Sonoma Stompers

2014: Inaugural Season

The Stompers announced their first professional signing, Tommy Lyons, in March 2014, and shortly thereafter traded for local player, Jayce Ray. The team's first manager was Ray Serrano, who led the Stompers to a 42–36 record in their inaugural season. In 2015, Serrano accepted a full-time position with the Atlanta Braves to serve as the organization's catching instructor.^[1] Former major league pitcher Bill "Spaceman" Lee started a game for the Stompers on August 12, 2014, pitching the team to victory over the Pittsburg Mettle. Lee set a record with the win, becoming the oldest person (at age 67) to ever win a professional baseball game.^[2] Lee pitched 5+2⁄3 innings, and batted for himself.^[3] Ray was named the leagues Most Valuable Player and later signed with the Boston Red Sox.

2015: "The Only Rule Is It Has to Work"

In 2015, the Sonoma Stompers allowed Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller of Baseball Prospectus's Effectively Wild podcast to serve as the Baseball Operations department, under general manager Theo Fightmaster. The duo wrote about their experience in a book entitled The Only Rule Is It Has to Work, published in 2016.^[4]

On February 15, Fehlandt Lentini was named player manager.^[5] After winning the first half of the season, Lentini was let go. He was replaced by Takashi Miyoshi. The team made history in June 2015, when pitcher Sean Conroy became the first openly gay active professional baseball player.^[6] The Stompers finished the season 44–33 after falling to San Rafael in the championship game.

2016–2017: First coed professional baseball team since 1950s and Championship

In June 2016, the Stompers announced that two female baseball players would join their roster starting in July. Upon joining the team, the two players, outfielder-pitcher Kelsie Whitmore and infielder Stacy Piagno, made the Sonoma Stompers the first coed professional baseball team since the 1950s.^[7][8] The Stompers added catcher Anna Kimbrell in July 2016.^[9] The Stompers won both the first and second halves of the season, earning their first Pacific Association championship under Miyoshi. In 2017, Sonoma clinched a championship game berth after winning the first half of the season, but fell to Vallejo in the finale. After the 2017 season, the Minnesota Twins hired Miyoshi as a coach for Elizabethton Twins.

2018–2019: Back to back regular season titles

In 2018, under new general manager Brett Creamer and manager Zack Pace, the Sonoma Stompers set a Pacific Association record by finishing 57–23. Several players earned league honors during the season. Outfielder Kenny Meimerstorf won the league's Rookie of the Year Award after setting franchise single-season records with 23 home runs and 74 RBIs in 78 games. Former Arizona Diamondbacks prospect Daniel Comstock batted a franchise-record .362 and was named Defensive Player of the Year at catcher. On the mound, Jacob Cox established a Pacific Association single-season record with 26 saves, surpassing the previous mark of 18 set by Sammy Gervacio with the Vallejo Admirals in 2017. Vijay Patel also set a franchise single-season record with nine wins, finishing 9–3 while striking out 92 batters in 84 innings.

The Stompers again finished atop the league in 2019 with a 45–19 regular-season record. During the season, pitcher Cole Watts and outfielder Dondrei Hubbard signed with affiliates of the Kansas City Royals and the San Diego Padres, respectively, becoming the sixth and seventh players in franchise history to sign with affiliated organizations. Pitcher Henry Omana was promoted to Bravos de León of the Mexican League after posting a 3–1 record, 1.33 ERA, and 36 strikeouts over 27 innings in five starts.^[10]