Visalia Rawhide

Visalia Rawhide Founded in 1946 Visalia, California
Team logo Cap insignia
Class-level
Current	Class A - Advanced (1990–present)
Previous	Class-A (1975–1989) Class-C (1946–1962)
Minor league affiliations
League	California League
Division	North Division
Major league affiliations
Current	Arizona Diamondbacks (2007–present) Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2005–2006) Colorado Rockies (2003–2004, 1993–1994) Oakland Athletics (1997–2002, 1960–1961) Co-op (1995–1996) Minnesota Twins (1977–1992) New York Mets (1968–1975) Chicago White Sox (1962) Cincinnati Reds (1957–1959) Chicago Cubs (1946–1952)
Minor league titles
League titles (2)	1971 1978
Division titles (2)	2015 2018
First half titles (1)	2016
Team data
Nickname	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)
Ballpark	Recreation Park
Owner(s)/ Operator(s)	Top of the Third, Inc
Manager	Shelley Duncan
General Manager	Jennifer Pendergraft

The Visalia Rawhide are a Class A - Advanced minor league baseball team in Visalia, California affiliated with the major league Arizona Diamondbacks. The Rawhide play in the California League.

The Rawhide have played their home games at Recreation Park since their inception in 1946. The stadium seats approximately 2,700 fans. In 2009, the City of Visalia completed a multimillion-dollar renovation and expansion of Recreation Ballpark supported by a 10-year lease with the ball club, the longest lease in franchise history.

After two years of fan surveys, polls, focus groups, and direction by players, the team chose the name Visalia Rawhide, representing one of the richest agricultural regions in the world and the top dairy-producing area in the country. The name was adopted beginning with the 2009 season. For the previous fourteen seasons the team had been known as the Oaks.

Casey Jones/Casey at the Bat

The Visalia Ballclub also keeps alive the tradition of the Mighty Casey, the main folklore hero of "Casey at the Bat" and the "Mudville Nine", even wearing the old-fashioned Mudville Nine uniforms once per season as part of a turn back the clock promotion.

Visalia is one of the 4 oldest cities of the Cal League, along with San Jose, California (the San Jose Giants/Bees); Modesto, California (the Modesto Nuts/A's) and the previous past in Lodi, California north of Stockton which goes back 70 years to 1941.

Mascot

The Visalia Rawhide mascot is a Holstein Bull named Tipper. Tipper was 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 broadside 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 stand as an icon for the agricultural heritage of the valley.

Major league affiliates

The Rawhide has been affiliated with numerous Major League franchises. The most recent are the Minnesota Twins, Colorado Rockies, Oakland A's, Tampa Bay Rays, and Arizona Diamondbacks.

Radio broadcast

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

Notable Visalia 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

Alumni

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

Minor league affiliations

References

External links

• Visalia Rawhide Official Site
• FutureBacks.com - In-depth Rawhide coverage