Visalia Rawhide


The Visalia Rawhide are a Class A - Advanced minor league baseball team in Visalia, California affiliated with the major league Arizona Diamondbacks. The Rawhide play in the California League.
The Rawhide have played their home games at Recreation Park since their inception in 1946. The stadium seats about 2,700 fans. In 2009, the City of Visalia completed a multimillion-dollar renovation and expansion of Recreation Ballpark supported by a 10-year lease with the ball club, the longest lease in franchise history.
The team has had nine names, most of which reflected its changing major-league affiliates, most recently are the Minnesota Twins, Colorado Rockies, Oakland A's, Tampa Bay Rays, and Diamondbacks. It took the name Rawhide in 2009, after two years of fan surveys, polls, focus groups, and direction by players.

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".
Visalia is one of the four oldest cities of the Cal League, along with San Jose ; and Modesto.

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

alumni
Notable alumni
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. 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

Alumni

LevelTeamLeagueLocation
AAAReno AcesPacific Coast LeagueReno, Nevada
AAJackson GeneralsSouthern LeagueJackson, Tennessee
Advanced AVisalia RawhideCalifornia LeagueVisalia, California
AKane County CougarsMidwest LeagueGeneva, Illinois
Short Season AHillsboro HopsNorthwest LeagueHillsboro, Oregon
RookieMissoula OspreyPioneer LeagueMissoula, Montana
RookieAZL D-backsArizona LeagueScottsdale, Arizona
RookieDSL D-backsDominican Summer LeagueBoca Chica, Dominican Republic
Rookie---