1938 Sacramento Solons season explained

Sacramento Solons
Season:	1938
Record:	95–82
League:	Pacific Coast League
Ballpark:	Edmonds Field
League Place:	3rd
Managers:	Bill Killefer

The 1938 Sacramento Solons season saw the Sacramento Solons baseball team win the Pacific Coast League (PCL) pennant. Led by manager Bill Killefer, the Solons finished third in the PCL with a 95–82 record, but qualified for the PCL's four-team playoffs. They defeated the first-place Los Angeles Angels, four games to one, in the opening round, and then defeated the fourth-place San Francisco Seals in the championship series, again by four games to one, to win the PCL's President's Trophy. However, the PCL's rules were changed in 1938 such that the pennant was awarded in 1938 to Angels as the team with the best record in the regular season.^[1]

Left-hander Tony Freitas was the team's leading pitcher, compiling a 24–11 record and 2.67 earned run average (ERA) in 290 inning pitched. Cotton Pippen also pitched well, compiling a 17–8 record with a 3.15 ERA in 223 inning pitched.^[2]

The Solons had a team batting of .250, the lowest among all nine PCL teams, and 42 points lower than the San Francisco Seals' .292 team batting average. Further, no Sacramento batter ranked among the league's top 25 in batting average.

1938 PCL standings

W	L	Pct.	GB
105	73	.590	--
100	75	.571	3.5
95	82	.537	9.5
93	85	.522	12.0
92	85	.520	12.5
79	96	.451	21.0
79	99	.444	22.5
65	113	.446	40.0

Statistics

Batting

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; SLG = Slugging percentage; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	SLG	RBI	SB
CF		67	270	79	.293	9	.478	36	24
2B		177	675	190	.281	15	.421	88	13
SS		177	622	172	.277	8	.453	83	11
C		143	470	129	.274	9	.406	67	2
LF		162	656	175	.267	11	.393	57	16
1B		164	580	153	.264	7	.434	74	7
RF		138	485	124	.256	20	.423	66	7
CF	Bill James	100	334	85	.254	2	.338	40	4
3B		167	583	145	.249	16	.386	80	19
C		72	181	40	.221	0	.232	18	0
LF		54	172	37	.215	3	.331	11	2
CF	Ray Dieffenback	41	106	21	.198	1	.245

^[2] ^[3]

Pitching

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; PCT = Win percentage; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	PCT	ERA
	38	290.0	24	11	.686	2.67
	32	223.0	17	8	.680	3.15
	31	226.0	17	12	.586	2.95
	43	280.0	17	12	.548	3.66
	33	180.0	11	11	.500	3.50
Lee Sherill	25	159.0	5	10	.333	3.79

^[2]

Notes and References

News: Solons Down Seals Twice To Take President's Trophy. The Sacramento Bee. October 3, 1938. 10. Newspapers.com.
Web site: 1938 Sacramento Solons. Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com. March 8, 2020.
News: Jolley Coast Bat King; Hurlers Star As Stickers. Los Angeles Times. November 27, 1938. II-15. Newspapers.com.