Chico Heat (collegiate wood bat team)
| Chico Heat | |||||
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| League | Great West League (2016–present) | ||||
| Location | Chico, California | ||||
| Ballpark | Nettleton Stadium | ||||
| Year founded | 1997 | ||||
| League championships | 3 (1997, 2002, 2016) | ||||
| Division championships | 2 (1997, 2002) | ||||
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| Colors | Navy Blue, Red, White |
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| Ownership | Steve & Kathy Nettleton, Pat Gillick, Consolidated Sports Holdings, LLC | ||||
| Manager | Fred Ludwig | ||||
| General Manager | Hunter Hampton | ||||
| Media | Chico Enterprise-Record (newspaper) | ||||
| Website | www |
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The Chico Heat is the name of two baseball teams that have operated in Chico, California. The first was a professional independent team operating in the Western Baseball League from 1997-2002, and the second team is an independent team operating as part of the summer collegiate wood bat league known as the Great West League. It began operations in 2014.
The team was a professional independent baseball team operating in Chico, California in the Western Baseball League. They had no operating agreement with any Major League Baseball team. They were created by Chico Heat Professional Baseball LLC, with former supermarket entrepreneur Steve Nettleton and his wife Kathy serving as principal owners. General managers included Bob Linscheid (who would go to become president of the WBL) and Jeff Kragel (now at Chico State University) and their mascot was the beloved "Heater The Dragon" (not to be confused with the Bakersfield Blaze mascot of the same name).
The team began operations in 1997. The team immediately won the league championship in their inaugural season and, although they did not win a championship in the four subsequent years, they won the most regular season games in each of the following seasons. They appeared in the championship series in five out of their six seasons in the league. In 2002, Chico won its second league championship in the league's and the team's final season.
The team played at Nettleton Stadium, which is located on the campus of California State University, Chico. They were preceded by the Oroville/Chico Red Sox of the minor league's Class-C Far West League from 1948-1951 and were succeeded by the Chico Outlaws of the independent Golden Baseball League, taking their place in 2005. The Heat has been the most successful professional baseball franchise in the city's history.
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