Pacific Coast League

The Pacific Coast League was formed on December 29, 1902, when officials from the California State League (1899–1902) met in San Francisco for the purpose of expanding the league beyond California. Six franchises were granted. These were the Los Angeles Angels, Oakland Oaks, Portland Beavers, Sacramento Senators, San Francisco Seals, and Seattle Indians. A dispute over territories owned by the Pacific Northwest League, in which the PCL had placed franchises, and the PCL's allowing blacklisted players to compete led to the National Association (Minor League Baseball) labeling the PCL as an outlaw league.[2]

The mild climate of the West Coast, especially California, allowed the league to play longer seasons, sometimes starting in late February and ending as late as the beginning of December. During the 1905 season the San Francisco Seals set the all-time PCL record by playing 230 games.[3] Teams regularly played between 170 and 200 games in a season until the late 1950s. This allowed players, who were often career minor leaguers, to hone their skills, earn an extra month or two of pay, and reduce the need to find off-season work. These longer seasons gave owners the opportunity to generate more revenue. Another outcome was that a number of the all-time minor league records for season statistical totals are held by players from the PCL.

The visiting Oakland Oaks prepare to travel to the ballpark on Opening Day 1903 to face the Sacramento Senators.

The inaugural 1903 season, which consisted of over 200 scheduled games for each team, began on March 26.[4] The Los Angeles Angels finished the season in first place with a 133–78 (.630) record, making them the first league champions.

In 1904, National Association President Patrick T. Powers brokered terms with the PCL, clearing it of its outlaw status and designating it as a Class A league. In 1909, the league classification was raised to Double-A. In 1919, with the earlier addition of the Salt Lake Bees and Vernon Tigers, league membership reached eight teams for the first time. While the league had experienced little commercial success up to this point, the 1920s were a turning point which saw increased attendance and teams fielding star players.[2]

The Great Depression of the 1930s resulted in a lower quality of play due to the league's salary reduction. Still, a number of top stars, including Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, and Ox Eckhardt, competed on PCL teams that decade. Also helping attendance was the introduction of night games. At Sacramento's Moreing Field, the Sacramento Solons and the Oakland Oaks played the first night baseball game, five years before any major league night game, on June 10, 1930. The Hollywood Stars and San Diego Padres were added to the league in the 1930s as well.[2]

During the first half of the 20th century, the Pacific Coast League developed into one of the premier regional baseball leagues. The cities enfranchised by the other two high-minor leagues, the International League and the American Association, were generally coordinated geographically with the major leagues, but such was not the case with the PCL. With no major league baseball team existing west of St. Louis, the PCL was unrivaled for American west coast baseball. Although it was never recognized as a true major league, its quality of play was considered very high. Drawing from a strong pool of talent in the area, the PCL produced many outstanding players, including such future major-league Hall of Famers as Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Tony Lazzeri, Paul Waner, Earl Averill, Bobby Doerr, Joe Gordon, and Ernie Lombardi. Amid success experienced after World War II, league President Pants Rowland began to envision the PCL as a third major league. During 1945 the league voted to become a major league.[5] However, the American League and National League were uninterested in allowing it to join their ranks.[2]

While many PCL players went on to play in the major leagues, teams in the league were often successful enough that they could offer competitive salaries to avoid being outbid for their players' services. Some players made a career out of the minor leagues. One of the better known was Frank Shellenback, whose major league pitching career was brief,[6] but who compiled a record PCL total of 295 wins against 178 losses. (It should be mentioned, however, that Shellenback's long career in the PCL was largely due to his use of the spitball, banned in the major leagues in 1920, not the competitive salaries offered by PCL clubs.)[7] Many former major league players came to the PCL to finish their careers after their time in the majors had ended.

In 1952, the PCL became the only minor league in history to be given the "Open" classification, a grade above the Triple-A level. This limited the rights of major league clubs to draft players from the PCL, and was considered an act toward the circuit becoming a third major league.[2]

The shift to the Open classification came just as minor league teams from coast to coast suffered a sharp drop in attendance, primarily due to the availability of major league games on television. The hammer blow to the PCL's major league dreams came in 1958 with the arrival of the first MLB teams on the west coast (the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants). As a result, three of the PCL's flagship teams (the Los Angeles Angels, Hollywood Stars, and San Francisco Seals) were immediately forced to relocate to smaller markets. The Oakland Oaks had moved to Canada two years before the Giants arrived. The San Diego Padres and Seattle Rainiers suffered the same fate when they were displaced by major league teams in 1969. Additionally, the PCL lost customers to the major league teams which then occupied the same territory. The league never recovered from these blows. The Pacific Coast League reverted to Triple-A classification in 1958, where it remains, and soon diminished in the public eye to nothing more than another minor league.

The PCL began to spread out across the nation, and internationally, in the 1950s. Previously, Salt Lake City had been the easternmost city in the league. In 1956, the Oakland Oaks relocated to Canada where they became the Vancouver Mounties, the circuit's first international team. Two years later, the Los Angeles Angels moved to become the Spokane Indians and the San Francisco Seals became the Phoenix Giants.[2]

The league continued to expand throughout the country in the 1960s. Clubs representing new cities during the decade included the Dallas Rangers, Denver Bears, Hawaii Islanders, Indianapolis Indians, Oklahoma City 89ers, Tacoma/Phoenix Giants, and Tucson Toros. From 1964 to 1968 the PCL swelled to twelve teams. The Albuquerque Dukes were one of several teams to begin play in the 1970s.[2] Several new teams arrived in the 1980s, such as the Calgary Cannons, Colorado Springs Sky Sox, Edmonton Trappers, and Las Vegas Stars, but the league began to stabilize as franchise relocations became less frequent.[2]

In 1998, the Pacific Coast League took on five teams from the disbanding American Association, which had operated in the Midwest, and a sixth franchise was added to the league as an expansion team, thus providing the scheduling convenience of an even number of teams. The addition of the Iowa Cubs, Nashville Sounds, Oklahoma RedHawks, Omaha Royals, New Orleans Zephyrs, and the expansion Memphis Redbirds grew the league to an all-time-high 16 clubs.[2] Despite its name, the league now extends well beyond the Pacific coast, stretching from Western Washington to Middle Tennessee. Half of its teams are located east of the Rocky Mountains.

The league's presence in Canada diminished and ended in the early 2000s, as the Calgary Cannons moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to become the Albuquerque Isotopes in 2003, and the Edmonton Trappers, the circuit's final Canadian team moved to Round Rock in 2005. Of the cities represented in the PCL in its heyday, only Salt Lake City and Sacramento remain, and even these are represented by franchises different from those that originally called these cities home. In 2005, the Pacific Coast League became the first minor league ever to achieve a season attendance of over 7 million. In 2007, league attendance reached an all-time high of 7,420,095.[8]

In 2019, the team previously known as the Colorado Springs Sky Sox relocated to San Antonio, Texas and continued play in the PCL as the San Antonio Missions, assuming the identity of a team which had previously competed in the Double-A Texas League.[9] This move was accompanied by realignment in the American Conference. Nashville and Memphis moved to the Northern Division, and Oklahoma City and San Antonio moved to the Southern Division.[10] In a further move, the New Orleans Baby Cakes relocated to Wichita, Kansas where they became known as the Wichita Wind Surge.[11]

PCL All-Stars at the 2015 Triple-A All-Star Game

At the end of the season, the Northern and Southern Division winners within each conference meet in a best-of-five series to determine conference champions. The American and Pacific Conference winners then play a best-of-five series to determine a league champion.[14]

Since 2006, the PCL champion has played against the International League's champion in the Triple-A National Championship Game, a single game to determine an overall champion of Triple-A baseball. Previously, the PCL champion also competed in the Triple-A World Series (1983, 1998–2000), Junior World Series (1919), and other sporadic postseason competitions throughout the league's history.

Other interleague play occurs during the Triple-A All-Star Game. Traditionally, the game has taken place on the day after the mid-summer Major League Baseball All-Star Game.[15] The game is meant to mark a symbolic halfway-point in the season (though not the mathematical halfway-point which, for most seasons, is usually one month prior). During the All-Star break, no regular-season games are scheduled for two days before the All-Star Game itself.[16]

Five current league teams were acquired by the PCL following the disbandment of the American Association after the 1997 season.

• Evansville Triplets (1970–1984) → Nashville Sounds (1985–present)
• Houston Buffaloes (1959–1961) → Oklahoma City 89ers (1962–1997)⁵ → Oklahoma RedHawks (1998–2008) → Oklahoma City RedHawks (2009–2014) → Oklahoma City Dodgers (2015–present)
• Iowa Oaks (1969–1981) → Iowa Cubs (1982–present)
• Kansas City Cowboys (1900–1903) → Kansas City Blues (1904–1954) → Denver Bears⁶ (1955–1984) → Denver Zephyrs (1985–1992) → New Orleans Zephyrs (1993–2016) → New Orleans Baby Cakes (2017–2019) → Wichita Wind Surge (2020–future)
• Omaha Royals (1969–1998) → Omaha Golden Spikes (1999–2001) → Omaha Royals (2002–2010) → Omaha Storm Chasers (2011–present)

⁵The Oklahoma City 89ers were a member of the Pacific Coast League from 1963–1968.
⁶The Denver Bears were a member of the Pacific Coast League from 1963–1968.

Two former league teams played in the PCL from the 1964 to 1968. Each one had played in the International League during the 1963 season, and each was transferred to the American Association after the 1968 season.

• Arkansas Travelers (1963–1965) → Tulsa Oilers (1966–1976)
• Indianapolis Indians (1902–present)

The Most Valuable Player Award, first awarded in 1927, is given to honor the best player in the league. The award is voted on by team managers, general managers, broadcasters, and media representatives from around the league, as are all PCL year-end awards.[27]

The Pitcher of the Year Award, awarded sporadically from 1957 to 1974 and continuously since 2001, serves to recognize the league's best pitcher. Pitchers were also eligible to win the MVP Award from 1927 to 2000.[27]

The Rookie of the Year Award, issued from 1952 to 1972 and since 1998, is given to the best player with no prior PCL experience.[27]

The Manager of the Year Award, started in 1967, is given to the league's top manager.[27]

The Executive of the Year Award, first awarded in 1974, honors team executives who have achieved success in the area of attendance figures, promotions, and community involvement.[27]