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Fresno Grizzlies

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Fresno Grizzlies
Minor league affiliations
ClassSingle-A (2021–present)
Previous classesTriple-A (1998–2020)
LeagueCalifornia League (2021–present)
DivisionNorth Division
Previous leagues
Pacific Coast League (1998–2020)
Major league affiliations
TeamColorado Rockies (2021–present)
Previous teams
Minor league titles
Class titles (1)2015
League titles (1)2015
Conference titles (2)
  • 2015
  • 2018
Division titles (5)
  • 1998
  • 2015
  • 2018
  • 2021
  • 2022
First-half titles (1)
  • 2022
Second-half titles (1)
  • 2022
Team data
NameFresno Grizzlies (1998–present)
ColorsScarlet, black, beige, brown[1][2]
       
MascotParker T. Bear
BallparkChukchansi Park (2002–present)
Previous parks
Pete Beiden Field (1998–2001)
Owner(s)/
Operator(s)
Diamond Baseball Holdings
General managerDerek Franks
ManagerSteve Soliz
Websitemilb.com/fresno

The Fresno Grizzlies are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They are located in Fresno, California, and play their home games at Chukchansi Park, which was opened in 2002 in downtown Fresno. They previously played at Fresno State's Pete Beiden Field from 1998 to 2001.

The Grizzlies were established in 1998 as members of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League (PCL). They won the PCL championship in 2015, making it the only league title in franchise history. Fresno was transferred to the Low-A West in 2021, but this was renamed the California League in 2022.

History

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Prior professional baseball in Fresno

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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).

San Francisco Giants (1998–2014)

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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 the 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.[3]

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 several 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 team's mascot.[4] 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.

Houston Astros (2015–2018)

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In 2015, Fresno became an affiliate of the Houston Astros.[5] That season, they won the Triple-A Baseball National Championship Game by defeating the Columbus Clippers, 7–0, in El Paso, Texas.

Following the 2017 season, Grizzlies manager Tony DeFrancesco announced he would not return to the Houston Astros organization for the 2018 season. DeFrancesco led Fresno to a winning record in each of his three seasons at the helm, his clubs compiling a record of 234–194 (.547) from 2015 to 2017. The run marked the first time in franchise history (since 1998) the Grizzlies completed three consecutive winning seasons.[6]

On January 19, 2018, Rodney Linares was named the 10th manager in Grizzlies history.[7] The team was sold to Fresno Sports and Events, a group led by Ray and Michael Baker, part owners of the Colorado Rockies and Grand Junction Rockies, and Jim Coufos, a prior investor in the High Desert Mavericks, in a transaction that was made official on February 27, 2018.[8]

The Astros declined to renew their player-development contract with Fresno beyond the 2018 season.[9][5]

Washington Nationals (2019–2020)

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The team unveiled new logos, colors, and uniforms for the 2019 season. While retaining the Grizzlies name and grizzly bear imagery, the team switched to a red, black, beige, and brown color scheme with logos and uniforms that resemble the flag of California.[1]

Fresno also gained a new major league affiliate for 2019. The Grizzlies and Washington Nationals agreed to a player development contract for the 2019 and 2020 seasons.[10] The start of the 2020 season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic before being cancelled on June 30.[11][12] In conjunction with Major League Baseball's reorganization of the minors after the 2020 season, the Washington Nationals opted to discontinue their affiliation with the Grizzlies, leaving them in need of a new affiliate.[13]

Colorado Rockies (2021–present)

[edit]

In conjunction with Major League Baseball's restructuring of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the Grizzlies were transferred to the Low-A West as the Low-A classification affiliate of the Colorado Rockies.[14][15] They won the 2021 Northern Division title with a 74–41 record.[16] In the best-of-five league championship series, Fresno was defeated by the San Jose Giants, 3–0.[17] Zac Veen was selected as the league's Top MLB Prospect, and Robinson Cancel won its Manager of the Year Award.[18] 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.[19]

Season-by-season records

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Table key
League The team's final position in the league standings
Division The team's final position in the divisional standings
GB Games behind the team that finished in first place in the division that season
‡ Class champions (1998–2020)
† League champions (1998–present)
§ Conference champions (1998–2020)
* Division champions (1998–present)
Season-by-season records
Season League Regular season Postseason MLB affiliate Ref.
Record Win % League Division GB Record Win % Result
1998
* 		PCL 81–62 .566 2nd (tie) 1st — 2–3 .400 Won Pacific Conference Southern Division title
Lost Pacific Conference title vs. Calgary Cannons, 3–2[20] 		San Francisco Giants [21]
1999 PCL 73–69 .514 7th 2nd 1⁄2 — — — San Francisco Giants [22]
2000 PCL 57–84 .404 15th 4th 31+1⁄2 — — — San Francisco Giants [23]
2001 PCL 68–71 .489 9th 2nd 4+1⁄2 — — — San Francisco Giants [24]
2002 PCL 57–87 .396 16th 4th 28 — — — San Francisco Giants [25]
2003 PCL 55–88 .385 16th 4th 36+1⁄2 — — — San Francisco Giants [26]
2004 PCL 62–82 .431 15th 4th 17 — — — San Francisco Giants [27]
2005 PCL 68–76 .472 11th (tie) 2nd (tie) 12 — — — San Francisco Giants [28]
2006 PCL 61–83 .424 14th 4th 30 — — — San Francisco Giants [29]
2007 PCL 77–67 .535 4th 2nd 7 — — — San Francisco Giants [30]
2008 PCL 67–76 .469 11th 3rd 15+1⁄2 — — — San Francisco Giants [31]
2009 PCL 71–73 .493 10th (tie) 3rd (tie) 15+1⁄2 — — — San Francisco Giants [32]
2010 PCL 75–69 .521 6th 2nd 4 — — — San Francisco Giants [33]
2011 PCL 65–79 .451 13th (tie) 3rd (tie) 23 — — — San Francisco Giants [34]
2012 PCL 74–70 .514 9th 3rd 12 — — — San Francisco Giants [35]
2013 PCL 68–75 .476 12th 4th 12+1⁄2 — — — San Francisco Giants [36]
2014 PCL 68–76 .472 13th 4th 13 — — — San Francisco Giants [37]
2015
* § † ‡ 		PCL 84–59 .587 2nd 1st — 7–3 .700 Won Pacific Conference Northern Division title
Won Pacific Conference title vs. El Paso Chihuahuas, 3–1
Won PCL championship vs. Round Rock Express, 3–2
Won Triple-A championship vs. Columbus Clippers 		Houston Astros [38]
2016 PCL 73–70 .510 5th (tie) 3rd 8 — — — Houston Astros [39]
2017 PCL 77–65 .542 4th 2nd 3 — — — Houston Astros [40]
2018
* § 		PCL 82–57 .590 2nd (tie) 1st — 4–5 .444 Won Pacific Conference Northern Division title
Won Pacific Conference title vs. El Paso Chihuahuas, 3–2
Lost PCL championship vs. Memphis Redbirds, 3–1 		Houston Astros [41]
2019 PCL 65–75 .464 11th 3rd 8 — — — Washington Nationals [42]
2020 PCL Season cancelled (COVID-19 pandemic)[12] Washington Nationals [43]
2021
* 		A-W 74–41 .643 1st 1st — 0–3 000 Lost Low-A West championship vs. San Jose Giants, 3–0.[17] Colorado Rockies [16]
2022
* 		CAL 83–49 .629 1st 1st – 2–2 .500 Won North Division title
Won Cal League semifinals vs. San Jose Giants 2–0
Lost Cal League championship to Lake Elsinore Storm 0–2 		Colorado Rockies [44]
2023
* 		CAL 78–54 .591 1st 1st – — — Won North Division title Colorado Rockies [45]
Totals — 1,763–1,757 .501 — — — 15–16 .484 — — —
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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.[46]

The main character of the 2023 sitcom Not Dead Yet, Nell Serrano, is a fan of the Fresno Grizzlies. The seventh episode of season one, Not Out of the Game Yet, involves her writing the obituary for the Grizzlies former color commentator.[47][48]

Radio

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All games are broadcast on the Fresno Grizzlies website, with Stephen Rice handling the play-by-play.

Roster

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Fresno Grizzlies roster
Players Coaches/Other

Pitchers

  • 30 Austin Becker
  •  7 Nathan Blasick
  • 51 McCade Brown
  • 31 Yanzel Correa
  • 11 Isaiah Coupet
  • 21 Konner Eaton
  • 18 Stu Flesland III
  • 27 Kannon Handy
  •  9 Brady Hill
  • 12 Tyler Hoffman
  • 35 Jace Kaminska
  • 22 Justin Loer
  • 29 Ismael Luciano
  •  4 Jake Madden
  • 32 Hunter Mann
  •  5 Bryan Mena
  • 19 Hunter Omlid
  • 36 Bryan Perez
  • 28 Fidel Ulloa

Catchers

  •  2 Juan Castillo
  • 40 Ben McCabe
  • 33 Darius Perry

Infielders

  • 17 Kelvin Hidalgo
  • 12 Tommy Hopfe
  • 20 Aidan Longwell
  •  1 Luis Mendez
  •  8 Tevin Tucker
  •  3 Braylen Wimmer
  • 10 Blake Wright

Outfielders

  • 44 Robert Calaz
  • 15 Brad Cumbest
  • 25 Jason Hinchman
  • 24 Caleb Hobson
  • 14 Felix Tena
  • -- Jared Thomas


Manager

Coaches

  • 16 Trevor Burmeister (hitting)
  •  6 Cesar Galvez (bench)
  • 26 Jerry Sullivan (pitching)

60-day injured list

  • -- Jackson Cox
  • 21 Austin Emener
  • -- Jordy Vargas

7-day injured list
* On Colorado Rockies 40-man roster
~ Development list
# Rehab assignment
∞ Reserve list
‡ Restricted list
§ Suspended list
† Temporarily inactive list
Roster updated September 1, 2024
 Transactions
→ More rosters: MiLB • California League
 → Colorado Rockies minor league players

Notable alumni

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Alex Bregman

References

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  1. ^ a b "Fresno Grizzlies unveil new color scheme, logos and uniforms". FresnoGrizzlies.com. MLB Advanced Media. January 29, 2019. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  2. ^ Heneghan, Kelise (January 29, 2019). "Fresno reimagines 'Growlifornia' dream". MiLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
  3. ^ "Team History". MiLB.com. Retrieved 2012-04-03.
  4. ^ "Grizzlies mascot retires". Milb. March 18, 2006. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Fresno Grizzlies will have new Major League affiliate for 2019 season". milb.com. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  6. ^ "Tony DeFrancesco will not return to Houston Astros/Fresno Grizzlies in 2018". Fresno Grizzlies. Retrieved 2017-09-07.
  7. ^ "Rodney Linares named 10th Field Manager in Fresno Grizzlies history | Grizzlies".
  8. ^ "New Fresno Grizzlies Owners Finalized; Chukchansi Park Lease Extended". Ballpark Digest. February 27, 2018. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  9. ^ Reichard, Kevin (September 16, 2018). "Fresno Grizzlies: We'll Have a New MLB Affiliate". Ballpark Digest. Retrieved September 16, 2018.
  10. ^ "Fresno Grizzlies and Washington Nationals agree to Player Development Contract for 2019 and 2020 seasons". Minor League Baseball. September 18, 2018. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  11. ^ "A Message From Pat O'Conner". Minor League Baseball. March 13, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  12. ^ a b "2020 Minor League Baseball Season Shelved". Minor League Baseball. June 30, 2020. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  13. ^ Murphy, Justin; Lahman, Sean (November 19, 2020). "Rochester Red Wings have new parent club: Washington Nationals". Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  14. ^ Reichard, Kevin (December 9, 2020). "Fresno Agrees to Cal League Move; 120-Team MiLB Lineup Complete". Ballpark Digest. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  15. ^ Mayo, Jonathan (February 12, 2021). "MLB Announces New Minors Teams, Leagues". Major League Baseball. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  16. ^ a b "2021 Low-A West". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
  17. ^ a b Trujillo, Nick (September 25, 2021). "San Jose Wins Low-A West Title". Minor League Baseball. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
  18. ^ "Postseason All-Stars". Minor League Baseball. Archived from the original on October 10, 2021. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
  19. ^ "Historical League Names to Return in 2022". Minor League Baseball. March 16, 2022. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  20. ^ "1998 Pacific Coast League Standings". Stats Crew. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  21. ^ "1998 Pacific Coast League". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  22. ^ "1999 Pacific Coast League". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  23. ^ "2000 Pacific Coast League". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  24. ^ "2001 Pacific Coast League". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  25. ^ "2002 Pacific Coast League". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  26. ^ "2003 Pacific Coast League". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  27. ^ "2004 Pacific Coast League". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  28. ^ "2005 Pacific Coast League". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  29. ^ "2006 Pacific Coast League". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  30. ^ "2007 Pacific Coast League". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  31. ^ "2008 Pacific Coast League". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  32. ^ "2009 Pacific Coast League". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  33. ^ "2010 Pacific Coast League". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  34. ^ "2011 Pacific Coast League". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  35. ^ "2012 Pacific Coast League". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  36. ^ "2013 Pacific Coast League". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  37. ^ "2014 Pacific Coast League". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  38. ^ "2015 Pacific Coast League". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  39. ^ "2016 Pacific Coast League". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  40. ^ "2017 Pacific Coast League". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  41. ^ "2018 Pacific Coast League". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  42. ^ "2019 Pacific Coast League". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  43. ^ "2020 Schedule" (PDF). Nashville Sounds. Minor League Baseball. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  44. ^ "2022 California League". BaseballReference.com. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  45. ^ "2023 California League". BaseballReference.com. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  46. ^ "Minor League Team to Play Game as Fresno Tacos". Washington Post. Retrieved 2015-07-23.
  47. ^ "Not Dead Yet Season 1 Episode 7 Review: Not Out of the Game Yet | Tell-Tale TV". telltaletv.com. 2023-03-16. Retrieved 2023-06-12.
  48. ^ "Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2023-06-12.
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