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 teams met this weekend in Modesto where the Roadsters took two of three. Sunday’s game was a blowout for the home side, 20-4. The teams have met nine times so far, with the Roadsters taking six.
Modesto is having a strong first season in the Pioneer League, going 26-16, good for fourth in the league. They are 7-3 in their last ten. Pitching is a strength; Modesto is first in the league in team ERA. Omar Serrano is top-ten for ERA, Jonah Jenkins and Devyn Hernandez both have four wins, and Jenkins, Serrano, and Johan Castillo are in the top ten for strikeouts. SS Osiris Johnson, hitting .387 with ten homers and 42 RBI, has stolen 23 bases.
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.”
As one Dispatcher has noted, the foxes’ tails are surprisingly erect.
And if two mascots isn’t enough, try Rally O’Malley, the leprechaun, who throws gold coins into the crowd to spark a rally? We have on good authority that this was
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:
Can the B’s keep it close (and low scoring)? In their three wins, the Ballers managed to keep the Roadsters under 10 runs, and they can win if its close: a KO walk-off, plus a two-run and four-run win.
With photos from Big Black Service Dogs.
Joe Horton is the editor of Dispatches from Raimondi.
