San Bernardino Spirit

California League (1987-1995)

Tombstone

Born: 1987 – The Ventura County Gulls relocate to San Bernardino, CA
Moved: 1992 (Rancho Cucamonga Quakes)
Re-Born: 1992 – The Salinas Spurs relocate to San Bernardino
Re-Branded: November 28, 1995 (San Bernardino Stampede)

First Game: April 10, 1987 (W 5-2 vs. Reno Padres)
Last Game: September 15, 1995 (W 6-4 @ San Jose Giants)

California League Champions: 1995

Stadium

Fiscalini Field (3,600)¹
Opened: 1934

Dimensions (1995): LF 330′, CF 387′, RF 330′²

Ownership & Affiliation

Owners:

1987-1992: Hank Stickney, George DeLange, Mark Harmon, Roy Engelbrecht, et al.
1993-1995: David Elmore & Donna Tuttle

Major League Affiliations:

1987: Independent
1988-1992: Seattle Mariners
1993-1994: Independent
1995: Los Angeles Dodgers

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Background

The San Bernardino Spirit were a Class A minor league team in the California League. The Spirit were the first baseball investment for health care entrepreneur Hank Stickney, who became a major player in minor league baseball and hockey in the 1990’s and 2000’s.

Independent Success

The team arrived in San Bernardino in 1987 after relocating from Ventura County, California. The team played as an independent club in 1987 with no Major League affiliation or top prospects. The most recognizable names were a trio of 30-something ex-Major League journeymen: shortstop Todd Cruz and outfielders Rudy Law and Terry Whitfield. Despite the lack of prospects and a losing record, the Spirit were a huge hit at the box office. The team set a California League record with summer attendance of 161,511, breaking a 40-year old mark held by the 1947 Stockton Ports.

Mariners Era

The Spirit signed a Player Development Contract with the Seattle Mariners for the 1988 season. The partnership came just in time for San Bernardino fans to enjoy one of the greatest talents in a generation. Seattle assigned Ken Griffey Jr., the #1 overall pick in the 1987 Amateur Draft to the Spirit for his second pro season in 1988. Junior hit .338 with 11 homers, 42 RBIs and 32 steals in 58 games with San Bernardino.

Other key players to come through San Bernardino during the Mariners years were Dave Burba (Spirit ’88), Omar Vizquel (6 games in 1989) and Mike Hampton (Spirit ’91-’92).

Move To Rancho Cucamonga & Replacement

The Spirit’s original ownership group, led by Hank Stickney, held an option on a new ballpark under construction in Rancho Cucamonga. The stadium would be ready for the 1993 California League season. After the 1992 season, Stickney’s group confirmed what many had long suspected. The team would leave San Bernardino for the Rancho Cucamonga in 1993, where they original Spirit franchise would be known as the Quakes. But Stickney agreed to sell the Spirit name to the owners of the Salinas Spurs, who moved to San Bernardino for the 1993 season. Long-time minor league operator David Elmore acquired the former Salinas franchise during the same offseason and became the owner of the “new” San Bernardino Spirit.

Unfortunately, the Spurs came to town without a Major League affiliation. The Spirit went back to being an independent team, as they had been in their inaugural season of 1987. But the novelty was gone and a fan base now groomed on Ken Griffey, Jr. and Mike Hampton was not excited to go back to independent status. Attendance dipped to 88,468 in 1993, barely half what the Spirit drew in their record-setting days of the late 1980’s.

Dodgers Partnership & Re-Branding

The Spirit’s fortunes revived in 1995 when the team struck a Player Development Contract with the L.A. Dodgers after two years in the independent wilderness. The Dodgers sent an excellent collection of prospects to San Bernardino, headed by 1994 1st round draft pick Paul Konerko (.277, 19 HRs, 77 RBIs). The Spirit swept the San Jose Giants in three games to claim their only California League title.

In November 1995 Elmore Sports Group re-branded the Spirit as the San Bernardino Stampede. The move coincided with the opening of a new ballpark, San Bernardino Stadium (AKA “The Ranch”), to replace Fiscalini Field for the 1996 season. The franchise changed identities again in 2002 to the Inland Empire 66ers and remains in San Bernardino and the California League as of this writing in 2018.

Trivia

Actor Mark Harmon (Chicago Hope, NCIS) was a part-owner of the Spirit during their first several seasons.