Brock: Sacramento’s sluggin’ Solons: ‘Pure amateur’ and 233 feet down the line

From Corey Brock at The Athletic on May 7, 2020:Professional baseball returned to Sacramento after 14 years amid considerable fanfare and a palpable sense of confusion. There had been a Pacific Coast League team in one iteration or another from 1909, but attendance started to sag after the big-league Giants began playing in San Francisco in 1958. Two years later, the Solons bolted for Hawaii. But in 1974, the city was undergoing a sort of baseball renaissance with native sons Dusty Baker, Larry Bowa, Rowland Office and brothers Ken and Bob Forsch playing in the majors. Sacramento had surpassed the one-million mark in population, and new Solons owner Bob Piccinini was certain his team would be a hit in a city without a major sports tenant (the NBA’s Kings wouldn’t relocate to Sacramento until a decade later). The problem: There was no ballpark in place for the 1974 season — and no plans for a new facility.Read the full article here (subscription required): https://theathletic.com/1798125/2020/05/07/the-slugging-1974-sacramento-solons-pure-amateur-and-233-feet-down-the-line/Related link: Get your copy of SABR's Going for the Fences: The Minor League Home Run Record Book