Baseball and California, a perfect match

Memorabilia from California MLB players is hung on display at the Sacramento History Museum.

The history of baseball in California was the topic of a recent panel discussion at the Sacramento History Museum.

On Saturday, July 18, the museum hosted “Play Ball!” which featured discussions from former San Francisco Giants and Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker and a slew of other Major League players and scouts.

In addition to Baker, Leon Lee, Leron Lee, Matt Walbeck, Greg Orr and Paul Cogan shared stories and anecdotes from their careers in baseball. Each of the speakers has ties to the Sacramento area.

A large audience packed into the museum to enjoy the stories, and I had the opportunity to be there.

Although I was running late due to the three-hour drive, I was able to hear from and interact with those individuals. Baker was the biggest draw at the event, as the line to meet him was quite long following the conclusion of the panel discussion.

When I approached him, I let him know that I am a die hard New York Yankees fan, and his Houston Astros broke my heart just a few years ago when they dismissed my beloved team from the playoffs.

Mariposan Matt Johnson is shown with former MLB catcher Matt Walbeck, who is a Sacramento native. Johnson is holding his daughter Delany.

That gave him a hearty laugh and he told me not to fret because, “Yankees fans are spoiled.” He was very warm and welcoming to those who met him.

One of the other interesting people was Don Lyle, who is a former minor league outfielder and longtime professional baseball scout. He spent seven seasons playing in the Cincinnati Reds organization and is best known for his scouting career, notably being one of the first scouts to identify and mentor Yankees superstar Aaron Judge during his high school years.

As you now know, I am a huge Yankees fan, so getting to hear his behind-the-scenes stories about Judge as a young, growing ballplayer was awesome. Judge grew up in Linden, just a short drive from Mariposa, and attended Fresno State University.

“I helped push him to Fresno State,” Lyle told me.

Lyle added that Judge has some of the biggest hands you’ll ever see.

Shown is a scouting report of MLB superstar Aaron Judge, which was completed by California native Don Lyle on behalf of the Cleveland Indians organization. Judge (another California native) ended up with the New York Yankees.

After the panel event, I was able to walk around the baseball exhibit which the museum has created. It was fantastic.

The exhibit is filled with historical baseball uniforms, bats, balls and gloves from different time periods, along with programs, tickets, awards and trophies, an Edmonds field base, home plate and ticket box, along with scrapbooks, news articles, photos and more.

I was particularly interested in the history of Babe Ruth traveling to Sacramento. A small corner of the exhibit focused on that. Ruth came through California on a barnstorming tour on two different occasions. He declared Sacramento a fabulous baseball town.

Because I was able to attend the exhibit, I was able to read about a statue displayed in Sacramento that is modeled after former Oakland A’s slugger Rickey Henderson. Rickey is one of my favorite players to ever lace up the cleats, so that was a neat discovery for me.

This statue sits in front of West Sacramento City Hall, so after I was done at the exhibit I walked the 30 minutes to city hall to find this amazing statue.

Retired MLB manager Dusty Baker is shown. He was quite the “hit” at the event.

The exhibit takes a close look at Sacramento’s baseball history, and the movers and shakers who helped make baseball a key part of the city’s story.

Now that the A’s are playing in Sacramento temporarily until they can complete a move to Las Vegas, the city has both an MLB and a minor league team. Sacramento has also been the home to dozens of Major Leaguers over the years, just adding to the richness of California’s talent factory for the sport.

That’s something I’ve been really impressed with since moving to California in 2016. California churns out a lot of talent in every sport, which shouldn’t be a surprise due to the population of the state.

But I’ve also been impressed locally with the talent Mariposa County High School puts out. A number of players in recent years have gone on to play at the collegiate level, such as Blake Atkins, Noah Fluharty, Joey Freitas and Jake Williams. Mariposa should be proud of its rich history as well!