Western Baseball League (1998)
Tombstone
Born: 1998 – The Palm Beach Suns relocate to Oxnard, CA
Folded: November 25, 19981WIRE SERVICE REPORTS. “Vigilantes, 3 Other WBL Teams Fold”. The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, CA), November 26, 1998
First Game: May 23, 1998 (Losing 2-1 vs. Sonoma County Crushers when lights failed to come on)
Last Game: September 2, 1998 (W 9-8 vs. @ Chico Heat)
Western League Championships: None
Stadium
Oxnard College (3,300)21998 Mission Viejo Vigilantes Program
Opened: 1988
Dimensions (1998): Left: 325′, Center: 395′, Right: 325′31998 Mission Viejo Vigilantes Program
Marketing
Team Colors: Black, Orange & Gold41998 Mission Viejo Vigilantes Program
Ownership & Affiliation
Owners:
- 1998: Don DiCarlo, Michael Koutnick, Paul Regina, et al.
- 1998: Paul Regina, Michael Koutnick, et al.
Major League Affiliation: Independent
Attendance
Background
The Pacific Suns were a rather cursed minor league baseball outfit that struggled through a single summer of play in Oxnard, California in 1998. The team played on the campus of Oxnard College and were the first pro baseball team to set up shop in Ventura County since the departure of the equally short-lived Ventura County Gulls in 1986.
The franchise began life in 1995 as the Palm Beach Suns, a founding franchise in the independent Western Baseball League. The Suns gained some early notoriety at the outset of the 1995 season by signing Cuban pitcher Ariel Prieto, who dominated WBL competition in six stars for Palm Beach, before getting selected #5 overall by Oakland in the 1995 Major League Baseball draft. He was pitching in the Majors for the Athletics less than two months after leaving Palm Springs.
But ultimately, the Suns became better known in Palm Springs for puny crowds and unpaid bills. The team left Palm Springs at the end of the 1996 season, leaving behind an unpaid rent bill of $28,000 to the city.5Plunkett, Bill. “48 Years of Memories”. The Desert Sun (Palm Springs, CA). June 22, 1997 Owner Don DiCarlo was allowed to retain the franchise though. And after sitting out the 1997 altogether, the Suns rose again in Oxnard in the spring of 1998.
Flame Out
The Suns stay in Oxnard was, if possible, even shorter and more troubled than the franchise’s run in Palm Springs. Due to DiCarlo’s history of controversial promotions in Palm Springs – including “Nude Night” and “Drag Queen Night” – the Suns lease included a provision that local officials had to approve all promotions. College officials refused to allow the sale of beer at Condor Field.
The Suns’ home opener at Condor Field on May 23, 1998 had to be postponed when the stadium lights failed to turn on as (ironically) the sun went down in the fourth inning. For much of the season, the Suns carried the worst record in professional baseball, while unpaid bills accumulated in the front office.
By August, DiCarlo and his family members were in open warfare with his fellow shareholders, WBL league officials, and his own players, who staged a one-game strike and forfeited a home game over missed paychecks. A local community group also brought suit against the team seeking to end the team’s lease at Oxnard College. DiCarlo was ultimately ousted in August. The team quietly finished its only season in Oxnard three weeks later on September 2, 1998 with a dreadful 28-62 record.
The remain shareholders of the team settled the community lawsuit by agreeing to vacate their lease at Oxnard College. With no place left to play, and few real fans to begin with, the Suns quietly folded in the fall of 1998.
The Western Baseball League went out of business after eight seasons in 2002.
Fish Story
On July 23rd, 1998 the Suns traded pitcher Ken Krahenbuhl to the Greenville Bluesmen of the Texas-Louisiana League for cash, a player to be named later and ten pounds of catfish. When informing Krahenbuhl of his departure, Suns officials left out the part about the fish.
The 30-year old took three planes and then rented a car and drove two hours to Greenville, Mississippi to join his new team the next day, Friday, July 24th. The Bluesmen expected Krahenbuhl to start that same night. Shortly before game time, a Bluesmen employee spilled the particulars of the deal and the former Chicago Cubs prospect learned for the first time that he had been traded for fish. Krahenbuhl took the mound against the Amarillo Dillas, still fuming over the news. Krahenbuhl carried a 1-0 lead into the 9th inning in the midst of a rainstorm. A few moments later, Krahenbuhl induced the game’s final out on a ground ball to shortstop. He had just pitched a perfect game.
Trivia
Original Pacific Suns manager Jim Derrington, fired at midseason, was the starting pitcher for the Chicago White Sox in their final game of the 1956 American League season. He also recorded his only Major League hit that day. Derrington was just 16 years old on September 30th, 1956 and remains the youngest pitcher in American League history to start a game and the youngest player to record a hit.
Owner Don DiCarlo’s 28-year old Marc played for the Suns, as he had in Palm Springs as well, and acquitted himself relative well in 1998, hitting .277 with 3 homers and 5 RBI.
Voices
“I couldn’t wait to get on the phone after the perfect game and tell Oxnard ‘What are you guys thinking?’ They’ve got the worst team in baseball and they could’ve got a couple players for me and instead they got catfish.
“They tried to embarrass me and instead it backfired on them.”
– Ken Krahenbuhl, Pitcher 1998 (1998 Interview with The Alexandria Town Talk)6Russell, Jason. “‘Catfish Deal’ Really Sizzles”. The Town Talk (Alexandria, LA). August 12, 1998
In Memoriam
Field Manager Jim Derrington passed away on March 12, 2020 at the age of 80.
Links
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One Response
I was so happy when the Pacific Suns came to Oxnard, I said finally Ventura County has a minor league team to call our own. I got to be the mascot (Sunny the penguin) and do field preparation before and after games. For me it was fun while it lasted.