Sac-town
Sweeps
Unfortunately
for the fans in Nashville, the Sounds had to face the Sacramento River
Cats in the 2003 PCL Championship Series.
Sacramento simply
overpowered Nashville, sweeping the series in three to give the River
Cats their first PCL title.
The Cats won a
franchise record 92 games [92-52] during the regular season and made
it through the 2003 postseason undefeated.
Sacramento was
considered the class of the league and their players were awarded accordingly,
sweeping the league’s postseason honors.
Skipper Tony DeFrancesco
was named Manager of the Year in his first Triple-A season, leading
the River Cats to the PCL’s best record in 13 years.
He had the luxury
of not only managing the league’s Most Valuable Player, Graham
Koonce, but also the Pitcher of the Year, Justin Duchscherer, as well
as the Rookie of the Year, Bobby Crosby.
MVP Graham Koonce
guided his team into the playoffs by serving as its primary run producer,
leading the PCL with 34 home runs and 115 runs batted in.
The native of
Julian, California also ranked among the PCL’s top five in on-base
percentage (.403), and slugging percentage (.542), while appearing in
all but five of the River Catsís games this season.
“Graham
has been our most consistent power hitter from day one,” said
Sacramento manager Tony DeFrancesco. “His personality, work-ethic,
and ability have enabled him to be that player that can carry a club
throughout the season.
The right-handed
Justin Duchscherer helped the River Cats to the PCL’s best record
by leading the league in victories and serving as the ace of the circuit’s
second best pitching staff.
Duchscherer topped
the PCL with 13 wins, compiling a perfect 9-0 record at Sacramento’s
Raley Field. He was victorious in his last 10 decisions dating back
to June 13th.
In addition to
winning games, Duchscherer has also exhibited masterful control, walking
just 17 batters in 148.1 innings of work.
Bobby Crosby is
considered one of the top prospects in the Oakland Athletics organization
and in his first Triple-A season he ranked among the PCL’s top
five in runs scored (83), extra-base hits (57), and slugging percentage
(.532), while compiling a .303 batting average.
The multi-faceted
Crosby has also displayed the ability to hit the long-ball, drive in
runs, and steal bases, ranking in the top three on the River Cats with
20 home runs, 84 RBI, and 22 stolen bases. The shortstop also leads
his team with 31 doubles.
“These guys
play a team game,” DeFrancesco said. “From the 11 position
players that are here right now, to the pitchers, everybody understands
their role and what has to be done to go out there and win a game. These
guys execute like no other team I’ve seen.”
Further proving
that the Cats fielded the most talented team in the league this season,
also flowing his way down the Sacramento River on his way to Oakland
was pitching phenom Rich Harden.
After starting
the season by pitching 13 perfect innings in AA, he posted a 9-4 record
for Sacramento before being called up to Oakland during the all-star
break.
The big-league
promotion apparently didn’t faze Harden. He took the Majors by
storm, winning his first 3 decisions in a dominating fashion. Although
he struggled a bit in his last few starts, considering he started the
year at AA, he surpassed plenty of expectations this year and should
make the A's starting rotation into 'The Big Four'.
Raring
For A Repeat
The 2002 Pacific
Coast League Champion Edmonton Trappers finished the regular season
as one of the hottest clubs in the league, winning eight of their final
nine games. Ironically the Trappers began the season by losing eight
of their first nine games.
Providing the
spark was Terrmel Sledge, who batted .324 with 22 home runs and 92 RBI,
and was named ‘Trapper of the Year’ for his outstanding
offensive performance during the 2003 season.
Sledge led the
Trappers in batting average, home runs, RBI, hits, slugging percentage,
runs scored, triples and stolen bases (13). He finished the season with
a 16-game hitting streak during which he went 27-for-63 (.429).
The Trappers ended
the season with a five-game lead over the second-place Beavers in the
North Division standings.
Edmonton’s
bid to repeat as PCL champs fell short though, as the Sacramento River
Cats swept them 3-0 in the Pacific Conference Championship Series.
Bad News
Beavers
Edmonton may not
have had a chance to go back-to-back if had it not been for Las Vegas
51’s fan Jim Lowe.
The Pacific Coast
League fined and suspended almost the entire Portland Beavers team after
the players chased and allegedly assaulted Lowe during a game at Cashman
Field in Las Vegas in August.
The melee started
after a heckling Lowe, who “was acting like a jerk,” according
to 51’s GM Don Logan, threw a soft stress-relief ball -- a giveaway
at Cashman Field that night -- onto the field.
Nineteen Portland
Beavers, every player at the game except pitcher Clay Condrey, got suspended
during the final week of the season. This forced Portland to play shorthanded,
and for at least one game, the Beavers had no option but to field a
team consisting of only nine offensive players.
To make matters
worse, at the time of the suspensions Portland was in the middle a playoff
run. They were only one game back in the standings and winners of five
in a row. They finished losing five out of their last seven games.
On The
Bright Side
The PCL is more
popular than ever. For the fourth straight year, the league has set
a new attendance record. Almost seven million [6,998,344] fans made
it to the park this season.
These numbers
have been bolstered by a growing number of new, breathtaking facilities
sprouting out in cities such as Oklahoma [1998], Memphis [2000], Sacramento
[2000], Portland [2001], Fresno [2002], and Albuquerque [2003].
Given the chance,
do yourself a favor and try to make it out to one of these parks in
2004. If you’re a baseball junkie like me, you already know there’s
only seven more months to get your tickets.
