River Cats – Page 18 – Dugout Tales

May the fourth be with you… and also with you. Wait, are we in a galaxy far, far away or at church? Nevermind that, Happy Star Wars day everyone!! Who else agrees with me that Episode IX, The Rise of Skywalker, was the best film of them all? Pew! Pew! I’m glad your shooting is as good as a stormtroopers, that was close. Really though, I love Episode IX.

One month of what would be 2020 baseball season is in the books, and virtual baseball games just don’t cut it for me. This week I decided to turn back time to what was April 2019 for the Sacramento River Cats.

Opening night 2019 would start the season with a wild extra inning game. It would be the first time in River Cats history that the home opener would go into extra innings, and ended with catcher Aramis Garcia sliding head first into home to just beat the tag and walk-off the game! Little did we know that this would be the making of an amazing season, especially as the Las Vegas Aviators would dominate the entire Pacific Coast League in April.

The first homerun of 2019 would come the next day off the bat of Stephen Vogt, and Carmichael native Zach Green, who came in to replace an injured Ryder Jones on opening night, would get off to a blazing start by hitting .500 with two home runs in the first four games. April would also start to put the name of some guy named Yas… Ya… Yaz… Uh… Yastrzemski in the minds of River Cats fans, and although many could say it, not a whole lot could spell it… for now.

Despite the hot offensive start in all of baseball, River Cats pitching was ice cold. Six of the first seven starting pitchers would fail to pitch more than four innings. Then there was Tyler Beede whose dominance was overshadowed by a bullpen that couldn’t hold a lead, and players who couldn’t field or throw a ball.

Halfway through the month of the River Cats were a dismal 6-7, and four of those losses were to the Aviators who were an amazing 10-2 at this point of the season. April would also mark the return of Mac Williamson to the River Cats lineup after being sent down early by the Giants to make room for Kevin Pillar. Williamson was a favorite of manager Bruce Bochy and barely made the Giants roster out of Spring Training. Although the writing was on the wall that the front office no longer wanted Williamson, Mac would go on a tear that would force the Giants’ hand to bring him back to the big leagues.

Saturday April 20, 2019 was one of the most memorable nights of the young season. The River Cats celebrates 20 years of baseball with throwback jerseys which featured the classic pinstripes they wore from 2000-2002. This was also the first locally televised game of 2019 and the fans in the stands and at home were treated with a total of eight home runs between the two teams which included six River Cats home runs between five different players. This would be the most homeruns the River Cats had hit in a game since June 17, 2009 when they hit eight! The best catch I’ve ever seen at Raley Field happened that night as Mike Yastrzemski climbed the wall in right centerfield on the run and extended his body halfway over the fence to rob Salt Lake’s Matt Thaise of his second home run of the night. It was a catch that should have been on sports center. The fans also got their first look at Sam Selman who worked two innings and struck out four. 2019 would become a dream season for Sam that would include a Triple-A all star game appearance and his Major League debut later that summer.

There were some promising moments in April, but there was also a lot of bad. How bad you might ask? On April 27, 2019 the River Cats FINALLY ended a 10-game streak in which they committed at least one error, which included a game with three errors, and a league leading 30 errors. The game on the 27th was only the fifth time that season in which the River Cats had not committed an error. To make matters worse, the River Cats were 4-1 in those games.
The River Cats ended April 2019 atop the Pacific Coast League Pacific Northern Division, two games ahead of the Fresno Grizzlies, with a record of 13-12. Tyler Beede was without a doubt the team’s best pitcher as he was 7th in the league in both ERA with 1.99, and WHIP with 1.06. Mac Williamson was the team’s hottest hitter and ranking 10th in the league with a .373 average, and leading the team in both home runs and RBI.

I hope you enjoyed our little trip down memory lane. It was a tough start to 2019 but in the end it was a dream season. On a side note I attended the May 4, 2019 game as both a journalist, and a fan. My Aunt Francis, and cousins Florence and John came out to enjoy the game with me as the River Cats took a no hitter into the fifth inning. It was an interesting insight to view a game from both perspectives in the same night. Look for my book in the fall to see how it all played out.

“It was 20 years ago today.” The River Cats officially turn 20 as their first game was played April 6, 2000 which started a month-long road trip of 37 games in 40 days as Raley Field had not been completed due to bad weather.

The Cats were scheduled to open their season this Thursday in Reno against the Aces; unfortunately the COVID-19 pandemic has put baseball on hold. While we await to hear “let’s play ball” for the first time at Sutter Health Park, here is a look back at opening night 2019.

The River Cats started their 20th season under an overcast sky. The crowd of only 8,820 was cold, and the energy was low and gray like the clouds above them. Prior to the game there were rumblings from the fans about the extended netting to protect people from foul balls, and how it took away from the atmosphere that made Raley Field great. It’s Opening Night. Yet it felt like no one wanted to be in Triple-A.

Andrew Suarez was given the ball and would be making his second opening day start for the River Cats. Tacoma’s Eric Swanson, one of Seattle’s top prospects, would keep the Cats quiet with a strong start as the Rainiers took an early 2-0 lead. The crowd finally came alive when Carmichael native Zach Green hit a stand up triple in the bottom of the sixth, and then knocked in by Henry Ramos to finally put the Cats on the board. The Rainiers would add a run in the eighth, and the score was 3-1 Tacoma, going into the bottom of the ninth.

The Cats were down to their last three outs and the fans started to file out of the ballpark anticipating a loss, and in hopes of making a quick exit from the parking lot. Mike Yastrzemski had other plans. The Cats had two runners on when Yaz came up clutch with a double scoring Henry Ramos and Breyvic Valera; game tied. This would be the first time in River Cats history that Opening Night would go into extra innings.

This would also allow everyone to see the newly implemented “inherited runner”, better known in softball tournament play as the international tiebreaker rule. The object was to speed up extra inning games in Minor League Baseball by having a runner at second base at the start of each half inning. Having raised two daughters who spent over 20 combined years on softball fields, I was familiar with this rule. I found it to be exciting, and it proved to be just that on Opening Night.

The Rainiers would pull ahead to make it 4-3 in the top of the 11th and it felt like a punch to the gut; but the few remaining fans who stayed saw some exciting baseball in the bottom half of the inning. Henry Ramos would start the inning on second base, and Aramis Garcia knocked him in with a double to tie the game and bringing up Breyvic Valera. All eyes were on Valera, and the anticipation was high, but Valera stayed focused at the plate and hit a ball hard to the outfield.

Garcia, with the speed of a catcher, raced home and as the ball came in from the outfield, Garcia dove headlong into home scoring the winning run! The team rushed the field in celebration on what became an electrifying Opening Night! Little did we know that it would be the first sign of things to come.

I miss baseball and the 2019 River Cats season was a dream come true. Opening Day has come and gone without a single pitch in 2020. I miss the game, the players, the fans, and the friendships that develop over the course of a full season. Most of all I miss the stories that the game creates. We may be without baseball this year but it’s not gone forever. The memories remain, and the hope for the “next year” will always be alive. World Wars, strikes, and now the coronavirus have stopped baseball, yet the game endures.

Stay safe out there, and I hope to see you all at the ballpark this summer.

Tag: River Cats

Darth Dinger

Happy Birthday, River Cats!