The Sacramento River Cats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and are the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Prior to 2015, the River Cats were the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics for 15 seasons. They are based in West Sacramento, California, and play their home games at Sutter Health Park, which opened in 2000 and was known as Raley Field through 2019.

Sacramento was previously represented in the Pacific Coast League by the Solons, a charter member of the league which was founded in 1903. Three different versions of the Solons played in California's capital city in 1903, 1905, from 1909 to 1914, from 1918 to 1960, and from 1974 to 1976. The River Cats have played in the PCL since 2000, including the 2021 season in which it was known as the Triple-A West, and are the only charter city to still host a PCL team.

The River Cats have won five PCL championships. Recently they won the league crown in 2019; previously they won back-to-back in 2007 and 2008. They went on to win the Triple-A National Championship Game in all three seasons. Sacramento also won the PCL title in 2003 and 2004.

History Following the 1999 season, the Pacific Coast League's Vancouver Canadians were purchased by a group led by Art Savage, moved south to West Sacramento, and renamed the River Cats for the 2000 season. Savage was the majority owner of the team until his death at age 58 in November 2009. His widow, Susan Savage, became majority owner after her husband's death."River Cats owner dies suddenly at home." Sacramento River Cats. Retrieved on November 21, 2009.

In 2016, Mike Piazza became the first and only former River Cats player to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, after earning an 83% vote by the committee. Piazza played three games in Sacramento as part of a 2007 rehab assignment before rejoining the Oakland Athletics.

In conjunction with Major League Baseball's restructuring of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the River Cats were organized into the Triple-A West. They also entered into a new 10-year Professional Development License agreement to remain the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants through 2030. Sacramento ended the season in fourth place in the Western Division with a 52–65 record. No playoffs were held to determine a league champion; instead, the team with the best regular-season record was declared the winner. However, 10 games that had been postponed from the start of the season were reinserted into the schedule as a postseason tournament called the Triple-A Final Stretch in which all 30 Triple-A clubs competed for the highest winning percentage. Sacramento finished the tournament tied for 20th place with a 4–6 record. In 2022, the Triple-A West became known as the Pacific Coast League, the name historically used by the regional circuit prior to the 2021 reorganization.

In August 2022, owner Susan Savage sold a majority interest in the team to the Sacramento Kings.

In April 2024, it was announced that the major-league Oakland Athletics will be moving to Sacramento to play their home games at Sutter Health Park in 2025 and remain there until 2027 before officially moving their franchise to Las Vegas. The River Cats announced that, tentatively, they will remain as well, playing at Sutter Health Park on days when the Athletics are not playing there.

Season-by-season records +KeyLeagueThe team's final position in the league standingsDivisionThe team's final position in the divisional standingsGBGames behind the team that finished in first place in the division that seasonClass champions (2000–present)League champions (2000–present)§Conference champions (2000–2020)* Division champions (2000–2022)

+Season-by-season recordsSeasonLeagueRegular-seasonPostseasonMLB affiliateRecordWin %LeagueDivisionRecordWin %Result2000* PCL 90–54 .625 2–3 Won Pacific Conference Southern Division titleLost Pacific Conference title vs. Salt Lake Buzz, 3–2 Oakland Athletics 2001* PCL 75–69 .521 2–3 Won Pacific Conference Southern Division titleLost Pacific Conference title vs. Tacoma Rainiers, 3–2 Oakland Athletics 2002 PCL 66–78 .458 Oakland Athletics 2003* § PCL 92–52 .639 6–0 Won Pacific Conference Southern Division titleWon Pacific Conference title vs. Edmonton Trappers, 3–0Won PCL championship vs. Nashville Sounds, 3–0 Oakland Athletics 2004* § PCL 79–65 .549 6–1 Won Pacific Conference Southern Division titleWon Pacific Conference title vs. Portland Beavers, 3–1Won PCL championship vs. Iowa Cubs, 3–0 Oakland Athletics 2005* PCL 80–64 .556 2–3 Won Pacific Conference Southern Division titleLost Pacific Conference title vs. Tacoma Rainiers, 3–2 Oakland Athletics 2006 PCL 78–66 .542 Oakland Athletics 2007* § PCL 84–60 .583 7–2 Won Pacific Conference Southern Division titleWon Pacific Conference title vs. Salt Lake Bees, 3–2Won PCL championship vs. New Orleans Zephyrs, 3–0Won Triple-A championship vs. Richmond Braves Oakland Athletics 2008* § PCL 83–61 .576 7–2 Won Pacific Conference Southern Division titleWon Pacific Conference title vs. Salt Lake Bees, 3–1Won PCL championship vs. Oklahoma RedHawks, 3–1 Oakland Athletics 2009* § PCL 86–57 .601 3–4 Won Pacific Conference Southern Division titleWon Pacific Conference title vs. Tacoma Rainiers, 3–1Lost PCL championship vs. Memphis Redbirds, 3–0 Oakland Athletics 2010* PCL 79–65 .549 2–3 Won Pacific Conference Southern Division titleLost Pacific Conference title vs. Tacoma Rainiers, 3–2 Oakland Athletics 2011* § PCL 88–56 .611 3–5 Won Pacific Conference Southern Division titleWon Pacific Conference title vs. Reno Aces, 3–2Lost PCL championship vs. Omaha Storm Chasers, 3–0 Oakland Athletics 2012* PCL 86–58 .597 2–3 Won Pacific Conference Southern Division titleLost Pacific Conference title vs. Reno Aces, 3–2 Oakland Athletics 2013 PCL 79–65 .549 Oakland Athletics 2014 PCL 79–65 .549 Oakland Athletics 2015 PCL 71–73 .493 San Francisco Giants 2016 PCL 69–75 .479 San Francisco Giants 2017 PCL 64–77 .454 San Francisco Giants 2018 PCL 55–85 .393 San Francisco Giants 2019* § PCL 73–67 .521 7–2 Won Pacific Conference Northern Division titleWon Pacific Conference title vs. Las Vegas Aviators, 3–2Won PCL championship vs. Round Rock Express, 3–0Won Triple-A championship vs. Columbus Clippers San Francisco Giants 2020 PCLSeason cancelled (COVID-19 pandemic) San Francisco Giants 2021 AAAW 56–71 .441 San Francisco Giants 2022 PCL 65–83 .439 San Francisco Giants 2023 PCL 67–82 .450 San Francisco Giants 2024 PCL 80–70 .533 San Francisco Giants 2025 PCL 77–73 .513 San Francisco Giants 2026 PCL 79–68 .537 San Francisco Giants Totals — 1,980–1,759 — — — 49–31 — — —

Attendance

After arriving at Raley Field in 2000, the River Cats led minor leagues in attendance for nine straight seasons.

In 2015, the team drew 672,354 fans in 72 home games, leading the minor league in total attendance. In 2015, they also drew the second highest attendance per game in the minors with an average of 9,338 fans per game.The Sacramento Bee.

For the 2017 season, the team drew 562,237 fans in 70 home games, placing them third in overall attendance for the Pacific Coast League. Year TotalAttendance Average  2000   861,808 11,9692001 901,214 12,5162002 817,317 11,3512003 766,326 10,6432004 751,156 10,4322005 755,750 10,4962006 728,227 10,2562007 710,235 10,0032008 700,168 9,7242009 657,095 9,1262010 657,910 9,1382011 600,306 8,4552012 586,090 8,1402013 607,329 8,4352014 607,839 8,5612015 672,354 9,3382016 609,666 8,5872017 562,237 8,0322018538,7857,8082019 549,440 7,8492020 n/a n/a2021 256,714 4,0432022 372,769 4,9702023 388,246 5,1772024 409,700 5,4632025 302,973 4,039

Playoff history The River Cats have won 12 division titles, including back-to-back titles in 2000 and 2001, three years in a row from 2003 to 2005, and six consecutive titles from 2007 to 2012. In 2019, the River Cats snapped a six-year playoff drought by winning the Pacific Northern Division.

The team has won four league championships: 2003, 2004, 2007, and 2008. In 2007, they defeated the Richmond Braves in that year's Bricktown Showdown by a score of 7–1. In 2008 they defeated the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, 4–1.

Roster

Players See: :Category:Sacramento River Cats players

Notes

References

External links

Statistics from Baseball-Reference