Sacramento Solons - Minor League Return

Minor League Return

The third version of the Sacramento Solons began during the AAA realignment in 1969 as the Eugene Emeralds. After the 1973 season, it was determined that Eugene was too small to support PCL baseball, and the team was moved to Sacramento for the 1974 season, taking the name of its predecessor teams, the Sacramento Solons. The Solons' old stadium, Edmonds Field, had long since been demolished. The only available facility was 23,500-seat Hughes Stadium, a football facility, the dimensions of which made the stadium a hitters' paradise. Left field, in particular, was less than the regulation minimum 250 feet from home plate. Despite two consecutive last place finishes, the Solons led the PCL in attendance due to the home run barrage. The Solons changed affiliations and the Texas Rangers refused to allow their top prospects to play in the decrepit Hughes Stadium with its bandbox dimensions. The Solons' owners "leased" the team to San Jose for the 1977 and 1978 seasons, when the team was known as the San Jose Missions, in hopes of obtaining a new baseball-only facility. After two seasons of dismal attendance in San Jose, the team was sold and moved to Ogden, Utah, for the 1979 season.

The Pacific Coast League returned to the capital city in 2000 when a group of area businessmen led by majority owner Art Savage purchased the Vancouver Canadians of the PCL and moved the team to Sacramento. Foregoing the traditional name of Sacramento baseball teams, the owners named the team the Sacramento River Cats. Unlike their predecessors, who were often troubled at the box office, the River Cats have led all of Minor League Baseball in attendance during each of its seasons in Sacramento; the River Cats have taken up residence at the newly built Raley Field, which was constructed specifically for baseball.