The Pioneer League, one of four unaffiliated MLB partner leagues, unveiled its newest team this week, the Modesto Glow Riders. The nickname is an homage to the lowrider car culture found in Modesto, California, and mixes in a tribute to “American Graffiti,” the 1973 George Lucas film that for many defines the Central Valley.
The identity features two characters in low rider cars: a skeleton with a traditional Mexican sugar skull for a head and another with the team’s mascot, a kit fox named Cruiser. The color palette draws from the brightly colored sugar skull featured in the logo and the neon lights one might have found while cruising Modesto’s streets in the 1960s and ’70s. The suite of logos was created by Francis Santaquilani of FS Design, best known in the minor league baseball world for creating the Quad Cities River Bandits brand.
“We wanted a name that would be new, original and unique to the area, a name that reflects the culture, history and heritage of Modesto and its people, and Glow Riders does all that and more,” said Dave Heller, CEO of Main Street Baseball, which owns the team. “It taps into the car culture, the neon in the logo is an homage to the classic diner days of ‘American Graffiti,’ and it pays tribute to the art and music of the Latino lowrider culture.”
After losing the Modesto Nuts, a California League team that moved to southern California, the city will not go long without baseball. The new franchise represents a continuing westward shift for the Pioneer League. The league added two California teams in 2024, the Oakland Ballers and Yuba-Sutter High Wheelers, and within the last year, three of its eastern-most teams in Colorado have folded or moved, including the Northern Colorado Owlz, Grand Junction Rockies, and Rocky Mountain Vibes.
The Glow Riders will make their debut at John Thurman Field in May 2026.
