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
Team logo Cap insignia
Minor league affiliations
ClassSingle-A (2022–present)
Previous classes
LeagueCalifornia League (2022–present)
DivisionSouth Division
Previous leagues
Major league affiliations
Team
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)
MascotTipper
BallparkValley Strong Ballpark
Owner(s)/
Operator(s)
First Pitch Entertainment, LLC
General managerMike Candela & Julian Rifkind[1]
ManagerDee 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.

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

Notable alumni

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
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

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.
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