The Chico Outlaws were a professional baseball team based in Chico, California, in the United States. The Outlaws were a member of the Northern Division of the independent North American League, which is not affiliated with either Major League Baseball or Minor League Baseball. From the 2005 season to the 2011 season, the Outlaws played their home games at Nettleton Stadium, on the campus of Chico State University. The team officially folded on February 29, 2012, and some of its remnants (including management and on-field staff) have gone to the NAL's newest team, the San Rafael Pacifics. The rights to the Outlaws were owned by Diamond Sports & Entertainment (DSE). DSE Board Chairman was Joel Yarmon and CEO was Brian MacInnes. Those rights are now up in the air. History Golden Baseball League (2005-2010) The Outlaws began play in May 2005, three years after their predecessors, the Chico Heat were forced to cease operations due to the folding of the Western Baseball League and not being able to find a new league to join. After the formation of the Golden Baseball League in 2004, Chico was granted one of the eight original charter teams in the league along with the Fullerton Flyers, Long Beach Armada and San Diego Surf Dawgs in California; Mesa Miners, Surprise Fightin' Falcons and Yuma Scorpions in Arizona and a traveling team the Japan Samurai Bears. The Outlaws, Flyers and Scorpions are the remaining charter teams still active in the league today. Chico, Long Beach and Yuma were former WBL cities. Former Heat minority owner and Western League president Bob Linscheid was the team's first president and general manager. He served those positions from 2004 to 2008. The Outlaws played in the GBL's Western Division. They opened their inaugural season on May 27, 2005, against the Flyers at Nettleton Stadium, bringing professional baseball back to Chico for the first time since the Chico Heat's 2002 championship campaign with the Western League. They won that inaugural ball game 9-4. Their first manager was former Major League Baseball catcher Mark Parent, a native of Cottonwood, California. Linscheid was named the league's first-ever "Executive of the Year". Continuing the winning tradition in Chico, the Outlaws made the playoffs the first year but lost in the early rounds. In 2006 they were on the verge of winning the second half that would have put them in the Championship Series versus