It's a Small World in the Minor Leagues

I’m clear across the country in California to watch a couple of brothers from Scranton, Pa., facing off in a AAA West baseball matchup. A few nights ago in Reno, I noticed Jake McCarthy in the lineup for the Aces. It made me think of Joe McCarthy, who I saw playing for the Durham Bulls years ago in the playoffs against his hometown Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders. I didn’t put two and two together. 

Tonight in Sacramento, Joe McCarthy shows up in the starting lineup for the River Cats. I didn’t know he had been traded from the Rays farm system to the Giants. I looked up his stats page and it said his brother is Jake McCarthy. I didn’t know Joe had a brother in baseball. Sure enough, Jake is in the lineup tonight for the Reno Aces.

In the lineup for Reno, Jake McCarthy from Scranton. For Sacramento it's brother Joe.

When Joe was announced in the lineup over the PA, a group in the section next to me cheered. “He won us this hat,” showing me a AAA championship cap from 2019. I’ll have to do a little research on Joe’s post-season heroics, but I think it had something to do with multiple home runs. Too bad I don’t have my Railriders gear on tonight. Who knew I’d need it?

It's a delayed celebration for the defending AAA champions.
Joe McCarthy makes the cut on the back of the cup. 

What a big, beautiful stadium. Sutter Health Park was renamed after the 2019 season, so this is its inaugural season with the new name. The park opened in 2000 as Raley Field when the Vancouver Canadians were sold and moved to Sacramento. The team has had great success with 12 division championships, five Pacific Coast League championships and three AAA championships, including the last one in 2019.

Joining the River Cats' celebration is Sacramento's own Arik Armstead,
defensive end for the San Francisco 49ers.

We’ll see how it goes for the defending champs in this year’s postseason play. All 30 AAA team will each play five games at home against one opponent and five games on the road against another. The team with the best record after 10 games will be the champion. Needless to say, there are some tiebreaker scenarios.

The stadium is superbly located across the river in West Sacramento, just down the street from the California State Capitol building. In daylight, the gilded Tower Bridge rises above what looks like a well-tended grove in the lawn beyond right field. At night, the towers of the bridge are still visible in the dark, but the star of the show becomes the well-lit Ziggurat, a stepped pyramid office building beyond center field.

The scoreboard, the Ziggurat building and fireworks light up the night after the game.

It’s hard to believe the temperature at first pitch was 98°, because Old Glory and the California Republic flags were gently waving in center field in the late innings thanks to a cool breeze. What else can I say? The food is fantastic, I’ve got a great wi-fi connection as I write this on my laptop at my seat, and I’ve got the McCarthy boys from Scranton in a brother vs. brother duel under the lights in Sacramento.

Scranton's McCarthy brothers. Joe, left, and Jake.

Jake struck out twice, tripled in the ninth and scored on Nick Heath’s line drive into right field. The edge for the night goes to big brother Joe. He went 2 for 4, knocked in a run, and scored a run. So it went for team vs. team. Final: Sacramento River Cats 7, Reno Aces 4.