For the physical deepwater shipping port in Stockton, see Port of Stockton.
Stockton Ports
Founded1941
CityStockton, California
UniformlogoStockton Ports cap.PNG
Class levelSingle-A (2021–present)
Past class level
Current leagueCalifornia League (1941–present)
DivisionNorth Division
MajorleagueOakland Athletics / Athletics (2005–present)
Pastmajorleague
Leaguenum11
Leaguechamps1946 · 1947 · 1963 · 1965 · 1969 · 1980 · 1986 · 1990 · 1992 · 2002 · 2008
Divnum0
ColorsRed, white, blue
MascotSplash
Pastnames
  • Mudville Nine (2000–2001)
  • Stockton Mariners (1978)
  • Stockton Flyers (1941–1942)
BallparkBanner Island Ballpark (2005–present)
PastparksBilly Hebert Field (1941–2004)
OwnerTom Volpe / 7th Inning Stretch LLC
GmJordan Feneck
ManagerDarryl Kennedy
MediaKWSX 1280 AM – MiLB.TV (currently select away games only)
Websitemilb.com/stockton

The Stockton Ports are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Athletics. They are located in Stockton, California, and are named for the city's seaport. The team plays its home games at Banner Island Ballpark, which opened in 2005 and seats over 5,000 people.

The Ports were established in 1941 as members of the California League and have won the California League championship 11 times.

History

Baseball first came to Stockton in the 1860s. At the time, Stockton fielded a team in an earlier incarnation of the California League. In 1888, the Stockton team won the California League pennant with a record of 41–12. That same team also gained a bit of notoriety as a possible inspiration for "Casey at the Bat", a famous baseball poem by Ernest Thayer. Thayer was a journalist for the San Francisco Examiner at the time and the games were hosted in a ballpark on Banner Island, a place once known as Mudville.

The Stockton Flyers were established as a charter member of the California League in 1941. The league suspended operations in June 1942 due to World War II. The Flyers were rechristened as the Stockton Ports to recognize Stockton's status as an inland port city when the league resumed operations in 1946. That season, the Ports went on to win their first California League pennant.

In 1947, the Ports won the California League title again without a major league affiliation (they had a limited working agreement with the Pacific Coast League's Oakland Oaks). After going 24–18 through June 4, they went on a 26-game winning streak and took first place, never to relinquish again in that season. The win streak is one of the longest in professional baseball and is still a California League record. The Ports finished that season with a record of 95–45 and 16 games ahead of the two teams tied for second place. During Minor League Baseball's centennial celebration in 2001, baseball historians Bill Weiss and Marshall Wright rated the 1947 Ports as one of the 100 greatest minor league teams of all time, ranked at number 98.[1]

Owned by Stockton local Carl W. Thompson, Sr. (1971–1973), the Ports disbanded after the 1972 season, coming back as an affiliate of the Seattle Mariners in 1978. The Ports began a long affiliation with the Milwaukee Brewers the following year. The Ports had the best winning percentage in Minor League Baseball in the 1980s.[2] In an homage to the team in the Ernest Thayer poem, the Ports were renamed the Mudville Nine in 2000 and 2001,[3][4] then returned to the Ports name in 2002.

In 2005, the Ports moved to the newly built Banner Island Ballpark and became affiliates of the Oakland Athletics. The team won its 11th California League championship in 2008 with a 9–3 victory over the Lancaster JetHawks on September 14.

In Major League Baseball's reorganization of Minor League Baseball in 2021 and assumption of control from the historic league offices, the Ports were assigned to the Low-A West at the Low-A classification along with most of the historic California League.[5] In 2022, the MLB-controlled leagues reassumed their historic names, including the once-again California League, and the Low-A classification was renamed Single-A.[6]

Major league affiliations

Notable Ports alumni

Baseball Hall of Fame alumni
Notable alumni

See also

  • Stockton Ports players
  • Mudville Nine players

References

  1. ^ Weiss, Bill & Wright, Marshall (2001). "Historians Weiss, Wright Rank 100 Best Minor League Baseball Teams". Minor League Baseball. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  2. ^ "Stockton Ports Team History". MiLB.com. Retrieved 2025-04-15.
  3. ^ Kroichick, Ron (May 4, 2000). "Funky Mudville Has Murky Future". SFGate.com. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  4. ^ "California League (Adv A) Encyclopedia and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  5. ^ Mayo, Jonathan (February 12, 2021). "MLB Announces New Minors Teams, Leagues". Major League Baseball. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  6. ^ "Historical League Names to Return in 2022". Minor League Baseball. March 16, 2022. Retrieved March 16, 2022.