Play ball! River Cats, Ports release schedules
The Sacramento River Cats have announced the team’s full 2021 schedule at Sutter Health Park.
The team will be on the road to begin its 21st season as the Albuquerque Isotopes host Sacramento for a six-game series starting Thursday, April 8. Assuming approval from local and state officials, opening day at Sutter Health Park is scheduled for Thursday, April 15 with the Sugar Land Skeeters making their California debut.
The 2021 schedule is jam-packed with 24 fireworks spectaculars — 12 Orange Friday Fireworks and 12 Sutter Health Saturday Fireworks. The River Cats will also play host for a handful of big holidays, including Memorial Day (May 31), Father's Day (June 20), and Labor Day (September 6).
The full schedule is available online at www.rivercats.com. Game dates, as well as start times, are subject to change.
Ports to open on May 4
The Stockton Ports announced their 2021 schedule with the team’s home opener set for May 11, but it is still undetermined if fans will be allowed at Stockton Ballpark when baseball returns.
“Our objective is to make sure we present our product as safely as possible to players, employees and fans, obviously,” Ports president Pat Filippone said. “We will follow the guidelines in place by the county and the state and now that we have a schedule we have a timeline to look towards figuring out what those are in operation sense as far as opening the doors.”
The Ports will host their first game in Stockton since August 2019 on May 11 against the San Jose Giants. The season will open on May 4 with six games in a row at the Modesto Nuts. In all, the Ports are scheduled for 60 home games in Stockton this summer.
Filippone said that the team is “hopeful” fans will be allowed at Stockton Ballpark at some point this season.
“That seems to be the way the country is going, slowly opening up with the vaccine getting out there and numbers going down in positive cases, hospitalizations and deaths, he said. “Being outside I believe is benefit to us.”
Baseball had been played every summer in Stockton since 1977 until the novel coronavirus pandemic canceled the 2020 minor league season. Stockton Ballpark was also scheduled to host the 2020 California League All-Star game, which hasn’t been rescheduled.
The pandemic has continued to affect sports in San Joaquin County in 2021. Youth and prep sports in California have slowly kickstarted in recent weeks with lower-contact events, like track and field, beginning to take place. The Stockton Kings opted against joining the NBA G League bubble in Orlando, sitting out the 2021 season. The Stockton Heat were forced to relocate to Calgary for the 2021 American Hockey League season in order to be closer to its NHL affiliate, the Calgary Flames.
On Dec. 9, the Ports, under first-year manager Rico Brogna, were welcomed back by the Athletics to be the LowA team in Oakland’s minor league system, after previously being the Class A-Advanced affiliate.
Players that get promoted from Stockton will then move to High-A Lansing, AA Midland and finally AAA Las Vegas before promotion to the big leagues.
“We are preparing for a great 2021 season in the new Professional Development League format and will communicate more information on the season as we get closer to May 4th,” Filippone said in a news release.