There will be no professional baseball played in Stanislaus County when the 2024 Minor League Baseball season wraps up in September after the Seattle Mariners, the parent club and owner of the Modesto Nuts, failed to come to terms with the city over a long-term lease extension for the club to continue playing at John Thurman Field.

The city-owned ballpark itself, built in 1955, was at the center of negotiations. Major League Baseball was requiring renovations of roughly $32,054,611 to get the facility up to professional standards, per a memo provided to the Modesto City Council. Those renovations included:

·         Larger clubhouses for both teams with improved lockers

·         Nutrition, food-prep and dining areas for home and visiting teams

·         Better training facilities for players including weight rooms and multiple pitching and batting tunnels

·         Separate spaces for female staffers

·         Brighter stadium lights.

According to the memo, the city has paid $1.3 million for capital improvements at John Thurman Field since 2017. An additional $3 million in operating costs for the stadium have also been provided by the city since 2018.

​​“We’re disappointed we were unable to agree upon an extension,” said Nuts General Manager, Veronica Hernandez on Wednesday through a joint press release from the team and the city of Modesto. “I know we and the city worked very hard to find common ground and unfortunately were unable to accomplish our goal.”

“We are thankful for the legacy the Modesto Nuts leaves behind and we wish them the very best success in their future endeavors,” added Mayor Sue Zwahlen. “Negotiations can be very challenging, and we worked diligently over the last year with the Modesto Nuts to explore various solutions.”

Chris Ricci, who represents District 3 on the City Council, said in a social media post that the city will be looking for “high-quality sports and recreational opportunities that will make Modesto better.”

Minor league baseball may be out of the picture entirely considering renovations to John Thurman Field would have to be made regardless of who owns the team as long as the City of Modesto owns the ballpark.

“I’m disappointed in losing my hometown team, but understand the finances involved,” said longtime season ticket holder Anthony Corona, who grew up in Modesto and currently resides in Turlock. “Going to JTF has been a part of my life since I was 6 and it’s where I really started to love baseball. Now I’ve been able to take my own kids, and that’s the part that is the worst to me.”

There are 27 regular season home games left for the Nuts this year, with the last slated for Sept. 8 against the Stockton Ports. After clinching the first-half California League North Division title last month, Modesto is guaranteed at least one home postseason game as of today.

The city memo stated that attendance was 87,967 in 2023, down from 96,365 in 2022. Both figures were far greater than the 42,200 attendance mark of 2021 that was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, though they remained significantly lower than the 139,762 fans that walked through the gates in 2019 before the pandemic’s arrival.

The Seattle Mariners became partial owners of the Modesto Nuts in October of 2017 alongside private ownership group HWS. The M’s fully acquired the organization in November of 2020. As a member of the Seattle farm system, the Nuts have won a pair of California League titles, the first in 2017 and the latest this past fall. In their history, Modesto has hoisted the championship banner 10 times since becoming a professional team in 1946 when they joined the California League as an independent club. With 77 years under its belt, Modesto is the longest tenured team in the league.

“Modesto has welcomed our players and staff with open arms, and we’ve very much enjoyed our experience playing in John Thurman Field in front of the terrific fans of the greater Modesto area,” Hernandez continued. “Our hope and plan is to conclude the 2024 season the same way we finished 2023: By hoisting a Cal League Championship Banner.”

The team was originally founded in 1872 as a makeshift community club, the Modesto Red Caps. By the early 1900s, they rebranded as the Modesto Reds, competing in a local league consisting of other community teams in Modesto, Merced, Chowchilla and Stockton. Two years after joining the Cal League as a non-affiliated club in 1946, the Reds were picked up by the St. Louis Browns organization. Following just one season under the Browns, they moved to the Pittsburgh Pirates organization and stayed with them till 1952. The Milwaukee Braves took over for the 1953 season before the New York Yankees became the parent team from 1954 to 1961.

When John Thurman Field was built in 1955 under the Yankees regime, it was originally named Del Webb Field after one of the franchise's co-owners. Sitting about 90 miles east of San Francisco, the proximity allowed Modesto to play a pivotal role in the 1962 World Series between the Yanks and the San Francisco Giants after Typhoon Freda hit the Bay Area. San Francisco recorded more than seven inches of rain as the storm passed through, leaving Candlestick Park’s outfield and parking lots completely flooded. On Oct. 14, the two teams agreed to make the trip to the Modesto ballpark as an attempt to stay sharp at the plate and in the field. The public workout drew an estimated 16,000 fans.

In 1962, the Modesto Reds became an affiliate of the Houston Colt .45's until 1964. There was no team for the 1965 and 1966 seasons. The Reds returned to the minor league scene in 1967 when they joined the St. Louis Cardinals organization, a partnership that lasted until 1974. In 1975, the club became the Modesto A’s following a sale to the Oakland Athletics. Ahead of the 2005 season, the A’s moved their Class-A team to Stockton, where they remain today. As a result, the Colorado Rockies took over and stayed in Modesto until the conclusion of the 2016 season. The team was renamed the Nuts as an ode to the region’s many orchards that grow 80% of the world's almonds, 75% of the world's walnuts and 98% of the nation’s pistachios.

“My core memories are when they were the Modesto A’s,” said Kristin Platts of Riverbank. “It’s kind of full-circle because I would go as a kid in the late 80s, early 90s with my dad who passed from brain cancer last year and my brother who died 12 years ago. I was playing Little League and was super into baseball, so we would go to get my glove signed, meeting the players after the game. It was amazing and those memories mean a lot. Now, I take my son to games. So just knowing that I could go anytime during the season and go see a  professional game right here in Modesto for not just fans, but families here looking for more entertainment options, it's going to be so unfortunate to lose that.”

At media day in April, Nuts manager Zach Vincej described the Modesto fanbase as “one of the best in all of baseball.”

Notable players to don “Modesto” across their chests are Hall of Famers Joe Morgan, Reggie Jackson, Rollie Fingers, Rickey Henderson and Ted Simmons; A’s legends Joe Rudi, Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco and Jason Giambi; Rockies standouts Troy Tulowitzki, Nolan Arenado, Trevor Story, Charlie Blackmon and Ryan McMahon; and current Mariners stars Julio Rodriguez, Cal Raleigh, Logan Gilbert, George Kirby and Bryce Miller.

“My daughter became a big Julio Rodriguez and Lazaro Montes fan since we got to talk to them, get their signatures and take pictures with them,” Corona added. “It feels less like losing a baseball team but more of a family and community event. Hopefully we get baseball back one day.”

John Thurman Field has also been a place for local fans to watch some of their own. 

In 2009 and 2010, former Turlock High and Fresno State standout Tommy Mendonca came to town as a member of the Bakersfield Blaze as a prospect with the Texas Rangers organization. On May 4, 2021, Turlock High graduate and current Oakland Athletics first baseman made his professional debut in Modesto as a member of the Stockton Ports. Last August, Soderstrom’s high school teammate Cole Carrigg, who was drafted last year by the Colorado Rockies, made his Single-A debut in Modesto as a member of the Fresno Grizzlies. On Aug. 19, he slapped balls and ran wild all across John Thurman Field when he went 4 for 5 with three triples, the most in a single-game by an individual batter in the Grizzlies’ 25-year history.

As for the club’s next steps, there is nothing official, though Ballpark Digest, a website covering news and negotiations on baseball stadiums at all professional levels, has predicted that they will land in San Bernardino, the current home of the Inland Empire 66ers of the Los Angeles Angels organization. Furthermore, the publication reports that the Angels are planning to move their Single-A club to Rancho Cucamonga as a result of the Dodgers’ affiliate leaving for a new stadium in Ontario. None of the reports have been confirmed.