Rawhide Announce Expanded Rawhide Readers Program, Tipper’s Own Book

Visalia, CA – The Visalia Rawhide announced an expanded Rawhide Readers program, presented by Valley Children’s Healthcare, Sunkist, Family HealthCare Network, How We Roll Ice Cream, Round Table Pizza and Valley Strong Credit Union, for the 2026 season.

The Rawhide are also proud to release their new book “Tipper Takes the Mound.” The book stars Rawhide mascot Tipper T. Bull in his first adventure with the team. Fans can first read, purchase or win the book by way of a raffle at a story hour with Tipper T. Bull at the Book Nook in Downtown Visalia on Saturday, February 28th at Noon.

The Rawhide Readers Program promotes reading for Tulare and Kings County elementary school children through a bookmark and prize program.

“We are proud to expand our Rawhide Readers program,” said Rawhide General Manager Mike Candela. “We hope the introduction of Tipper’s very own book will continue to inspire children across the Central Valley to the joy of reading.”

Throughout the Spring, the Rawhide will distribute over 10,000 bookmarks across Central Valley classrooms to kids 12 and younger. Kids will receive personalized reading goals from their teachers. Once the goal is met, the students’ teacher will fill out and sign the bookmark.

Students can then bring their bookmark to the Rawhide Ticket Office, presented by Kaweah Health, to receive four (4) free tickets to any Sunday through Thursday game during the 2026 season. Individual game tickets are now available at the Rawhide Ticket Office open Monday through Friday from 10 AM to 4 PM.

In 2026, the Rawhide are not just celebrating students but also their teachers. Teachers should take a photo of the completed bookmarks from their students and submit the photos to [email protected]. Each month, from February through May, the classroom that submits the most bookmarks will win a free pizza party with the Rawhide’s mascot Tipper T. Bull, courtesy of Round Table Pizza, and copies of “Tipper Takes the Mound” for the whole classroom.

In addition, the teachers from the four winning classrooms will win a free VIP experience to the Rawhide’s Educator Night at Valley Strong Ballpark on Thursday, May 21st.

The distribution of bookmarks to schools is on a first request, first serve basis. A maximum of 500 bookmarks will be distributed to each school by the Rawhide. Teachers, school administrators and parents can print out an unlimited number of bookmarks via a PDF on the Rawhide’s website.

Bookmark distribution to schools will include a visit from Tipper T. Bull and a reading of “Tipper takes the Mound.” Each school will also receive a donation of the new book to their library.

“Tipper Takes the Mound” will be first available for purchase at the Book Nook on February 28th. The book will also be available for purchase at the Anthem Team Store at Valley Strong Ballpark, starting Opening Day on April 3rd, 2026.

Schools can now request bookmarks (including some in Spanish) and a school visit from Tipper by emailing [email protected].

The Rawhide will also host Rawhide Readers Days on Sunday, May 24th and Sunday, September 6th at Valley Strong Ballpark. Any student who turns in a Rawhide Readers bookmark that day will receive their four free tickets plus a hot dog and drink voucher. Expanded play options including a bounce house and a water slide will be available in the Valley Children’s Kid’s Corral.

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The Visalia Rawhide are a professional baseball team and the Single-A Affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Rawhide celebrated 80 years of professional baseball in Visalia in 2025. Memberships and individual game tickets for 2026 are now on-sale with Opening Day slated for April 3rd at Valley Strong Ballpark.  

Stay up to date with the Rawhide on the team’s website and by following the Rawhide on Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and X. The Rawhide play all home games at Valley Strong Ballpark located at 300 N Giddings Street Visalia, CA 93291.

Fans can purchase season ticket packages, group ticket plans, single game tickets and team merchandise through the Rawhide website and at the stadium ticket office sponsored by Kaweah Health. All Rawhide games can be watched on MiLB.TV with a free radio broadcast also available online. Select games will be aired on MyTV53. For more information, visit milb.com/visalia, email [email protected] or call (559) 732-4433.