Franchise history
The 66ers began when the Salinas Spurs moved to San Bernardino and bought the name of the San Bernardino Spirit from the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes who had just left town. The team was bought by Elmore Sports Group soon afterwards. The team originally played at Fiscalini Field until 1996 when the team moved to San Bernardino Stadium, nicknamed "The Ranch" in concert with the team's new name, the San Bernardino Stampede.
Later, the stadium was re-christened San Manuel Stadium sponsored by the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians with their casino.
In 2003, a competition was held to determine a new name for the organization. Season ticket holder Phil Westbook's proposal for a team representing the Inland Empire ultimately led to the team's current name, The Inland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino. [1]
In September 2006, the 66ers announced they were renewing their affiliation with the Los Angeles Dodgers beginning in the 2007 season. That affiliation would last through the end of the 2010 season.
In September 2010, the 66ers agreed to a two-year affiliation with the Los Angeles Angels to be the MLB club's minor league "High A" ball affiliate.
The team was once unique for having a National Public Radio affiliate, KVCR-FM, as the station that broadcast its games on radio. However, in 2008 the team changed its station to commercial talk station KCAA.
In conjunction with Major League Baseball's restructuring of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the 66ers were organized into the Low-A West at the Low-A classification. [2] They retained their affiliation with the Angels. [3] 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. [4]
On March 27, 2024, the club announced that Diamond Baseball Holdings had acquired ownership of the club. [5] On December 15, 2024, following the sale of the Modesto Nuts franchise to Diamond, it was announced the 66ers would become the Class A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners beginning in the 2026 season; the move would consist of the current 66ers franchise assuming the place of the Modesto Nuts in a de facto relocation of the Nuts franchise (which would effectively cease operations at that time following a failure to receive funds to renovate their current stadium); the pre-2025 incarnation of the 66ers would then relocate to Rancho Cucamonga, assuming the identity of the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes; that team's pre-2025 team incarnation will then relocate to a new stadium being built in Ontario. [6]
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