Our Central Valley
By STEVE NEWVINE
We are in the playoffs of Major League Baseball, so now seems an appropriate time to mark a significant minor league baseball event that happened here in the Central Valley.
The Modesto Nuts, an affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, have wrapped up their final season of minor league baseball at John Thurman Field. The City of Modesto could not agree to a multi-million dollar list of improvements to the stadium required by the league. The final home game was played Aug. 31. The Nuts lost to Stockton 5 to 4. They played their final series of games in San Jose ending the season on September 7.
With that final game, we saw the end of professional baseball that has been part of the community for over a century.
Over the many decades the city had minor league baseball, a number of stars on their way up to the big leagues played there. Jose Conseco, Jason Giambi, and Rickey Henderson were just a few of the future stars who played in Modesto.
Modesto was the site of a very special exhibition involving the two World Series teams in 1962. For one day, the New York Yankees and the San Francisco Giants played in the Central Valley.
The Yankees and the Giants were washed out at Candlestick Park for a few days thanks to heavy rains associated with typhoon Freda. Game six was postponed due to the poor field conditions in San Francisco. According to HistoricModesto.com, both teams needed to work out on dry grass. Modesto’s Del Web Field was available. The teams took buses out to the Valley and played an exhibition
The City’s McHenry House Museum has a exhibit marking that special day. The display includes photographs from that Giants/Yankees exhibition game from Oct. 14, 1962.
Baseball has been a part of the city of Modesto’s history going back to the Modesto Reds who played at the beginning of the 1900s.
The Nuts had many successes in Modesto over the years. Last year, they won their division. In 2023, they went all the way to the league championship. Next year, the team becomes the Inland Empire Sixty-Sixers and will play their home games in San Bernadino.
As for that October 1962 exhibition game played in Modesto, there are conflicting accounts as to who won the game or even if it was considered a game given that both teams were there primarily for the workout . The ‘62 World Series would continue in San Francisco with the Yankees winning game six to tie the series. The Yankees ended up beating the Giants 1-0 in game seven and captured the World Series trophy.
Steve Newvine writes books about California that are available at the Merced County Courthouse Museum gift shop.