Baseball will be back in Modesto in 2025-

City’s History with the Game Celebrated at McHenry Museum

John Thurman Field in Modesto. Photo: Steve Newvine

More than sixty years ago, some of the biggest names in baseball played minor league ball in Modesto, Stanislaus County.

Jose Conseco, Jason Giambi, and Rickey Henderson are among the stars who made Modesto their home on their way to the big leagues.

Did you know that back in 1962, there was an exhibition game between the two teams from that year’s World Series? The Yankees and the Giants played in Modesto as they awaited drenching typhoon Freda rains to clear out of San Francisco. 

Modesto has a piece of baseball history, and thanks to some last-minute efforts, it will continue to be the home of the city’s minor league team for the 2025 season.

Modesto’s baseball  history is part of a permanent exhibit at the McHenry Museum.  Photo: McHenry Museum

The City and the Seattle Mariners organization have agreed to a one-year lease extension to continue having the Mariner’s farm team, the Modesto Nuts, playing at John Thurman Field.

That deal was reached around Labor Day, just as the Mariner’s farm team was winding down the regular season.

Earlier in the summer, the team announced it would leave Modesto unless the City agreed to a multi-million dollar list of stadium improvements. The City clarified that the request was out of line with what it could afford.  

Willie Mays and the San Francisco Giants played an exhibition against the New York Yankees in Modesto on October 15, 1962. Photo: OpenSFHistory.org

Baseball has been a part of the city of Modesto’s history since the Modesto Reds played at the beginning of the 1900s. The game and its connection to the Valley are being celebrated with an exhibit at the McHenry House Museum, operated by the Stanislaus County Historical Society.

The Museum has a permanent exhibit called Modesto Baseball that highlights some of the game's biggest moments in the city.

The exhibit includes photographs from that World Series exhibition game on October 14, 1962. The Yankees and the Giants were washed out at Candlestick Park for a few days thanks to typhoon Freda, and game six was called off due to the poor field conditions.  

According to HistoricModesto.com, both teams needed to work out on dry grass. Modesto’s Del Web Field was available. The teams took buses out to the Valley and played an exhibition game.

Central Valley fans maneuver to get a view of the Yankees and the Giants as they play an exhibition during the World Series of 1962. The teams were rained out due to typhoon Freda in the Bay Area and they needed a professional field for workouts. Photo: HistoricModesto.com

Baseball holds a special place for Corey Gales, the team's director of corporate sponsorships.

A Modesto native, he’s been working for the team for three years. “Minor league baseball at this level is exceptional for any city,” he says. “There are only one-hundred twenty teams throughout the United States.”

Corey is happy the team will remain in Modesto for at least one more season and is optimistic that both sides can find a way to make a long-term lease happen for John Thurman Field.

It was another excellent season for the team as they won their division again. In 2023, they went all the way to the league championship.  

“We had intense heat this summer,” Corey said as he summed up the season. “Out of sixty-six home games, I’d guess thirty-five to forty of them were played in temperatures over one-hundred degrees.”

But that’s life in the summer in the San Joaquin Valley. The team and the fans have endured those hot summer games for many years, and everyone is hoping the baseball tradition continues in Modesto.

There are conflicting accounts about who won that October 1962 exhibition game played in Modesto or even whether it was considered a game, given that both teams were there primarily for the workout.

The World Series would continue in San Francisco, with the Yankees winning game six to tie the series. The Yankees beat the Giants 1-0 in game seven and captured the World Series trophy.-

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

Among his many achievements in forty years as a working professional are two opportunities to throw the ceremonial first pitch at two minor league baseball games.

He thanks all those who participated in the third annual Author’s Fair, which was held on September 14 at the Merced County Library Main Branch.

His latest book, Rocket Reporter, is available at Lulu.com. His California books are also available online or at the Merced Courthouse Museum Gift Shop.

The Modesto Baseball at the McHenry Museum is a permanent exhibit. Museum hours are Noon to 4 PM, Friday through Sunday. mchenrymuseum.org

Art Below the Underpass-

G Street Project Artwork Seen Only by Walkers

Some of the artwork along the south sidewalk at the G Street underpass. Photo: Steve Newvine

There are two displays of public artwork that most people never see when traveling the city streets of Merced. 

The art on the walls along the G Street underpass can only be appreciated by walkers. It is hidden from drivers along the busy roadway.

The underpass has been used since December 2011 following an eighteen-month construction period.

By all accounts, it has made a big difference in moving cars through the city.

The G Street Railroad Underpass cost $18 million to build back in 2011. Photo: Steve Newvine

As the only rail underpass in the city, the project eliminated the stopping of cars as trains passed on the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railroad tracks at what was then an at-grade crossing.  

The underpass has likely saved lives as a public safety solution to emergency vehicles having to wait as trains zipped through. It is also assumed that the air is a little bit cleaner from the elimination of stopped cars waiting for trains to pass at the intersection.

As a newcomer to the city in 2006, I was taken aback by having to wait on a train passing through. I referred to it as “Railroad Roulette” as I would head out for a meeting, wondering if the arms at a crossing might come down when I needed to get through.

Artwork along the north sidewalk of the G Street Rail Underpass include tributes to Merced’s Hispanic and Hmong communities. Photos: Steve Newvine

The City touted the artwork on the pedestrian walls underneath the span at the time. According to a news report at the time, artists Monika Modest and Kristan Robinson were commissioned to create the art.

Monika was involved in several community art initiatives, including the Starry Night mural at the Merced Open Air Theatre in Applegate Park and the Poppies Galore installation at Bob Hart Square. In 2018, the Merced Garden Club honored her with a Beautification Award.

On the southern wall, there’s an array of tiles similar to what can be seen at Bob Hart Square at Main and Canal Streets in downtown Merced. There is also an interpretation of the Merced Courthouse Museum and Merced Theatre.

On the northern wall are two montages: one honors the Hmong community, while the other honors the Hispanic community.

A Merced Sun Star story about the bridge's dedication in 2011 referred to surveillance cameras that protect the art. Either the cameras were not that good, or no one was viewing the images from them because, in late August 2024, several damaged tiles and graffiti were along parts of the walls.

The City of Merced logo is imbedded into the G Street Rail Underpass. Photo: Steve Newvine

The project was the City’s largest road project in 2011, with an eighteen-million-dollar price tag.

The cost was paid with state tax dollars, redevelopment agency funds, City public facility financing fees, and the Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railroad. The City spent another two million four hundred thousand dollars on water line replacements and other improvements in the project area.

While the artwork is pleasing to look at, some repairs need to be made to restore it to its condition at the grand opening. In the meantime, it remains one of the City’s fascinating public art displays.  

“We truly appreciate our public art,” said Merced Mayor Matt Serrato. “It makes our city so much more vibrant.”

In a free moment, please take a few minutes to walk along the sidewalks under the bridge and see the artwork that helped define our community back in 2011.

It is a display that only people who walk along the sidewalks can see.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

Meet him and other local authors at the Merced County Library Author Fair on September 14 at the Merced branch.

The event runs from 10:00 am to Noon and is free to attend. Local authors will be selling their books at the event. He will have copies of his California books available for sale and for signing.