Palm Springs Angels

From 1986 to 1993, the Palm Springs Angels played as a Class A affiliate of the California Angels in the California League. The franchise originated when the Redwood Pioneers moved to Palm Springs after the 1985 season. Because the California Angels already used Palm Springs for spring training, the relocated team took on the parent club’s name. After the 1993 season, the franchise moved again, this time to Lake Elsinore, California, becoming the Lake Elsinore Storm.

Attendance was below the league average in the late 1980s, but the team drew more fans in the early 1990s, surpassing 100,000 in both 1992 and 1993. According to last owner Ken Stickney in The Desert Sun, the move was driven by a lack of city council support for a new minor league ballpark, following the California Angels’ departure to a new spring training facility in Tempe, Arizona.

Notable former players include Pete Rose Jr., Dante Bichette, J. T. Snow, Tim Salmon, Garret Anderson, Troy Percival, and Jim Edmonds. Other alumni who passed through Palm Springs include Floyd Bannister, Bob Boone, John Candelaria, Mike Fetters, Kelly Gruber, Bryan Harvey, Roberto Hernandez, Kirk McCaskill, Mark McLemore, Mike Marshall, Donnie Moore, Dan Petry, Eduardo Perez, Bryan Price, Paul Sorrento, Lee Stevens, Mark Sweeney, and Fernando Valenzuela.