| Stockton Ports | |||||
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| Minor league affiliations | |||||
| Class | Single-A (2021–present) | ||||
| Previous classes | Class A-Advanced (1978–2020) | ||||
| League | California League (1941–present) | ||||
| Division | North Division | ||||
| Major league affiliations | |||||
| Team | Oakland Athletics /Athletics (2005–present) | ||||
| Previous teams |
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| Minor league titles | |||||
| League titles(11) |
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| Team data | |||||
| Name | Stockton Ports (1946–1972, 1978–1999, 2002–present) | ||||
Previous names |
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| Colors | Red, white, blue | ||||
| Mascot | Splash | ||||
| Ballpark | Banner Island Ballpark (2005–present) | ||||
Previous parks | Billy Hebert Field (1941–2004) | ||||
Owner(s)/ Operator(s) | Tom Volpe / 7th Inning Stretch, LLC | ||||
| General manager | Jordan Feneck | ||||
| Manager | Javier Godard | ||||
| Media | KWSX 1280 AM – MiLB.TV (currently select away games only) | ||||
| Website | milb.com/stockton | ||||
TheStockton Ports are aMinor League Baseball team of theCalifornia League and theSingle-A affiliate of theAthletics. They are located inStockton, California, and are named for the city'sseaport. The team plays its home games atBanner Island Ballpark which opened in 2005 and seats over 5,000 people.
The Ports were established in 1941 as members of the California League and have won theCalifornia League championship 11 times.
Baseball first came to Stockton in the 1860s. At the time, Stockton fielded a team in an earlier incarnation of the California League. In 1888, the Stockton team won the California Leaguepennant with a record of 41–12. That same team also gained a bit of notoriety as a possible inspiration for "Casey at the Bat", a famous baseball poem byErnest Thayer. Thayer was a journalist for theSan Francisco Examiner at the time and the games were hosted in a ballpark on Banner Island, a place once known as Mudville.
TheStockton Flyers were established as a charter member of the California League in 1941. The league suspended operations in June 1942 due to World War II. The Flyers were rechristened as theStockton Ports to recognize Stockton's status as an inland port city when the league resumed operations in 1946. That season, the Ports went on to win their firstCalifornia League pennant.
In 1947, the Ports won the California League title again without a major league affiliation (they had a limited working agreement with thePacific Coast League'sOakland Oaks). After going 24–18 through June 4, they went on a 26-game winning streak and took first place, never to relinquish again in that season. The win streak is one of the longest in professional baseball and is still a California League record. The Ports finished that season with a record of 95–45 and 16 games ahead of the two teams tied for second place. During Minor League Baseball's centennial celebration in 2001, baseball historiansBill Weiss andMarshall Wright rated the 1947 Ports as one of the100 greatest minor league teams of all time, ranked at number 98.[1]
Owned by Stockton local Carl W. Thompson, Sr. (1971–1973), the Ports disbanded after the 1972 season, coming back as an affiliate of theSeattle Mariners in 1978. The Ports began a long affiliation with theMilwaukee Brewers the following year. The Ports had the best winning percentage in Minor League Baseball in the 1980s.[2] In an homage to the team in the Ernest Thayer poem, the Ports were renamed theMudville Nine in 2000 and 2001,[3][4] then returned to the Ports name in 2002.
In 2005, the Ports moved to the newly builtBanner Island Ballpark and became affiliates of theOakland Athletics. The team won its 11th California League championship in 2008 with a 9–3 victory over theLancaster JetHawks on September 14.
In conjunction withMajor League Baseball's restructuring of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the Ports were organized into theLow-A West at the Low-A classification.[5] In 2022, the Low-A West became known as the California League, the name historically used by the regional circuit prior to 2021, and was reclassified as aSingle-A league.[6]
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