Chico Heat

Chico Heat 1997–2002 Chico, California
Team logo Cap insignia
Class-level
Previous	Independent
Minor league affiliations
League	Western Baseball League (1997-2002)
Major league affiliations
Previous	None
Minor league titles
League titles	1997, 2002
Division titles	1997, 1999, 2001, 2002
Team data
Previous parks	Nettleton Stadium (1997-2002)

The Chico Heat 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).

History

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.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

Remember The Heat Night

On August 11, 2007, former Heat majority owner Steve Nettleton and former Heat players were honored as part of a celebration called "Remember The Heat Night" hosted by the Chico Outlaws as they faced the St. George RoadRunners. The original Heat mascot "Heater" even made an appearance. The Outlaws won the ball game in front of over 3,500 fans at Nettleton Stadium.

Return of the Heat

On November 25, 2014, the Chico Heat franchise announced its return to the field in the summer of 2016, but this time as a member of the summer collegiate wood bat league known as the Great West League. Steve Nettleton will return as owner along with former Major League Baseball executive and Chico native Pat Gillick.^[7][8]

Alumni

Notable Heat alumni who would return to Chico to join the Outlaws organization as either a player, coach or executive include Greg Bicknell, Scott Navarro, Jon Macalutas and Lance Franks.

Year-by-year record

References

External links

• Chico Heat official website archives (archive.org)
• Chico Heat at Chico Wiki
• Chico Heat Official website
• Chico Heat Official Facebook page
• Chico Heat Official Twitter page
• Chico Heat Facebook fan page