| Lancaster JetHawks Founded in 1955 Lancaster, California |
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| League titles | 1960, 1961, 1975, & 1976 (as the Reno Silver Sox) | ||
| Division titles | 2007 (First & Second Half Crowns), 2008 (First & Second Half Crowns) |
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| Owner(s)/Operated by: Peter A. Carfagna and family | |||
| Manager: Tom Spencer | |||
| General Manager: Derek Sharp | |||
The Lancaster JetHawks are a minor league baseball team of the California League located in Lancaster, California. The team is named for the city's association with the aerospace industry and plays its home games at Clear Channel Stadium. The Lancaster JetHawks are the Class A - Advanced affiliate of the Houston Astros.
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Prior to moving to Lancaster, the team was known as the Riverside Pilots of Riverside, California. Notable players to play for the JetHawks include Jose Cruz, Jr. and Brandon Webb. While in Riverside, the team played at UC-Riverside Sports Center. The Pilots' previous owners chose Lancaster over Palm Springs, California in a lucrative offer.
In November 2005, the original owners of the JetHawks during their first 10 years in Lancaster, Clutch Play Baseball, LLC, sold the team to a group led by majority investor Peter Carfagna of Cleveland, Ohio. One of their first acts was to replace the stadium's original scoreboard with a more advanced video board. For the first time, this allowed for video replays and other views from cameras around the field. For the 2006 season, the JetHawks' manager was former major leaguer Brett Butler.
On September 29, 2006, the Boston Red Sox announced a two-year affiliation agreement with the JetHawks after losing their previous Carolina League affiliation in Wilmington. Since the Fenway Sports Group purchased the Carolina League's Salem Avalanche franchise after the 2007 season, with the stated intent of moving the Red Sox's High-A affiliation there once the 2007–2008 agreement term expired, the JetHawks were forced to find a new major league affiliate before the 2009 season—the Houston Astros.
On August 25, 2008, the JetHawks announced its new General Manager, Antelope Valley native Larry Thornhill. Thornhill, a former JetHawks broadcaster from its inaugural season of 1996, took over day-to-day operations of the Lancaster organization from Brad Seymour who was promoted to Vice President of both the JetHawks and Lake County Captains. Seymour joined the organization in 2004 and served as General Manager for five seasons with the JetHawks.
Wes Clemente, after serving the 2009 season as the JetHawks' manager, took over the managerial position for the Corpus Christi Hooks, Houston's Double-A affiliate. On November 16, 2009, the JetHawks announced its new manager for the 2010 season, Tom Lawless. He served as the manager of the Lexington Legends, the Astros' Class A minor league team, for the 2009 season.
The JetHawks concluded the 2010 season with a 54–86 record, setting the worst season mark in franchise history.
The JetHawks have been lauded for their creative giveaways. Every season, they give away a NASA-related bobblehead to pay tribute to the Antelope Valley and its leading industry. The Buzz Aldrin bobblehead was a big hit. On July 12, 2008, the JetHawks gave away skateboards to the first 500 children to arrive at the ballpark. These skateboards were widely considered the most expensive and high-end giveaway of the season in minor league baseball. Minor League Baseball (MILB.com) rated the skateboard giveaway one of the top ten promotions of 2008 in the minor leagues.
On December 9, 2010, Tom Spencer was named as the JetHawks' manager for the 2011 season. He served as the manager of the Palm Beach Cardinals, the Advanced A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, for the 2009 season.
On May 26, 2011, the Lancaster JetHawks announced that Larry Thornhill had resigned his position as Vice President and General Manager of the franchise for personal reasons. Derek Sharp, Lancaster's Assistant General Manager who has been with the organization since 2008, was named Interim General Manager for the remainder of the 2011 California League season. Brad Seymour, who was the JetHawks General Manager from 2004 - 2008, had also been named Senior Consultant for the JetHawks. Seymour currently also serves as Vice President and General Manager of the Lake County (OH) Captains, Class A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians under the direction of the Peter A. Carfagna ownership group which also controls the Lancaster JetHawks. Seymour, along with team President Peter E. Carfagna, will have direct oversight of the day-to-day activities of the JetHawks. On September 7, 2011, Derek Sharp was promoted from Interim General Manager to General Manager.
The JetHawks play home games at Clear Channel Stadium which opened in 1996 as Lancaster Municipal Stadium. Clear Channel Stadium has just over 4,600 permanent seats, but can accommodate over 7,000 fans with grass seating along each foul line. The stadium has deep fences (350 feet (110 m) feet down the right and left field lines and 410 feet (120 m) feet to deep center field) to combat the prevailing winds of the Antelope Valley. Nicknamed "The Hangar", the stadium has a NASA F/A-18 Hornet mounted on display at the front entrance.
On December 19, 2010, Ballpark Digest.com reported that the Lancaster JetHawks are expected to save some green - to the tune of $48K - this coming season after the installation of solar panels on a ballpark carport will supply 98 percent of Clear Channel Stadium's electricity needs on a typical game night. The installation is part of a city-wide emphasis on solar energy from civic structures. At the ballpark, 1,500 solar panels will be installed on a 700-foot-long carport beside the ballpark, well outside of foul-ball range. The electricity generated by the 340-kilowatt panel system will supply 98 percent of the power needed to run the ballpark, including the ballpark lights, and should save the owners of the JetHawks some $48,000 per year in utility costs. “The entire Lancaster community has embraced the city’s mission to become the alternative energy capital of the world, and as the first minor league team in California to go solar, we’re happy to do our part,” said JetHawks owner Peter Carfagna.
On August 27, 2009, the Lancaster JetHawks created the Community Sports Network (CSN @ JetHawks.com), an internet radio station that brings almost two hundred games and thousands of hours of local sports talk coverage to the Antelope Valley each year. The creation was in response to several local radio stations in the Antelope Valley eliminating their high school and college radio coverage. The station streams live on the internet 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with all local sports coverage. The station also offers live play-by-play coverage of Lancaster JetHawks baseball, Antelope Valley College football and basketball, and a high school football and basketball game of the week, all accessible through the JetHawks' website. The free service launched on Saturday, September 5, 2009 at 6 PM with an hour-long pre-game show leading up to dual coverage of the Lancaster JetHawks game against the Inland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino and the Antelope Valley College Marauders football opener on the road against College of the Canyons.
As of the 2010 season, the Lancaster JetHawks have a new radio station and a new web home to broadcast every inning of JetHawks baseball. The team partnered with News Talk 1380, a High Desert Broadcasting station, which will carry every JetHawks game, including the regular season and playoffs. Launched in September 2009, CSN@JetHawks.com will stream all broadcasts live as well as offering special replays of events. Jeff Lasky, JetHawks' play-by-play broadcaster since the 2006 season, will once again be calling the action while being joined by newcomer Scott Blusiewicz.
Since the 1996 inaugural season, KaBoom (KB for short) has been the JetHawks' mascot. In the 2008 season, he introduced an all-new look as part of his team's complete image makeover. KB entertains fans at games and participates in contests between innings. He can often be seen walking around the stadium planning his next stunt. KaBoom also encourages children in Antelope Valley schools to read with his own KaBoom's Reading Challenge. Before the 2009 season on March 21, 2009, KaBoom celebrated his 13th birthday at a party held in his honor at Clear Channel Stadium, where he revealed his younger brother, Stealth, to JetHawks fans. Stealth has been added as a JetHawks' mascot as of the 2009 season.
Beginning in 2009, the JetHawks reintroduced the all new Hawks and Hawkettes, a dance team that helps pass out giveaways at the main gate, toss JetHawks and Astros merchandise into the stands, and demonstrate their dancing abilities with their own dance routines, along with KaBoom, between innings. The team previously appeared at the ballpark during the 1996 inaugural season.
| Year | Record | Finish in Southern Division | Manager | Playoffs |
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| 1996 | 71–69 | 3rd | Dave Brundage | - |
| 1997 | 75–66 | 2nd | Rick Burleson | - |
| 1998 | 78–62 | 3rd | Rick Burleson | - |
| 1999 | 55-85 | 5th | Darrin Garner | - |
| 2000 | 89-51 | 1st | Mark Parent | - |
| 2001 | 61–79 | 5th | Scott Coolbaugh | - |
| 2002 | 63-77 | 3rd | Bill Plummer & Steve Scarsone | - |
| 2003 | 73-67 | 4th | Mike Aldrete | - |
| 2004 | 86-54 | 1st | Wally Backman | - |
| 2005 | 75-65 | 1st | Bill Plummer | - |
| 2006 | 68-72 | 4th | Brett Butler | - |
| 2007 | 83-57 | 1st | Chad Epperson | Won 1st & 2nd Half Crowns |
| 2008 | 76-64 | 1st | Chad Epperson | Won 1st & 2nd Half Crowns |
| 2009 | 56-84 | 5th | Wes Clements | - |
| 2010 | 54-86 | 4th | Tom Lawless | - |
| 2011 | 55-85 | 4th | Tom Spencer | - |
| Players | Coaches/Other | |||
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7-day disabled list |
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- Charter Inductees - Class of 2003 (August 16, 2003)
- Class of 2004
- Class of 2005
- Class of 2006
- Class of 2007
- Class of 2008
- Class of 2009
- Class of 2010
- Class of 2011
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| Houston Astros franchise | |||
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| Triple-A | Double-A | Class A | Rookie |
| Oklahoma City RedHawks | Corpus Christi Hooks |
Lancaster JetHawks Lexington Legends Tri-City ValleyCats |
Greeneville Astros GCL Astros DSL Astros |
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