Sonoma Stompers Baseball Club | |||||
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Information | |||||
League | California Collegiate League | ||||
Location | Sonoma, California | ||||
Ballpark | Arnold Field | ||||
Founded | 2014 | ||||
League championships | PAPBC: 2016 | ||||
Former league(s) | Pacific Association | ||||
Colors | Navy, orange, white | ||||
Retired numbers | Jayce Ray (99) | ||||
Ownership | Jon Sebastiani | ||||
Manager | Zack Pace | ||||
General Manager | Eduardo Mora-Loera | ||||
Website | stompersbaseball |
The Sonoma Stompers are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Sonoma, California. They are current members of the California Collegiate League. They began play as members of the Pacific Association of Professional Baseball Clubs in 2014. They are a successor franchise to the defunct Sonoma County Grapes, and were the first professional team to make Sonoma County home since the Sonoma County Crushers ceased play following the 2002 season.
The Stompers announced their first professional signing, Tommy Lyons, in March 2014, and shortly thereafter traded for local player, Jayce Ray. The team's first manager was Ray Serrano, who led the Stompers to a 42–36 record in their inaugural season. In 2015, Serrano accepted a full-time position with the Atlanta Braves to serve as the organization's catching instructor. [1] Former major league pitcher Bill "Spaceman" Lee started a game for the Stompers on August 12, 2014, pitching the team to victory over the Pittsburg Mettle. Lee set a record with the win, becoming the oldest person (at age 67) to ever win a professional baseball game. [2] Lee pitched 5+2⁄3 innings, and batted for himself. [3] Ray was named the leagues Most Valuable Player and later signed with the Boston Red Sox.
In 2015, the Sonoma Stompers allowed Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller of Baseball Prospectus's Effectively Wild podcast to serve as the Baseball Operations department, under general manager Theo Fightmaster. The duo wrote about their experience in a book entitled The Only Rule is it Has to Work, published in 2016. [4]
On February 15, Fehlandt Lentini was named player manager. [5] After winning the first half of the season, Lentini was let go. He was replaced by Takashi Miyoshi. The team made history in June 2015, when pitcher Sean Conroy became the first openly gay active professional baseball player. [6] . The Stompers finished the season 44–33 after falling to San Rafael in the championship game.
In June 2016, the Stompers announced that two female baseball players would join their roster starting in July. Upon joining the team, the two players, outfielder-pitcher Kelsie Whitmore and infielder Stacy Piagno, made the Sonoma Stompers the first coed professional baseball team since the 1950s. [7] [8] The Stompers added catcher Anna Kimbrell in July 2016. [9] The Stompers won both the first and second halves of the season, earning their first Pacific Association championship under Miyoshi. In 2017, Sonoma clinched a championship game berth after winning the first half of the season, but fell to Vallejo in the finale. After the 2017 season, the Minnesota Twins hired Miyoshi as a coach for Elizabethton Twins.
In 2018, under new general manager Brett Creamer and Manager Zack Pace, the Sonoma Stompers set a Pacific Association win record going 57–23. Outfielder Kenny Meimerstorf would win Rookie of the Year award by hitting a franchise best 23 home runs. Former Arizona Diamondbacks prospect Daniel Comstock set another single-season franchise record with a .364 average and earned Defensive Player of the Year honors at the catcher position. Pitcher Jacob Cox set the Pacific Association single-season saves record with 26. Pitcher Vijay Patel set the franchise single-season wins record going 9-3 while striking out 92 batters in 84 innings pitched.
In 2019, the Stompers held a regular season best 45–19 record. Most notably, pitcher Cole Watts and outfielder Dondrei Hubbard signed with Kansas City Royals and San Diego Padres affiliates. The pair became the sixth and seventh Stompers to sign with an affiliated organization. Pitcher Henry Omana was promoted to Bravos de León of the Mexican League. In five stars, Omana went 3–1 in 27 innings pitched with 36 strikeouts and a 1.33 ERA. [10]
In 2021, one year after the Pacific Association's season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Stompers left the professional ranks and joined the California Collegiate League. [11]
On May 17, 2022, former 2017 pitcher Logan Gillaspie made his Major League Baseball debut against the against the New York Yankees where he recorded his first career strikeout against Kyle Higashioka in two scoreless innings pitched. Gillaspie became the first Stompers player to appear in a Major League game and second Pacific Association player with Chris Mazza being the first in 2019.
On August 2, 2023, the New York Yankees signed former 2022 Stompers outfielder Jackson Castillo as an undrafted free agent. Castillo became the first player to sign with an affiliated team since Sonoma left the professional ranks. [12]
On September 8, former 2018 play-by-play announcer Nicholas Badders made his Major League debut on the Kansas City Royals Radio Network alongside Steve Stewart. [13]
Sonoma Stompers (Pacific Association) | ||||||
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Season | Overall | Standing | Postseason | Record | ||
2014 | 42–36 | 3rd of 4 | Did not qualify | |||
2015 † | 44–33 | 2nd of 4 | First half winner; Lost championship game (SRF) | 0–1 | ||
2016 | 47–31 | 1st of 4 | First half winner; Second half winner; League Champions | |||
2017 | 52–26 | 1st of 4 | First half winner; Lost championship game (VAL) | 0–1 | ||
2018 | 57–23 | 1st of 6 | Lost championship game (SRF) | 1–1 | ||
2019 | 45–19 | 1st of 5 | Lost championship series (SRF) | 1–2 | ||
Totals | 287–168 (.631) | 1 Championship | 2–5 (.286) |
† 2015 post-season was also included in regular season record.
Sonoma Stompers (California Collegiate League) | |||||
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Season | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | |
2022 | 17–30 | 11–23 | 5th of 5 (North) | Did not qualify | |
2023 | 25–22 | 16–19 | 4th of 6 (North) | Did not qualify | |
Totals | 42–52 (.447) | 27–42 (.391) |
William Francis Lee III, nicknamed "Spaceman", is an American former professional baseball left-handed pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox (1969–1978) and Montreal Expos (1979–1982). On November 7, 2008, Lee was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame as the team's record-holder for most games pitched by a left-hander (321) and the third highest win total by a Red Sox southpaw (94). On August 23, 2012, he signed a contract to play with the San Rafael Pacifics of the independent North American League, at age 65.
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