The historical marker stands proudly on 10th Street, a few steps from Modesto City Hall. The marker celebrates the beloved movie “American Graffiti,” a tribute from filmmaker George Lucas to the car cruising culture of his hometown, set in 1962.
By then, Modesto had hosted a team in baseball’s California League for 16 years. The historic California League has endured. Modesto’s team might not.
“There is such a long history of baseball in Modesto,” Mayor Sue Zwahlen said. “I remember my grandfather talking about going to the games.”
No other American sport binds generations like baseball. Yet, at a time efforts to grow the game by developing a younger and more diverse fan base finally are paying off, baseball teams are abandoning minor league and major league markets in the nation’s most populous state.
Three teams in the California League — in Bakersfield, Lancaster and Adelanto — shut down in the last seven years. In the majors, the Athletics play their final game in Oakland on Sept. 26. The A’s, bound for Las Vegas after a pit stop in Sacramento, will become the first major league team in 20 years to ditch their fan base and start anew somewhere else.
Modesto could be the next team on the move.
In 1966, the Modesto roster featured three future Hall of Famers: outfielder Reggie Jackson, pitcher Rollie Fingers, and infielder and eventual manager Tony La Russa. The best player that year, however: a catcher named Dave Duncan, who hit 46 home runs. As it turned out, Duncan made his name in baseball as one of the sharpest pitching coaches in history, primarily working with La Russa.
The chance to see rising stars helps fuel the popularity of the minor leagues. So do cozy ballparks and affordable tickets. In Modesto, John Thurman Field offers a bounce house for young fans, a beer garden for the young at heart and an “intentional walk” program that affords fans the chance to throw out the first pitch if they get in enough steps walking around the ballpark.
The team is called the Nuts, an homage to the Central Valley, where almost all almonds, walnuts and pistachios in the United States are grown. The team’s mascots: Al the Almond, Wally the Walnut and Shelley the Pistachio.
In 2024, cozy ballparks and cute mascots are no longer enough. Major League Baseball wants its prospects playing in…