Know Your Foe: The Modesto Roadsters!
by Joe Horton
Welcome to Know Your Foe, your friendly fast facts to get to know the Ballers’ opponents at home and away this season. Make sure to check out Kyle Robinson’s Glove of the Series too.
Next up: The Modesto Roadsters!
Their Season So Far:
The Roadsters took two of three in Oakland over the weekend. The Ballers won a knockout round nailbiter last night in Modesto.
The Roadsters are having a strong first season in the Pioneer League, going 18-13, good for fourth in the league. Pitching is a strength; Modesto is second in the league in team ERA. Omar Serrano and Jonah Jenkins are in the top ten in strikeouts. Relievers Nik Cardinal and Josh Swales both have two saves. SS Osiris Johnson, hitting .358 with 28 RBI, has swiped 15 bases, good for third in the league (trailing behind Tre Cobb’s 19, which as we’ve noted, is in the ballpark to challenge the Pioneer League single-season record).
Hometown: Modesto, CA
"Water, Wealth, Contentment, Health" reads the famous Modesto Arch for visitors entering the city at 9th and I Streets. The sign’s been up in some form since 1912, but this was the second-place slogan in the naming contest. The winner, “Nobody’s Got Modesto’s Goat” was eventually set aside because it’s angry and weird. (Or perhaps someone found the goat.)
It’s Lucas Land. The Hollywood giant was born and raised in Modesto, and his first blockbuster, American Graffiti, famously illustrated cruising culture and lost innocence in the city on a single night in 1962 before four friends go their separate ways. Lucas himself was almost killed in a car wreck before graduating. (The film was actually shot in San Rafael—for two days—before moving to Petaluma.)
Mascot: Cruiser (and Crooner) the San Joaquin Kit Fox(es)! And a…Leprechaun?
Kit foxes are native to the Central Valley and are the smallest fox species in North America, with adults weighing only four to six pounds. Its huge ears help it stay cool in summer and be chosen as an adorable mascot.
Cruiser is the main mascot; Crooner is “Cruiser’s older brother, former high school hotshot, talent show champion, and self-proclaimed lounge legend. Back in the day, Crooner was that guy…Since then, Crooner has been working the lounge circuit, waiting for one more big break. One more stage. One more crowd. One more chance to prove he still has it.”
And if two mascots isn’t enough, try Rally O’Malley, the leprechaun, who throws gold coins into the crowd to spark a rally?
Team History:
In this inaugural season, the Roadsters play at John Thurman Field—now Modern Woodmen Field—the longtime home of the Modesto Nuts.
The Nuts were the most recent incarnation of a Modesto minor league baseball history that stretches back to 1946. From 1975-2004, they were the Modesto A’s. Many of the biggest Oakland names came through Modesto: Jose Canseco, Miguel Tejada, Eric Chavez, Tim Hudson, Barry Zito, Mark Mulder.
Roadsters manager J.T. Snow won six Gold Gloves for the LA Angels and SF Giants, becoming the first 1B to win in both leagues. He was the bench coach for the B’s in their first season in 2024.
The team was originally known—for about a week—as the Glow Riders, which was scrapped in favor of a more Graffiti-classic car and color scheme.
Best Promos:
Star Wars Night! Guitar Smashing! Bark in the Park! Roadsters Tattoos!
What to Watch For:
How well will these teams come to know each other? They play 24 times this season.
Joe Horton is the editor of Dispatches from Raimondi.
