The Visalia White Sox were a Class C farm club of the Chicago White Sox for one season in the summer of 1962. Three players from the 1962 Visalia club eventually made it up to the Major Leagues. Outfielder Ken Berry enjoyed the most distinguished career. He played parts of 14 seasons in the Majors from 1962 to 1975, mostly with the White Sox.
The Modesto Reds were a Class A minor league baseball team in the California League from 1966 to 1974. Contrary to what you might expect, the Reds were not a farm club of the Cincinnati Reds. Rather “Reds” was a traditional name for Modesto ball clubs, dating back to the original Reds of the California State League (1914-1915) and a prior Postwar incarnation of the Reds that operated from 1946-1961.
The Palm Springs Angels were the Class A farm club of the California Angels from 1986 to 1993, competing in the California League. They were the first professional baseball club to ever play in the desert community of Palm Springs, which doubled as the spring training home of the Major League Angels. The franchise moved to Lake Elsinore, California after the 1993 season, lured away by the promise of a new $24 million ballpark.
The Salinas Packers were a mid-1970’s Class A farm club of the California Angels in the California League. The team marked the return of pro baseball to Salinas after an absence of seven seasons, following the departure of the Salinas Indians at the conclusion of the 1965 season. The Packers name was a throwback to an earlier California League club also known as the Packers that was active from 1954-1958.
The Ventura Braves were a farm club of the National League’s Boston Braves in the Class C California League from 1950 until 1952. Only one Ventura farmhand ever advanced to the Majors with the Braves. Bob Roselli was an 18-year old rookie on the 1950 Braves club and returned again to play for Ventura in 1951. Roselli made it to the big leagues with the Braves in 1955, who had by then moved to Milwaukee. The unaffiliated Ventura Oilers replaced the Braves in the California League in 1953 after the Boston Braves withdrew their support.
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