The High Desert Mavericks were an American Minor League Baseball team in Adelanto, California, that played their home games at Heritage Field at Stater Bros. Stadium. They played in the

Class A-Advanced High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...

California League. The franchise had eight different major league affiliations over its 29 seasons.

History

The franchise was founded in 1988 and was first based in

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...

, and was known as the Red Wave, beginning in 1988. In 1991, the ballclub relocated north, near Hwy 395, to the city of

Adelanto Adelanto (Spanish for "Advance") is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. It is approximately northwest of Victorville in the Victor Valley area of the Mojave Desert, in the northern region of the Inland Empire.Lint ...

, part of the Victor Valley metro area in California's High Desert region. The Mavericks played their home baseball games at Heritage Field at Stater Bros. Stadium (known as Stater Bros. Stadium from 2007 to 2014 and Mavericks Stadium until 2007) which opened in 1991 and seats 3,808 fans. The ballpark, next to Hwy 395, is known to be an extreme hitter-friendly venue which tended to inflate

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

totals drastically. As a result, offensive statistics for High Desert players were discounted for comparative purposes, while the reverse was the case for statistics accumulated by High Desert pitchers. On November 29, 2010, High Desert Mavericks were sold to Main Street Baseball after more than a year on the open market. Rumors had the team possibly relocating to

Chico, California Chico ( ; Spanish for "little") is the most populous city in Butte County, California. Located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California, the city had a population of 101,475 in the 2020 census, reflecting an increase from 86,18 ...

, if a new proposed ballpark had been built there. Although it was later reported on August 12, 2012, the Mavericks would be staying in the High Desert through the 2015 season and possibly through 2018. In January 2016, the Adelanto City Council voided the team's lease at Heritage Field. The Mavericks were able to continue for the 2016 season at Heritage Field. However, on August 22, 2016, the California League announced the Mavericks would not return for the 2017 season and would cease operations. Before the California League announced the Mavericks would not return, rumors had the Mavericks relocating and joining the

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

Kinston, North Carolina Kinston is a city in Lenoir County, North Carolina, United States, with a population of 21,677 as of the 2010 census. It has been the county seat of Lenoir County since its formation in 1791. Kinston is located in the coastal plains region of ...

, while keeping the Rangers affiliation. However, Minor League Baseball also announced on August 22 that two expansion teams would join the Carolina League in 2017 with the new Kinston team taking over the Rangers affiliation at the A-Advanced level from the Mavericks. In their final game, the High Desert Mavericks defeated the

Visalia Rawhide The Visalia Rawhide are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They are located in Visalia, California, and have played their home games at Valley Strong Ballpark since thei ...

7–4 on September 17, 2016, to capture the California League championship. The final championship completed a bookend for the Mavericks who won the title in 1991, their first year of existence, and in 2016, their final year of existence. The Mavericks' Luke Tendler hit the final California League home run in Heritage Field at Stater Bros. Stadium and the Mavericks history with a solo home run shot in the bottom of the 8th inning. In March 2019, the city and the Mavericks' owners settled a lawsuit brought by the owners over the city's 2016 attempt to void the stadium lease, with the city paying $3.8 million to the team owners.

Achievements

* The Mavericks are the only team in California League history to win championships in the years that their major league parent clubs also came into existence. * The Mavericks were the first team in California League history to have cheerleaders. The Maverick Girls would perform dance numbers on top of the dugouts in between innings. * On June 28, 2009, the Mavericks performed two historic feats on one day. They combined with the

Lake Elsinore Storm The Lake Elsinore Storm are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. The Storm plays their home games at Lake Elsinore Diamond (Pete Lehr Field), which opened in 1994; the park s ...

to set a California League record for combined runs scored (51) in a 33–18 loss, and outfielder

James McOwen James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...

broke the California League record for longest hitting streak, hitting safely for the 36th straight game.

Notable High Desert Mavericks alumni

Rod Barajas Rodrigo Richard Barajas (born September 5, 1975) is an American former professional baseball catcher and most recently catching and quality control coach for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). Barajas served as the interim mana ...

* Nick Bierbrodt * Bruce Bochy (inaugural manager) * Craig Breslow * Billy Butler * Howie Clark * Jack Cust * Greg Halman * Robby Hammock * J. J. Hardy * Corey Hart * J. P. Howell *

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* Travis Lee *

Cory Lidle Cory Fulton Lidle (March 22, 1972 – October 11, 2006) was an American professional baseball player. A right-handed pitcher, Lidle played in Major League Baseball with the New York Mets, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Oakland Athletics, Toronto Blue Jay ...

* Javier López * Matt Mangini * Matt Mieske * Erick Monzón * Jay Gainer *

Carl Everett Carl Edward Everett III (born June 3, 1971) is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder. A switch hitter, he played for eight teams over the course of a 14-year career. He was a member of the Chicago White Sox when they won the 2005 Wor ...

* Robert Person * Brad Nelson * Vicente Padilla *

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* Michael Pineda * Stephen C. Reich *

Michael Saunders Michael Edward Brett Saunders (born November 19, 1986) is a Canadian former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays, and Philadelphia Phillies. He was nickname ...

* Junior Spivey *

Matt Vasgersian Matt Vasgersian ( '; born 1967) is an American sportscaster and television host. Vasgersian is a play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Angels, as well as a studio host for MLB Network and FOX Sports. In the past, he has served as an an ...

(

MLB Network The MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications, and Cox C ...

Announcer, was the Mavericks first radio announcer 1991) * Don Wakamatsu (managed Mavs in 1998, was California League Manager of the Year that year; first Asian-American MLB manager) * Howard Johnson (as manager) *

Brandon Weeden Brandon Kyle Weeden (born October 14, 1983) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. After pursuing a baseball career from 2002 to 2006, Weeden enrolled at Oklahoma State to pla ...

References

External links