Modesto baseball has a rich and memorable history, making loss of Nuts even more painful

Uniquely is a Modesto Bee series that covers the moments, landmarks and personalities that define what makes living in the Central Valley so special.

On a hot summer night at Del Webb Field in July 1966, Modesto Reds right-hander and future Hall of Fame inductee Rollie Fingers pitched himself into a bases-loaded jam with no outs in the first inning against their league rival — the Stockton Ports.

Statistically, the odds of a run scoring in this situation are much higher than Fingers walking back into the dugout with a 0-0 score. However, he proceeded to do just that — succinctly striking out the next three batters. That night, July 22, Fingers struck out 13 batters, gave up one hit, one run and pitched all nine innings. The Reds won 4-1.

Fingers would end his career in Modesto with an 11-6 record, 2.77 ERA and 152 strikeouts. The latter stat would go down as the most number of strikeouts he would have for any team, including in the MLB.

But Fingers wasn’t the only future Hall of Famer on the field that night. His teammate Reggie Jackson batted one for four in the same game. Jackson also was a star of the team, slashing .299 /.360 /.611 while playing for Modesto. Future Hall of Famer Tony LaRussa was on the 1966 team, too.

Jackson made his major-league debut in 1967 and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993, Fingers was inducted in 1992, and LaRussa in 2014.

The ballpark at 601 Neece Drive, now called John Thurman Field, is no stranger to Hall of Famers, with several playing for its home team and countless others touching its grass and dirt over the years.

In total, the ball clubs that played in Modesto under numerous names and with numerous affiliations produced a total of seven Hall of Fame inductees: Joe Morgan (Played - 1963, HOF Induction - 1990), LaRussa (1966, 1993), Jackson (1966, 1993), Fingers (1966, 1992), Sparky Anderson (1967 MGR, 2000), Ted Simmons (1968, 2020) and Rickey Henderson (1977, 2009).

To say Modesto’s professional baseball history is rich would be an understatement, according to local historians, and to say its loss is painful would be one, too.

A brief history

The first baseball team to play in Modesto was organized in 1872, according to local author and historian Ken White. The Modesto Red Caps gave themselves their nickname based on their chosen uniform of a red cap, red shirt and white pantaloons. This name was shortened to the Modesto Reds in the 1890s.

The Reds played various teams, both amateur and pro, over the next several decades, including the Chicago White Sox in 1910 and the Boston Red Sox in 1912. Eventually proving they could compete at that level, they joined the California League in 1946 and officially became affiliated with a team from Major League Baseball, the St. Louis Browns, in 1948.

MLB affiliations throughout the years:

▪ St. Louis Browns — 1948

▪ Pittsburgh Pirates — 1949-1952

▪ Milwaukee Braves — 1953

▪ New York Yankees — 1954-1961

▪ Houston Colt .45s — 1962-1964

▪ Kansas City Athletics — 1966

▪ St. Louis Cardinals — 1967-1974

▪ Oakland Athletics — 1975-2004

▪ Colorado Rockies — 2005-2016

▪ Seattle Mariners — 2017-2024

During California League president Jerry Donovan’s leadership, postwar baseball in the state was booming and just four years after the end of World War ll, the Modesto Reds became one of the first baseball teams to field an all-Japanese-American team in 1949.

The popularity meant the team needed a bigger venue to hold all of its fans. The team used to play on a field where the old Modesto Steam Laundry used to be, as well as a few others around Stanislaus County.

The ballpark on Neece Drive was completed in 1955. At the time, the Modesto Reds were affiliated with the New York Yankees — co-owned by Delbert Eugene Webb.

Webb was born in Fresno to a fruit farming father and a carpenter’s apprentice mother. His family moved around California frequently, including a stay in Modesto. Webb dropped out of high school to focus on baseball, which he played semi-professionally, and carpentry.

He eventually went into construction and contracting, which included a military contract for the construction of the Poston Internment camp in Arizona, which interned over 17,000 Japanese-Americans during WWll.

The new ballpark was named after him and would be called Del Webb field until 1983. Webb’s connections with the Yankees would lead to one of the most storied times in the field’s history.

The World Series comes to town

In 1962, the San Francisco Giants were in a heated battle for the World Series trophy against the New York Yankees.

Game six of the series had been postponed for a third day in a row due to torrential rains that soaked Candlestick Park. Having not even been able to practice, both teams agreed that a dry field should be found for workouts.

On Oct. 15, the Sunday edition of the Modesto Bee was headlined with “Giant, Yankee Teams May Work Out Today in Modesto.”

The news spread very quickly. By 11 a.m., a crowd of 3,000 people arrived at Del Webb Field. By noon, when the Yankees arrived, 5,000 were there, and soon there would be about 16,000 waiting to see if they could sneak a peak at some legendary players.

Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra and Orlando Cepeda were just a few whom fans clamored to watch practice. By the time the drills got underway, the outfield fences were loaded with other fans — “a human picket fence,” the Bee previously reported.

Webb was said to have teased the then-Modesto Colts owner Jerry Pepelis about not charging admission to the practice.

Both teams arrived via chartered buses, but Mays was reported to have arrived in a Cadillac. Cepeda nearly decapitated a police officer with a line drive. It was a moment still remembered by those who were there.

Changes

Both the Modesto ball club and the field on which it played went through several changes over the years. In 1983, Del Webb field was changed to John Thurman Field, which it is known by today. Thurman, a World War ll veteran, served on the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors from 1970 to 1972 and in the California Assembly from 1973 to 1982.

Thurman died in 1983 and the ballpark was named in his memory.

“John used to play baseball himself, he played minor league and he really loved baseball,” Thurman’s widow, Julie Thurman, told The Bee last week. “I appreciated all the people that went (to John Thurman Field) and enjoyed it.”

While the name change of the field was not controversial, the change to being called the Modesto Nuts was.

Over the years, the Modesto ball club has gone under several nicknames: Reds (1946-1963) (1966-1974), Colts (1962-1964), A’s, (1975-2004) and Nuts (2005-2024).

The change to the Nuts was seen by many as diminishing the seriousness of the club.

“Since they picked the team name of the Nuts — which I think is a joke — I will not attend games or support our local team. ... When you get a decent name, I might be back,” Wayne Hiel wrote to The Bee in 2005.

Though the Nuts name may not have been embraced by everyone, there’s no denying the team’s accomplishments on the field and the talent that’s played for the club throughout its various monikers.

Players including Jose Canseco, Nelson Cruz, Andre Ethier, Mario Encarnacion, Jason Giambi, Nick Swisher, Miguel Tejada, Julio Rodriguez, Nolan Arenado and Mark McGwire have all worn a Modesto jersey at some point.

In July, the city of Modesto and the Seattle Mariners announced that a deal could not be reached on required improvements, estimated to cost $33 million, to Thurman Field and that the ball club would be leaving Modesto at the end of the 2024 season.

The loss of the team is lamented by many. White called it “the best bargain in town,” being able to see all-stars and Hall of Famers for as little as $15.

“I mean, it really is sad that we’re gonna lose a team after all these years,” he said.

Former General Manager Dan Kiser (1971-1989) said it was always a “labor of love” and that it was “really disappointing” that the team was leaving.

“Time goes on and changes, and we have to accept whatever they decide,” said Julie Thurman.

The Modesto ball club has 10 league titles (1950, 1954, 1959, 1966, 1972, 1982, 1984, 2004, 2017, 2023) and four division titles (2004, 2012, 2017, 2023).

For more information and to see artifacts from Modesto’s baseball history, visit the McHenry Museum & Historical Society at 1402 I St., open Friday through Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.

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