Salinas Peppers

• Location: Salinas, CA
• League: Western Baseball League, 1995-1997
• Affiliation: None
• Ballpark: Salinas Municipal Stadium

Team Bio

The Salinas Peppers were charter members of the independent Western Baseball League in 1995 and won both halves in the southern division with a cumulative record of 60-30 and Dave Holt was named Manager of the Year. The club fell in the playoffs to the Long Beach Riptide in two games. The Peppers' 3.37 ERA was .50 better than anyone else and John Patton (11-6, 2.01) and Kevin Reardon (14-2, 2.29) were second and third in the league in ERA. Reardon led in wins, while Tim Gower (5-4, 1.81) led with 25 saves. The offense included Rich Aldrete (fourth in the league with a .337 average), Elgin Bobo (.316, 10 HR, second with a .564 slugging), Todd Pridy (tied for second with 17 homers) and Sam Taylor (.325, .508 SLG). Attendance was 56,579, sixth in the league.

Salinas had another strong year in 1996 (54-36) and won the first-half southern division title, but again lost in the playoffs to Long Beach. Attendance remained sixth (47,363). Holt's club had another fine year from Gower (4-3, 24 Sv, 1.53, league leader in saves, 68 K and 6 BB in 65 IP). OF Taylor (.325, .508 slugging), pitcher Ben Weber (12-6, 3.46, tied for the league lead in wins), pitcher Gower, 1B Pridy (a league-high 21 homers, third in average at .346, first in slugging at .616 and in OBP at .454) and utility man Rick Prieto made the All-Star team. Prieto was named Player of the Year as he led in runs (83), hits (123), triples (10, tied for the lead) was tied for third in doubles (27), fifth in steals (30, in 31 tries) and OBP (.410) and sixth in average (.338).

Attendance was sixth again in '97 (55,749) as the Peppers slipped to 43-47. The team had no All-Stars and was led by OF Steve Hosey (.331, .642 slugging, 18 homers). Salinas left the Western League after the 1997 season.

Sources: 1996-1998 Baseball Almanacs, "The Western League" by W.C. Madden and Patrick Stewart

Year-by-Year Record

Year	League	Affiliation	Record	Finish	Manager	Playoffs
1995	Western Baseball League	none	60-30	1st South Division	Dave Holt	lost to Long Beach 0-2 in semifinals
1996	Western Baseball League	none	54-36	1st South Division (tie)	Dave Holt	lost to Long Beach in semifinals
1997	Western Baseball League	none	43-47	3rd South Division	Steve Hendricks