MODESTO, Calif. (KTXL) – John Thurman Field is an empty ballpark right now: seats with no fans, dugouts with no players. It’s that way at the end of every season, but usually there is the promise of next season.
Not this time.
“Well, if we do everything right, we just hand over the keys on that day,” said Modesto Nuts general manager Veronica Hernandez. “So, that’s it.”
That day is September 30th, the day the Modesto Nuts are no more.
Since December, they have been owned by Diamond Baseball Holdings, an organization that is moving the Nuts to San Bernardino. They will stay a Seattle Mariners affiliate, but become the Inland Empire 66ers.
“Boxing everything up probably started in late July, but the planning started during spring training when I got to meet with the Mariners,” said Hernandez. “And really started having the conversations of, ‘how are we going to do this, what’s the plan, what do you need?'”
It didn’t matter that the Nuts were back-to-back California League champs in 2023 and 2024. It also didn’t matter that their history as an organization in Modesto goes back to 1946.
“One of the most beautiful things about this stadium is that it still has that old-school baseball feel,” said Hernandez. “So, I couldn’t imagine the fans that actually got to see the greats play through here.”
Guys like Joe Morgan, Sparky Anderson, Rollie Fingers, Rickey Henderson, etc.
In their 79 years, the Nuts have been affiliated with the Mariners, Rockies, A’s (Oakland and Kansas City), Cardinals, Houston Colt .45’s, Yankees, Milwaukee Braves, Pirates and St. Louis Browns.
“I mean, you feel it every time you walk through,” said Hernandez. “I think it’s gonna hit me the hardest when I hand over the keys because at that point in time I don’t have any more fires to put out.
“I can just be in my emotions and go from there.”
Andrew Marden
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