August 22nd, 2016 at 7:17 am 
by Ron Cervenka Like every living Dodger fan – at least those of us who have yet to celebrate our 68th birthdays – I have been blessed to have had only one true “Voice of the Dodgers” in my lifetime. I am, of course, referring to Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully who, on October 2, 2016, will broadcast his final game from AT&T Park in San Francisco to begin a very well deserved retirement with his bride of 43 years Sandi. And while the undisputed GOAT (a popular acronym for “Greatest of all Time”) will be stepping away from the microphone for the final time on that day after 67 wonderful and memorable seasons a mere two months shy of his own 89th birthday, another historical part of baseball history – two, in fact – will also not be returning next season.
Late last night, TodaysKnuckleball.com writer
Those familiar with the Bakersfield Blaze know full well that they currently play in historic Sam Lynn Ballpark, hence yet another connection to Vin Scully and his longtime former broadcast partner Jerry Doggett. Built in 1941, Sam Lynn Ballpark was home to the Brooklyn Dodgers Class-C affiliate Bakersfield Indians where, in 1954, future Hall of Famer Don Drysdale – then a 17-year-old kid from Van Nuys, California – began his professional career.
Bakersfield remained the Dodgers Class-C minor league affiliate in 1955 but the team left at the conclusion of that season. However, in 1968, the now Los Angeles Dodgers returned to Sam Lynn Ballpark (which was named after a longtime local Coca Cola Beverage Company distributor) as the Dodgers’ now Class-A affiliate Bakersfield Dodgers; this time remaining until the conclusion of the 1975 season, when they again left. But once again, the Dodgers reconnected with the city of Bakersfield in 1984 as their California League Class-A affiliate (becoming their Advanced Single-A affiliate in 1990) until they left for good after the 1994 season.
The mere thought of the number of baseball greats who set foot on the field at historic Sam Lynn Ballpark in Bakersfield is absolutely mind-boggling. (Photo credit – Bobby DeMuro)
During their combined 21-year affiliation with the city of Bakersfield, Vin Scully, Jerry Doggett and later Ross Porter would give (near) nightly recaps of all of the Dodgers minor league affiliates. They would also frequently mention the Bakersfield Dodgers when talking about (then) current players who once played at Sam Lynn Ballpark during their minor league careers. What players, you ask? How about recent Hall of Fame inductees Pedro Martinez and Mike Piazza and former Dodgers Rookies of the Year Rick Sutcliffe, Eric Karros, Piazza, Raul Mondesi, Hideo Nomo, and Todd Hollandsworth, not to mention many others who went on to play in the big leagues … and not just for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers. At one point or another during it’s remarkable 75-year history, Sam Lynn Ballpark was a minor league home for the Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, Seattle Mariners, San Francisco Giants, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers and Cincinnati Reds.
Although almost brand new when compared to Sam Lynn Ballpark, Heritage Field in the high desert community of Adelanto, California also left an indelible mark in minor league history, albeit somewhat of a dubious one. Located basically in the middle of nowhere, Heritage Field – previously known as Maverick Stadium (1991–2006) and Stater Bros. Stadium (2007–2014) – opened in 1991. And though it was believed at the time that Adelanto would one day become one of California’s next boom towns, that dream never happened – much like the bust of (relatively) nearby California City, located just outside of Mojave, California.
During their 25 years in existence, the High Desert Mavericks have been the Cal League Advanced Single-A affiliate for the San Diego Padres (1991-1992), Florida Marlins (1993), Baltimore Orioles (1995-1996), Arizona Diamondbacks (1997-2000), Milwaukee Brewers (2001-2004), Kansas City Royals (2005-2006), Seattle Mariners (2007-2014) and Texas Rangers (2015-2016). If you look closely at these numbers you will notice a very distinct pattern here. Aside from the Mariners, no franchise remained at High Desert for more than four years and three of them only two which, by no coincidence, is the average term of most of today’s Player Development Contracts, or PDCs as they are more commonly known.
It’s hard to argue that Adelanto’s Heritage Field isn’t located in the middle of nowhere.
(Photo courtesy of mapio.net)
Although Adelanto, California (population: 31,304) isn’t the end of the world, you can pretty much see it from there. It’s nearest “big city” neighbor is Victorville, California (population: 121,096) which is, for the most part, a gasoline stop along Interstate 15 between metropolitan Los Angeles and Las Vegas, Nevada and all points east. (They do have a Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburger there however, thus making it a must-stop location for lunch). Simply put, Heritage Field has never been one of the Cal League’s better attended ballparks and, as such, has never been a real moneymaker for the small desert community.
While the departure of Sam Lynn Ballpark from the California League has more to do with the fact that, at 75 years old, it has become obsolete due to its lack of the modern amenities, such as an on-site weight room and modern batting cages (not to mention its west-facing field that forces games to begin as late as 8:00 pm), the departure of Heritage Field from the Cal League has everything to do with small town politics … well, almost everything.
Because of its (almost) daily 40 MPH-plus afternoon and evening winds (sometimes way plus), Heritage Field has been ranked by Baseball America as “the most offensively-favored ballpark” in professional baseball. And while this makes for extremely entertaining 500+ foot home runs, it also makes it nearly impossible to properly evaluate young hitters and, even more so, young pitchers. But it was a long, drawn-out (and very ugly) legal battle between the Texas Rangers organization and the city of Adelanto that has the Rangers leaving Heritage Field when their current PDC expires in just a few short weeks. Although this legal battle has (apparently) since been resolved, facility and player development challenges in a very unique environment (literally) and a less-than-ideal market forced the Rangers to seek other (better) options.
According to DeMuro, the Mariners have purchased an ownership stake in the California League’s Modesto Nuts franchise, currently the Advanced Single-A affiliate for the Colorado Rockies, and the Rangers are moving their Advanced Single-A team to the equally-competitive Carolina League, although an exact location has yet to be made public.
The unfortunate part to all of this is that the real losers are not the respective franchises, the players and coaches or the cities involved. The real losers are the employees of these respective ballparks, many (most) of whom are retired and/or elderly folks trying to supplement their meager social security or retirement incomes. These are the folks – who always seem to be incredibly nice – who will be left in the wake by the loss of Sam Lynn Ballpark and Heritage Field.
But alas, life goes on and the game that we love so very very much will continue. Next spring, just as it has every spring for the past century and a half, will find minor league baseball teams taking to the fields of ballparks across our great country and around the world. But deep down, tucked away in our memory banks and in our hearts, will be Sam Lynn Ballpark and Heritage Field and the countless other lost ballparks that have made our national pastime what it is today.
Play ball!
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Kind of a sad story. As Ed Bruce sang in his song “The Last Cowboy Song” – another piece of America is lost.
I understand the reasoning with the very low attendance in Bakersfield and also with the political situation with Adelanto as well as the Rangers interest in moving out of the hitter friendly California League.
The Rangers are relocating to Kinston, North Carolina.
I loved this piece Ron. Thanks for educating us on the two minor league franchises. My day with Tom Seidler in Visalia several years ago was quite enlightening. The announcer was also the editor of the scorecard and yearbook. (Last I looked he was one of the Oakland A’s announcers now). The girls in the ticket office were answering the phones. The concessions man would prep his bbq ribs at home hours before game time, and help out with the custodial services after game. It was a family run organization and Tom, (the owner, Peter O’Malley’s nephew) had cut his teeth in Dodger minor league towns like Great Falls, MT and San Antonio, TX.
There’s something special about minor league baseball. The innocence of the game from years past before money and enormous contract changed things. Those poor kids are eating peanut butter and jelly and living for free at homes of team sponsored families. Adelanto and Bakersfield are really losing something special, but I’m shocked at the isolation of the High desert franchise.
Here’s an idea that I think would really be kind of neat. Resurrect the “Hollywood Stars” franchise and place a Single A team in Hollywood. Wouldn’t that be a kick? I think that it would be a huge hit. Cheap family fun, all the minor league gimmicks and with the Hollywood angle to boot.
I owe a huge debt of gratitude to ebbetsfld and Gary Smith for introducing me to former MiLB manager Juan Bustabad, with whom I became good friends when he managed the Quakes. Through Busty I developed my love of the minor leagues and began spending almost as much time on the backfields at CBR during spring training as I did the big league side. In doing so I came to know quite a few of these kids personally, several of whom I now see regularly IN THE DODGERS CLUBHOUSE!
And of course I owe my biggest debt of gratitude to Harold who, since Day-1, has kept me up to speed on many up-and-comers within the Dodgers farm system (as do several of our regulars here on TBLA who also follow the minors closely).
Although most Dodger fans pretty much stick to following the big club, having even a basic knowledge of who is Down on the Farm is so very very helpful when it comes to knowing what options the Dodgers have to either promote from within or use as trade chips. This alone is reason to keep a finger on the pulse of the franchise’s minor league system.
All of that said, Evan nailed it. Running a minor league facility is insanely expensive and requires a great deal of personal and financial sacrifice and investment, and I get that there really isn’t much profit in this extremely difficult business. But there is something so very very special about watching minor leaguers on the field and, to some extent even more special about watch the fans in the stands at minor league ballparks that is simply too difficult to accurately describe.
As much as I hope for continuing success to the Mariners and Rangers farm systems, I am sincerely heartbroken for the very loyal fans in Bakersfield and Adelanto. None of this was their doing.
I attended nearly every home game at Sam Lynn during the 1991 season. At that time Pedro Martinez was known as “Ramon’s younger brother” and Piazza was a 62nd round draft pick who was rumored to only have been drafted as a favor to his famous godfather, Tommy Lasorda. Well, as it turned out, those two became the best pitcher and best catcher (at least offensively), respectively, of their generation. Piazza, as I recall, was dynamite for the Bakersfield Dodgers. It was obvious he was destined for greatness. Those were great times. I was about 10 years old, playing Little League at the time and the B Dodgers were my home team. When they left, it was like a miniature version of when the Brooklyn Dodgers left for Los Angeles, I would imagine. Although who could blame them? The ballpark was well out-dated and the city refused to build the team a newer, more modern stadium that didn’t face the batter’s box northwest (the only such stadium in major or minor league baseball in the Northern Hemisphere to feature this design flaw, as the early evening sun blinded hitters for the first few innings of the games). Awesome article.
Thank you for resurrecting this one out of mothballs, Phil. It was, and still is, one of my all time favorites.
As they say: “Minor Leagues, Major Fun.”