The Western Baseball League would open up operation with eight teams, and one of those teams would call Rohnert Park Stadium its home. The Sonoma County Crushers were born and became an automatic hit with the northern California baseball fans that desperately missed the Pioneers. The Crushers produced the 1995 player of the year for the WBL in the form of Kyle Washington. It also had other fan favorites like; David Mowry, Armando Diaz, Lee Langley, Dan Lewis, Jeff Richardson and Tony Coscia. The Crushers would go on and win the League Championship in 1998, all the while being in the top five in attendance for all seven years of the leagues existence. The team would draw 80,000 plus fans a year and lead the league in attendance in 1996 drawing 92,020 fans that year. Towards the later years of the Crushers, a familiar bay area sports star would come and join the team. Kevin Mitchell would start as a player, and in the final season of 2002 Mitchell would coach the team. Unfortunately the WBL wouldn’t continue after the 2002 season and the Crushers ceased operation. The one comforting feeling was that the team was the lone surviving member of the original WBL that was started in 1995. Rohnert Park Stadium would be around for a few more years after the Crushers occupied it, but ultimately it would be torn down in 2005 and replaced with a Costco.
With a void of northern California baseball, a glimmer of hope was sparked when it was announced that 2012 would be the inaugural season of the San Rafael Pacifics of the North American Baseball League. They will call Albert Park in San Rafael, California home and will start its season June 4th. The franchise hoped to add a team in the 2013 season, but due to the folding of the Yuma Panthers the process was accelerated. It was announced that the Sonoma County Grapes would take the place of the Panthers and be a strict road franchise until a home is found. This announcement means that after a decade of missing baseball in Sonoma County, it’s time to gather and cheer on your local team.
My hopes are that the management of the Pacifics will realize the wonderful opportunity that has been presented to them and go through and research the possibility of resurrecting the Crushers franchise. It has been stated that the fan fare is definitely there for the former Sonoma County franchise, and with that it could be very prosperous for all involved. So to the old fans of the Crushers, write the Pacifics and any media outlet. Become outspoken and help the Sonoma County Crusher be reborn. Together we can all revive what was once so special and make it grand again…
