Fresno Cardinals
Encyclopedia
The Fresno Cardinals were a minor league
baseball team that played in the California League
from 1941-1956. The team was owned by the St. Louis Cardinals
of the National League
and was based in Fresno, California
.
The city of Fresno had professional baseball as far back as 1898 when it had a team in the original California League, then considered an "outlaw" league (i.e., outside the bounds of Organized Baseball). The team dropped out of the league after that year, but the California League returned in 1905 with the Fresno Tigers, joined late in the season by Fresno native and future hall of famer Frank Chance
. In 1906, the Tacoma Tigers of the Pacific Coast League
moved to Fresno, playing as the Fresno Raisin Eaters
for one season. In 1910, Fresno rejoined the old California League, which had entered Organized Baseball as the Class "D" California State League, but the league folded during the season. When the league reorganized, Fresno rejoined it in 1913, finishing second in a four-team league. After the season, the team and league folded.
When the modern California League was founded in 1941 as a Class "C" minor league, the Fresno Cardinals were a charter member, the others being the Anaheim Aces
, Bakersfield Badgers, Merced Bears, Riverside Reds, San Bernardino Stars, Santa Barbara Saints, and Stockton Fliers. The Cards finished first, 6½ games ahead of the Saints, but lost the playoffs to the Saints 4 games to 1. In 1942, they finished second in a season shortened by America's entry into World War II
. The league suspended play for the 1943, 1944, and 1945 seasons. In 1946, the California League resumed operations. The Cardinals won pennants in 1948 and 1952.
In 1955, the Cardinals fielded one of the best teams in the history of minor league baseball, ranked the 79th best minor league team of all time by baseball historians Bill Weiss
and Marshall Wright
. It was one of only a handful of lower classification teams (i.e., Class A, B, C and D) to have been included in the top 100 minor league teams. The Cards finished 104-43 for a .707 won-lost percentage, 5½ games ahead of the San Jose Red Sox
for the season as a whole. The league played a split season schedule, though, and the Cards finished second, 2½ games behind the Stockton Ports
in the first half of the split season. In the second half, though Stockton faded, Fresno barely finished first, only one game over San Jose. In the playoffs, Fresno defeated Stockton 3 games to 1 to win the CL pennant. The 1955 Cardinals set league records for most runs (1,048), hits (1,500), and RBI (893) in a season. Their 104 games won and .707 winning percentage remain California League records to this day. The team won its last pennant in Fresno the following year, 1956.
The Fresno Cardinals had long been one of the league's more popular teams, due in large part to its affiliation with the major league Cardinals. Until 1955, St. Louis had been the major leagues' western-most city, with the St. Louis Cardinals winning many fans in the western part of the United States as a result. In addition, a large percentage of the population of Fresno and the surrounding area consisted of transplants from the states of Oklahoma
, Missouri
, Texas
, and Arkansas
, who arrived with a natural affinity for the Cardinals.
The televising of major league baseball games and other factors began taking its toll on minor league attendance during the 1950s, with many teams and entire leagues folding as a result. Scaling back their minor league operations, the St. Louis Cardinals sold their Fresno club after the 1956 season to the Greater Fresno Youth Foundation and ended their affiliation with the team.
In 1957 the team, now known as the Fresno Sun Sox, operated without a major league affiliation, and finished last. In 1958, the team entered into a working agreement with the San Francisco Giants
and were renamed the Fresno Giants, winning the California League pennant in their inaugural year. In 1963, the entire minor league system was reorganized, with the California League granted Class A status for the first time. As a Class A team, the Fresno Giants won pennants in 1964, 1974 and 1987.
After the 1987 season, the San Francisco Giants moved their "farm" operations to San Jose
. The Fresno team, now renamed the Fresno Suns and operating as an independent team, drew only 34,000 fans for the entire season in 1988, after which the team was sold and moved to Salinas
for the 1989 season.
Minor league baseball returned to Fresno in 1998, when the owners of the Tucson Toros
of the AAA Pacific Coast League
moved their franchise to Fresno and renamed it the Fresno Grizzlies
.
Minor league baseball
Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...
baseball team that played in the California League
California League
The California League is a Class A Advanced minor league baseball league which operates throughout the state of California. Before 2002, it was classified as a "High-A" league, indicating its status as a Class A league with the highest level of competition within that classification, and the fifth...
from 1941-1956. The team was owned by the St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
of the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
and was based in Fresno, California
Fresno, California
Fresno is a city in central California, United States, the county seat of Fresno County. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 510,365, making it the fifth largest city in California, the largest inland city in California, and the 34th largest in the nation...
.
The city of Fresno had professional baseball as far back as 1898 when it had a team in the original California League, then considered an "outlaw" league (i.e., outside the bounds of Organized Baseball). The team dropped out of the league after that year, but the California League returned in 1905 with the Fresno Tigers, joined late in the season by Fresno native and future hall of famer Frank Chance
Frank Chance
Frank Leroy Chance was a Major League Baseball player at the turn of the 20th century. Performing the roles of first baseman and manager, Chance led the Chicago Cubs to four National League championships in the span of five years and earned the nickname "The Peerless Leader".Chance was elected to...
. In 1906, the Tacoma Tigers of the Pacific Coast League
Pacific Coast League
The Pacific Coast League is a minor-league baseball league operating in the Western, Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Along with the International League and the Mexican League, it is one of three leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball.The...
moved to Fresno, playing as the Fresno Raisin Eaters
Fresno Raisin Eaters
The Fresno Raisin Eaters were a minor league baseball team which played in the Pacific Coast League in 1906. The Sacramento Solons, a charter member of the PCL which began play in 1903, moved to Tacoma in 1904, where the team won the PCL pennant playing as the Tacoma Tigers...
for one season. In 1910, Fresno rejoined the old California League, which had entered Organized Baseball as the Class "D" California State League, but the league folded during the season. When the league reorganized, Fresno rejoined it in 1913, finishing second in a four-team league. After the season, the team and league folded.
When the modern California League was founded in 1941 as a Class "C" minor league, the Fresno Cardinals were a charter member, the others being the Anaheim Aces
Anaheim Aces
The Anaheim Aces were a charter member of baseball's California League, founded in 1941 as a Class "C" minor league. The remaining charter teams were the Bakersfield Badgers, Fresno Cardinals, Merced Bears, Riverside Reds, San Bernardino Stars, Santa Barbara Saints, and Stockton Fliers. The Aces...
, Bakersfield Badgers, Merced Bears, Riverside Reds, San Bernardino Stars, Santa Barbara Saints, and Stockton Fliers. The Cards finished first, 6½ games ahead of the Saints, but lost the playoffs to the Saints 4 games to 1. In 1942, they finished second in a season shortened by America's entry into World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The league suspended play for the 1943, 1944, and 1945 seasons. In 1946, the California League resumed operations. The Cardinals won pennants in 1948 and 1952.
In 1955, the Cardinals fielded one of the best teams in the history of minor league baseball, ranked the 79th best minor league team of all time by baseball historians Bill Weiss
Bill Weiss
Bill Weiss is a baseball historian and statistician. He has served as the official statistician for the Pacific Coast League, and edited a weekly newsletter for the California League for over thirty years. For over forty years, he created sketchbooks which eventually covered over 200 books about...
and Marshall Wright
Marshall Wright
Marshall Wright is a baseball historian. Born in LaGrange IL and raised in North Riverside, Illinois, he resides in Lake Geneva, WI.Wright graduated from the Bill Kinnamon Umpire School in 1980. He has been an employee of Howe Sportsdata since 1994.He has written several books on the history of...
. It was one of only a handful of lower classification teams (i.e., Class A, B, C and D) to have been included in the top 100 minor league teams. The Cards finished 104-43 for a .707 won-lost percentage, 5½ games ahead of the San Jose Red Sox
San Jose Red Sox
The San Jose Red Sox were a Boston Red Sox affiliate from 1947 to 1955, located in San Jose, California. They competed in the California League and they played at San Jose Municipal Stadium.-Year-by-year record:...
for the season as a whole. The league played a split season schedule, though, and the Cards finished second, 2½ games behind the Stockton Ports
Stockton Ports
The Stockton Ports are a baseball team in Stockton, California. The Ports play in the Northern Division of the Class A – Advanced California League and are a Minor League affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. Their home field is Banner Island Ballpark which seats over 5,000 people and opened in...
in the first half of the split season. In the second half, though Stockton faded, Fresno barely finished first, only one game over San Jose. In the playoffs, Fresno defeated Stockton 3 games to 1 to win the CL pennant. The 1955 Cardinals set league records for most runs (1,048), hits (1,500), and RBI (893) in a season. Their 104 games won and .707 winning percentage remain California League records to this day. The team won its last pennant in Fresno the following year, 1956.
The Fresno Cardinals had long been one of the league's more popular teams, due in large part to its affiliation with the major league Cardinals. Until 1955, St. Louis had been the major leagues' western-most city, with the St. Louis Cardinals winning many fans in the western part of the United States as a result. In addition, a large percentage of the population of Fresno and the surrounding area consisted of transplants from the states of Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, and Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, who arrived with a natural affinity for the Cardinals.
The televising of major league baseball games and other factors began taking its toll on minor league attendance during the 1950s, with many teams and entire leagues folding as a result. Scaling back their minor league operations, the St. Louis Cardinals sold their Fresno club after the 1956 season to the Greater Fresno Youth Foundation and ended their affiliation with the team.
In 1957 the team, now known as the Fresno Sun Sox, operated without a major league affiliation, and finished last. In 1958, the team entered into a working agreement with the San Francisco Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
and were renamed the Fresno Giants, winning the California League pennant in their inaugural year. In 1963, the entire minor league system was reorganized, with the California League granted Class A status for the first time. As a Class A team, the Fresno Giants won pennants in 1964, 1974 and 1987.
After the 1987 season, the San Francisco Giants moved their "farm" operations to San Jose
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
. The Fresno team, now renamed the Fresno Suns and operating as an independent team, drew only 34,000 fans for the entire season in 1988, after which the team was sold and moved to Salinas
Salinas, California
Salinas is the county seat and the largest municipality of Monterey County, California. Salinas is located east-southeast of the mouth of the Salinas River, at an elevation of about 52 feet above sea level. The population was 150,441 at the 2010 census...
for the 1989 season.
Minor league baseball returned to Fresno in 1998, when the owners of the Tucson Toros
Tucson Toros
The Tucson Toros are a professional baseball team based in Tucson, Arizona, in the United States. They are owned by Tucson Baseball, LLC with Jay Zucker as chairman of the board. Sean Smock is the team's general manager....
of the AAA Pacific Coast League
Pacific Coast League
The Pacific Coast League is a minor-league baseball league operating in the Western, Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Along with the International League and the Mexican League, it is one of three leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball.The...
moved their franchise to Fresno and renamed it the Fresno Grizzlies
Fresno Grizzlies
The Fresno Grizzlies are a minor league baseball team based in Fresno, California. The team, which plays in the Pacific Coast League , is the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants major league club. The Grizzlies play in Chukchansi Park , located in downtown Fresno and built in 2002...
.