Remembering the glory days of the Solano Steelheads

My favorite sports memory in Fairfield-Suisun has virtually nothing to do with being a sports editor. It was the three years when a minor league baseball team played in Vacaville.

Those were the  perfect three years for my sons. The first year of Steelheads baseball, my oldest son was 9 , the youngest was 7. When I think of our weekly trips to watch the Steelheads (as a sports writer, I was out there more than that), I remember Mrs. Brad and I sitting in the stands and relaxing, while our sons chased foul balls and ran the bases after the games.

First, the basics. The Steelheads were part of the Western Baseball League, an independent league that varied from six to eight teams and operated from 1995 until 2002. At most, there were teams from four states. By the end, there were six teams, including the Steelheads.

The teams weren't affiliated with major league teams. Players had all either been overlooked by major league organizations or released by a team.

The pay was meager. The playing conditions were sub-optimal. The players were either chasing a dream or trying to extend their playing career as long as possible.

There were a few former major-leaguers on the team over those three years (including Paul Menhardt, who was the pitching coach for the World Series champion Washington Nationals last year). There were some local products who were hoping to get a shot at something bigger. Mostly, it was players who weren't ready to give up on their dream of playing baseball for a living.

The games cost about the same as a movie, so it was a good buy.

The team was owned by a guy who ended up in court with nearly everyone, including the Daily Republic. The business side of it – like many similar outfits – was often a mess. But the baseball side was glorious.

Travis Credit Union Park held about 2,800 fans, although the team averaged less than 1,000 per game. Still, it was Solano County's team.

Over the three years, the Steelheads' roster was reasonably stable. Their greatest player – probably the best player in the entire league – was a catcher named Vic Sanchez. Sanchez was the home run king of the league, leading the league with 31 homers in 2001 and 22 in 2002. Sanchez also reportedly worked at a hospital in Stockton, driving up for home games. It was that kind of league.

The owner had some sort of pipeline to Australia, so there were always Aussies on the team. There was a mascot (Sammy Steelhead). Travis Air Force Base sent a C-5 over the ballpark on opening night, a slow-motion version of when jets soar over major league ballparks. It was funny and fun.

Our family's highlight was probably when my oldest son (now a professional artist) made signs for when they gave away free pizza to the loudest fans. Each of us had a sign, and we chanted "We Want Pizza!"

We got pizza.

Three summers of going to ballgames, watching our sons have fun and cheering on working-class baseball players.

Like many such enterprises, things ultimately went sideways. The team folded and a college all-star team replaced them in the ballpark for a few years.  In 2008, the ballpark was disassembled and sold to Simpson College in Redding. The site is now part of the Nut Tree Complex.

There's now a team in Vallejo, the Admirals. Last year we went to a game (with our oldest son, our daughter-in-law and our granddaughter) and watched. We'll go again.

But when the weather starts warming and baseball returns – which will happen, sometime – I will remember those summers when the Steelheads were in Vacaville.

Glory days, I guess.

Reach Brad Stanhope at bradstanhope@hotmail.com.