Now first things first: you may be thinking — didn’t Sacramento already win a championship?

To which the answer is, of course, yes they did and proud we are of all of them.

See, visual evidence!

HOWEVER, the AAA classification offers one further opportunity that no other level of the minors does — a one-game, winner take all, classification championship between the winner of the Pacific Coast League and the winner of the International League. This game, which used to be know as the Bricktown Showdown (due to its taking place in Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City from 2006-2010) is happening tonight and you probably don’t want to miss this exciting coda to the 2019 season!

Triple-A National Championship Game is tomorrow night, first pitch at 7:07pm CT (5:07pm PT). The PCL Champion #RiverCats take on the IL Champion @CLBClippers.



National TV broadcast on @FS1



Memphis, TN - home of the @memphisredbirds pic.twitter.com/STRrko7HYr — Sacramento River Cats (@RiverCats) September 16, 2019

You can watch this game, which this year takes place in Memphis, TN, starting tonight at 5 PM PST on your FS1 cable channel. The game will also be streamed on MiLBtv for those with subscriptions (which I highly recommend everyone having).

Sacramento will be taking on IL champions the Columbus Clippers, Cleveland’s AAA affiliate. And, for a little extra significance, it’s worth pointing out that whoever wins this game will take with them the additional honor of most AAA championships since the event began back in 2006. Sacramento and Columbus are among the four teams that have won this championship twice over the years (Durham and Omaha are the other two) and tonight’s winner will be the very first three-time champ.

Regardless of what happens tonight the story of 2019 for the affiliates will undoubtedly be one of triumph for Sacramento (winning the Giants first PCL championship in more than 40 years) and one of dismal failure for the Richmond Flying Squirrels who had their least successful season in their 10 year franchise history, set a host of all time worsts, and posted the seventh worst run differential in all of minor league baseball (second worst in the three AA leagues).

And therein lies an ironic tale, because the personnel who have grabbed Sacramento’s ring have by and large been the same lot of people who charted Richmond’s all time lows.

Pacific* obviously.



12 of the 25 players on Sacramento’s playoff roster were still with Richmond through August 21. — Trey Wilson (@treywilson757) September 14, 2019

To take Trey’s point a step further...10 players have been transferred from Richmond to Sacramento since September 1st! An 11th, Tyler Cyr, made the trip on August 31. Given that the Giants have recalled Mike Gerber, Cristian Adames, and Enderson Franco since the conclusion of the PCL championship series, one might expect that number to grow even larger (Sacramento has already added San Jose Giants’ 2019 mainstay Courtney Hawkins for tonight’s game).

So join me in rooting the Sacraricho Flying RiverSquirrels on to glory tonight and, in the future, if you think on the fortunes of the 2019 Richmond team, remember that those that fall may yet rise again.