Bakersfield Blaze

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Bakersfield Blaze Founded in 1941 Bakersfield, California
Team Logo Cap Insignia
Class-level
High Class-A
Minor league affiliations
California League North Division
Major league affiliations
Texas Rangers (2005–present) Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2001-2004) San Francisco Giants (1997-2000) Co-Op (1995-1996) Los Angeles Dodgers (1968-1975, 1984-1994) Seattle Mariners (1982-1983) Independent (1978-1979)
Name
Bakersfield Blaze (1995–present) Bakersfield Dodgers (1968-1975, 1984-1994) Bakersfield Mariners (1982-1983) Bakersfield Outlaws (1978-1979) Bakersfield Bears (1957-1967) Bakersfield Boosters (1956) Bakersfield Indians (1946-1955) Bakersfield Badgers (1941-1942)
Ballpark
Sam Lynn Ballpark
Minor league titles
League titles	2 (1970, 1989)
Division titles
Owner(s)/Operated by: DG Elmore
Manager: Steve Buechele
General Manager: Shawn Schoolcraft

The Bakersfield Blaze are a minor league baseball team in Bakersfield, California, USA. They are a "high-A" class team in the California League, and are a farm team of the Texas Rangers. The Bakersfield Blaze play home games at Historic Sam Lynn Ballpark. Opened in 1941, the stadium is well known for facing the setting sun and its shallow 354-foot center field fence, and seats 3,500 fans. Their mascot is "Heater" the Dragon. (Not to be confused with the former mascot of the Western Baseball League's Chico Heat.)

Near the end of the 2008 season, it was rumored that the Blaze would move to the Carolina League after the following season. However, Minor League Baseball president Pat O'Conner announced in February 2009 that they would remain in the California League at the very least.^[1] In September 2009, a further announcement was made that the Blaze would remain in Bakersfield for at least through the 2010 season.^[2]

Contents 1 Notable former Bakersfield players 2 Year-by-Year Record 3 Current Roster 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Notable former Bakersfield players

• Rocco Baldelli
• Johnny Callison
• John Danks
• Chris Davis
• Don Drysdale
• Scott Feldman
• Josh Hamilton
• Eric Karros
• Mark Langston
• Pedro Martínez
• Ramon Martinez
• Travis Metcalf
• Joe Nathan
• Jose Offerman
• Hideo Nomo
• Mike Piazza
• James Shields
• John Wetteland
• Edinson Volquez

[edit] Year-by-Year Record

Year	Record	Finish	Manager	Playoffs
1941	73-67	3rd	Frank Morehouse / Les Powers	Lost in 1st round
1942	22-45	4th	Jack Colbern / Rex Cecil / Lee Dempsey	League suspended operations on June 28
1946	72-58	3rd	Martin Metrovich / Tony Governor	Lost in 1st round
1947	66-74	5th	Tony Governor
1948	70-70	5th (t)	Harry Griswold
1949	85-54	1st	Harry Griswold	Lost in 1st round
1950	61-79	6th	Harry Griswold
1951	58-89	8th	Wellington Quinn
1952	70-70	5th	Gene Lillard
1953	75-65	2nd	Ray Perry	Lost in 1st round
1954	80-60	2nd (t)	Ray Perry	Lost in 1st round
1955	61-85	5th	Doc Alexson
1956	48-92	8th	Art Lilly / Dick Wilson
1957	64-75	6th	Dick Wilson / Babe Herman
1958	84-55	2nd	Paul Owens	Lost in 1st round
1959	70-71	4th	Paul Owens	Lost League Finals
1960	74-66	3rd	Lou Kahn
1961	82-58	2nd	Lou Kahn
1962	67-72	6th (t)	Bob Wellman
1963	78-62	2nd	Bob Wellman
1964	56-83	8th	Moose Johnson
1965	66-74	5th	Dick Teed
1966	68-72	6th	Dick Teed
1967	70-68	4th	Nolan Campbell
1968	61-79	7th	Don Williams
1969	67-73	6th	Don LeJohn
1970	93-46	1st	Don LeJohn	League Champs
1971	56-82	8th	Don LeJohn
1972	88-52	1st	Don LeJohn	Lost League Finals
1973	70-70	4th	George Freese	Lost League Finals
1974	65-75	5th	George Freese
1975	60-80	8th	Ron Brand
1978	48-92	8th	George Culver
1979	63-77	9th	Ron Mihal
1982	64-76	8th	Ken Pape
1983	68-72	6th	Greg Mahlberg
1984	68-72	4th	Don LeJohn	Lost League Finals
1985	65-80	6th	Mel Queen
1986	40-102	10th	Don LeJohn
1987	78-65	4th	Kevin Kennedy
1988	71-71	6th	Gary LaRocque
1989	82-60	3rd	Tim Johnson	League Champs
1990	80-62	3rd	Tom Beyers	Lost League Finals
1991	85-51	2nd	Tom Beyers	Lost in 1st round
1992	68-68	7th	Tom Beyers
1993	42-94	10th	Rick Dempsey
1994	69-67	5th	John Shelby
1995	58-82	8th (t)	Greg Mahlberg
1996	39-101	10th	Graig Nettles
1997	62-78	8th	Glenn Tufts / Keith Bodie
1998	49-91	10th	Frank Reberger
1999	64-76	7th	Keith Comstock
2000	80-60	2nd	Lenn Sakata	Lost in 1st round
2001	71-69	5th (t)	Charlie Montoyo	Lost in 2nd round*
2002	69-72	6th (t)	Charlie Montoyo
2003	70-70	8th	Omer Munoz
2004	59-81	8th	Mako Oliveras
2005	68-72	7th	Arnie Beyeler
2006	58-82	10th	Carlos Subero
2007	57-83	9th	Carlos Subero
2008	62-78	9th	Damon Berryhill
2009	n/a	n/a	Steve Buechele

[edit] Current Roster

Bakersfield Blaze roster view • talk • edit
Players				Coaches/Other
Pitchers 23 Richard Bleier 15 Dustin Brader 25 Ryan Falcon 34 Adalberto Flores 31 Kennil Gomez -- Josh Lueke -- Michael Main 16 Justin Miller 12 Tim Murphy 21 Hector Nelo 44 Evan Reed -- Tanner Roark 16 John Slusarz -- Glenn Swanson 20 Ryan Tatusko -- Tyler Tufts		Catchers 38 Jose Felix -- Doug Hogan Infielders  3 Jacob Kaase  1 Matthew Lawson 24 Tommy Mendonca -- Erik Morrison  5 Davis Stoneburner Outfielders 18 Michael Bianucci 10 Joey Butler 29 David Paisano 17 Timothy Rodriguez		Manager -- Steve Buechele Coaches -- David Chavarria (pitching) -- Jason Wood (hitting) † Disabled list * On Texas Rangers 40-man roster ∞ Reserve list § Suspended list ‡ Restricted list # Rehab assignment Roster updated 2009-11-16 Transactions

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Bakersfield Blaze official website
• Bakersfield Blaze official MySpace page

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