Redwood Pioneers
November 14, 2020
The Redwood Pioneers were a minor league baseball outfit based in the small planned community of Rohnert Park, California. The California League club arrived from Santa Clara in 1980. Original team owner Thomas Leonard signed a 10-year lease with Rohnert Park civic officials which included an “initials clause”. The clause stated that the team must use the initials “R-P” in its name for the term of the lease. Thus the name Redwood Pioneers stood as a rather confounding and indirect tribute to the ball club’s host community of Rohnert Park.