The 2013 Pacific Association season was the inaugural season of the Pacific Association, an independent baseball league based in California and Hawaii. The league was formed following the dissolution of the North American Baseball League after the 2012 season.
On January 14, 2013, the Pacific Association was officially announced, with four charter members. Teams carried over from the NABL included the Hawaii Stars, Na Koa Ikaika Maui, and San Rafael Pacifics, while the traveling Sonoma County Grapes opted out after failing to reach lease agreements. The Vallejo Admirals were later announced as the league’s fourth charter franchise. Mike Marshall, who managed San Rafael in 2012, was appointed as the league’s first commissioner.
The season featured interleague play with Japan’s Baseball Challenge League (BCL) for the Hawaiian teams and with the Freedom Pro Baseball League (FPBL) for all teams. The season concluded with the Pacific Association playoffs in August. Following the season, both Hawaiian teams, the Hawaii Stars and Na Koa Ikaika Maui, ceased operations due to high travel costs, and the East Bay Lumberjacks did not return for a second season.
Schedule On February 6, 2013, the Pacific Association announced its schedule for the season. Member teams were slated to host roughly 40 regular-season home games, with the top four teams set to compete in a League Championship series from August 26 to August 28. Due to interleague play and financial issues, multiple cancellations and schedule changes occurred throughout the season.
Hawaii teams On May 14, it was announced that both Na Koa Ikaika Maui and the Hawaii Stars would play a 54-game regular-season schedule, with 18 additional games against nonleague opponents: 12 against Baseball Challenge League (BCL) teams, six against guest teams, and six road games concluding their season with contests against the Freedom Pro Baseball League (FPBL). Both Maui and Hawaii completed their 12 scheduled games against BCL teams (six at home and six in Japan). The first schedule change occurred on July 17, when the Vallejo Admirals cancelled their trip to Hawaii and were replaced by the East Bay Lumberjacks. The Lumberjacks completed six scheduled games against Maui but played only three of six games in Hilo due to limited player availability and field scheduling conflicts. With the playoffs moved to an earlier date and the Freedom League failing to fulfill its scheduled trip to California (only Prescott completed its obligations), the Hawaiian teams cancelled a four-game series against each other in Hilo and their six-game road trip against Goodyear and Peoria.
California teams The San Rafael Pacifics and Vallejo Admirals announced 75-game schedules for the 2013 season. Both teams were originally scheduled to play six games in Arizona against FPBL teams. Similarly, the Arizona teams were scheduled to travel to California to play 12 games (three games for each California team), but only Prescott fulfilled its games in California, resulting in significant scheduling challenges. Newly admitted East Bay played an extended schedule against both teams, and Santa Clara appeared in a single game against San Rafael.
For Vallejo, after completing 30 of its scheduled games, the team cancelled its trip to Hawaii due to financial issues. They scheduled replacement home games against Santa Rosa, but after two contests the team was suspended by the league and did not resume play for 12 days under new ownership.
Spring training Spring training for the 2013 Pacific Association season began in mid-May and continued until the teams departed for Arizona. The San Rafael Pacifics opened spring training against the San Quentin Prison All-Stars, defeating them 17–3. San Rafael then defeated the East Bay Lumberjacks in a doubleheader and also beat the Vallejo Admirals before losing a rematch to East Bay, finishing spring training with a 4–1 record as of May 24.
The East Bay Lumberjacks lost the doubleheader to San Rafael and also fell to Vallejo but earned a win against San Rafael in their final game, concluding spring training with a 1–3 record. Vallejo split its two contests, losing to San Rafael and defeating East Bay, finishing spring training at 1–1.
In Hawaii, the Hawaii Stars and Na Koa Ikaika Maui scrimmaged each other to prepare for their interleague games, completing their final tune-ups before the season began.
Vallejo hosted players as far away as Venezuela, Japan, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico.
Standings As of August 25, 2013
+ Pacific Association regular season standings Pos Team G W L T Pct. GB 1 CG – San Rafael Pacifics 75 54 21 0 .720 — 2 SF – Na Koa Ikaika Maui 75 47 28 0 .627 7.0 3 RR – Vallejo Admirals 60 28 32 0 .467 18.5 4 RR – Hawaii Stars 68 26 41 1 .390 24.0 5 RR – East Bay Lumberjacks 37 7 30 0 .189 28.0
CG – Advanced directly to the championship game SF – Advanced to the semifinal RR – Qualified for the round-robin play-in tournament
Source:
Postseason The Vallejo Admirals hosted a round-robin play-in tournament at Wilson Park from August 20 to 24, featuring the Hawaii Stars and East Bay Lumberjacks. The tournament determined which team would advance to the semifinals. Vallejo won the play-in tournament to earn a spot against Na Koa Ikaika Maui in the semifinals. Hawaii and East Bay did not play the final game, as Vallejo had already clinched advancement.
The San Rafael Pacifics hosted both the semifinal and championship games at Albert Park on August 25. Na Koa Ikaika Maui defeated the Vallejo Admirals 8–3 in the semifinal, then upset the heavily favored San Rafael Pacifics 6–1 in the championship to win the inaugural Pacific Association of Professional Baseball Clubs title.
Round robin
The top-seeded San Rafael Pacifics received a bye to the championship game.
Managerial changes Offseason Team Former Manager Reason For Leaving New Manager Notes Na Koa Ikaika Maui Jamie Vermilyea New job Jeff Brooks Vermilyea accepted a pitching coach position with the Winnipeg Goldeyes of the American Association.
Brooks, who served as the club's hitting coach, was promoted for the 2013 season. San Rafael Pacifics Mike Marshall League commissioner James Frisbie On January 14, 2013, Marshall was announced as the Pacific Association's league commissioner.
On January 21, 2013, Frisbie was announced as the Pacifics' manager. Vallejo Admirals Pedro Guerrero On May 9, 2013, Guerrero was announced as the team's first manager. In-season Team Former Manager Reason For Leaving New Manager Notes San Rafael Pacifics James Frisbie Resigned Ryan Priddy After a 3–3 start, Frisbie resigned and later became manager of the Rockford Aviators of the Frontier League.
On June 7, 2013, Pacifics hitting coach Ryan Priddy was named manager for the remainder of the season. Vallejo Admirals Pedro Guerrero Fired Tito Fuentes Jr. On July 16, 2013, Guerrero was fired.
Under new ownership, assistant coach Tito Fuentes Jr. was named manager. He led the Admirals to a 16–11 record from July 23 through the end of the season.
League leaders
Hitting Stat Player Team Total HR Johnny Woodard Ray Serrano San Rafael Pacifics Na Koa Ikaika Maui 11 AVG Price Kendall San Rafael Pacifics .339 RBIsMaikel Jova San Rafael Pacifics 68 SB Matt Hibbert Hawaii Stars 32
Pitching Stat Player Team Total W Chad Blackwell Na Koa Ikaika Maui 10 ERAChad Blackwell Na Koa Ikaika Maui 1.91 SOLogan Odom San Rafael Pacifics 100 SV Colin Allen San Rafael Pacifics 15
To qualify as league leader for hitter, AVG - Minimum of plate appearances of 2.7 per team game. To qualify as league leader for pitcher, ERA - Minimum inning(s) of .8 pitched per team game.
Awards and honors Individual Awards Award Player Team Most Valuable Player Price Kendall San Rafael Pacifics Monthly awards
Player of the Month Month Player Team June Kyle Dhanani San Rafael Pacifics July Maikel Jova San Rafael Pacifics August N/A N/A
Pitcher of the Month Month Player Team June Tyler Pearson San Rafael Pacifics July Logan Odom San Rafael Pacifics August N/A N/A
Weekly awards
Player of the Week Month Player Team June 18 Katsuaki Furuki Hawaii Stars June 24 Brenden Davis Hawaii Stars July 2 Jeremy Williams Na Koa Ikaika Maui July 9 Brandon Gregorich Na Koa Ikaika Maui July 15 Brenden Davis (2) Hawaii Stars July 23 Maikel Jova San Rafael Pacifics July 30 Matt Kavanaugh San Rafael Pacifics August 6 Johnny Woodard San Rafael Pacifics August 13 Andre White, Steve Detwiler East Bay Lumberjacks
Pitcher of the Week Month Player Team June 18 Colin Allen San Rafael Pacifics June 24 Mike Williams Na Koa Ikaika Maui July 2 Logan Odom San Rafael Pacifics July 9 Kyle Brueggemann Vallejo Admirals July 15 Bennett Whitmore San Rafael Pacifics July 23 Dallas Mahan Hawaii Stars July 30 Kyle Brueggemann (2) Vallejo Admirals August 6 Wayne Franklin East Bay Lumberjacks August 13 David Russo East Bay Lumberjacks
Pacific Association vs. other leagues 2013 Record vs. opponents Team EB HI MAUI SRF VAL BCL FPBL Guests East Bay — 0–7 1–8 2–8 4–7 — — — Hawaii 7–0 — 8–15 3–12 3–5 2–9–1 — 3–0 Maui 8–1 15–8 — 8–10 6–4 7–5 — 3–0 San Rafael 8–2 12–3 10–8 — 13–5 — 6–3 5–0 Vallejo 7–4 5–3 4–6 5–13 — — 3–5 4–1
2013 records against non-conference foes:
+ Regular seasonOther LeaguesRecordBCL9–14–1FPBL9–8Guests15–1Other leagues Total33–23–1
Na Koa Ikaika Maui vs. BCL
Hawaii Stars vs. BCL
San Rafael Pacifics vs. Freedom League
Vallejo Admirals vs. Freedom League
Head-to-head matchups
Team EB Fukui GY Gunma HI Ishikawa MAUI Niigata Peoria PHX Prescott SRF SC SR Shinano Toyama VAL Totals For East Bay — — — — 0–7 — 1–8 — — — — 2–8 — — — — 4–7 7–30 Fukui — — — 5–2–1 0–0–1 7–14–2 0–1 1–6–1 — — — — — — 2–6 10–11–2 — 25–40–7 Goodyear — — — — — — — — 4–8 8–7 7–6 1–0 — — — — 1–1 21–22 Gunma — 2–5–1 — — 1–0 3–5 1–0 6–14–3 — — — — — — 12–11 6–2 — 31–37–4 Hawaii 7–0 0–0–1 — 0–1 — 1–3 8–15 0–1 — — — 3–12 — 3–0 1–3 0–1 3–5 26–41–1 Ishikawa — 14–7–2 — 5–3 3–1 — 1–3 2–6 — — — — — — 3–4–1 9–14 — 37–38–3 Maui 8–1 1–0 — 0–1 15–8 3–1 — 1–0 — — — 8–10 — 3–0 2–2 0–1 6–4 47–28 Niigata — 6–1–1 — 14–6–3 1–0 6–2 0–1 — — — — — — — — 19–4 6–2 52–16–4 Peoria — — 8–4 — — — — — — 10–9 2–6 — — — — — 1–0 21–19 Phoenix — — 7–8 — — — — — 9–10 — 5–4 — — — — — 2–0 23–22 Prescott — — 6–7 — — — — — 6–2 4–5 — 2–6 — — — — 1–2 19–22 San Rafael 8–2 — 0–1 — 12–3 — 10–8 — — — 6–2 — 1–0 4–0 — — 13–5 54–21 Santa Clara — — — — — — — — — — — 0–1 — — — — — 0–1 Santa Rosa — — — — 0–3 — 0–3 — — — — 0–4 — — — — 1–4 1–14 Shinano — 6–2 — 11–12 3–1 4–3–1 2–2 4–19 — — — — — — — 4–4 — 34–43–1 Toyama — 11–10–2 — 2–6 1–0 14–9 1–0 2–6 — — — — — — 4–4 — — 35–35–2 Vallejo 7–4 — 1–1 — 5–3 — 4–6 — 0–1 0–2 2–1 5–13 — 4–1 — — — 28–32 Totals Against 30–7 40–25–7 22–21 37–31–4 41–26–1 38–37–3 28–47 16–52–4 19–21 22–23 22–19 21–54 1–0 14–1 43–34–1 35–35–2 28–32 461–461–22
Updated with the results of all games through the regular season. No games are counted twice. Complete results for BCL, Freedom Pro Baseball League, and Pacific Association. Hawaii and Maui games are not counted twice. BCL teams’ head-to-head standings are included in the grid. In 2013, BCL recorded 72 official league games. The six games played by Ishikawa and Shinano in May at Hawaii are not part of BCL's official standings. They are official for the Pacific Association standings and are included for the purpose of this grid.
Sources:
Notable players Former Major League Baseball players who played in the Pacific Association in 2013 Wayne Franklin (East Bay) Onan Masaoka (Hawaii) Bill Lee (San Rafael) Dane Sardinha (Hawaii) Chris Waters (Maui)
Other notable players who played in the Pacific Association in 2013 Charlie Mirabal (Maui) Eri Yoshida (Maui)
References