MLB to Small Town America: Drop Dead

There was another Cal League team in Riverside, Mariners I think. They played at a park a block or two from UC Riverside (which also played there). Quiet neighborhood. No alcohol sales. They couldn't make it. The owner of Bakersfield, his son owned/ran Riverside. He knew he couldn't make it there without beer (kinda the same way I feel about BBQing, can't do it without beer). Billy Crystal was a part-owner. I asked the guy running the place what it would take to succeed. He said, beer and getting Billy Crystal to wear a Riverside hat in "City Slickers 3."

 

If they want a north-south split, that's what they'll do. The only way they can do it. But the Fresno-Visalia rivalry ...

 

Riverside was a Padres affiliate and the first place Bruce Bochy managed.

 

There’s a reason they call ‘em the bus leagues.

 

Here's who is going where, and who is going away:

Affiliate Dance: 2020

Here's a complete list of affiliates:

Minor league baseball restructuring: Full list of 119 affiliate invites sent out by MLB teams

Triple-whammy for Boise. It's losing its Northwest League team, wasn't invited into the indy Pioneer League, and Boise State dropped its revived program after less than 20 games. Guess there's no need to build that new downtown stadium they were hoping for.

 

Since Fresno caved, Boise or Lexington may be the biggest metro losing its team. Certainly Boise is farther from a major league city than Lexington might be.

 

Actually, it is joining the Pioneer League.

Boise Hawks lose minor league affiliation, join Pioneer League

 

Is there any rationale behind why the Cal League is now low A and the Northwest League is high A? Seriously, there will be weather issues.

 

Yep, my bad.

 

1994 Cal League Standings
Regular Season Standings

North Division Affiliation

San Jose Giants SFG 74 62 .544 22
Bakersfield Dodgers LAD 69 67 .507 27
Central Valley Rockies COL 65 71 .478 31
Stockton Ports MIL 54 82 .397 42
South Division Affiliation

Riverside Pilots SEA 87 49 .640 --
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes SDP 77 59 .566 10
Lake Elsinore Storm CAL 65 71 .478 22
San Bernardino Spirit 48 88 .353 39
High Desert Mavericks 45 91 .331 42


The other posts were right about the Brett family being the original owners. I visited them in Adelanto and sat in their box in 1994, for a feature I was writing. My boss knew Bobby very well. Different ownership for Riverside by 1994. The Bretts were then living in Spokane and owned teams up there, including hockey teams.