The 1938 Sacramento Solons season saw the Sacramento Solons baseball team win the Pacific Coast League (PCL) pennant. Led by manager Bill Killefer, the Solons finished third in the PCL with a 95–82 record, but qualified for the PCL's four-team playoffs. They defeated the first-place Los Angeles Angels, four games to one, in the opening round, and then defeated the fourth-place San Francisco Seals in the championship series, again by four games to one, to win the PCL's President's Trophy. However, the PCL's rules were changed in 1938 such that the pennant was awarded in 1938 to Angels as the team with the best record in the regular season.[1]
| 1938 Sacramento Solons | |
|---|---|
| League | Pacific Coast League |
| Ballpark | Edmonds Field |
| City | Sacramento, California |
| Record | 95–82 |
| League place | 3rd |
| Managers | Bill Killefer |
Left-hander Tony Freitas was the team's leading pitcher, compiling a 24–11 record and 2.67 earned run average (ERA) in 290 inning pitched. Cotton Pippen also pitched well, compiling a 17–8 record with a 3.15 ERA in 223 inning pitched.[2]
The Solons had a team batting of .250, the lowest among all nine PCL teams, and 42 points lower than the San Francisco Seals' .292 team batting average. Further, no Sacramento batter ranked among the league's top 25 in batting average.[3]
1938 PCL standings
edit| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Angels | 105 | 73 | .590 | -- |
| Seattle Rainiers | 100 | 75 | .571 | 3.5 |
| Sacramento Solons | 95 | 82 | .537 | 9.5 |
| San Francisco Seals | 93 | 85 | .522 | 12.0 |
| San Diego Padres | 92 | 85 | .520 | 12.5 |
| Portland Beavers | 79 | 96 | .451 | 21.0 |
| Hollywood Stars | 79 | 99 | .444 | 22.5 |
| Oakland Oaks | 65 | 113 | .446 | 40.0 |
Statistics
editBatting
editNote: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; SLG = Slugging percentage; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | SLG | RBI | SB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CF | Buster Adams | 67 | 270 | 79 | .293 | 9 | .478 | 36 | 24 |
| 2B | Dib Williams | 177 | 675 | 190 | .281 | 15 | .421 | 88 | 13 |
| SS | Joe Orengo | 177 | 622 | 172 | .277 | 8 | .453 | 83 | 11 |
| C | Herman Franks | 143 | 470 | 129 | .274 | 9 | .406 | 67 | 2 |
| LF | Max Marshall | 162 | 656 | 175 | .267 | 11 | .393 | 57 | 16 |
| 1B | Larry Barton | 164 | 580 | 153 | .264 | 7 | .434 | 74 | 7 |
| RF | Nick Cullop | 138 | 485 | 124 | .256 | 20 | .423 | 66 | 7 |
| CF | Bill James | 100 | 334 | 85 | .254 | 2 | .338 | 40 | 4 |
| 3B | Johnny Vergez | 167 | 583 | 145 | .249 | 16 | .386 | 80 | 19 |
| C | Frank Grube | 72 | 181 | 40 | .221 | 0 | .232 | 18 | 0 |
| LF | Bud Hafey | 54 | 172 | 37 | .215 | 3 | .331 | 11 | 2 |
| CF | Ray Dieffenback | 41 | 106 | 21 | .198 | 1 | .245 |
Pitching
editNote: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; PCT = Win percentage; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | PCT | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tony Freitas | 38 | 290.0 | 24 | 11 | .686 | 2.67 | |
| Cotton Pippen | 32 | 223.0 | 17 | 8 | .680 | 3.15 | |
| Bill Walker | 31 | 226.0 | 17 | 12 | .586 | 2.95 | |
| Bill Schmidt | 43 | 280.0 | 17 | 12 | .548 | 3.66 | |
| Dick Newsome | 33 | 180.0 | 11 | 11 | .500 | 3.50 | |
| Lee Sherill | 25 | 159.0 | 5 | 10 | .333 | 3.79 |
References
edit- ^ "Solons Down Seals Twice To Take President's Trophy". The Sacramento Bee. October 3, 1938. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c "1938 Sacramento Solons". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
- ^ a b "Jolley Coast Bat King; Hurlers Star As Stickers". Los Angeles Times. November 27, 1938. p. II-15 – via Newspapers.com.
Further reading
edit- "The Greatest Minor League: A History of the Pacific Coast League, 1903-1957", by Dennis Snelling (McFarland 2011)