The Sacramento area and Northern California has serious baseball ties that were there long before and will be there long after the temporary stay of the Athletics. This summer, the history of baseball in California was the main exhibit at the Sacramento History Museum. On July 18, the museum hosted “Play Ball!” which featured discussions with former San Francisco Giants and Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker and a slew of other Major League players and scouts. In addition to Baker, Leon Lee, Leron Lee, Matt Walbeck, Greg Orr, and Paul Cogan shared stories and anecdotes from their careers in baseball. 

     Baker was the biggest draw at the event, and the line to meet him was quite long following the conclusion  of a  panel discussion. He was very warm and welcoming. When I approached him, I let him know that I am a diehard New York Yankees fan. His  Houston Astros broke my heart just a few years ago when they dismissed my beloved team from the playoffs. He let out a hearty  laugh, and told me not to fret because, “Yankees fans are spoiled.” 

     One of the other interesting people was Don Lyle: a former minor league outfielder and longtime professional baseball scout. He spent seven seasons playing in the Cincinnati Reds organization and is best known for his scouting career. Notably, he was  one of the first scouts to identify and mentor Yankees superstar Aaron Judge during his high school years.

      Getting to hear his behind-the-scenes stories about Judge as a young, growing ballplayer was awesome. Judge grew up in the Central Valley town of Linden and attended Fresno State University. 

     “I helped push him to Fresno State,” Lyle told me. Lyle added that Judge has some of the biggest hands you’ll ever see. 

     After the panel event, I was able to walk around the baseball exhibit that  the museum has created. It was fantastic. The exhibit is filled with baseball uniforms, bats, balls, and gloves from different time periods. It also has programs, tickets, awards and trophies. 

     Sacramento’s minor league history was on display, too. (Editor’s note: After 20 years of play under a variety of names, the Sacramento Senators began play in 1903 in a California League and played for most of the next 32 years under that name. They did occasionally play as the Wolves, Sacts, or Cordovas. They became the Solons (Greek for senators) in 1936. They played almost every season until 1960 and then again from 1974-1976 as part of the Pacific Coast League. They played at Edmonds Field.) The exhibit features one of the bases, home plate, a ticket box, scrapbooks, news articles, photos, and more.

     I was particularly interested in the history of Babe Ruth traveling to Sacramento. A small corner of the exhibit focused on that. Ruth came through California on a barnstorming tour on two different occasions. He declared Sacramento a fabulous baseball town. He and Lou Gehrig’s group would also stop in places like Dunsmuir and Marysville. 

     The exhibit takes a close look at Sacramento’s baseball history, and the movers and shakers who helped make baseball a key part of the city’s story. Now that the A’s are playing in West Sacramento temporarily until they can complete a move to Las Vegas, the city has both an MLB and a minor league team. The Sacramento region has been the home to dozens of Major Leaguers over the years, including Logan Webb, Steve Sax, Max Stassi, and Jerry Manuel. 

West Sacramento is the actual home of the A’s currently and is also home to two baseball statues.  One is modeled after former Oakland A’s slugger Rickey Henderson. Rickey is one of my favorite players to ever lace up the cleats, so that was a neat discovery for me. This amazing statue sits in front of West Sacramento City Hall, which is about a 30-minute walk from the museum. “Rickey” is being pitched to by a player that resembles the leg kick of Baltimore Oriole Hall-of-Famer, Jim Palmer.   

 

The area around the Sacramento Delta has definitely added to California’s richly-deserved reputation as a talent factory for the sport. That’s something I’ve been really impressed with since moving to California in 2016. California churns out a lot of talent in every sport, which shouldn’t be a surprise due to the population of the state. I now live about three hours away from the capitol, in the town of Mariposa. As with the rest of the state, I’ve been impressed locally with the talent Mariposa County High School puts out. A number of players in recent years have gone on to play at the collegiate level, such as Blake Atkins, Noah Fluharty, Joey Freitas, and Jake Williams. Mariposa should be proud of its rich history as well!

     The state exhibit in Sacramento will remain on display through October 18, 2026.