Sacramento Solons

• Location: Sacramento, CA
• League: Pacific Coast League 1936-1960, 1974-1976
• Affiliation: St. Louis Cardinals 1936-1944; Chicago White Sox 1950-1951; Milwaukee Braves 1959-1960; Milwaukee Brewers 1974-1975; Texas Rangers 1976
• Ballpark: Edmonds Field 1936-1960 (called Cardinal Field and Doubleday Park at various times); Hughes Stadium 1974-1976

In 1936 the Sacramento Senators of the Pacific Coast League changed their name to the Sacramento Solons. The Solons won the PCL in 1938 and 1939. Tony Freitas pitched for the Solons 1937-1950 with a break for the war, after having pitched for the Sacramento Senators 1929-1932. Nick Cullop played in Sacramento 1937-1938. The Solons finished play in 1960.

In 1974, the team was revived for a three-year run in the PCL, with the relocation of the Eugene Emeralds to Sacramento. Without an adequate stadium to play in, Edmonds Field having been demolished in 1964, the Solons called Hughes Stadium home. Hughes was a football field on the campus of Sacramento City College, and in 1974 the leftfield dimension was a mere 232 ft. with a 40 ft high screen. As a result Bill McNulty hit 55 HR, Gorman Thomas hit 51 HR, Sixto Lezcano hit 34 HR, six others hit in double digits, and the best ERA on the team was Roger Miller's 4.48. In 1975 and 1976 the dimension was changed to 251 ft. and a new higher screen was erected. In 1975 5 players hit over 20 HR, and in 1976 4 more hit over 20 HR led by Bump Wills (26) who was known more for his speed than power. Still without a suitable place to play, the team was leased to San Jose "until such time as a new stadium is available in Sacramento."

Year-by-Year Record

Year	Record	Finish	Manager	Playoffs
1936	65-111	8th	Bill Killefer
1937	102-76	1st	Bill Killefer	Lost in 1st round
1938	95-82	3rd	Bill Killefer	League Champs
1939	88-88	4th	Benny Borgmann	League Champs
1940	90-88	5th	Benny Borgmann
1941	102-75	2nd	Pepper Martin	Lost League Finals
1942	105-73	1st	Pepper Martin	Lost in 1st round
1943	41-114	8th	Ken Penner
1944	76-93	7th	Earl Sheely
1945	95-85	3rd	Earl Sheely	Lost in 1st round
1946	94-92	5th	Earl Sheely
1947	83-103	7th	Dick Bartell
1948	75-113	8th	Joe Orengo
1949	102-85	3rd	Del Baker	Lost in 1st round
1950	81-119	8th	Red Kress (23-42) / Joe Marty (58-77)	none
1951	75-92	7th	Joe Gordon
1952	66-114	8th	Joe Gordon
1953	75-105	8th	Gene Desautels
1954	73-94	7th	Gene Desautels (44-55) / Tony Freitas (29-39)
1955	76-96	8th	Tony Freitas	none
1956	84-84	5th	Tommy Heath	none
1957	63-105	7th	Tommy Heath	none
1958	71-83	6th	Sibby Sisti	none
1959	78-76	4th	Bob Elliott	none
1960	73-81	6th	Ernie White	none
1974	66-78	7th	Bob Lemon
1975	59-85	8th	Harry Bright
1976	71-72	5th	Rich Donnelly

Further Reading

• Chris Landers: "Meet the homer-happiest team in baseball history", mlb.com, April 15, 2020. [1]