| Visalia Rawhide | |||||
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| Minor league affiliations | |||||
| Class | Single-A (2021–present) | ||||
| Previous classes |
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| League | California League (1946–present) | ||||
| Division | South Division | ||||
| Major league affiliations | |||||
| Team |
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| Minor league titles | |||||
| League titles(3) |
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| Division titles(3) |
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| First-half titles(1) |
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| Second-half titles(1) |
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| Wild card berths(1) |
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| Team data | |||||
| Name |
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| Mascot | Tipper | ||||
| Ballpark | Valley Strong Ballpark | ||||
Owner(s)/ Operator(s) | First Pitch Entertainment, LLC | ||||
| General manager | Mike Candela & Julian Rifkind[1] | ||||
| Manager | Darrin Garner | ||||
| Website | milb.com/visalia | ||||
TheVisalia Rawhide are aMinor League Baseball team of theCalifornia League and theSingle-A affiliate of theArizona Diamondbacks. They are located inVisalia, California, and have played their home games atValley Strong Ballpark since their inception in 1946.
The team has had nine names, most of which reflected its changing major-league affiliates, most recently theMinnesota Twins,Colorado Rockies,Oakland A's,Tampa Bay Rays, andDiamondbacks. They took the name Rawhide in 2009.
In conjunction withMajor League Baseball's restructuring of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the Rawhide were organized into the Low-A West at the Low-A classification.[2] In 2022, the Low-A West became known as the California League, the name historically used by the regional circuit prior to the 2021 reorganization, and was reclassified as a Single-A circuit.[3]
Once per season, the team wears old-fashioned uniforms recalling Mighty Casey, the main folklore hero of "Casey at the Bat" and the "Mudville Nine", based on theStockton Ports inStockton.[citation needed]
Visalia is one of the four oldest cities of the Cal League, along withSan Jose (theSan Jose Giants/Bees); andModesto (theModesto Nuts/A's).
The Visalia Rawhide mascot is a Holstein Bull named Tipper, introduced on October 15, 2008. Tipper represents the tens of thousands of Holsteins in Tulare County, the top dairy-producing area in the country. Tipper's home is a ballpark barn – a 40' x 20' red barn which is part of the outfield fence – doubles carom off the side of the barn, and home runs land on the roof, leading to a new twist on the old baseball adage "couldn't hit the broad side of the barn" which now represents weak hitters instead of wild pitchers. The traditional red barn was built as a "community barn raising" to raise awareness for Habitat for Humanity and stands as an icon for the agricultural heritage of the valley.
The Rawhide are heard terrestrially on KJUG AM 1270 and over the internet through their website www.rawhidebaseball.com.
Baseball Hall of Fame alumni
Notable alumni
As a minor league affiliate of the Oakland A's at the time, the Visalia Oaks were prominently mentioned in the Michael Lewis Book 'Moneyball', and also featured a few times during the2011 movieMoneyball (which took place in 2002). In one scene, Billy Beane is driving to see the Visalia Oaks during the A's winning streak, and another shows Billy watching video of Visalia Oaks catcherJeremy Brown tripping and then diving back to first on a ball that turned out to be a home run.
In the1988 filmBull Durham, Visalia was mentioned as a potential managing job for aging catcher Crash Davis, played byKevin Costner.
In the1994 filmLittle Big League, a Visalia Oaks pennant can be seen hanging on the wall in the main character’s bedroom.
| Players | Coaches/Other |
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Pitchers
Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
| Manager
Coaches
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| Level | Team | League | Location | Manager |
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| Triple-A | Reno Aces | Pacific Coast League | Reno, Nevada | Blake Lalli |
| Double-A | Amarillo Sod Poodles | Texas League | Amarillo, Texas | Shawn Roof |
| High-A | Hillsboro Hops | Northwest League | Hillsboro, Oregon | Vince Harrison |
| Single-A | Visalia Rawhide | California League | Visalia, California | Dee Garner |
| Rookie | ACL D-backs | Arizona Complex League | Scottsdale, Arizona | Rolando Arnedo |
| DSL D-backs 1 | Dominican Summer League | Boca Chica,Santo Domingo | Jaime Del Valle | |
| DSL D-backs 2 | Ronald Ramirez |
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| World Series championships (1) | |||||||||||
| National League pennants (2) | |||||||||||
| NL West division titles (5) | |||||||||||
| NL Wild Card (2) | |||||||||||
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