Tucson Sidewinders

Tucson Sidewinders
Founded in 1969 Tucson, Arizona
File:TucsonSidewinders.PNG File:TucsonSidewindersCap.png Team logo Cap insignia
Minor league affiliations
Class	Triple-A (1969-Present)
League	Pacific Coast League
Conference	Pacific Conference
Division	South Division
Major league affiliations
Team	Arizona Diamondbacks (1998-Present)
Previous teams	Milwaukee Brewers (1997) Houston Astros (1980-1996) Texas Rangers (1977-1979) Oakland A's (1973-1976) Chicago White Sox (1969-1972)
Minor league titles
Class titles	2006
League titles	1991, 1993, 2006
Conference titles	2006
Division titles	1973, 1991, 1993, 2006
Team data
Name	Tucson Sidewinders (1998-Present)
Previous names	Tucson Toros (1969-1997)
Ballpark	Tucson Electric Park
Previous parks	Hi Corbett Field
Owner(s)/ Operator(s)	SK Baseball LLC
General manager	Rick Parr
Manager	Bill Plummer

The Tucson Sidewinders (1998-present) are a minor league baseball team based in Tucson, Arizona. The team, which plays in the Pacific Coast League, is the Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks major-league club. The Sidewinders play in Tucson Electric Park, located on the south side of Tucson. In June 2007, Jay Zucker of Tucson Baseball LLC announced the sale of the Tucson Sidewinders to SK Baseball LLC for $15 M. SK Baseball is planning to relocate the team to Sierra Nevada Stadium in Reno, Nevada for the 2009 season.

History

Team origins

From 1969-1997 the Tucson Toros were Tucson's Triple-A baseball club, playing at Hi Corbett Field in midtown Tucson. Part of the old 10-team configuration of the Pacific Coast League, the Toros won the PCL Championship in 1991 and 1993. The Toros were preceded by a number of other Tucson teams between 1915 and 1958, such as the Tucson Cowboys and the Tucson Lizards.

After the MLB expansion that added the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix and Tampa Bay Devil Rays, the Toros moved to Fresno, California as the Fresno Grizzlies. The Phoenix Firebirds relocated to Tucson, briefly became the Tucson Toros (1997), and then became the Sidewinders (1998), the Triple-A affiliate of the new Diamondbacks. This was accomplished by what amounted to a "swap" in ownership in 1997, with Firebirds owner Martin Stone purchasing the Toros and Toros owner Rick Holtzman receiving interest in the Firebirds. The Tucson team retained management and staff primarily from the Toros, and traces its history from the Toros rather than the Firebirds.

The Phoenix Firebirds had played from 1958 through 1997 as an affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. The franchise joined the Pacific Coast League as a charter member in 1903 as the San Francisco Seals, relocating to Phoenix when the major league New York Giants moved to San Francisco. Seals alumni include Joe DiMaggio.

The Tucson Toros had been affiliated with the Chicago White Sox (1969-1972), the Oakland Athletics (1973-1976), the Texas Rangers (1977-1979), the Houston Astros (1980-1996), and the Milwaukee Brewers (1997 only, with one Diamondbacks prospect, Travis Lee, playing with them by special arrangement). At the time of the change in venue and affiliations (1998), a new Tucson team name, the "Sidewinders" was chosen after a name the team contest was held.

Sidewinders era

With the coming of the Diamondbacks, a new ballpark was needed for spring training in Tucson, since the Colorado Rockies used Hi Corbett Field. Tucson Electric Park was built, and became the spring training site for the both the D'backs and the Chicago White Sox. It also became home to the Tucson Sidewinders in 1998. This ended minor league baseball history at Hi Corbett Field. Many changes took place between 1997 and 1999 - a new name, new affiliation, newly expanded league, new owner, new general manager and new venue - resulting in disgruntled fans and lower than expected attendance. Financial arrangements between team owners and Pima County were also the subject of criticism. Since purchasing the team in 2000, owner Jay Zucker has attempted to improve the situation with a variety of promotions, including weekly fireworks. These efforts have met with limited success.

The team has been very successful as a supplier of major league-quality players to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Many individual Sidewinders have performed admirably in mid-season call-ups, sometimes returning to the major league club time and again as needed. This has earned the Sidewinders the nickname "Baby 'Backs."

In 2006, the Tucson Sidewinders won the Pacific Coast League championship, and afterwards defeated the Toledo Mud Hens 5-2 in the Bricktown Showdown for the Triple-A baseball championship at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City.

Sidewinders timeline

1997 - Martin Stone, a businessman, land speculator and former owner of the Phoenix Firebirds, purchases the Tucson Toros from Rick Holtzman. The Tucson Toros have a one year player development contract with the Milwaukee Brewers, filling the gap between the end of the Toros' contract with Houston and the beginning of the team's affiliation with the expansion Diamondbacks. Diamondbacks prospect Travis Lee plays in Tucson for part of the season. Toros owner Stone persuades the Pima County Board of Supervisors to approve a lease on Tucson Electric Park (then under construction) that protects the team owner from a portion of the team's financial losses at taxpayer expense.

1998 - The renamed Tucson Sidewinders begin their affiliation with the Arizona Diamondbacks, playing at Tucson Electric Park. A new mascot is also introduced, Sandy Sidewinder, a snake with arms. The old mascot, Tuffy the Toro, is phased out.

1999 - In May, longtime Toros general manager Mike Feder is fired from the Sidewinders by team owner Stone. A local uproar ensues in support of Feder. He is replaced by Jack Donovan.

2000 - Before the 2000 baseball season, broadcasting entrepreneur Jay Zucker purchases the Sidewinders from Martin Stone, reportedly for about $7 to $8 million, after Stone is diagnosed with prostate cancer. Zucker loses over $200,000 in his first season as owner. Feder returns as GM.

2001 - Feder leaves prior to the season to take a role as Regional Marketing Director for the NFL's New Orleans Saints. Todd Woodford returns to Tucson as general manager after spending a year with the PCL's Salt Lake franchise.

2002 - Rick Parr becomes the team's general manager. Despite the parent club's World Series win the previous year, the Sidewinders report 268,807 total attendance for the season, an average of 3,895 per game. Tucson Electric Park has a capacity of 11,000.

2003 - Tucson Sidewinders prospects earn the nickname "Baby 'Backs" with their relative youth and frequent call-ups to the major league club.

2006 - The team finishes the regular season 91-53, the best in AAA baseball for 2006 and a new franchise record. Team manager Chip Hale is named PCL Manager of the Year. After defeating the Salt Lake Bees 3-1 in a best-of-five PCL Pacific Conference Championships series, the Sidewinders win the Pacific Coast League Championship Series in three straight games versus the Round Rock Express. They then defeat the International League champion, the Toledo Mud Hens, 5-2 in a one-game playoff in Oklahoma City for the unofficial AAA title. Despite this feat, the Sidewinders still suffered from dwindling fan attendance and a general lack of interest from the Tucson market.

2007 and beyond - After the 2006 season, the Sidewinders renew their player development contract with the Diamondbacks for another two years. Manager Chip Hale is promoted to the Diamondbacks coaching staff as their new third base coach. Bill Plummer, the former manager of the Diamondbacks' former Double-A affiliate, the Tennessee Smokies, takes over as skipper for the Sidewinders in 2007. Randy Johnson pitches the home opener as part of a brief rehab stint with the Sidewinders, and picks up a win for the team in his second outing on April 20. The Sidewinders have a win-loss record of 28-23 as of May 29, for second place standing in the Pacific South division of the PCL. Hampered by low attendance and concerns over the location and playing field maintenance at Tucson Electric Park, Tucson Baseball LLC sold the Tucson Sidewinders to SK Baseball LLC for $15 M in June 2007. SK Baseball is planning to relocate the team to Reno, NV for the 2009 season.

Notable players

Some notable players to don a Toros or Sidewinders uniform:

• Bobby Abreu
• Brian Anderson
• Ronnie Belliard
• Craig Biggio
• Ken Caminiti
• Alex Cintron
• Craig Counsell
• David Dellucci
• Stephen Drew
• Erubiel Durazo
• Mike Fetters
• Phil Garner
• Édgar González
• Luis Gonzalez
• Jason Grimsley

Conor Jackson Geoff Jenkins Randy Johnson Todd Jones Jeff Juden Darryl Kile Byung-Hyun Kim Travis Lee Kenny Lofton Leo Mazzone Mark McLemore Joe Mikulik Damian Miller Melvin Mora

Phil Nevin Carlos Quentin Shane Reynolds Reggie Sanders Curt Schilling Junior Spivey Chad Tracy Dave Veres Oscar Villarreal Fernando Vina Billy Wagner Donne Wall Matt Williams Tony Womack

Several players listed were "Tucson" players only by virtue of being sent down to AAA for rehab after an injury.

Current roster

Reno Aces roster

Players				Coaches/Other
Pitchers 22 Logan Allen 18 Kyle Backhus 15 Zach Barnes 34 Humberto Castellanos 66 José Castillo 37 Dakota Chalmers 58 Yilber Diaz 36 Chris Ellis 53 Luis Frías 85 Josh Green 31 Brandon Hughes * 56 Joe Jacques * 33 Cristian Mena * 54 Christian Montes De Oca 49 Konnor Pilkington 35 Austin Pope 40 Taylor Rashi 21 Chris Rodriguez 27 Andrew Saalfrank §* 11 Mitchell Stumpo		Catchers 14 Adrian Del Castillo 28 Ronaldo Hernández 13 Jose Herrera Infielders  4 Sergio Alcántara  6 Bryson Brigman 38 Andrés Chaparro 55 Deyvison De Los Santos 32 Tristin English 10 Jordan Lawlar * Outfielders  8 Albert Almora Jr.  1 Jorge Barrosa * 17 Kyle Garlick 26 Pavin Smith *		Manager 29 Blake Lalli Coaches 57 Jeff Bajenaru (pitching) 30 Travis Denker (hitting) 51 Doug Drabek (pitching) 44 Shawn Roof (bench) 60-day injured list  5 Andy Weber 7-day injured list * On Arizona Diamondbacks 40-man roster ~ Development list # Rehab assignment ∞ Reserve list ‡ Restricted list § Suspended list † Temporarily inactive list Roster updated June 19, 2024 Transactions → More rosters: MiLB • Pacific Coast League → Arizona Diamondbacks minor league players

Team name

The name "Sidewinders" refers to both a snake indigenous to Arizona and pitchers with a particular style of throwing. Since a Diamondback rattlesnake is also common in Arizona, the Tucson team's name is now more in line with that of the parent club than the alliterative name "Tucson Toros." Nevertheless, many fans seem to miss the old club name with its long history. For a few seasons on Tuesdays, the Sidewinders reverted back to throwback "Toros nights," wearing the old Toros pinstriped uniforms. 2005 was the last season that Tucson held "Toros Tuesdays." However, Tuffy the Toro continues to make cameo appearances at the ballpark, joining the latest Tucson mascot, Sandy Sidewinder. The team still has the occasional Toros-related promotions, such as a giveaway of replica Toros hats.

See also

• Tucson Toros

References

• The Pepper spring training page
• Ballpark Watch
• article "Diamond in the Rough" by Chris Limberis, Tucson Weekly, March 1, 2001
• series preview Unofficial Portland Beavers Web Page, 2004.

External links

• Tucson Sidewinders official site
• FutureBacks.com - comprehensive Sidewinders coverage
• Tucson Sidewinders roster, splits, and situational stats
• [1] Sidewinder myspace