Sacramento River Cats History

The 2007 season marks the Sacramento River Cats’ eighth in California’s Capital City. During their first four years in Sacramento, the River Cats had unparalleled success on the baseball field – winning four Pacific Coast League South Division titles (2000, 2001, 2003, 2004) and back-to-back PCL Championships (2003 & 2004). Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland A’s, the River Cats have graduated more than 60 players to the next level, including 2002 American League Cy Young Award winner Barry Zito (A’s), 2002 American League Rookie of the Year Eric Hinske (Blue Jays) and 2004 American League Rookie of the Year Bobby Crosby.

Off the field, the River Cats have been the talk of Minor League Baseball. Winners of numerous awards for its business practices and outstanding community efforts, Sacramento’s franchise has led all of Minor League Baseball in attendance during each of its eight seasons at Raley Field.

The River Cats franchise was purchased by majority owner Art Savage in October 1998 and was relocated to Sacramento prior to the 2000 season from Vancouver (Canada). Formerly the Vancouver Canadians (1999 Triple-A World Series Champions), the River Cats call Raley Field home. Nestled along the Sacramento River in West Sacramento, the privately financed ballpark is the crowned jewel of Minor League Baseball.

Dimensions of Raley Field

• Raley Field the Home of the River Cats opened in 2000 on May 15th
• Capacity on game day 14,680 fans
• 58 feet from home plate to backstop
• 60 feet six inches from pitchers plate to home plate (the pitcher circle is 8 foot diameter)
• Home plate is 17inches by 6 inches and the circle is 26 feet
• 90 feet to each base and 6 foot base paths with 13 foot cut outs at each base
• Batters boxes are 5 foot circles on both home and visitor sides 37 feet apart
• The coach’s boxes are 20 feet by 10 feet
• From home plate to second base is 127feet 3 and 3/8 inches
• From 1st to 3rd base is 127 feet 3 and 3/8 inches
• From the pitchers plate to the out field grass line is 95 foot radius
• The batters boxes are 40 inches wide and 6 feet long and each box is 6 inches from home plate (also 3 ft from the center of the plate toward the mound and back toward the catcher.
• Down the Left field line from Home plate to the fence is 330 feet
• To the left field and right field power alleys is 380 feet
• To straight away center field is 403 feet
• The fences are 8 feet high
• This ball field was constructed in a bowl 17feet below the surface area.
• 11,092 theater seats
• 36 suites
• 10,000 cubic yards of concrete used
• 2,650,000 pounds of steel
• 102,000 sq ft of sod on the field
• 560,000 lineal ft of electrical wire
• 10,900 lineal ft of drainage pipe in the field
• 5,300 ft of irrigation pipe
• 1,200,000 pounds of crushed brick in warning track
• 88,000 pounds of special mixture clay for infield skin