Visalia Rawhide

The Visalia Rawhide are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They are located in Visalia, California, and have played their home games at Valley Strong Ballpark since their inception in 1946.

Visalia Rawhide
Founded in 1946 Visalia, California
Team logo Cap insignia
Minor league affiliations
Class	Single-A (2022–present)
Previous classes	Low-A (2021) Class A-Advanced (1990–2020) Class A (1975–1989) Class C (1946–1962)
League	California League (2022–present)
Division	South Division
Previous leagues	Low-A West (2021) California League (1946–2020)
Major league affiliations
Team	Arizona Diamondbacks (2007–present) Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2005–2006) Colorado Rockies (2003–2004, 1993–1994) Oakland Athletics (1997–2002) Co-op (1995–1996) Minnesota Twins (1977–1992) New York Mets (1968–1975) Chicago White Sox (1962) Kansas City Athletics (1960–1961) Cincinnati Reds (1957–1959) Chicago Cubs (1946–1952)
Minor league titles
League titles (3)	1971 1978 2019
Division titles (3)	2015 2018 2019
First-half titles (1)	2016
Team data
Name	Visalia Rawhide (2009–present) Visalia Oaks (1995–2008, 1977–1992) Central Valley Rockies (1993–1994) Visalia Mets (1968–1975) Visalia White Sox (1962) Visalia Athletics (1960–1961) Visalia Redlegs (1957–1959) Visalia Cubs (1954–1956, 1946–1952) Visalia Stars (1953)
Mascot	Tipper
Ballpark	Valley Strong Ballpark
Owner(s)/ Operator(s)	First Pitch Entertainment, LLC
General manager	Mike Candela & Julian Rifkind^[1]
Manager	Dee Garner

The team has had nine names, most of which reflected its changing major-league affiliates, most recently the Minnesota Twins, Colorado Rockies, Oakland A's, Tampa Bay Rays, and Diamondbacks. They took the name Rawhide in 2009.

Casey Jones/Casey at the Bat

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 the Stockton Ports in Stockton.^{[citation needed]}

Visalia is one of the four oldest cities of the Cal League, along with San Jose (the San Jose Giants/Bees); and Modesto (the Modesto Nuts/A's).

Mascot

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.

Radio broadcast

The Rawhide are heard terrestrially on KJUG AM 1270 and over the internet through their website www.rawhidebaseball.com.

Notable Visalia alumni

Baseball Hall of Fame alumni

• Randy Johnson (2007) Inducted, 2015
• Kirby Puckett (1983) Inducted, 2001

Notable alumni

• Jack Aker (1960)
• Allan Anderson (1984) 1988 AL ERA Leader
• Trevor Bauer (2011)
• Ken Berry (1962) MLB All-Star
• Jay Bell (1985) 2x MLB All-Star
• Geoff Blum (2011)
• Eric Byrnes (1998, 2008)
• Marty Cordova (1991–1992) 1995 AL Rookie of the Year
• John Castino (1977) 1979 AL Rookie of the Year
• Joe Charboneau (1978) 1980 AL Rookie of the Year
• Eric Chavez (1995)
• Craig Counsell (1993)
• Vic Davalillo (1958) MLB All-Star
• Sean Doolittle
• Zach Duke (2011)
• Adam Eaton (2011, 2013)
• Johnny Edwards (1959) 3x MLB All-Star
• Scott Erickson (1989) MLB All-Star
• Tim Foli (1969)
• Paul Goldschmidt (2010) 2013 NL Home Run & RBI Leader; 5x MLB All-Star
• Tom Gordon (2008) 3x MLB All-Star
• Kevin Gregg (1997)
• Eddie Guardado (1992) 2x MLB All-Star
• Mark Guthrie (1987)
• Ken Harrelson (1961) MLB All-Star
• Kent Hrbek (1981) MLB All-Star
• Aubrey Huff (2006)
• Ubaldo Jiménez (2004) MLB All-Star
• Jake Lamb (2013) MLB All-Star
• Chuck Knoblauch (1989) 4x MLB All-Star; 1991 AL Rookie of the Year
• Tom Kelly (1979–1980, MGR) 1991 AL Manager of the Year; Manager: 2 x World Series Champion – Minnesota Twins (1987, 1991)
• Evan Longoria (2006) 3x MLB All Star; 2008 AL Rookie of the Year
• Lee Mazzilli (1975) MLB All-Star
• John Milner (1969)
• Jerry Morales (1968) MLB All-Star
• Denny Neagle (1990, 2003) 2x MLB All-Star
• Fernando Perez
• Vada Pinson (1957) 4x MLB All-Star
• A.J. Pollock (2016) MLB All-Star
• Mark Portugal (1983)
• Max Scherzer (2007) 5x MLB All-Star; 2 x Cy Young Award (2013 AL, 2016 NL)
• José Santiago (1962) MLB All-Star
• Ken Singleton (1968) 3x MLB All-Star
• Nick Swisher (2002) MLB All-Star
• Juan Uribe (2003)
• Justin Upton (2007, 2009) 4x MLB All-Star
• Barry Zito (1999) 3x MLB All-Star; 2002 AL Cy Young Award

Pop culture

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 the 2011 movie Moneyball (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 catcher Jeremy Brown tripping and then diving back to first on a ball that turned out to be a home run.

In the 1988 film Bull Durham, Visalia was mentioned as a potential managing job for aging catcher Crash Davis, played by Kevin Costner.

In the 1994 film Little Big League, a Visalia Oaks pennant can be seen hanging on the wall in the main characters' bedroom.

Roster

Visalia Rawhide roster

• v
• t
• e

Players				Coaches/Other
Pitchers 19 Jose Cabrera 16 Logan Clayton -- Matt Cleveland ‡ 37 Gustavo Del Pozo 32 Joe Elbis 11 Lorenzo Encarnacion 13 Brock Jones   21 Emailin Montilla 40 Alfred Morillo 36 Liam Norris 12 Yaifer Perdomo   18 Yoscar Pimentel 34 Jacob Steinmetz 22 Josh Swales 29 Luis Tejeda 30 Armando Vasquez 39 Wyatt Wendell 20 Ricardo Yan		Catchers 27 Axel Andueza 23 Christian Cerda  4 Sergio Gutierrez  8 David Martin Infielders -- Johan Benitez 25 Gavin Conticello  5 Juan Corniel  7 Jose Fernandez  3 Jakey Joseba   -- Lucas Martino ‡ 15 Manuel Pena 35 Anderdson Rojas Outfielders 12 Junior Franco 14 Alvin Guzman 17 Brett Johnson  1 Druw Jones   10 Kristian Robinson *  9 Danyer Sanabria		Manager  2 Dee Garner Coaches 24 Rolando Arnedo 26 Tyler Mark (pitching)  3 Xen Penny (hitting) 60-day injured list -- Alexander Benua -- Jancarlos Cintron  1 Dairon Cuevas -- Juan Garcia -- Osvaldo Morel 28 Angel Ortiz 35 Andrew Pintar -- Erison Rincon -- Rael Santos -- Nate Savino -- Landon Sims -- Boris Vecerka   7-day injured list * On Arizona Diamondbacks 40-man roster ~ Development list # Rehab assignment ∞ Reserve list ‡ Restricted list § Suspended list † Temporarily inactive list Roster updated June 18, 2023 Transactions → More rosters: MiLB • California League → Arizona Diamondbacks minor league players

Alumni

• Visalia Oaks
• Central Valley Rockies
• Visalia Mets
• Visalia Redlegs

Minor league affiliations

Main article: List of Arizona Diamondbacks minor league affiliates

Level	Team	League	Location	Manager
Triple-A	Reno Aces	Triple-A West	Reno, Nevada	Blake Lalli
Double-A	Amarillo Sod Poodles	Double-A Central	Amarillo, Texas	Shawn Roof
High-A	Hillsboro Hops	High-A West	Hillsboro, Oregon	Vince Harrison
Low-A	Visalia Rawhide	Low-A West	Visalia, California	Javier Colina
Rookie	AZL D-backs	Arizona 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

References

1. "Personnel News: Visalia, Charleston". Ballpark Digest. August Publications. February 14, 2020. Retrieved February 14, 2020.

External links

• Official website
• Statistics from Baseball-Reference