http://stocktonports.com/

http://grapesox.com/

San Joaquin - Index

San Joaquin - may08 - Index

209
sAN jOAquIN
PEOPLE l PLACEs l THINGs
a Grape Team
LODi geTS iTS OWn BaSeBaLL Team
Take us OuT to the ball game—in Lodi? We’re pretty excited, too. In fact, we can
already smell the hot dogs.
The Lodi Grape sox are a college summer baseball team created to help major league
prospects keep their skills sharp during the summer months, according to owner and
president stevie Mac, who also owns the sierra League, an independent minor leaguestyle
baseball club.
The team is the newest addition to the sierra League, with this summer’s inaugural
season beginning June 6, when the Grape sox go head-to-head with the Clovis Outlaws
in Lodi.
earlier this year, the team signed two top catching prospects that could likely go on to
play for Major League Baseball (MLB). The team’s field manager, Leon Lee, already has a
son in the MLB, derrek Lee of the Chicago Cubs.
hosting a baseball team in Lodi hearkens back to the 1970s, when the Lodi Crushers
played single-a baseball on the same historic Tony Zupo field that the Grape sox will
now call home. The California League left town in 1984, but only after well-known
names like vida Blue of san francisco Giants and Oakland athletics pitching fame, and
Dusty Baker—who helped the Giants clinch a 2002 National League Pennant—donned
Lodi uniforms.
Grape sox tickets are currently being sold for the regular season at Zupo field.
—Jennifer Bonnett
iF you Go: Zupo Field, 350 N. Washington St., Lodi, (209) 339-4028, www.grapesox.com
A Home Run
THE sTOCkTON PORTs COMMEMORATE
sIXTY-FIVE YEARs OF BAsEBALL
THiS YeaR, the Stockton Ports are celebrating
sixty-five years of baseball by forming the Ports
alumni Club. The official kick-off took place
april 5, during the team’s opening weekend.
according to Ports director of broadcasting
and media relations zack Bayrouty, the
response has been overwhelming. “after
we saw the great turnout for the sixtieth
anniversary of the 1947 team last year, we got
to thinking about just how many other former
Ports are still around who should be honored
for their contributions to the team and the
community,” says Bayrouty.
as one of the founding members of the
California League, a league associated with
minor League Baseball, the Ports have won
ten titles and posted the highest winning
percentage in California League history, in
1947 (68 percent). a few of their notable past
players include Vince Dimaggio (1948; yes, Joe’s
brother), elijah “Pumpsie” green (1955; the first
african american player to play for the Boston
Red Sox), Jim morris (1985 and 1987, aka Disney’s
“The Rookie”), and gary Sheffield (1987).
as they say in the world of baseball, it’s
been quite a run. –Nissa Hallquist
FoR TiCkeTs and oTHeR inFoRMaTion
about the Stockton Ports, call (209) 644-1900,
or visit www.stocktonports.com
22 san joaquin magazine maY 15 - JULY 1 2008
photo courtesy LODi gRaPe SOX, STOCKTOn PORTS