1938 Sacramento Solons season

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
LeaguePacific Coast League
BallparkEdmonds Field
CitySacramento, California
Record95–82
League place3rd
ManagersBill 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

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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

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Batting

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Note: 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

[2][3]

Pitching

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Note: 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

[2]

References

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  1. ^ "Solons Down Seals Twice To Take President's Trophy". The Sacramento Bee. October 3, 1938. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b c "1938 Sacramento Solons". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Jolley Coast Bat King; Hurlers Star As Stickers". Los Angeles Times. November 27, 1938. p. II-15 – via Newspapers.com.

Further reading

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  • "The Greatest Minor League: A History of the Pacific Coast League, 1903-1957", by Dennis Snelling (McFarland 2011)