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July 22, 2002
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stop --- Rancho Cucamonga!
Interview with Jonny Gomes
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Minor League Ramblings is produced by Bill Mitchell for Minor League Watch.
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Next
stop --- Rancho Cucamonga!
It was time for a serious baseball road trip. I hadn't been outside the state of Arizona for a game all year. The daytime temperatures here have consistently topped 100 degrees in recent weeks. The neighboring state of California, home to the 10-team Class A California League, was summoning me, like an oasis in a vast desert. The name "Cucamonga" was imbedded into my memory at an early age. This sleepy town in the San Bernardino Valley, east of Los Angeles, was often mentioned in both the Bugs Bunny cartoons and the old Jack Benny TV show. To many who grew up in the 1950s and 1960s, watching these shows on their grainy black and white TVs, Cucamonga was always made to sound like the farthest outpost from Hollywood. The origin of Cucamonga's fame actually goes back to 1945 and the days of syndicated radio, as Benny regular Mel Blanc (known later as the voice of Bugs Bunny and other Warner Brothers cartoon characters) portrayed a Los Angeles Union Station train conductor. As Benny's party prepared to board the train, Blanc called out, "Train leaving on track five for Anaheim, Azusa and Cuc ---- a monga!" A seemingly throwaway line on one World War Two-era radio program became a part of pop culture.
"The city that Jack Benny made famous," as it's known today, is situated at the base of the San Bernardino Mountains, approximately 40 miles east of Los Angeles. Rancho Cucamonga was incorporated in 1977 when the small communities of Alta Loma, Cucamonga and Etiwanda took the name of the original Spanish land grant settlement of 1860. Rancho Cucamonga is now home to over 125,000 residents, the sixth fastest growing city in the nation. It has a well-deserved reputation as a one of the safest cities and a premier place to raise a family in the Southern California area. The San Bernardino Valley is also smack dab in the middle of an earthquake zone. If there are two themes that are carried to extreme at the minor league stadium in Rancho Cucamonga, it's "Jack Benny" and "earthquakes." The stadium is located in a city park at the intersection of Rochester Avenue and Jack Benny Drive. (If you don't know the significance of "Rochester," then you need to watch old re-runs of the Jack Benny Show on cable TV). A statue of Benny stands in the concourse of the stadium's main entrance. The late comedian's picture also graces the reception area wall of the team office. As for the earthquake connection, the name of the Rancho Cucamonga team is the "Quakes." The stadium is named "The Epicenter." The team mascot is a cuddly green dinosaur called "Tremor" and its little brother is "Aftershock."
The Epicenter has never suffered any damage from an earthquake, according to longtime team employee Jan Selasky. "There was a tremor one night, but nothing that caused any damage," said Selasky. There may not be regular earthquakes at the Epicenter, but that doesn't keep the place from rocking 70 times a season when the Quakes are at home. The team management delivers one of the most successful operations in Class A baseball, providing a family-oriented, small town atmosphere in an area that is quickly succumbing to creeping suburbia from its larger neighbors to the east. There is a lot of fan involvement at the games. Constant music and sound bites blare from the sound system between pitches, similar to the atmosphere found at Latin American baseball games. At times, the sound effects come across as sounding hokey, but no one at the Epicenter seems to mind. The jewel of the operation is the Epicenter itself. With a capacity of 6,609, there isn't a bad seat in the house. The view of the San Bernardino Mountains beyond the left field fence is stunning. The concessions range from the usual hot dogs and popcorn to local specialties like homemade tamales and California smoothies, the latter a mixture of fresh fruits, juices and yogurt or sherbet, blended into a smooth rich concoction. The playing field itself is breathtaking, with lush, green grass. It's not surprising to hear that the Rancho Cucamonga grounds crew has often been named as the "best" in the California League.
The attention to detail separates a visit to the Epicenter from other minor league experiences. Edith Johnson, who has been working as an usher at the Epicenter since 1995, works diligently to clean the box seats in her section before the gates open. She even takes her rag to the handrails, making sure everything under her domain would hold up to the "white glove" inspection, if one were to be held. "I guess it's time to go clock in," remarked Ms. Johnson after completing her cleaning chores. She was cleaning her little piece of the Epicenter on her own time. When asked why she comes back to the Quakes family every year, Ms. Johnson answered, "It's for the baseball, for the fans … all of it. I love baseball." Her attitude and love for the game permeates the entire Quakes organization. The fans are a major part of every Quake experience. There is a different promotion between nearly every inning, most verging on being downright crazy. A Krispy Kreme donut race takes place, in which two runs race to boxes of donuts, grab one with their teeth and run back to the starting point, and then repeat this trek several times. Even the regular ballpark jobs are done with flare at the Epicenter. Midway through the game the "dancing field crew" makes their appearance as part of the regular dragging of the infield. But this crew teams up with the "Tremor" mascot to perform a choreographed disco dance while doing their work. The Quakes are now in their second season as an affiliate of the nearby Anaheim Angels after several years with the San Diego Padre organization. Having the major league team just 37 miles away affords the Quakes greater visibility to the parent organization. Scouts from the Angels organization visit Rancho Cucamonga on a regular basis. The opposing team on the night I made my second annual trip to the Epicenter was the Bakersfield Blaze, part of the Tampa Bay Devil Ray organization. The Bakersfield team bus was held up in rush hour traffic en route to Rancho Cucamonga, arriving at the Epicenter only one hour before game time.
The Blaze skipped pre-game batting and fielding practice, but the game still started nearly 30 minutes late. The large crowd of nearly 6,000, lured by a Pedro Martinez bobblehead giveaway, waited patiently, entertained by the antics of the mascots. It's a mixed crowd, with fans of all ages in attendance. The Rays promoted top prospects Rocco Baldelli and Jace Brewer to AA just before the series in Rancho Cucamonga and former number one draft choice Josh Hamilton had recently gone out for the season with a rotator cuff injury. So this game would not be the prospect fest originally expected. The caliber of play on this night was better than expected for high Class A ball, and the teams locked into a good, old-fashioned pitchers duel. The defense for both teams was strong, especially the outstanding catch against the leftfield fence by Quakes outfielder Mike Campo and a couple of dazzling plays by Blaze shortstop Nestor Perez.
The pitching was also sharp. 21-year-old Dominican right-hander Pedro Liriano was exceptionally effective, breezing through eight scoreless innings against the Bakersfield hitters. Blaze pitcher Brian Stokes held the Quakes scoreless until the home team scored a single run in the fifth inning. The Quakes later added four more runs off three Bakersfield relievers for a 5-0 Rancho Cucamonga victory. The noise level in the stadium was still at an ear-splitting level right up until the end of the game. Topping off the evening was a chance meeting with former major league pitcher Vida Blue, who was visiting the Epicenter that night. The personable southpaw warmly greeted everyone he encountered, treating new acquaintances like old, long lost friends. It was a great way to end a wonderful evening at the Epicenter, one of the jewels of the minor league baseball system. --- Bill Mitchell
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