Chico Heat

Did You Know?

• The original Chico Heat were broadcast on KPAY NewsTalk 1290 AM with longtime area broadcaster Rory Miller on the call.
• The current Heat welcomed Miller back to the air waves on The Edge 101.7 FM sharing broadcast duties with KPAY's Mike Baca.
• Broadcast engineers for the current Heat included Mike Vislosky and Ryan Mouser.

History

The Chico Heat were an independent professional baseball team based in Chico, California, and played in the Western Baseball League without any affiliation with Major League Baseball. The franchise was established on July 29, 1996, by Chico Heat Professional Baseball LLC, with former supermarket entrepreneur Steve Nettleton and his wife Kathy serving as the primary owners. The team’s general managers included Bob Linscheid, who later became president of the Western Baseball League, and Jeff Kragel, now at Chico State University. Their mascot was Heater The Dragon. The Heat began play in 1997 and captured the league championship in their very first season. Over the next four years, they did not win another title but led the league in regular-season wins each year. They reached the championship series in five of their six seasons. In 2002, the team won its second championship in what turned out to be the final season for both the league and the franchise. After the league ran into financial trouble, the Heat tried to join the Class A-Advanced California League by moving the Visalia Oaks to Chico, but the effort failed, and the team immediately shut down. The Heat played at Nettleton Stadium on the campus of California State University, Chico. They were preceded by the Oroville/Chico Red Sox of the Class-C Far West League from 1948 to 1949 and were succeeded by the Chico Outlaws of the independent Golden Baseball League in 2005. The Heat remain the most successful professional baseball franchise in the city’s history. On August 11, 2007, the Chico Outlaws held Remember The Heat Night, honoring former majority owner Steve Nettleton and former Heat players, with Heater the mascot appearing. The Outlaws won before over 3,500 fans at Nettleton Stadium.