| Visalia Rawhide | |
| Founded: | 1946 |
| City: | Visalia, California |
| Uniformlogo: | VisaliaRawhidecap.PNG |
| Class Level: | Single-A (2021–present) |
| Current League: | California League (1946–present) |
| Division: | South Division |
| Majorleague: |
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| Nickname: |
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| Ballpark: | Valley Strong Ballpark |
| Mascot: | Tipper |
| Leaguenum: | 3 |
| Divnum: | 3 |
| Firsthalfnum: | 1 |
| Owner: | First Pitch Entertainment, LLC |
| Gm: | Mike Candela & Julian Rifkind[1] |
| Manager: | Dee Garner |
The Visalia Rawhide are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They are located in Visalia, California, and have played their home games at Valley Strong Ballpark since their inception in 1946.
The team has had nine names, most of which reflected its changing major-league affiliates, most recently the Minnesota Twins, Colorado Rockies, Oakland A's, Tampa Bay Rays, and Diamondbacks. They took the name Rawhide in 2009.
In conjunction with Major League Baseball's restructuring of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the Rawhide were organized into the Low-A West at the Low-A classification.[2] 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.[3]
Once per season, the team wears old-fashioned uniforms recalling Mighty Casey, the main folklore hero of "Casey at the Bat" and the "Mudville Nine", based on the Stockton Ports in Stockton.
Visalia is one of the four oldest cities of the Cal League, along with San Jose (the San Jose Giants/Bees); and Modesto (the Modesto Nuts/A's).
The Visalia Rawhide mascot is a Holstein Bull named Tipper, introduced on October 15, 2008. Tipper represents the tens of thousands of Holsteins in Tulare County, the top dairy-producing area in the country. Tipper's home is a ballpark barn – a 40' x 20' red barn which is part of the outfield fence – doubles carom off the side of the barn, and home runs land on the roof, leading to a new twist on the old baseball adage "couldn't hit the broad side of the barn" which now represents weak hitters instead of wild pitchers. The traditional red barn was built as a "community barn raising" to raise awareness for Habitat for Humanity and stands as an icon for the agricultural heritage of the valley.
The Rawhide are heard terrestrially on KJUG AM 1270 and over the internet through their website www.rawhidebaseball.com.
Baseball Hall of Fame alumni
Notable alumni
As a minor league affiliate of the Oakland A's at the time, the Visalia Oaks were prominently mentioned in the Michael Lewis Book 'Moneyball', and also featured a few times during the 2011 movie Moneyball (which took place in 2002). In one scene, Billy Beane is driving to see the Visalia Oaks during the A's winning streak, and another shows Billy watching video of Visalia Oaks catcher Jeremy Brown tripping and then diving back to first on a ball that turned out to be a home run.
In the 1988 film Bull Durham, Visalia was mentioned as a potential managing job for aging catcher Crash Davis, played by Kevin Costner.
In the 1994 film Little Big League, a Visalia Oaks pennant can be seen hanging on the wall in the main characters' bedroom.
See main article: article and List of Arizona Diamondbacks minor league affiliates.
| Level | Team | League | Location | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Triple-A | Reno Aces | Pacific Coast League | Reno, Nevada | Blake Lalli |
| Double-A | Amarillo Sod Poodles | Texas League | Amarillo, Texas | Shawn Roof |
| High-A | Hillsboro Hops | Northwest League | Hillsboro, Oregon | Vince Harrison |
| Single-A | Visalia Rawhide | California League | Visalia, California | Javier Colina |
| Rookie | ACL D-backs | Arizona Complex League | Scottsdale, Arizona | Rolando Arnedo |
| DSL D-backs 1 | Dominican Summer League | Boca Chica, Santo Domingo | Jaime Del Valle | |
| DSL D-backs 2 | Ronald Ramirez |