Visalia Rawhide

The Visalia Rawhide are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Class A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They are located in Visalia, California, and have played their home games at Recreation Park since their inception in 1946.

Visalia Rawhide
Founded in 1946
Visalia, California
Team logoCap insignia
Minor league affiliations
ClassClass A (from 2021)
Previous classesClass A-Advanced (1990–2020)
Class-A (1975–1989)
Class-C (1946–1962)
LeagueCalifornia League
DivisionSouth Division
Major league affiliations
Team
Minor league titles
League titles (3)
  • 1971
  • 1978
  • 2019
Division titles (3)
  • 2015
  • 2018
  • 2019
First half titles (1)
  • 2016
Team data
Name
  • Visalia Rawhide (2009–present)
  • Visalia Oaks (1995–2008, 1977–1992)
  • Central Valley Rockies (1993–1994)
  • Visalia Mets (1968–1975)
  • Visalia White Sox (1962)
  • Visalia Athletics (1960–1961)
  • Visalia Redlegs (1957–1959)
  • Visalia Cubs (1954–1956, 1946–1952)
  • Visalia Stars (1953)
MascotTipper
BallparkRecreation Park
Owner(s)/
Operator(s)
First Pitch Entertainment, LLC
General ManagerMike Candela & Julian Rifkind[1]
ManagerShawn Roof

The team has had nine names, most of which reflected its changing major-league affiliates, most recently are the Minnesota Twins, Colorado Rockies, Oakland A's, Tampa Bay Rays, and Diamondbacks. It took the name Rawhide in 2009, after two years of fan surveys, polls, focus groups, and direction by players.

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 in Stockton. [2]

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

Notable alumni

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 movie Moneyball (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.

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

Roster
Visalia Rawhide roster
Players Coaches/Other

Pitchers

  • -- Cal Becker ‡
  • -- Geoffrey Bramblett
  • 19 Adrian Del Moral
  • 45 Luis Frias
  • 16 Michel Gelabert
  • 12 Jackson Goddard
  • 26 Kenny Hernandez
  • 30 Yaramil Hiraldo
  • 15 Levi Kelly
  • 11 Kai–Wei Lin
  • 40 Chester Pimentel
  • 25 Wesley Rodriquez
  • 23 Matt Tabor
  • 22 Andy Toelken
  • -- Blake Workman

Catchers

  •  9 Zachery Almond
  •  1 Nick Dalesandro

Infielders

  •  5 Blaze Alexander
  • 14 David Garza
  •  7 Buddy Kennedy
  •  4 Steven Leyton
  •  8 Keshawn Lynch
  •  6 Joey Rose
  • 32 Zack Shannon

Outfielders

Manager

  • 13 Vince Harrison

Coaches

  • -- Barry Enright (pitching)
  • -- Juan Francia (coach)
  • -- K.C. Judge (hitting)


7-day injured list
* On Arizona Diamondbacks 40-man roster
# Rehab assignment
∞ Reserve list
‡ Restricted list
§ Suspended list
† Temporary inactive list
Roster updated February 8, 2020
 Transactions
→ More rosters: MiLB • California League
 → Arizona Diamondbacks minor league players

Alumni
  • Visalia Oaks
  • Central Valley Rockies
  • Visalia Mets
  • Visalia Redlegs

Minor league affiliations
Main article: List of Arizona Diamondbacks minor league affiliates
Level Team League Location
Triple-A Reno Aces Pacific Coast League Reno, Nevada
Double-A Amarillo Sod Poodles Texas League Amarillo, Texas
Class A Hillsboro Hops Northwest League Hillsboro, Oregon
Low A Visalia Rawhide California League Visalia, California
Rookie AZL D-backs Arizona League Scottsdale, Arizona
DSL D-backs 1 Dominican Summer League Boca Chica, Santo Domingo
DSL D-backs 2

References
  1. "Personnel News: Visalia, Charleston". Ballpark Digest. August Publications. February 14, 2020. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
  2. https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Stockton_Mudville_Nine
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