Like the red yarn that ties rawhide strips together on a baseball, the lore and tradition of the National Pastime knits the sport firmly into the fabric of American culture and the consciousness of American small towns. The Stockton Ports enter into their 72nd season in the California League rebranded Low-A West prior to the season in , with a 5,, overall record, 11 league titles, and their own unique lore and traditions tying them into Minor League Baseball and Californian history.
Baseball lore credits Abner Doubleday, an important Union general who played a pivotal role at the Battle of Gettysburg, with inventing baseball in a cow pasture in Cooperstown, N. Baseball lore also credits a baseball team based in Stockton, CA with being the inspiration for Ernest Lawrence Thayer's famous "Casey at the Bat" poem.
As legend goes, Thayer wrote the fictional poem in after seeing the Stockton club perform. At that time, Stockton played at the same site that currently houses Banner Island Ballpark near a riverfront area called Mudville. Just as the Mills Commission Report elevated Cooperstown into baseball prominence, a short poem by Thayer placed Stockton indelibly on the baseball map.
That Stockton team won the California League pennant, finishing the season with a record. In the early s, Stockton boasted a team in the California League.
While the team underwent several name changes Poppies from , Millers from , Tigers in and Boosters in , the team found plenty of success. Stockton won pennants each season from to In , the California League reemerged and Stockton captured another title. In , the League folded. In the California League resumed operations with the Stockton club, renamed the Ports, as a member.
