Tombstone
Born: October 18, 1967 – The Santa Barbara Dodgers relocate to Bakersfield, CA1UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL. “S.B. Dodgers Go To Bakersfield”. The Ventura County Star (Ventura, CA). October 19, 1967
Died: October 1975
First Game: April 19, 1968 (W 5-3 vs. Visalia Mets)
Last Game: August 31, 1975 (L 13-0 & L 3-2 vs. Visalia Mets)
California League Champions: 1970
Stadium
Sam Lynn Park (4,500)21975 San Jose Bees Program
Ownership & Affiliation
Attendance
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Source: The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.), Lloyd Johnson & Miles Wolff, 2007. Pages 542 – 570.
Background
The original Bakersfield Dodgers were a Class A farm club of the L.A. Dodgers from 1968 to 1975. The Dodgers replaced the Bakersfield Bears (1957-1967) in the California League membership in 1968.
A number of future Major League stars spent time at Bakersfield’s Sam Lynn Park during this era, including:
- Outfielder Tom Paciorek (Bakersfield ’68-’69)
- Shortstop Bill Russell (Bakersfield ’68)
- Third baseman Ron Cey (Bakersfield ’69)
- 1981 World Series MVP Steve Yeager (Bakersfield ’69)
- Outfielder Lee Lacy (Bakersfield ’70)
- Outfielder Jeff Leonard (Bakersfield ’75)
- 1984 National League Cy Young Award winner Rick Sutcliffe (Bakersfield ’75)
Demise & Revival
At the end of the 1975 season Los Angeles withdrew their support of Bakersfield and moved their California League operation to Lodi.
The Dodgers returned in 1984 and the new version of the Bakersfield Dodgers played 11 seasons from 1984 to 1994.
Bakersfield Dodgers Shop
In Memoriam
Outfielder Glenn Burke (Bakersfield ’73-’74) died of AIDS-related causes on May 30, 1995 at age 42. New York Times obituary.
Links
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2 Responses
Rumor was that the Organist for the B-Dodgers was the keyboard player for the band ? and the Mysteriouns (hit song 96 Tears) ?
Seriously? Now that’s a good one, if true.