1970 Pacific Coast League season

The 1970 Pacific Coast League season was the 67th season in the league's history. It ended with the Spokane Indians finally winning their first league championship after losing three previous final series. The championship series was expanded to a best-of-seven format.

Spokane boasted a team loaded with future MLB regulars such as Steve Garvey, Charlie Hough, Bill Buckner, Tom Paciorek, Davey Lopes, Doyle Alexander, Doug Rau, Geoff Zahn and Bill Russell, but their big star was Bobby Valentine, the league's most dominant performer.

Final standings

Playoff teams in bold.

	W	L	Pct.	GB	Manager	Affiliation
Spokane Indians	94	52	.644	-	Tom Lasorda	Los Angeles Dodgers
Portland Beavers	68	78	.466	26	Al Federoff	Milwaukee Brewers
Eugene Emeralds	66	80	.452	28	Lou Kahn/Bob Wellman	Philadelphia Phillies
Tacoma Cubs	45	98	.315	49½	Whitey Lockman	Chicago Cubs

	W	L	Pct.	GB	Manager	Affiliation
Hawaii Islanders	98	48	.671	-	Chuck Tanner	California Angels
Phoenix Giants	85	61	.582	13	Charlie Fox/Bob Garibaldi/Hank Sauer	San Francisco Giants
Tucson Toros	81	65	.555	17	Gordon Maltzberger	Chicago White Sox
Salt Lake City Bees	44	99	.308	52½	Don Zimmer	San Diego Padres

Championship Finals

Hawaii vs. Spokane Date Away Home September 4 Hawaii 3 Spokane 5 September 5 Hawaii 4 Spokane 12 September 6 Spokane 5 Hawaii 0 September 7 Spokane 16 Hawaii 2 Spokane wins series 4-0

League Leaders

Batting

• Batting Average Bobby Valentine, Spokane, .340
• Runs Scored Valentine, 120
• Hits Valentine, 211
• Doubles Valentine, 39
• Triples Valentine, 16
• Home Runs Joe Lis, Eugene, 36
• Runs Batted In Winston Llenas, Hawaii, 108
• Stolen Bases Doug Griffin, Hawaii, 35

Pitching

• Wins Dennis Bennett, Hawaii & Jerry Stephenson, Spokane, 18
• Earned Run Average Stephenson, 2.82
• Complete Games Bob Garibaldi, Phoenix, 20
• Shutouts Bob O'Brien, Spokane, 4
• Strikeouts Darrell Brandon, Tucson, 167
• Saves Charlie Hough, Spokane, 18

All-Star Team

• First Base Tom Hutton, Spokane
• Second Base Doug Griffin, Hawaii
• Shortstop Bobby Valentine, Spokane
• Third Base Steve Garvey, Spokane
• Outfield Joe Lis, Eugene; Winston Llenas, Hawaii; Bill Buckner, Spokane
• Catcher John Felske, Portland
• Pitcher Bob Garibaldi, Phoenix; Bob O'Brien, Spokane
• Manager Tom Lasorda, Spokane; Chuck Tanner, Hawaii

References

• W. Lloyd Johnson and Miles Wolff, eds.: The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, Baseball America, 1993.
• 1971 Baseball Guide

REelated Sites

• BR minors page