Tombstone
Born: 2005 – Golden Baseball League founding franchise
Folded: November 22, 20051Walsh, Jim. “Meager concession sales sink 2 minor league teams”. The Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ). November 23, 2005
First Game: May 26, 2005 (W 12-1 vs. Yuma Scorpions)
Last Game: September 4, 2005 (L 9-6 vs. San Diego SurfDawgs at Long Beach, CA)
Golden League Championships: None
Stadium
Hohokam Park
Opened: 1997
Ownership & Affiliation
Owner: Golden Baseball League
Major League Affiliation: Independent
Attendance
Mesa ranked last in the 8-team Golden Baseball League for attendance despite a first place finish in their division. (The GBL featured a travel team known as the Japan Samurai Bears in 2005 that had no home ballpark. That is why Miners attendance is shown at “7th” in the chart below).
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Source: The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.), Lloyd Johnson & Miles Wolff, 2007
Trophy Case
Golden League Rookie Pitcher of the Year:
- 2005: Manny Ayala
Background
The Mesa Miners were an independent professional baseball team that played for just one season in the now-defunct Golden Baseball League (2005-2010).
The Miners played at 10,500-seat Hohokam Park, spring training home of the Chicago Cubs. The team had the second best record (51-39) in the eight-team Golden League in 2005. They advanced to the league championship series and lost to the San Diego Surf Dawgs.
Mesa’s most experienced player was 32-year old catcher/first baseman Marcus Jensen. Jensen played 145 Major League games with various clubs between 1996 and 2001.
Manny Ayala (12-4, 3.05 ERA) was named the Golden League’s Rookie Pitcher-of-the-Year for 2005.
Demise
The Golden Baseball League operated in a single-entity structure during its debut season in 2005. The league owned all franchises directly. On November 22, 2005 the Golden League contracted both of its central Arizona franchises, the Mesa Miners and the Surprise Fightin’ Falcons, after a single season of play. David Kaval, the Golden League’s co-founder and CEO, cited the Miners’ unfavorable concessions contract at Hohokam Park as a key factor in the team’s demise. Mesa also finished last in the Golden League in attendance in 2005 with just 915 fans per game.
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