr. (August 11, 1938 – October 21, 1995) was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played as a center fielder in Major League Baseball for 18 years (1958–1975), most notably for the Cincinnati Reds, for w ...

(1957) 4 x MLB All-Star * A.J. Pollock (2016) MLB All-Star *

Mark Portugal Mark Steven Portugal (born October 30, 1962) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played in the major leagues from 1985 to 1999. Career Portugal attended Norwalk High School in Norwalk, California. He was signed by the Minnesota Twins i ...

(1983) * Max Scherzer (2007) 5 x MLB All-Star; 2 x Cy Young Award (2013 AL, 2016 NL) * José Santiago (1962) MLB All-Star *

Ken Singleton Kenneth Wayne Singleton (born June 10, 1947) is an American former professional baseball player and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder and designated hitter from to , most prominently as a member ...

(1968) 3 x MLB All-Star * Nick Swisher (2002) MLB All-Star * Juan Uribe (2003) *

Justin Upton Justin Irvin Upton (born August 25, 1987) is an American professional baseball outfielder who is currently a free agent. Nicknamed "J-Up", he has previously played in MLB for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, Detroit Ti ...

(2007, 2009) 4 x MLB All-Star *

Barry Zito Barry William Zito (born May 13, 1978) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants. His pitching repertoire consisted of a curveball ...

(1999) 3 x MLB All-Star; 2002 AL Cy Young Award

Pop culture

As a minor league affiliate of the Oakland A's at the time, the Visalia Oaks were prominently mentioned in the Michael Lewis Book 'Moneyball', and also featured a few times during the

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

movie ''

Moneyball ''Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game'' is a book by Michael Lewis, published in 2003, about the Oakland Athletics baseball team and its general manager Billy Beane. Its focus is the team's analytical, evidence-based, sabermetric appro ...

'' (which took place in 2002). In one scene, Billy Beane is driving to see the Visalia Oaks during the A's winning streak, and another shows Billy watching video of Visalia Oaks catcher Jeremy Brown tripping and then diving back to first on a ball that turned out to be a home run. In the 1988 film '' Bull Durham'', Visalia was mentioned as a potential managing job for aging catcher Crash Davis, played by

Kevin Costner Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is an American actor, producer, film director and musician. He has received various accolades, including two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Screen Actor ...

. In the 1994 film '' Little Big League'', a Visalia Oaks pennant can be seen hanging on the wall in the main characters' bedroom.

Roster

Alumni

* Visalia Oaks * Central Valley Rockies *

Visalia Mets Visalia ( ) is a city in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley of California. The population was 141,384 as per the 2020 census. Visalia is the fifth-largest city in the San Joaquin Valley, the 42nd most populous in California, and 192nd ...

Visalia Redlegs Visalia ( ) is a city in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley of California. The population was 141,384 as per the 2020 census. Visalia is the fifth-largest city in the San Joaquin Valley, the 42nd most populous in California, and 192nd i ...

Minor league affiliations

References

External links