Baseball is Leaving Bakersfield

For the first time in seventy-five years there will be no professional baseball in Bakersfield, California. Minor League Baseball announced that the Bakersfield Blaze and the High Desert Mavericks will be moving to the Carolina League next season, cutting the California League down to eight teams next season.

Today was the last regular season home game to ever be played at the historic Sam Lynn Ballpark, home of Bakersfield minor league baseball since 1941. The Blaze have one more week of baseball to play, but these games will be played on the road. Currently they are in first place so they'll most likely see some playoff games at the old stadium, but these dates are unknown as of this moment.

With this reduction in teams, the California League could end up in jeopardy. This, despite being a successful league and being the home of one of minor league baseball's best selling franchises, the Lake Elsinore Storm. The reduction of the two teams would leave the California league with eight teams, making this league the smallest one in minor league baseball.

Admittedly Sam Lynn Ballpark was a wreck. Home plate faces the west, directly in the eyes of the batter. The franchise placed a green tarp fifty feet high in centerfield, but it doesn't help with the appearance of the stadium. Already the home of a scoreboard that was erected in 1982 and seating that is far from comfortable, what the team really needed was a completely new stadium. There was an attempt in 2012 to do this, but the funding for this fell apart.

There is already a precedent in Bakersfield that a proper venue can attract fans. The Bakersfield Condors of the American Hockey League (minor league hockey) do well, but they also have a state of the art arena.

And it's a shame. Bakersfield as a city should have a baseball team. The city has an estimated 375,000 citizens. Fans will have to drive to Lancaster to catch the Jethawks play or to Los Angeles to catch the Dodgers if they want to see a professional baseball game next season.

“Baseball has had a long and wonderful history in Bakersfield,” said Blaze owner D.G. Elmore in a prepared statement. “I am sorry to see it come to a close.”

Former Bakersfield alumni include Don Drysdale, Pedro Martinez, Steve Yeager, Ron Cey, Mark Langston, Mike Piazza, and so many more. Sure, the new Carolina teams will eventually have a possible spectacular roster of alumni, but the history won't be there. This was a Class C franchise that was home to professional baseball in California before the Dodgers and Giants made their way west.

So as the season comes to a close, it is possible that the Blaze could close Bakersfield's longtime baseball history with their third California League championship. It would be a fitting way to see the team off, but bittersweet as the baseball fans will have no where to go next year with their families.

In the end, it should be interesting to see what will happen to the "Game Today" banner that the team hangs along Chester Avenue. Put up and taken down manually all season long, if left up, will be a painful reminder to the citizens of Bakersfield of the piece of Americana that they lost.