Bakersfield was one of the eight original franchises in the California League in 1941. They operated as the Bakersfield Badgers for the first two seasons. After the California League resumed following WWII in 1946, the Bakersfield squad returned the 'Indians' to match their new MLB affiliate, the Cleveland Indians. After the 1952 season Bakersfield was without an affiliate and was in jeopardy of losing their team all together. The Bakersfield baseball fans rallied together and saved their team and renamed them the 'Boosters'.  ​After the 1956 season, the team changed their name to the 'Bears' for the next 11 seasons. In 1968 Bakersfield began their affiliation with the Los Angeles Dodgers and changed their team name to match their parent club. Bakersfield did not field a team in 1976 or 1978, but came back for two seasons (1979 & 1980) as the Bakersfield Outlaws without a major league affiliate. Bakersfield went on hiatus again for the next two seasons and returned as the Bakersfield Mariners to match their new Seattle parent club. The Seattle affiliation lasted two seasons before they returned to the Bakersfield Dodgers from 1984 to 1994. In 1995, without an affiliate, the team changed their name to the Blaze and played 22 more seasons until 2016. After the 2016 season the Bakersfield franchise, along with the High Desert franchise, came to an end as both teams were transferred to the Carolina League.