Raley Field was once again the place to be this summer as the River Cats dominated the Pacific Coast League, setting new records and making sensational plays en route to an eighth division title in 10 years.

Sacramento fans got to witness one of the most exciting players in team history (Eric Patterson), one of the most amazing offensive stretches (Tommy Everidge) and many more players move on to prosper with the big club.

Here’s a look back at the 2009 River Cats season:

Patterson steals the show
Eric Patterson was always a threat to score in 2009 … especially when the pitcher least expected it. The PCL All-Star stole home twice on the season, setting the tone for one of the most exciting years in franchise history. Patterson finished the season with 43 stolen bases, the single-season franchise records. One of the infielder/outfielder’s steals of home came on an extremely rare triple steal. But Patterson’s talents went further than his feet. He became only the second player in team history to have at least 10 in the following categories: stolen bases (43), doubles (29), triples (11) and home runs (12). He led off six games with a home run, batted a remarkable .388 in the month of July and was called up to Oakland to finish out the season.

Tommy, we can hear you
Five days into his Triple-A stint, Tommy Everidge was the big first baseman who couldn’t hit a lick. A month later he was making a run at batting .400 and helping lift the River Cats to a division title. Everidge batted .398 after his first five games in Sacramento, totaling 12 home runs and 41 RBIs in only 52 games with the Triple-A affiliate. His dominance in the batter’s box was too much for Oakland to ignore, and they called up Everidge in late July. The first baseman returned to the River Cats in late August and didn’t miss a beat, slugging three home runs over his last six games.

‘Pen was mightier
If there was one staple of the 2009 River Cats, it was their ability to win close games. Sacramento finished the season 25-13 in one-run ballgames, including a remarkable 19-3 record at home. Much of the reason for the team’s success in tight games was a dependable bullpen that consistently mowed down batters and escaped tight jams. Elk Grove native Brad Kilby had a 4-2 record and 2.13 ERA with Sacramento, and in September the left-hander was given his chance to perform in the major leagues. Fellow left-hander Jay Marshall was named to the PCL All-Star team and posted a 5-3 record and 3.20 ERA with the River Cats. But the most dominating of all may have been closer Jeff Gray, who saved 16 games in 17 chances and compiled a 1.54 ERA. Overall, Sacramento’s bullpen had a 39-20 record to go with a stellar 3.63 ERA.

Southern comfort
Things seemed to be getting away from the River Cats in early May, when the team lost six consecutive games to drop to 15-15 on the season. The team’s division lead had dropped to one game and the team was in danger of getting swept for the first time in almost three calendar years. However, the team went on to win 17 of its next 20 games to close out the month of May. After that point, Sacramento never held less than a 2.0 game lead in the division. Sacramento’s lead grew to 11.5 games in early July and topped out at 13.0 games on the final day of August.

Winning tradition continues
With an 86-57 record, Sacramento closed the regular season with the best record in all of minor league baseball. Sacramento also had the best home record (45-27) and road record (41-30) in the PCL. Sacramento lost only three road series over the entire season (two of those were on the team’s last road trip), and wasn’t swept once all season. That extended the River Cats’ streak of not being swept in the regular season to 120 consecutive series, dating back to July of 2006.

Great eight
Now having won eight South Division titles in 10 seasons, the Sacramento River Cats have put themselves in elite company among other professional teams. This decade, among the four major sports and Triple-A baseball, only two other teams (the New York Yankees and Detroit Red Wings) have won eight division titles. Sacramento finished the season 86-57, its third-best record in franchise history.

Triple threat
As fans scratched their heads, the nine River Cats trotted to the dugout. On the scoreboard, what once read “0” under the outs column suddenly became a “3.” Yes, Jerome Williams had escaped a bases-loaded jam with an unconventional triple play, and the River Cats had overcome their last major threat in an 11-4 victory over the Oklahoma City RedHawks on August 9. In the top of the sixth inning, Williams had the bases loaded with no outs and the go-ahead run at the plate in Dustin Majewski. Majewski hit a fly ball to left field that Chris Denorfia caught and fired home in an attempt to throw out Royce Huffman, who was tagging from third. Catcher Eric Munson caught the throw in front of home plate and fired to third base to throw out Casey Benjamin, who was attempting to advance from second. Shortstop Gregorio Petit tagged out Benjamin while his foot was on third base, which also forced out Huffman, who umpires determined had left third before Denorfia made the catch. Triple play.