Bringing the Heat

Anyone who’s sweated through a midsummer night in Chico knows the value of a pastime, but for the last three years, Chicoans have been without America’s traditional favorite—baseball.

Fans will have to cope for just one more season. Then, in June 2016, the Chico Heat will return to the diamond at Nettleton Stadium and play the first summer baseball there since 2011. It’ll be the whole shebang—fireworks, hot dogs and cold beer, goofy promotions between innings and, of course, Heater, the beloved dragon mascot.

The team’s formation will coincide with that of the Great West League, a new wood-bat collegiate league made up of teams from California and Oregon. There are a few notable changes compared to the former Heat and Outlaws teams, which were both part of independent leagues—professional organizations not affiliated with a Major League Baseball team that drew a mix of young talent and grizzled veterans. The Great West League, however, will focus only on the development of college players.

Ken Wilson, a former broadcaster for the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics, is serving as president. During a phone interview, Wilson declined to list participating cities, but said six to eight teams made up of college players from around the country will play a 10-week, 60-game schedule starting June 3.

“These players will be working toward a professional career,” he said, “so the quality of play will be really strong.”

Wilson is well aware that, in the past, professional baseball teams have run successful operations in Chico.

“It looks like an exceptional market, and the history indicates it’s an exceptional baseball town,” he said. “When the Chico Heat were there before, and run extremely well, their success was off the charts.

“Our expectation is the new Chico Heat will be run well, too, and they’ll earn the support of the fans again.”

Steve Nettleton, the former supermarket magnate and generous donor for whom Chico State’s stadium is named, owned the Chico Heat during their run from 1997 to 2002. They were champions of the Western Baseball League in their first season and generally drew big crowds.

One enthusiastic fan at the time was longtime Chico media personality Dino Corbin, now of Deer Creek Broadcasting.

“It was the most successful team in the Western Baseball League,” he said. “It was just a really wonderful Chico experience, something to do in the summertime.”

Despite the Chico Heat’s draw, the league folded in 2002 and Chico went without professional baseball until the Chico Outlaws began operations in 2005 as part of the Golden Baseball League. Chico quickly took to the Outlaws and Rascal, their raccoon mascot, as the club paced the league in average home-game attendance and made the playoffs that first year. They became league champions in 2007 and 2010—when they joined the North American Baseball League—and saw a host of players move on to MLB.

But in 2011, when time came for the Outlaws to renew their contract, the university balked. Chico State officials were uncertain they could recover stadium operating costs, while scheduling conflicts arose with the university’s baseball team and neighbors complained of game-related noise pollution. In addition, the league struggled with the costs of teams playing away games as far as Illinois, Hawaii and Canada.

No official announcement was made, but the Outlaws were done for good.

In bringing the Heat back to Chico, Nettleton has partnered with Pat Gillick, former general manager of the Seattle Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles and Philadelphia Phillies. In 2011, Gillick was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and he’s currently serving as the Phillies’ interim president.

Gillick is a Chico native. His father, George, was a professional pitcher before serving as Butte County sheriff for 32 years. (An obituary in the Los Angeles Times noted that he once “felled a fleeing criminal with a well-aimed rock.”)

“We’re very excited about the prospects in Chico,” Gillick said by phone. “We want to offer family entertainment at a moderate price … and I think Nettleton Stadium will be a great place for this brand of baseball.”

Corbin said he agrees that the Chico Heat will be an “absolutely viable” business for a number of reasons.

“From an infrastructure standpoint, you’ve got everything a baseball team could want,” he said. “We’ve got a great field, thanks to Mr. Nettleton. You have the media—radio, TV, newspapers—and a lot of smaller markets don’t have that capability. Then you have a regional draw from half a dozen communities where it’s not too far to come enjoy a ballgame.”

Another appeal to Gillick is the potential relationship with Chico State’s baseball program, as he expects many students will play with the Heat.

“If you can find those players in your backyard, and I’m pretty sure you can, then certainly we’ll give them every opportunity,” he said. “That’s our goal—to help these young men develop on the field and into better people within their communities.”