Ventura County Gulls
The Ventura County Gulls were a minor league baseball team in Ventura, California. They were a high-A class team that played in the California League, and were a farm team of the Toronto Blue Jays for the franchise’s only year as the Gulls. They played all of their home games at the baseball field at Ventura College. In spite of the fact that the Gulls’ roster featured 14 future major league baseball players in their lone year, Ventura County did not make the playoffs; instead, they lost a tiebreaker to the Visalia Oaks.[1] Coupled with the poor attendance mark by the Gulls, this proved too much to bear for the struggling franchise. Prior to the 1987 season, the Ventura County Gulls were sold and moved to San Bernardino, California, where the franchise became the San Bernardino Spirit.
| Ventura County Gulls 1986–1986 Ventura, CA | |
| Minor league affiliations | |
|---|---|
| Previous classes | High-A |
| League | California League |
| Division | Southern Division |
| Major league affiliations | |
| Previous teams | Toronto Blue Jays (1986) |
| Minor league titles | |
| League titles | None |
| Division titles | None |
| Team data | |
Previous names |
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Previous parks |
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List of Ventura County Gulls players in the MLB
- All players are listed in alphabetical order by their surname, with the year they played for Ventura County in parentheses.
- Kevin Batiste (1986)
- Gerónimo Berroa (1986)
- Domingo Martinez (1986)
- José Mesa (1986)
- Enrique Burgos (1986)
- Francisco Cabrera (1986)
- Jeff Musselman (1986)
- Greg Myers (1986)
- Carlos Diaz (1986)
- Rob Ducey (1986)
- Todd Stottlemyre (1986)
- David Wells (1986)
- Dave Walsh (1986)
- Eric Yelding (1986)
Year-by-year record
| Year | Record | Finish | Manager | Playoffs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | 75-67 | 4th (t) | Glenn Ezell | |
Notes of Interest
- Due to a lack of lights at Ventura College’s baseball stadium, the Gulls were one of the few minor league teams (if not the only team) in the nation to have every home game played in the afternoon. This major restriction put Ventura County last in the California League in attendance (with 38,818) [2] and was the main reason why the Gulls stayed in Ventura for only one year.