Pacific Association Action

I took my wife and five year old daughter to a Martinez Clippers game today, our first.  The Clippers are a 2018 expansion team in the Pacific Association of Professional Baseball Clubs, an independent-A league which plays at almost the lowest level of professional baseball, one step up from the Pecos League and one step down from the Frontier League.

The Clippers play at one of the four fields at Joe Dimaggio Fields, a four-plex of baseball diamonds in Martinez.  There were maybe 150 fans tops in attendance, and I don’t think the park could seat more than 300.  It’s hard to understand how a team could stay in business with attendance that low when tickets are only $12 for adults and $5 for children under 13.

I will say that Joe Dimaggio Field was a great place to watch a game at this level.  There is very little foul territory, so all the seats, which run from about third base to first base are extremely close to the action.  It was certainly professional baseball as up close and personal as I have ever seen it — I flinched almost every time a left-handed hitter fouled one back into the screen in front of me.

Drinks were expensive, but food wasn’t.  There was a taco truck which served tacos and burritos at pretty typical taco truck prices.  My wife got a large burrito for $7.25 which fed all three of us, which was less than the $8 I paid for a beer.  The beer was made by Martinez craft brewer Del Cielo Brewing Co.  On tap were a Mexican-style lager and an IPA.  I chose the Mexican lager, as it appeared to me most of the other patrons did, and it was quite good.

I attended a Sonoma County Crushers game in the now defunct independent-A Western League in Rohnert Park around 2000.  Today’s game between the Clippers and the Sonoma County Stompers was about the same level of play I recall from all those years ago, even though the Western League was trying to provide a higher level of Indy-A play — don’t believe what the old-timers tell you, pro baseball gets better with each generation.

The Stompers scored two runs early on a routine fly ball that Clippers right fielder Will Decker lost in the sun (he was deservedly charged with an error), and there were a few other misplays.  Clippers DH Jacob Barfield hit a home run to dead center that was the only run the Clippers scored in seven innings against Stompers’ starter Dominic Topoozian, who pitched for Fresno State, a top college program, for a couple of seasons.  Stompers 3Bman Kevin Farley made back-to-back great plays in the bottom of the 5th, and Clippers shortstop Pedro Barrios made a terrific play on a shot up the middle in the top of the 6th.

Unfortunately, I had to leave after seven innings, as my daughter was bored by the third inning and getting increasingly restless as the game wore on.  If I lived closer to Martinez (I live in Berkeley) or my wife and daughter had more interest, I’d definitely go again.  Martinez has excellent summer baseball weather, and Joe Dimaggio Fields is close enough to the Carquinez Straight to get an occasional cool breeze.

That said, I don’t how the Pacific Association has lasted five seasons to date. The reported attendance is awful, with only the San Rafael Pacifics (442) and the Sonoma Stompers (428) averaging more than 211 fans per game.  The Clippers are currently averaging 104 fans a game, and the Pittsburg Diamonds averaging only 70 per game.

The only information I could find on Pacific Association salaries says that in 2015 teams were capped at $15,000 per month for 22 players and two coaches.  That averages $625 per month per player/coach, but I don’t see how teams can be paying that given the reported attendance.

By comparison, the Frontier League pays players between $600 and $1,600 per month, with season caps of $75,000 per team, which comes to maximum average salaries of about $725 per month.  The Frontier League’s 12 teams are averaging from a high of 3,078 fans per game to a low of 1,595 fans per game this season.  Granted, the Frontier League has been in play since 1993, which is a testament to fact that its teams draw enough fans to keep teams making enough of a profit to keep going year after year.

The Pecos League pays a brutal $50 a week for an 11+ week season, which isn’t even enough to feed a young athlete.  The Pecos League is essentially a pay-to-play league for undrafted college seniors who just can’t give up the pro baseball dream without at least taking one real stab at it.  I note that the Pecos League appears to be just about the only Indy-A league that does not routinely report its attendance.

After the Pecos League season ends, the best players typically get late season tryouts from American Association and Frontier League teams looking to replace players who have been sold, injured or released.  If they don’t show enough to get re-signed for the next season in these leagues (or to even get a shot in the first place), they try their luck in the Pacific Association.

In spite of the dream, it’s hard to imagine being able to pay players in their second professional season less than $400 or $500 per month.  It appears to me that the average age for a Pacific Association player is about 24, which is old enough that anything less than $400 or $500 month seems untenable if a team is hoping to fill a 22 man roster with a couple of guys on call in case someone gets hurt.

As of the start of the 2018 season, Jon Edwards and Chris Smith are the only two Pecos League players to have later reached the major leagues.  To my knowledge, no Pacific Association player has yet accomplished this feat.

Since the Pacific Association only began play in 2014, it’s certainly possible that someone will someday do it.  However, the odds sure aren’t good, since the best Pecos League players jump to the better American Association or Frontier League or get signed directly by an MLB organization.  Some Pacific Association players have signed with MLB organizations, but the time-game is simply not in their favor.

Local boy Matt Chavez is probably the best player the Pacific Association has produced so far.  He’s currently a top hitter in the best of the Indy-A Leagues, the Atlantic League, where he is slashing .323/.380/.442.  However, he’s 29 this year, so his  future major league chances are slim indeed.  His best reasonably possible future is playing successfully in the Mexican League.

Explore posts in the same categories: Independent-A Leagues, Minor Leagues