Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox | |
---|---|
Information | |
League | Montna Farms Summer Series (2020–2022) Bay Area Collegiate League (2022) |
Location | Marysville, California |
Ballpark | Bryant Field |
Founded | 1995 |
Folded | 2022 |
League championships | 4 (2006, 2011, 2014, 2020) |
Division championships | 4 (2006, 2011, 2014, 2020) |
Former name(s) |
|
Former league(s) |
|
Former ballparks | |
Colors | Royal Blue, Red, Gold |
Ownership | YCM Baseball, LLC |
Manager | Brock Ragatz |
General Manager | Tommy Lininger |
Media | Appeal-Democrat (newspaper) KETQ-LP 93.3 (radio) |
Website | www |
The Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox were a summer collegiate wood-bat baseball club based in Marysville, California, in the United States, that began as an independent professional team in 1995. They played their home games at Bryant Field, adjacent to Ellis Lake, in Marysville from 2002 to 2022. The team name was changed to the Marysville Gold Sox in 2010 to more particularly identify the city in which the team was located, [1] but had since reverted to "Yuba-Sutter".
The Gold Sox name was chosen in honor of Yuba-Sutter (two adjoining counties separated by a river with the towns of Marysville and Yuba City on each side), having been called the "Gateway to the Gold Fields" during the California gold rush of the mid-1800s. The Gold Sox mascot is Mr. G, a gecko-like creature that is a favorite with children.
The Gold Sox ceased operations and were replaced by the Marysville Drakes of the Pecos League. [2]
The franchise began as a professional team in the Western Baseball League in 1995 as the Surrey Glaciers and only played one season at Stetson Bowl in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. In 1996 they relocated to Reno, Nevada, becoming known as the Reno Chukars and played their home games at Moana Stadium. They changed their name to the Reno Blackjacks in 1999 and played their final season in Reno before relocating to Marysville, where they were renamed the Feather River Mudcats for their inaugural 2000 season in Marysville.
Because of the team's infringement on the previously trademarked name of Mudcats by the Carolina Mudcats of the Southern League, the Feather River Mudcats changed their name to the Feather River Fury in preparation for the 2001 season, though never took the field under that name since the team filed for bankruptcy prior to the season start. There was no baseball in Marysville for the 2001 season.
The City of Marysville stepped in to operate the team for the 2002 season in order to keep baseball alive in the area and the city-owned ballpark in use. The City changed the name to Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox and played the season in the Western Baseball League. Upon conclusion of that 2002 season the Western Baseball League disbanded, thus ending the Gold Sox as a professional team.
The team was purchased from the City in 2003 by Bob Bavasi of Bavasi Sports Partners and local auto dealer Don McCullough (1936–2005) and began 2003 season play as a summer collegiate wood-bat team as it remains to this day.
The ball club played the 2003 and 2004 seasons in the California Collegiate League.
In 2005, the Gold Sox became the host team for the Horizon Air Summer Series, a collegiate wood bat league created by Bob Bavasi.
Prior to the 2005 season, Don McCullough died. Upon McCullough's death, Peter Bavasi, former General Manager of the San Diego Padres, President of the Toronto Blue Jays and Cleveland Indians, came out of retirement to help administer the club for the 2005 and 2006 seasons.
On January 1, 2007, Bob Bavasi invited Fair Oaks attorney Tom Lininger and his wife Karyn to join in the ownership of the club as majority shareholders. The team was renamed the Marysville Gold Sox in 2010. Tom Lininger became the team's managing partner and sold the team after the 2014 season.
In 2015, the organization was sold to CSH Holdings, Pat Gillick, Kevin Knight and Jake Knight. In 2016, the team moved to the Great West League which played a balanced schedule home and away. The League and team conduct operations like a class A short season minor league baseball team (examples: New York-Penn League and Northwest League). The ownership group hired veteran general manager Michael Mink to handle the operation in November 2016.
On November 6, 2017, the Gold Sox management announced that they were reverting the team name back to the Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox after the originally-named professional team.
On October 4, 2018, the Gold Sox announced that they are considering options for 2019 and beyond as a result of the Great West League suspending operations. [3] On November 15, 2018, the Gold Sox announced that they would cease operations if new ownership was not found. [4]
In 2019, a new local group, YCM Baseball Group, LLC, led by local agricultural entrepreneur Al Montna, purchased the Gold Sox and became members of the Golden State Collegiate Baseball League joining former GWL rivals the Medford Rogues.
In 2020, the Gold Sox season in the GSCBL was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, they helped create a smaller short-season league known as the Sierra Central-Montna Farms Summer Series. The Gold Sox were the inaugural champions defeating the Lincoln Potters (Note: The Potters are members of the CCL and did not know or agree to be a part of the Montna Farms Summer Series). The Series launched its second season in 2021, which they named themselves champions once again. In 2022, the series name was shortened to the Montna Farms Summer Series. Also in 2022, the Gold Sox joined the Bay Area Collegiate League.
On September 7, 2022, the Gold Sox announced that they will not be taking to the field in 2023 and will reevaluate their position in summer collegiate baseball in the region. [5] They are officially considering themselves "on hiatus", though they have effectively ceased operations. They will be replaced by the new Marysville Drakes of the Pecos League. [6]
Since their inception, the Gold Sox have played their home games at what was originally known as Bryant Field, located along Highway 70 in the east part of Marysville. It has experienced several name changes since then, including Appeal-Democrat Park, All Seasons RV Stadium, Colusa Casino Stadium and Hard Rock Park. The stadium is once again known as Bryant Field. The Gold Sox shared their field with the Yuba City Bears, who joined the GWL in 2017, [7] then later folded their GWL operations.
Year | League | Wins | Losses | Finish | Manager | Playoffs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2002 | Western Baseball League | 43 | 47 | 3rd North Division | Tim Gloyd | Did not qualify |
2003 | California Collegiate League | 31 | 13 | 3rd | Brad Peek | NA |
2004 | California Collegiate League | 34 | 10 | 3rd | Brad Peek | NA |
2005 | Horizon Air Summer Series | 30 | 10 | 2nd McCullough Division | Brad Peek | NA |
2006 | Horizon Air Summer Series | 32 | 8 | 1st McCullough Division | Brad Peek | NA |
2007 | Horizon Air Summer Series | 27 | 13 | 3rd McCullough Division | Jack Johnson | NA |
2008 | Horizon Air Summer Series | 30 | 10 | 2nd McCullough Division | Jack Johnson | NA |
2009 | Horizon Air Summer Series | 28 | 12 | 4th McCullough Division | Jack Johnson | NA |
2010 | Horizon Air Summer Series | 31 | 9 | 2nd McCullough Division | Jack Johnson | NA |
2011 | Horizon Air Summer Series | 31 | 8 | 1st McCullough Division | Jack Johnson | NA |
2012 | Horizon Air Summer Series | 29 | 11 | 3rd McCullough Division | Jack Johnson | NA |
2013 | Horizon Air Summer Series | 27 | 13 | 2nd McCullough Division | Jack Johnson | NA |
2014 | Horizon Air Summer Series | 33 | 7 | 1st McCullough Division | Jack Johnson | NA |
2016 | Great West League | 29 | 28 | 4th GWL | Mike Walker | Did not qualify |
2017 | Great West League | 23 | 37 | 5th GWL | Dallas Correa | Did not qualify |
2018 | Great West League | 15 | 41 | 6th GWL | Jeramy Gillen | Did not qualify |
2019 | Golden State Collegiate Baseball League | 29 | 28 | 3rd GWL | Mike Frantz | |
2020 | Sierra Central-Montna Farms Summer Series | 23 | 37 | 1st SCMF | Brock Stassi | Did not qualify |
The Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox official flagship radio station was KUBA-AM 1600. Todd Kuhnen provides play-by-play. Games are currently broadcast on the team's Facebook Live page.
The Western Baseball League was an independent baseball league based in the Western United States and Western Canada. Its member teams were not associated with any Major League Baseball teams. It operated from 1995 to 2002. The league was founded in 1994 by Portland, Oregon, businessman Bruce L. Engel. It began play in 1995, with the following teams:
The Chico Heat is the name of two baseball teams that have operated in Chico, California. The first was a professional independent team operating in the Western Baseball League from 1997 to 2002, and the second team was an independent team operating as part of the summer collegiate wood bat league known as the Great West League, which began operations in 2014 and ceased operations in 2018. The team's title sponsor was Golden Valley Bank. Both teams were majority owned by Steve and Kathy Nettleton.
Yuba City is a city in Northern California and the county seat of Sutter County, California, United States. The population was 70,117 at the 2020 census. Yuba City is the principal city of the Yuba City Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Sutter County and Yuba County. The metro area's population is 164,138. It is the 21st largest metropolitan area in California, ranked behind Redding and Chico. Its metropolitan statistical area is part of the Greater Sacramento CSA.
Marysville is a city and the county seat of Yuba County, California, located in the Gold Country region of Northern California. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 12,072, reflecting a decrease of 196 from the 12,268 counted in the 2000 Census. It is part of the Yuba-Sutter area of Greater Sacramento.
Emil Joseph "Buzzie" Bavasi was an American executive in Major League Baseball who played a major role in the operation of three California baseball franchises from the late 1940s through the mid-1980s.
Gold Sox can refer to two professional baseball teams:
The Yuba–Sutter area, or Yuba City Metropolitan Statistical Area, is a smaller metropolitan community including Yuba and Sutter Counties in Northern California's Central Valley within the Greater Sacramento area.
The Amarillo Gold Sox was the name of an American minor league baseball franchise that represented the city of Amarillo, Texas, in the Class D West Texas–New Mexico League, the Class A Western League and the Double-A Texas League at various times between 1939 and 1982.
Peter Bavasi is an American former front-office executive in Major League Baseball.
The Feather River Mudcats were a minor league baseball team located in Marysville, California. The team played in the independent Western Baseball League, and was not affiliated with any Major League Baseball team. Their home stadium was Bryant Field.
KUBA is a radio station based in Marysville, California. which serves the Marysville and Yuba City area, also known as the Yuba–Sutter area. KUBA is simulcast on translator K251CE 98.1 FM. Transmitting power is 5,000 watts day and 2,500 watts night.
The Prospect League is a collegiate summer baseball league comprising teams of college players from North America and beyond. All players in the league must have NCAA eligibility remaining in order to participate. So as to maintain their college eligibility, players are not paid. Beginning in 2012, the league added four games to the season, making a total of 60 games per team.
The Horizon Air Summer Series was a unique 11-week baseball competition among collegiate summer baseball clubs.
Max Robert Stassi is an American professional baseball catcher for the Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). The Oakland Athletics drafted him in the fourth round of the 2009 MLB draft. In 2013, Stassi made his MLB debut with the Houston Astros. The Astros traded Stassi to the Los Angeles Angels in 2019.
The Medford Rogues are a collegiate wood bat baseball team based in Medford, Oregon. They are members of the newly-formed Pacific Empire League starting in 2024. They played in the West Coast League from 2013 to 2015, and were founding members of the Great West League, where they played from 2016 to 2018, then were members of the Golden State Collegiate Baseball League from 2019 to 2021. They play their home games at Harry & David Field and were named after the former Class-D Far West League affiliate of the New York Giants that played from 1950 to 1951. They were the 2017 GWL Champions.
Bryant Field is a stadium in Marysville, California, United States. It reverted back to its original name of Bryant Field in 2022.
Brock James Stassi is an American former professional baseball first baseman. Selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 33rd round of the 2011 Major League Baseball draft out of University of Nevada, Reno, Stassi made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut for the club on April 3, 2017. He is currently a hitting coach in the Phillies organization for the Jersey Shore BlueClaws.
The Lincoln Potters are a collegiate wood bat baseball team based in Lincoln, California. They are operating as part of the summer collegiate wood bat league known as the Pacific Empire League. It began operations in 2016 as members of the Great West League. They play their home games at McBean Stadium in Lincoln. The Potters replaced the Lodi Crushers and Sacramento Stealth, who went inactive for 2017.
The Yuba City Bears were a summer collegiate baseball team based in Marysville, California, in the United States and representing Yuba City, California. They were a member of the Great West League, having been established in 2017, and had played their home games at Colusa Casino Stadium adjacent to Ellis Lake, in Marysville. They had shared the facilities with the Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox, but have since folded their GWL operations.
The San Francisco Seals are a summer collegiate wood-bat club based in Alameda, California and represent the San Francisco Bay Area. Established in 1985, they joined the Great West League in 2017 having replaced the Yuba City Bears who went dormant the same day the Seals were announced as new members. The Seals play their home games at College of Alameda Stadium.