California League

California League
Classification	Single-A (2022–present); Low-A (2021); Class A-Advanced (1990–2020)
Sport	Baseball
Founded	1941 (83 years ago)
No. of teams	8
Country	United States
Most recent; champion(s)	Modesto Nuts (2024)
Most titles	San Jose Giants (12)

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 League Baseball's 2021 reorganization of the minor leagues. The league temporarily operated for the 2021 season as the Low-A West before reassuming its original moniker in 2022.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, league attendance continued to increase each season, with over one million fans attending games per year, part of a general nationwide growth and expansion to smaller towns, cities, and regions below those in the National League or American League with Minor League Baseball at various levels of play in growing popularity in the last few decades.

History

There were various attempts in the late 1800s and early 1900s to form a "California League" on the West Coast, considering the distance of the two current major leagues which generally had teams only in the Northeast and were restricted at first until World War I by long-distance train travel. The first organized California League lasted from 1887 to 1889, then another followed in 1891, and 1893, and finally in 1899–1902. After the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, an organization of minor leagues was formed in 1902, (following the "truce" and agreements between the older National League of 1876 and the newly "upstart" American League of 1901), the California League operated outside the NAPBL system as an independent league in 1902 and again from 1907 to 1909. This led to huge differences in the quality of teams competing with each other. In 1907, the San Francisco team was 3–34, while later in 1908 San Francisco was 9–67 and Oakland was 4–71. Oakland and San Francisco competed in every year of these various state leagues, with San Francisco having two teams during 1887–88.

The latest version of the California League was founded in 1941, and included teams in Anaheim, Bakersfield, Fresno, Merced, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, and Stockton. The following year, as a result of World War II, the league dropped to four teams, then ceased and suspended operations altogether, although major league baseball and some minor leagues continued as much as possible with limited availability of players during the war years. It reorganized and came back in 1946, adding teams in Visalia, San Jose, and Ventura by 1947. Further east, Reno, Nevada joined the league in 1955 with the movement of the old Channel Cities Oilers in Santa Barbara and continued as a member for 37 years.

Though nicknames and affiliations shifted, the California League's postwar configuration was largely stable by the late 1950s; four of the six cities in the league in 1960 would still be part of the league 50 years later. The league reached eight clubs in 1966 and would hold that for ten years, briefly dipped to six before wavering between eight and nine clubs in the early eighties, then reached ten in 1986 and held that configuration for thirty-one seasons. From 1996 to 2016, the league had a remarkably stable alignment for Class A baseball, with no teams moving or folding for twenty-one years. After the 2016 season, the Bakersfield Blaze, long dogged by inadequate facilities and unable to negotiate significant repairs, and the High Desert Mavericks, suffering from falling attendance and a lease dispute with the city of Adelanto, were folded; the High-A level replaced them by expanding the Carolina League to ten teams.^[1]

The start of the 2020 season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic before ultimately being cancelled on June 30.^[2]^[3] As part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganization of the minor leagues, the California League was demoted to Low-A and temporarily renamed the "Low-A West" for the 2021 season.^[4] Following MLB's acquisition of the rights to the names of the historical minor leagues, the Low-A West was renamed the California League and reclassified as a Single-A league effective with the 2022 season.^[5]

Current teams

California League teams
Division	Team	MLB affiliation	City	Stadium	Capacity
North	Fresno Grizzlies	Colorado Rockies	Fresno, California	Chukchansi Park	10,650
	Modesto Nuts	Seattle Mariners	Modesto, California	John Thurman Field	4,000
	San Jose Giants	San Francisco Giants	San Jose, California	Excite Ballpark	4,200
	Stockton Ports	Athletics	Stockton, California	Banner Island Ballpark	5,300
South	Inland Empire 66ers	Los Angeles Angels	San Bernardino, California	San Manuel Stadium	8,000
	Lake Elsinore Storm	San Diego Padres	Lake Elsinore, California	Lake Elsinore Diamond	7,866
	Rancho Cucamonga Quakes	Los Angeles Dodgers	Rancho Cucamonga, California	LoanMart Field	6,200
	Visalia Rawhide	Arizona Diamondbacks	Visalia, California	Valley Strong Ballpark	2,468

75km
50miles

Rawhide

8

Quakes

7

Storm

6

66ers

5

Ports

4

Giants

3

Nuts

2

Grizzlies

1

Current team locations:

North Division

South Division

1

Fresno Grizzlies

2

Modesto Nuts

3

San Jose Giants

4

Stockton Ports

5

Inland Empire 66ers

6

Lake Elsinore Storm

7

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes

8

Visalia Rawhide

League champions

Year by Year list of league champions:

Complete team list (1941–1942, 1946–present)

Anaheim Aces: 1941
Bakersfield Badgers: 1941–1942
Bakersfield Bears: 1957–1967
Bakersfield Blaze: 1995–2016
Bakersfield Boosters: 1956
Bakersfield Indians: 1946–1955
Bakersfield Boosters: 1956
Bakersfield Dodgers: 1968–1975; 1984–1994
Bakersfield Mariners: 1982–1983
Bakersfield Outlaws: 1978–1979
Central Valley Rockies: 1993–1994
Channel Cities Oilers: 1954–1955
Fresno Cardinals: 1941–1942
Fresno Giants: 1958–1987
Fresno Grizzlies: 2021–present
Fresno Suns: 1988
Fresno SunSox: 1957
High Desert Mavericks: 1991–2016
Inland Empire 66ers: 2003–present
Lake Elsinore Storm: 1994–present
Lancaster JetHawks: 1996–2020
Las Vegas Wranglers: 1958
Lodi Crushers: 1966–1969; 1984
Lodi Dodgers: 1976–1983
Lodi Orioles: 1974–1975
Lodi Lions: 1973
Lodi Orions: 1972
Lodi Padres: 1970–1971
Merced Bears: 1941
Modesto A's: 1975–2004
Modesto Colts: 1962–1964
Modesto Nuts: 2005–present
Modesto Reds: 1946–1961; 1966–1974
Mudville Nine: 2000–2001
Palm Springs Angels: 1986–1993
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes: 1993–present
Redwood Pioneers: 1980–1985
Reno Padres: 1982–1987
Reno Silver Sox: 1955–1964; 1966–1981; 1988–1992
Riverside Pilots: 1993–1995
Riverside Reds: 1941
Riverside Red Wave: 1988–1990
Salinas Angels: 1976–1980
Salinas Packers: 1954–1958; 1973–1975
Salinas Indians: 1965
Salinas Mets: 1963–1964
Salinas Packers: 1954–1958; 1973–1975
Salinas Spurs: 1982–1987; 1989–1992
San Bernardino Stampede: 1996–2002
San Bernardino Stars: 1941
San Bernardino Spirit: 1987–1995
San Jose Bees: 1962–1976; 1983–1987
San Jose Expos: 1982
San Jose Giants: 1988–present
San Jose JoSox: 1956–1957
San Jose Missions: 1979–1981
San Jose Owls: 1942
San Jose Pirates: 1958
San Jose Red Sox: 1946–1953
Santa Barbara Dodgers: 1947–1953; 1964–1967
Santa Barbara Rancheros: 1962–1963
Santa Barbara Saints: 1941–1942
Santa Clara Padres: 1979
Stockton Flyers: 1941
Stockton Mariners: 1978
Stockton Ports: 1946–1972; 1979–1999; 2002–present
Ventura Braves: 1950–1952
Ventura County Gulls: 1985–1986
Ventura Oilers: 1953
Ventura Yankees: 1947–1949
Visalia A's: 1960–1961
Visalia Cubs: 1946–1952; 1954–1956
Visalia Mets: 1968–1975
Visalia Rawhide: 2009–present
Visalia Redlegs: 1957–1959
Visalia Oaks: 1977–1992; 1995–2008
Visalia Stars: 1953
Visalia White Sox: 1962

The Los Angeles area, Riverside, San Bernardino, Palm Springs, Yuma (AZ) and Las Vegas (NV) were also major league spring training site cities, as well possessed California League teams on different occasions.

Cities that have had California League teams

Adelanto (1991–2016)
Anaheim (1941)
Atwater (1960s)
Bakersfield (1941–42, 1946–1975, 1978–79, 1982–2016)
Fresno (1941–42, 1946–1988, 2021–present)
Lake Elsinore (1994–present)
Lancaster (1996–2020)
Las Vegas, Nevada (1958)
Lodi (1966–1984)
Merced (1941)
Modesto (1946–1964, 1966–present)
Palm Springs (1986–1993)
Rancho Cucamonga (1993–present)
Reno, Nevada (1955–1964, 1966–1992)
Riverside (1941, 1988–1990, 1993–1995)
Rohnert Park (1980–1985)
Salinas (1954–1958, 1963–1965, 1973–1980, 1982–1987, 1989–1992)
San Bernardino (1941, 1987–present)
San Jose (1942, 1947–1958, 1962–1976, 1979–present)
Santa Barbara (1941–42, 1946–1953, 1962–1967)
Santa Clara (1979)
Stockton (1941, 1946–1972, 1978–present)
Ventura (1947–1955, 1986)
Visalia (1946–1962, 1968–1975, 1977–present)

^[6]

Modesto has hosted a California League team longer than any other city, hosting a team in all but seven of the CL's 82 seasons.

League timeline

Active team Former team

Team list (prior incarnations)