In a year of adversity, Sacramento River Cats win third Triple-a championship
The first game was on April 4, in West Sacramento, under a cloudy sky with a first-pitch temperature of 63 degrees.
The final game arrived after marathon of season: 146 games, 319 player transactions, road trips near and far and a fair share of seasonal twists and turns.
It was Tuesday night in Memphis, game-time temperature a sticky and humid 96 degrees.
This is Minor League Baseball, where series survival is equally as vital as attrition, with followers needing updated rosters to keep track of it all.
The Pacific Coast League champion River Cats reached the last day of the season, facing International League winner Columbus Clippers in a one-game, winner take-all event, and then won it 4-0.
The Triple A championship is the third for the River Cats in its 20-year history in the state capital.
The one-game finale started in 2006, part of the thinking being, “The season is long enough. Decide it in one game.”
Sacramento seized early control Tuesday, sending nine batters to the plate in the first inning and scoring three runs. Jacob Heyward drove in two and Peter Maris homered for the River Cats, and Caleb Baragar earned the win, striking out five and allowing two hits in five innings.
Baragar was a late-season addition, one of 85 different players to suit up for Sacramento.
That the River Cats made it this far is testament to the talent on hand, players coming and going as 319 transactions is a ton by any measure, and to manager Dave Brundage, who lived the Triple A life for six years as a player.
“It feels great,” Brundage said after the game, surrounded by teammates during a post-game ceremony. “They played their hearts out.” And these guys know how to throw a party. When the River Cats secured the PCL Northern Division championship, some 100 gallons of champagne and beer were gleefully deposited onto pitching coach Steve Kline.
On Tuesday in Memphis, a place known to throw a good party, there was more beer, more champagne and more jubilation to toast a season well done.