The Salinas Spurs were a California League team that played from 1982 to 1987 and again from 1989 to 1992. Located in Salinas, California, they were affiliated with the Chicago Cubs from 1982 to 1983, the Seattle Mariners from 1984 to 1987, and in 1989 they had a partial working agreement with the San Francisco Giants. That season, they had seven Japanese players play for them.
They did not play as the Salinas Spurs in 1988, because they moved to Riverside, California to become the Riverside Red Wave. Baseball returned to Salinas after the Fresno Suns moved there for the 1989 season and became the Spurs.
Their last affiliation (a partial one) was with the Chicago White Sox in their final season in 1992, when they had half the roster of Japanese players with agreements with Japanese professional baseball leagues.
There were two incarnations of the baseball team known as the Salinas Packers. The first existed from 1954 to 1958, and was affiliated with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1955 and the Milwaukee Braves from 1956 to 1958. The second incarnation existed from 1973 to 1975, and was affiliated with the California Angels. They played their home games at Municipal Stadium in the second incarnation.[2] Both incarnations were located in Salinas, California and played in the California League.
In 1957, they won the California League title. One of their players, John Balaz, was named MVP in 1973. In 1976, they were renamed the Salinas Angels.[citation needed]
