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by Marshall Garvey (Author)
The story of California baseball truly starts in the very heart of the Central Valley, in the capital city of Sacramento. It was here that the first complete game of baseball in state history took place in 1860, the same year Abraham Lincoln was elected President and the Pony Express was established. At decade's end, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, the first professional team in baseball history, came to town in September 1869 for a historic (albeit lopsided) exhibition game against local amateur players.
From thereon, Sacramento continued to pioneer the game's evolution in California long before Major League Baseball arrived in the late '50s. It was in the River City that the first Pacific Coast League game was played in 1903, a league that forever reshaped minor league baseball and still operates today. That game was also the beginning of the Sacramento Senators, who would become the much-loved local team and brought night baseball to the minors. After changing their name to the Solons, they reached their golden age when Branch Rickey's St. Louis Cardinals brought them into their game-changing farm system. It all culminated with their 1942 PCL pennant victory, a story right out of a picturesque baseball movie. After the decline and departure of the Solons by 1961, Sacramento baseball remained dormant for decades, save for two Giants-Indians exhibition games in 1964 and a short-lived second version of the Solons in the '70s.
The story continues to this very day, thankfully, with the River Cats winning just as much as they create major league-ready talent almost every year since 2000. The book ends with two more vital chapters. The first profiles 50 of the most notable MLB players, managers and coaches with a connection to the River City, among them Dusty Baker, Steve Sax, Larry Bowa, Brad Lidge, the Forsch Brothers, and Josh Donaldson. The second, and final, chapter regales the magical story of local hero Ron King, who went from Solons ball boy to award-winning scout for the Dodgers and Pirates.
"The Hidden History of Sacramento Baseball" is an assiduously researched, passionately written look at the entire sweep of this vital yet overlooked story. The miraculous pennant victories, the heartbreaking losses, the bottom-feeding last place seasons, the ambitious owners, the bucolic stadiums, the fascinating in-between exhibitions, the dozens of elite players and coaches from the area, and more are captured in great detail.
