 | |
| Classification | Single-A (2021–present) Class A-Advanced (1990–2020) |
|---|---|
| Sport | Baseball |
| Founded | 1941 (84 years ago) (1941) |
| No. of teams | 8 |
| Country | United States |
| Most recent champion | San Jose Giants (2025) |
| Most titles | San Jose Giants (13) |
TheCalifornia League is aMinor League Baseball league that operates inCalifornia. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated atClass A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion toSingle-A followingMajor League Baseball's 2021 reorganization of the minor leagues. The league temporarily operated for the 2021 season as theLow-A West before re-assuming its original moniker in 2022.
Before theCOVID-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 theNational League orAmerican League with Minor League Baseball at various levels of play in growing popularity in the last few decades.
There were various attempts in the late 1800s and early 1900s to form a "California League" on theWest Coast, considering the distance of the two currentmajor 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 theNational Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, an organization ofminor leagues was formed in 1902, (following the "truce" and agreements between the olderNational League of 1876 and the newly "upstart"American League of 1901), the California League operated outside the NAPBL system as anindependent 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 inAnaheim,Bakersfield,Fresno,Merced,Riverside,San Bernardino,Santa Barbara, andStockton. 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 inVisalia,San Jose, andVentura by 1947. Further east,Reno, Nevada joined the league in 1955 with the movement of the oldChannel 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, theBakersfield Blaze, long dogged by inadequate facilities and unable to negotiate significant repairs, and theHigh Desert Mavericks, suffering from falling attendance and a lease dispute with the city ofAdelanto, were folded; the High-A level replaced them by expanding theCarolina League to ten teams.[1]
The start of the 2020 season was postponed due to theCOVID-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 the Low-A classification was renamed Single-A effective with the 2022 season.[5]
Year by Year list of league champions:
The Los Angeles area, Riverside, San Bernardino, Palm Springs, Yuma (AZ) and Las Vegas (NV) were also major leaguespring training site cities, as well possessed California League teams on different occasions.
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.
Active teamFormer team
The California League inducted its first class of 15 inductees into itsHall of Fame in 2016.[7]
TheCalifornia League Most Valuable Player Award was established in 1941.
For award winners, see footnote[8]
For award winners, see footnote[8]
For award winners, see footnote[8]
The Doug Harvey Award—established in 2010—is for theumpire of the year.[8]
