Fresno Grizzlies
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Fresno Grizzlies Founded in 1998 Fresno, California | |||||
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| Class-level | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current | Triple-A (1998–present) | ||||
| Minor league affiliations | |||||
| League | Pacific Coast League (1998–present) | ||||
| Conference | Pacific Conference | ||||
| Division | Northern Division | ||||
| Major league affiliations | |||||
| Current | Houston Astros (2015–present) | ||||
| Previous |
San Francisco Giants (1998–2014) Milwaukee Brewers (1997) Houston Astros (1980–1997) Texas Rangers (1977–1979) Oakland Athletics (1973–1976) Chicago White Sox (1969–1972) | ||||
| Minor league titles | |||||
| Class titles (1) | 2015 | ||||
| League titles (1) | 2015 | ||||
| Conference titles (1) | 2015 | ||||
| Division titles (2) |
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| Team data | |||||
| Nickname | Fresno Grizzlies (1998–present) | ||||
Previous names | Tucson Toros (1969–1997) | ||||
| Colors |
Black, orange, white | ||||
| Mascot | Parker T. Bear | ||||
| Ballpark | Chukchansi Park (2002–present) | ||||
Previous parks | Pete Beiden Field (1998–2001) | ||||
Owner(s)/ Operator(s) | Fresno Baseball, LLC | ||||
| Manager | Tony DeFrancesco | ||||
| General Manager | Derek Franks | ||||
The Fresno Grizzlies are a minor league baseball team based in Fresno, California. The team, which plays in the Pacific Coast League (PCL), is the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros major league club. The Grizzlies play in Chukchansi Park (capacity 12,500), located in downtown Fresno and built in 2002. The Fresno Grizzlies' colors are black and orange. All games are broadcast on KYNO, with Doug Greenwald handling the play-by-play.
History
Professional baseball first came to Fresno in 1898 when it had a team in the original California League. The team dropped out of the league after that year, but returned in 1905. In 1906, the Tacoma Tigers of the Pacific Coast League moved to Fresno, playing as the Fresno Raisin Eaters for one season before moving to Sacramento for the 1907 season. In the intervening years before the arrival of the Grizzlies, Fresno fielded teams in the California State League in 1910 and 1913, and in the current California League from 1941 through 1988, including the Fresno Cardinals (1941–1956), Fresno Sun Sox (1957), Fresno Giants (1958–1987), and Fresno Suns (1988).
When Major League Baseball awarded an expansion team (the Arizona Diamondbacks) to Phoenix, Arizona, that would begin playing in 1998, the Phoenix Firebirds of the Pacific Coast League (the San Francisco Giants' Triple-A affiliate) were forced to move. The Firebirds moved to Tucson, Arizona and changed their name to the Tucson Sidewinders while changing their affiliation to the Diamondbacks. That prompted Tucson Toros to move to Fresno, giving Fresno its first PCL team since 1906. The Toros were renamed the Grizzlies and became the Giants' new Triple-A affiliate.[1]
From 1998 through 2001 the Grizzlies played at Pete Beiden Field at California State University, Fresno, before moving to Chukchansi Park.
During the team's 11-year history in Fresno, it has had a number of different owners. In October 2005, the team was sold again, this time to Fresno Baseball Club LLC, headquartered in Delaware.
The team hosted such promotions as K-Fed Night and Second Chance Night in 2006; The Price Is Right Night in 2007; and Totally Rad 80s Night featuring The Karate Kid star Billy Zabka in May 2008.
Parker, the Grizzlies mascot, was named Best Mascot of 2007 by GameOps, beating out all other major and minor league mascots. The Grizzlies former mascot, Wild Thing, "retired" in 2006 after eight years as the teams mascot.[2] Chukchansi Park is also home to the Drag Kings, the Grizzlies' dancing grounds crew who were given an honorable mention by GameOps as Best Entertainment act. The Grizzlies won the Minor League Baseball Promotion of the Year award in 2008 for their "Mascot Showdown" featuring Parker and the Phillie Phanatic. The team's opening day catcher in 2010, Buster Posey, would be the San Francisco Giants' starting catcher for the World Series six months later (the Giants' starting catcher for most of their World Championship season, Bengie Molina, would start for their opponents, the Texas Rangers), resulting in his National League Rookie of the Year award that year.
The 2012 family film Parental Guidance features Billy Crystal as the radio voice of the Fresno Grizzlies. The Grizzlies gained national attention in summer 2015 for playing a game as The Fresno Tacos, which was done to celebrate the city of Fresno's annual Taco Truck Throwdown and came complete with a specially designed tacos uniform.[3] In 2015, they won the Triple-A Baseball National Championship Game by defeating the Columbus Clippers, 7–0, in El Paso, Texas.
Notable alumni
- Buster Posey, MLB catcher
- Tim Lincecum, MLB starting pitcher
- Brian Wilson, MLB closer
- Brian Horwitz, MLB outfielder
- Matt Cain, MLB starting pitcher
- Sergio Romo, MLB closer
- Madison Bumgarner, MLB starting pitcher
- Pat Burrell, MLB outfielder
- Brandon Belt, MLB first baseman
- Carlos Correa, MLB shortstop
- Joe Panik, MLB second baseman
Roster
| Fresno Grizzlies roster | ||||
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| Players | Coaches/Other | |||
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Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
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Manager Coaches
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References
- ↑ "Team History". MiLB.com. Retrieved 2012-04-03.
- ↑ http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060318&content_id=48587&vkey=pr_milb&fext=.jsp
- ↑ "Minor League Team to Play Game as Fresno Tacos". Washington Post. Retrieved 2015-07-23.
