High Desert Mavericks

High Desert Mavericks Founded in 1988 Adelanto, California
Team logo Cap insignia
Class-level
Class A - Advanced
Minor league affiliations
California League South Division -
Major league affiliations
Seattle Mariners (2007–present) Kansas City Royals (2005–2006) Milwaukee Brewers (2001–2004) Arizona Diamondbacks (1997–2000) Baltimore Orioles(1995–1996) Florida Marlins (1993) San Diego Padres (1988–1992)
Name
High Desert Mavericks (1991–present) Riverside Red Wave (1988–1990)
Colors
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Ballpark
Stater Bros. Stadium
Minor league titles
League titles	1991, 1993, 1997
Division titles
Owner(s)/Operated by: Main Street Baseball
Manager: Pedro Grifol
General Manager: Cory A. John

The High Desert Mavericks are a minor league baseball team in Adelanto, California, USA. Their Major League parent club is the Seattle Mariners. They are a Class A - Advanced team in the California League.

The franchise was founded in 1988 and was first located in Riverside, California and known as the Red Wave from 1988. In 1991 it relocated north across the mountains to Adelanto, part of the Victor Valley metro area in California's High Desert region. The Mariners are the seventh parent club in the Mavericks' relatively short history.

The Mavericks play their home games at Stater Bros. Stadium (known as Mavericks Stadium until 2007) which opened in 1991 and seats 3,808 fans. The park is known to be an extreme hitter-friendly venue which tends to inflate home run totals drastically. As a result, offensive statistics for High Desert players must be discounted for comparative purposes, while the reverse is the case for statistics accumulated by High Desert pitchers.

Achievements

• The Mavericks are the only team in California League history to win championships in the years that their major league parent clubs came into existence.
• The Mavericks were the first team in California League history to have cheerleaders. The Maverick Girls would perform dance numbers on top of the dugouts in between innings.
• On June 28, 2009, the Mavericks performed two historic feats on one day. They combined with the Lake Elsinore Storm to set a California League record for combined runs scored (51) in a 33-18 loss, and outfielder James McOwen broke the California League record for longest hitting streak, hitting safely for the 36th straight game on the same day.

Notable High Desert Mavericks alumni

Craig Breslow

Cory Lidle

• Rod Barajas
• Nick Bierbrodt
• Bruce Bochy (inaugural manager)
• Craig Breslow
• Billy Butler
• Howie Clark
• Jack Cust
• Greg Halman
• Robby Hammock
• J. J. Hardy
• Corey Hart
• J. P. Howell
• Shawn Kelley
• Travis Lee
• Cory Lidle
• Javier López
• Matt Mangini
• Matt Mieske
• Brad Nelson
• Vicente Padilla
• Brad Penny
• Michael Pineda
• Stephen C. Reich
• Michael Saunders
• Junior Spivey
• Matt Vasgersian (MLB Network Announcer, was the Mavericks first radio announcer 1991)
• Don Wakamatsu (managed Mavs in 1998, was California League Manager of the Year that year; first Asian-American MLB manager)
• Brandon Weeden

Sale of team

On November 29, 2010, High Desert Mavericks were sold to Main Street Baseball after more than a year on the open market. Rumors have the team possibly relocating to Chico, California, if a new ballpark is proposed and built there.

However in 2011, the city of Chico lost their NAL team the Chico Outlaws and that team moved to Calexico, California (see the Arizona Winter League - the Calexico Outlaws) in Imperial Valley right on the Mexican border.

The Riverside, California area is the best location for the Mavericks, although the cities of Moreno Valley, California and Palm Springs, California have the best stadiums to meet league standards. Already the Lake Elsinore Storm, the class-A San Diego Padres affiliate wanted to move down to Escondido, California in San Diego County and the Mavericks shall replace the lone Riverside County spot in Lake Elsinore, California. Originally, Escondido wanted to host the AAA Tucson Padres of the Pacific Coast League, but the city did not approve a new stadium proposal.

* According to an article in the Victor Valley Daily Press dated August 12, 2012, the Mavericks will be staying in the High Desert through the 2015 season and possibly through 2018. The story, http://www.vvdailypress.com/articles/adelanto-36219-approves-lease.html is linked here.

Roster

Taylor Stanton pitching for High Desert in 2012

High Desert Mavericks roster
Players				Coaches/Other
Pitchers 28 Tyler Blandford 24 Matt Brazis 27 David Colvin 20 Mayckol Guaipe 32 Cameron Hobson 30 Kyle Hunter 11 Seon Gi Kim 33 George Mieses 16 Trevor Miller 34 Stephen Shackleford 27 Brett Shankin 13 Jordan Shipers 18 Robert Shore		Catchers  8 Steven Baron 29 Michael Dowd Infielders 17 Ji-Man Choi 12 Dillon Hazlett 22 Ramon Morla  2 Daniel Paolini  7 Anthony Phillips 26 Chris Taylor Outfielders  3 Jamal Austin  6 Jabari Blash  4 Patrick Brady  7 Mike McGee  5 Nathan Melendres  9 Kevin Rivers		Manager 19 Jim Horner Coaches 14 Roy Howell (hitting) 23 Lance Painter (pitching) 7-day disabled list * On Seattle Mariners 40-man roster ∞ Reserve list § Suspended list ‡ Restricted list # Rehab assignment Roster updated April 10, 2013 Transactions → More MiLB rosters → Seattle Mariners minor league players

External links

• High Desert Mavericks Official Site
• Daily Press Article