Sacramentans Occupy Stage in MLB History
 

George Borchers was unpredictable, insubordinate and just plain mean, the stories say. But, most importantly, he was a pioneer, one of the first in a long and diverse line of Sacramento-area players to reach the major leagues of baseball.

Borchers was an outfielder-turned-pitcher with the Altas, Sacramento's semi-professional club that joined the California League in 1886. Within two years, he was pitching for the Chicago White Stockings. He started 10 games and built a 4-4 record but would return home and back to the California League, where his career followed a trajectory rivaled by few ballplayers, ancient or contemporary.

 
Arrested for refusing to play for Stockton after accepting a $100 advance, Borchers was banned from the league for the 1889 season. Later that year, he burned down his mother's barn after an argument over money.

And Borchers was only getting started. In 1890, he arrived at a Stockton game wearing his baseball uniform and sitting astride a horse. He reeked of booze but insisted he was fit to pitch. Days later, he was suspended for brawling at a Stockton restaurant. In a gesture of kindness, his teammates took up a collection to send him home to Sacramento, but instead, Borchers took the money and went on a drinking binge.

In the 122 years that have passed since Borchers became Sacramento's first born-and-bred major-leaguer, a legion of baseball players has passed from the sandlot, high school and college diamonds of this area to the major leagues. From the obscure to the prominent, our area’s ballplayers have contributed fascinating pieces to the mosaic of baseball history.

"As long as I can remember, Sacramento has always been a baseball town," said Ron King, who as the national supervisor for the Pittsburgh Pirates scouted the capital area for four decades. "There's no doubt in my mind Sacramento could hold its own in the big leagues."

More than 200 ballplayers who have attended school or resided in the Sacramento region have reached the majors. Their stories represent a rich and remarkable slice of history in a community that had been absent of professional baseball for nearly a quarter of a century until the arrival of the Sacramento River Cats in 2000.

 
From the earliest days, Sacramento struggled to pull itself from the shadow of San Francisco. Baseball was one way for the Valley town to compete with its Bay Area rival.

"After 1870, Sacramento was lusting to play and beat the San Francisco clubs," said local historian Frances Pendleton in an article in The Sacramento Bee in 1996. "Sacramento was looking for credibility by beating San Francisco. You can see, even today nothing has changed. It seemed every time Sacramento got momentum going, it would lose it to San Francisco."

But for more than half a century, Sacramento kept pitching—fielding teams, drawing impressive crowds and producing players of uncommon talent.

The Sacramento Altas and the California League disbanded in 1894. Four years later, the league was back, and Sacramento spawned a new club, the Gilt Edge, named after a local beer and owned by Edward Kripp.

The Gilt Edge had the league's best player, Jay Hughes, a right-handed pitcher born and raised in Sacramento. When Hughes reached the majors in 1898, he dominated batters for Baltimore and Brooklyn and set a major-league record with two consecutive shutouts to begin a career.

Despite his success on the East Coast, Hughes was a home-boy at heart. He returned to the Gilt Edge in 1900 when a group of Sacramento businessmen matched Brooklyn's $2,600 salary offer.

After the 1900 season, he returned to Brooklyn but soon ended his major-league career when his wife insisted he come home. He finished with an 83-41 record and a 3.00 ERA, played in the Pacific Coast League and died in 1924.

Hughes was notable for another reason: He and older brother Mickey became the first Sacramento brothers to play in the majors. Mickey pitched for Brooklyn and Cincinnati.

In 1903, the Pacific Coast League formed, and Sacramento became a major source of talent for the conference, which many players and fans considered every bit as good as the American and National leagues.

Two teams represented Sacramento, the Senators and Solons, and over the next 17 years they sent many local players to the majors, including Tommy Sheehan, Sailor Stroud and Bobby Keefe.

Unlike today, the PCL wasn't just a stepping stone to the majors. Scores of players chose not to play in the big leagues, preferring the weather and lifestyle on the West Coast.

The money wasn't much better in the major leagues—several players reported taking pay cuts to join major-league franchises—and West Coast baseball was in its heyday.

From the 1920s to 1960, the Solons harvested dozens of players from the Sacramento area, and many leaped to the majors. During those years, Sacramento produced some of its most famous and fabled baseball characters.

There was Bruce Edwards, who became Brooklyn's catcher from 1946 to 1949 but developed arthritis in his throwing arm during World War II from sleeping weeks at a time on the ground with the 81st Tank Destroyer Battalion in Europe. After injuring his arm playing an exhibition game at Folsom Prison in the fall of 1947, the lightning-quick arm was never the same. The Dodgers replaced him full time in 1949 with Roy Campanella.

Edwards, along with third baseman Spider Jorgensen, would be in the Brooklyn starting lineup when Jackie Robinson became the first African American to integrate major-league baseball in 1947.

There was Nippy Jones, who earned two World Series rings, one playing with Hank Aaron in 1957 with Milwaukee and the other in 1946 with Stan Musial in St. Louis.

There was Joe Marty who was confronted by Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis and threatened with banishment from the game for having his picture taken with the son of gangster Al Capone in 1939.

And there was Earl McNeely, who had the winning hit for Washington in the seventh and deciding game of the 1924 World Series against the New York Giants. His batted ball in the 12th inning hit a pebble in the infield and bounced over third baseman Fred Lindstrom's head to win the series.

Other Sacramentans had major-league brushes with fame. Myril Hoag played on three World Series winners with the New York Yankees—clubs that included Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio.

For some players, the memorable moment of fame was dubious, coming before or after their major-league careers.

Consider Buddy Ryan, who while playing for the Solons was distracted by a woman in the stands who threw her picture onto the field. Retrieving the photo, Ryan failed to see a batted ball drop near his feet. In 1926, Ryan gained further notoriety. As manager of the Solons, he was suspended for 25 days for slugging an umpire.

Alex Kampouris, the first major leaguer of Greek descent, would become one of the first players to wear a protective device on his head after lying near death in a coma for 10 days after being hit in the head by a pitched ball in the 1940s. On August 13, 1937, he was honored at Wrigley Field by the Chicago Hellenic Society as a visiting member of the Cincinnati Reds. He was given a car and praised for his defensive play before the game, only to make three errors in one inning that day.

Left-handed pitcher Duster Mails was another unique character. He once asked an umpire to throw him out of a game so he could meet his date on time. The umpire refused.

Not surprisingly, Mails was a fan favorite. In those free-spirited times, he would run around the

ballpark with a megaphone announcing lineups and giving play-by-play.

But Mails was no clown. He was such a good pitcher that minor-league players asked major-league teams to sign him. Nicknamed "The Great Imperial Duster," Mails was sold to Cleveland at the end of the 1920 season. He won seven games without a loss for the Indians and pitched in the World Series. The Indians beat Brooklyn with Mails winning Game 6 on a three-hitter.

Sacramento's most popular player was Tony Freitas, a diminutive left-handed pitcher who played five seasons with the Philadelphia A's and Cincinnati Reds.

True fame came to Freitas during 22 seasons in the minors, where his 348-243 record made him the all-time wins leader for left-handed pitchers and landed him a spot in the Hall of Fame minor-league wing in Cooperstown.

Freitas was 5-foot-8 and 160 pounds. Unlike many ballplayers of his era, he was a teetotaler. His one vice was a fancy for fast cars. Before a game against the Seals in San Francisco in 1931, he was stopped for speeding and jailed in Mill Valley.

Three major-league scouts were scheduled to watch him pitch, and Solons owner Lew Moreing pleaded with a judge to allow Freitas out of jail. The judge agreed on the condition that law enforcement would escort Freitas to the game. Afterward, Freitas was back behind bars serving a five-day sentence.

Colorful characters and major-league attractions weren't enough to make the Solons profitable. Fighting for survival, the club habitually sold the contracts of its best players to major-league teams.

Among the sales, "Smiling" Stan Hack went to the Chicago Cubs for $50,000 and one player, Mails went to Cleveland for $10,000 and three players, and McNeely headed to Washington for $35,000 and three players.

The most unusual Solons sale involved Cuno Barragan, whose contract twice was sold to PCL teams for $1.

After refusing a reassignment in 1958, Barragan was placed on the suspended list. While working as a tile setter in Sacramento, his contract was sold to Portland for $1. After two weeks with Portland, he was returned for that same amount and was back on the suspended list. The next season, he was purchased by Spokane for $1 and sold back at the end of the season for the same price.

Not until 1960 did Barragan finally become worthy of legal tender. The Cubs bought his contract for $25,000.

In December 1960, the Solons were bought by the PCL for $55,000, sold to a Salt Lake City business group and relocated in Hawaii.

The grand era of Sacramento baseball was over. Players such as Wally Westlake, Ferris Fain and Hack were major-league overachievers in an era when baseball was at its pinnacle as America's pastime.

Westlake played 10 seasons in six cities, hitting 127 homes runs with a .272 batting average. He finished second in the Rookie of the Year balloting to Jackie Robinson in 1947. Batting fifth in Pittsburgh's lineup, Westlake made it easy for cleanup hitter Ralph Kiner to become the National League home-run king from 1947-1951.

Hack was the epitome of consistency for 16 seasons with the Cubs from 1932-47. He played in four World Series, was a three-time All-Star and had a career average of .301.

 
Fain was among the Pacific Coast League stars who insisted he lost money playing in the majors. Still, he found acclaim in the major leagues and was a two-time American League batting champion with Philadelphia.

 
The most decorated of all the Sacramento players was Joe Gordon, who performed with the Yankees from 1938-43 and Cleveland from 1947-50. Nicknamed "Flash" for his wizardry around the second-base bag, Gordon played in five World Series with the Yankees and won four times. In 1942, he was voted the American League's Most Valuable Player, edging out Ted Williams of Boston. In 2008, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

 
The Solons returned in 1974 to Sacramento and Hughes Stadium, where the left-field fence stood only 251 feet from home plate. Pop-fly home runs were plentiful and 12 to 10 in a game commonplace. While entertaining to watch, the Solons became the butt of jokes throughout the country. The novelty lasted three seasons before the team closed up shop. Professional baseball in Sacramento disappeared for the next 26 years.

 
From 1960 to 2000, five more players emerged in the debate over who's the best player to come out of the Sacramento area. The six - Dusty Baker, Larry Bowa, Steve Sax and the Forsch brothers, Ken and Bob - can be placed alongside the great ballplayers from earlier eras.

 
Playing with the Atlanta Braves and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Baker earned a World Series ring, a Gold Glove, a National League Championship Series MVP award and played in two All-Star games. Not bad for a 26th-round draft pick whose career continues as manager of the Cincinnati Reds.

Signed as a free agent in 1965 by Philadelphia, Bowa played 16 seasons. The scrappy shortstop played on five All-Star teams and led the Phillies past Kansas City in the 1980 World Series, hitting .375. He owns six fielding records and now is a coach with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

 
For Sax, everything happened in a hurry. Called up in 1981 by the Dodgers, he gained a World Series ring his first season and was named N.L. Rookie of the Year. Two years later, Sax was back in the World Series with the Dodgers. In 15 seasons, he spent time with the Yankees, White Sox and A's.

Bob Forsch, pitching for St. Louis from 1974-1988 and Houston from 1988-89, compiled a 168-136 record, including two no-hitters. He played in three World Series with the Cardinals and was a 20-game winner in 1977.

Ken Forsch pitched 16 seasons from 1970-86, dividing his time between Houston and California. In 1979, he threw a no-hitter for Houston. Two years later with the Angels, he tied for the American League lead with four shutouts.

The Forsch brothers were one of six sets of Sacramento-area brothers to play in the major leagues. The others were Jim and Mickey Hughes, Wally and Jim Westlake, Nyls and Chris Nyman, Dave and Steve Sax and Curtis and Leon Brown. Four father-and-son tandems also played: Herman and Duane Pillette, Earl and Bud Sheely, Bob and Darren Oliver and JoJo and Mike White.

In 2000, businessman Art Savage, with the help of Bob Hemond and Warren Smith, returned baseball to a starved city. The Triple-A Sacramento River Cats were born and have become one of, if not the most, successful minor league franchises in the history professional baseball.

The River Cats made their home debut on May 15, 2000, when 14,111 fans poured into Raley Field in West Sacramento. The park quickly became a summertime destination for fans and families.

The River Cats drew a PCL record 861,808 fans in their inaugural season, an average of 12,517, and led all minor league teams in merchandise sales. One year later, they broke their PCL attendance mark when 901,214 fans poured through the turnstiles and witnessed the first of eight South Division titles.

In their 10-year existence, the River Cats have led all minor league teams in average attendance each year. More than seven million fans have watched the River Cats win two Bricktown Showdowns (PCL versus International League), four PCL championships and eight South Division titles.

The River Cats produced A.L. Cy Young winner Barry Zito (2002), A.L. Rookies of the Year Eric Hinske, (2002), Bobby Crosby (2004), Huston Street (2005) and Andrew Bailey (2009) and PCL MVPs Jose Ortiz (2000), Graham Koonce (2003), Dan Johnson (2004) and Scott McClain (2006).

In an event unprecedented in PCL history, the River Cats swept the 2003 regular-season individual awards when Koonce (.277, 34 HR, 115 RBIs) was named MVP, Justin Duchscherer (14-2, 3.25) Pitcher of the Year, shortstop Crosby (.300, 22 HR, 90 RBI) Rookie of the Year and DeFrancesco (92-52) Manager of the Year. 

 
In the past decade two more players from the local sandlots have added their names to the list of Sacramento’s best. While the career of Derrek Lee is winding down and career of Dustin Pedroia is just beginning, both have established themselves as premier players.

In 14 seasons with San Diego (1997), Florida (1998-2003) and Chicago Cubs (2004-2009), Lee has compiled a .293 batting average, 293 home runs and 939 runs batted in, earned three Gold Gloves at first base (2003, 2005, 2007) and one Silver Slugger Award (2005) and was named to two N.L. All-Stars teams (2003, 2005). He gained a World Series Championship ring with Florida in 2003.

His finest season was 2005, when he led the league in batting (.335), doubles (50), hits (199), slugging percentage (.662), total bases (393), runs created (167) and OPS (1.080).

 
Pedroia burst on the scene in 2007 with the Boston Red Sox. The diminutive dynamo— small in stature and gigantic in production—was named A.L. Rookie of the Year after hitting .317.

In only his second full season in the major leagues, Pedroia was named the A.L. MVP in 2008. He hit .326, led the league in runs scored (118), hits (213) and doubles (54) and earned a Silver Slugger Award and Gold Glove at second base. He also garnered a World Series Championship ring and a spot on the All-Star team.

 
In 2009, he batted .296 and again led the league with 115 runs scored and was named an All-Star.

From left-handed shortstop Billy Hulen in 1896 to Herman "Old Folks" Pillette's minor league-leading 19 losses in 1923 to Jim Tabor's record 11 RBI in a doubleheader in 1938 to co-Rookie of the Year Butch Metzger in 1976 to A.L. Manager of the Year Johnny McNamara in 1986 to Chris Bosio's no-hitter in 1992 to F.P. Santangelo who hit homers from both sides of the plate June 7, 1997 to Darren Oliver's first pitch of interleague play on June 12, 1997 to Jermaine Dye’s selection as the 2005 World Series MVP to J.P.Howell facing Pedroia in the 2008 A.L. Championship Series, Sacramento has been a centerpiece in major-league baseball history.

Mark McDermott is a retired Sacramento Bee sports staffer and a local product who played baseball at
Norte Del Rio, American River College and Sac State.