Golden Baseball League (2005–2010) The Yuma Scorpions were one of the
Golden Baseball League charter members in 2005 along with the
Chico Outlaws,
Fullerton Flyers,
Long Beach Armada and
San Diego Surf Dawgs in California;
Mesa Miners and
Surprise Fightin' Falcons in Arizona and the
Japan Samurai Bears, the league's first (and so far only) traveling team. The Panthers, along with the Outlaws, Armada and Flyers remain the only charter teams still active in the league. The team replaced the former
Bullfrogs as the city of Yuma's professional baseball team. The Bulldogs played in the defunct
Western Baseball League from 2000 to 2002, but folded after being financially unsuccessful and leaving a legacy of lawsuits and a trail of unpaid bills, players and employees. Other baseball teams are the Yuma Desert Dawgs of the defunct
Golden State League (1995–96) and American West Leagues (1997–99). The
San Diego Padres inhabited Desert Sun Stadium as their spring training complex and used it from 1968 to 1994 before they went to a new facility in
Peoria, Arizona.
Affiliations with foreign leagues On May 20, 2009, the
Yuma Sun reported that the team had signed an affiliation agreement with the
Colombian Professional Baseball League (CPBL), a league owned by
Edgar and
Edinson Rentería. Edgar played for the
San Francisco Giants of
Major League Baseball at the time of the signing. Under the terms of the affiliation, the CPBL handled all on-field personnel and player issues while the team retained control of promotions, concessions, and other front-office business. The Scorpions acted as a farm team for all four CPBL teams. It was reported by some news outlets to be the first time an independent American baseball club had formed an affiliation with a foreign team or league, however, in 1972 and 1973 the
California League's
team based in
Lodi, California had an affiliation with
Nippon Professional Baseball's
Nishitetsu Lions. Yuma's partnership with the CPBL was at one point reportedly being made into a feature story for ESPN. In early 2010 the
Yuma Sun reported that the Scorpions had ended their affiliation with the CPBL, but had signed a new three-year affiliation agreement with the
Venezuelan Baseball Federation (VBF). The move was also portrayed as one that would improve the Scorpions on-field performance. Under the affiliation with the CPBL, the Scorpions went 29–47, worst in the GBL, including a 3–13 start. Several factors justify this assertion. Baseball is more popular in Venezuela than Colombia, leading to the Sun to speculate that that country will provide superior prospects to the CPBL agreement. Additionally, the previous agreement with the CPBL was only concluded hours before the start of the season, so that players had to literally get on a plane in Colombia, got off in Yuma and immediately play the season opener. The agreement with the VBF was agreed to three months prior to the start of the 2010 season. The Scorpions' manager for 2010,
Darryl Brinkley, had experience playing in Venezuela. In August of that year, 52-year-old former Major League player and then-Scorpions infielder
Tony Phillips was involved in an altercation with former Scorpions manager
Mike Marshall, then with the
Chico Outlaws. Phillips punched Marshall in the face during the incident, causing the latter to press battery charges against the infielder. ==Changes of ownership and names==