extant minor league. The original six-team membership consisted of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, Portland, and Seattle. During its early years the PCL battled several outlaw leagues for fan support; by 1909 it had established itself as the predominant Western baseball organization, and remained so until the arrival of NL teams in 1958.

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Thriving under strong local ownership, the PCL expanded to eight teams in 1919. A 200-game March-to-October schedule was the PCL norm, producing extraordinary season statistics such as Tony Lazzeri's 60 home runs and 222 RBI for Salt Lake City in 1925.

In the years following WWII, supported by minor league attendance records set in 1946-47 at San Francisco, Oakland, and Los Angeles during close pennant races, a strong movement developed to grant the PCL major league status. Open Classification, just a step below major league level, was obtained in 1952. However, the transfer of the Dodgers and Giants in 1958 robbed the PCL of its largest cities and ended its major league aspirations.
(DBv)

Jim Coates 1932- ;RHP 1956, 59-63, 65-67 Yankees , Senators, Reds, Angels ;683 ip, 43-22, 4.00.

WS 3, 13 ip, 0-1, 4.15.

"Coates," wrote Jim Bouton in Ball Four of his skeletal former teammate, "could pose as the illustration for an undertaker's sign. He has a personality to match ... [and] was famous for throwing at people and then not getting into the fights that resulted." Regardless of Bouton's unflattering portrait, Coates was an effective pitcher for the Yankees in 1959-62, working both as a starter and reliever. He won 39 and lost only 15, with 15 saves. He benefited to an unusual extent from the strong offensive support the Yankees could offer. (MC)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » June 11, 1902: Connie Mack signs Rube Waddell, who was pitching in the Pacific Coast League. He will go 24-7 during the remainder of 1902. » June 19, 1906: NL directors pass a resolution urging all clubs to provide dressing rooms for visiting teams because the spiked shoes were causing damage and upsetting hotel managers.. Even those teams that do comply, however, offer such primitive facilities that most teams on the road continue to dress at their hotels. Another resolution moves the batting practice from in front of the grand stand to the diamond. A third resolution is passed donating $500 to the Pacific Coast League, suffering from the damage caused by the San Francisco earthquake. » June 8, 1909: San Francisco (Pacific Coast League) hurler Cack Henley tosses a 24-inning 1-0 shutout over Oakland, surrendering only nine hits and one walk in the 3-hour and 35-minute contest. Jimmy Wiggs matches Henley for 23 frames before Nick Williams drives home the winner with a single in the 24th. In the only other game scheduled in the league, Portland and Sacramento play an 18 inning 1-1 tie. » July 19, 1911: With the score tied at 3-3 in the 6th inning, Vernon CF (Pacific Coast League), Walter Carlisle executes an unassisted triple play against Los Angeles. With men on 1B and 2B, he makes a spectacular diving catch of a short fly by batter Roy Akin, touches 2B, and runs to 1B to retire both runners. Vernon wins, 5–4, with the speedy English-born Carlisle pulling off the only unassisted triple play ever accomplished by an outfielder in O.B. » August 20, 1919: Wichita OF Joe Wilhoit (Western League) fails to get a hit, ending a 69-game streak in which he collected 155 hits in 299 at bats for a .505 batting average. The previous record was 49 by Oakland's Jack Ness (Pacific Coast League) in 1915. » August 1, 1925: The Yankees buy Tony Lazzeri from the Pacific Coast League for spring delivery. Lazzeri will hit 60 HRs with 222 RBI at Salt Lake City and earn the nickname "Poosh-em-up" from his legion of Italian admirers. » July 13, 1941: Former major-league player Eddie Mayo, playing for Los Angeles (Pacific Coast League), spits in the face of umpire Ray Snyder. PCL President W. C. Tuttle suspends Mayo for one year. » June 20, 1974: In a Pacific Coast League at Honolulu, Hawaii tops Spokane, 7–4, behind Ralph Garcia. He ties a PCL record striking out 19 Indian batters. » June 28, 1979: It should've been 5. At Honolulu, Hawaii (Pacific Coast League) tops Phoenix, 6–5, in 17 innings. Steve Brye of Hawaii is given a PCL-record four consecutive intentional walks before he drives in the winning run in the 17th inning. » June 8, 1982: Dodgers farmhand Sid Fernandez pitches his 2nd no-hitter of the season for Vero Beach (Florida State League), beating Ft. Lauderdale 1–0, while striking out 16. El Sid earns a promotion to Triple-A Albuquerque of the Pacific Coast League. Earlier this season hefty Hawaiian hurler no-hit Winter Haven on April 24th, whiffing 16, and fanned 21 Lakeland batters on May 14th. » September 10, 1997: The American Association's plays its final game Wednesday night in Des Moines, Iowa with the Buffalo Bisons defeating the Iowa Cubs for the final American Association title. The Association's existing teams will merge with the International League and the perhaps "to-be-newly named" Pacific Coast League in 1998.