Ventura County Gulls

• Location: Ventura, CA
• League: California League 1986
• Affiliation: Toronto Blue Jays 1986
• Ballpark: Pirate Park

Team History

As of the 2021 season, professional baseball was based in Thousand Oaks, CA for just one year, the 1986 California League. The Ventura County Gulls were the local team that year.

A group including Ken McMullen and Jim Colborn bought the defunct Lodi Dodgers, who had been inactive in 1985 but still held a league franchise. Unable to find a home until late in the planning, they played their games at Ventura College, which had no lights. This made them the rare team in the 1980s to not have any night home games (possibly the only such club). The Toronto Blue Jays affiliate went 45-26 in the first half, finishing just 3 games behind the Palm Springs Angels, but the team slipped to 30-41 in the second half. Due to their home field situation, their attendance (38,818) was the lowest in the California League. Glenn Ezell managed the team, which had the league's All-Star catcher, Greg Myers and two of the five All-Star pitchers, Todd Stottlemyre and Jeff Musselman. Managers voted Myers as the #4 prospect in the loop with Musselman one slot behind. Musselman (7-7, 3.03) was third in the league in ERA, with Todd Provence (6-10, 3.39) sixth and Hugh Brinson (11-8, 3.49) seventh. Stottlemyre went 9-4 with a 2.43 ERA but was 10 innings shy of qualifying for the league lead; none of the qualifiers had a better ERA. In addition to the players mentioned above, other future big-leaguers on the staff included David Wells (2-1, 1.89) and Jose Mesa (10-6, 3.84). Leading the offense were Myers (.295/~.356/.497, 20 HR), OF Geronimo Berroa (.298/~.352/.505, 21 HR), OF Rob Ducey (.337/~.407/.635 in 47 games) and OF-DH Luis Reyna (.291/~.338/.459, 26 SB).

After the financially troubled year, the team was sold and moved to San Bernardino, CA in 1987 and became the San Bernardino Spirit.

Sources: 1986-1987 Baseball Statistics Reports and 1988 Baseball Almanac

Year-by-Year Record

Year	Record	Finish	Manager	Playoffs	Team MVP
1986	75-67	4th (t)	Glenn Ezell		Greg Myers