Baseball’s next big California rivalry is budding in the Central Valley
Dodgers vs. Giants, Angels vs. Dodgers, Padres vs. Dodgers. Roadsters vs. Ballers?
The first three are California rivalries in the biggest, most popular baseball league in the world. Major League Baseball benefits from the national and international attention brought from matchups that feature some of the best and most popular players in the world.
But could the last one be California’s newest baseball rivalry?
Aaron Miles, manager of the Pioneer League’s defending champion Oakland Ballers, and JT Snow, first-year manager of the Modesto Roadsters, one of the league’s newest expansion franchises, say yes.
“It’s great, it’s great for baseball,” Miles said.
The Bay Bridge Series (Athletics vs. Giants) was the prominent Northern California rivalry. But the A’s have a planned move to Las Vegas. Though they are currently in a years-long pit stop in West Sacramento and both teams are still relatively close in proximity, many consider their rivalry essentially dead. But the Altamont Series — the name is still a work in progress — could catch some steam.
“I’m all for it,” Snow said. “I think it’s great to have rivalries.”
The Roadsters and Ballers are teams birthed by similar circumstances.
Teams birthed from similar situations
The Athletics’ plan to relocate in 2024 took one of the biggest sports draws away from Oakland. Pair that with the fact that the Warriors left Oracle Arena in 2019 and the city that once had an enviable sports culture was left with nothing. Then the Ballers stepped in, and along with the Yuba-Sutter Freebirds, so began the Pioneer League’s journey into California.
The expiration of the contract between the Seattle Mariners and city of Modesto, plus the Modesto Nuts’ sale to Diamond Baseball Holdings and relocation, created a vacancy at the city’s ballpark.
In a 2024 interview with The Bee, PBL President Mike Shapiro said the goal was to bring “somewhere between six to eight clubs to California over the next several years.” When it was announced a team would officially come to Modesto, he added the idea of eventually having California and Mountain States divisions, with the winners of each playing for a championship.
Miles is an Antioch native who eats and breathes the Bay Area. After an MLB career that included a championship, he went back to train young baseball players.
Snow won six consecutive Gold Gloves, all in California: two with the Angels and four with the Giants. He knew about the Central Valley but now feels like a representative of the area, coaching Modesto’s newest baseball team.
“I got upset at a fan (when the Roadsters visited Oakland in June) for saying bad things about Modesto, and I’m like, ‘It’s a good place, there’s good people here, they love baseball,’” Snow said. “We just want to play, have a rivalry and let the players decide it on the field.
“This is Modesto’s team.”
It is a budding rivalry
On Friday, over 4,000 fans were on hand to witness the latest series in the budding rivalry. The Roadsters won 7-3 in a game that was immediately followed by a Fourth of July fireworks show. The Ballers responded with an 8-4 win Saturday, and the Roadsters answered with a dominant 20-4 showing Sunday to round out the home portion of the six-game set.
They headed to Oakland for games Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. That’s where, earlier this season, the Roadsters got their first taste of a true rivalry’s chippiness.
In their first trip to Oakland, players and Snow were heckled by fans. Snow, a former Major League veteran with the San Francisco Giants, has heard it all but believes the late-June interactions were unique. He gave the Ballers fans credit for their passion. They can walk close to the visitors dugout at Raimondi Park, so Snow, a former Ballers assistant coach, and the players heard the hecklers closer than normal.
“I know I have a target on me, but I was a little disappointed in the way the Oakland fans were treating some of our players,” Snow said. “I can handle it, I’ve been in big situations, it doesn’t bother me. People calling you a traitor or whatever. I told the team I can handle it. … But some of the things directed at players were inappropriate and I had a problem with it. … But they handled it and we move on.”
Both coaches agree there is a place for fan involvement in rivalries, but within reason.
Ballers fans showed up to Modern Woodmen Field on Friday and cheered with every hit and every run the visitors scored.
“That’s what you’re supposed to do,” Miles said. “You’re supposed to be mentally and physically involved in the game. As long as it says in good nature … I think that it’s healthy for the Pioneer League, Modesto and Oakland.”
Rivalries in Major League Baseball are decades — sometimes more than a century — old and inherited by today’s fans. Dodgers fans don’t know why they hate the Padres, Giants and Angels, and vice versa.
Fans of this rivalry in its infancy have a unique opportunity most sports fans don’t get. They can create their own traditions, memories and milestones that can last as long as these two teams are on the same schedule.
“The Oakland fans definitely don’t have to go very far to travel here, and hopefully the Modesto fans come to Oakland,” Miles said.
