The OC Warthogs were formed in 1996. When organizing the team, none of the charter players could agree on a professional team name. Those names that interested us all seemed to be taken by some team in one of the many divisions. This combined with the simple fact that we were not a major league team, convinced us not to use a major league team name and/or logo. After persuading Dennis Swartout, the league president, that our name would be tasteful, we looked at unique names from minor league teams and the old negro leagues. We selected Warthogs because we felt it was unlikely that any other team would ever have the same name (there were also enough hats readily available for the whole team).

After formation, the team played two seasons in the Men's Adult Baseball League (MABL). The teams first season started off pretty well with the team starting the season 4-1 and going 12-5 making the playoffs the first year. We won the first weekend but were swept out of the playoffs in the second week. Much of our success that first year was clearly due to having two very good former collegiate pitchers on the team throughout most of the season.

In 1997, however, the two pitchers were transferred away from Southern California. As a result, the team had a very slow start until we were able to add a couple pitchers after the collegiate season ended. We ended the season 9-11, just missing the playoffs by blowing a lead in the last game of the year. Looking back, there were several defining moments that all seemed to go against us that season.

Prior to 1998 season, the team split with approximately half of the players moving to the Continental Division of the over 30 MSBL and the remainder staying in the 18 and over MABL as the nucleus of the Black Sox (now the Snappers). We were encouraged to play the first year in the Continental Division by the league based on our 1997 season in the MABL and the fact that we were essentially a "new" team. The Warthogs lost some valuable players in the move but were lucky enough to add several new players to pick up the slack. We finished the season in first place with an 18-2 record and went 4-1 in the playoffs to capture the Continental Division title.

Based on the teams success in 1998, the Warthogs moved up to the International Division for the 1999 Season. Although the team has added several new players, the nucleus of the squad remains the same (see roster).