2013 Pacific Association season

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

The 2013 Pacific Association season was the first season of this independent baseball league based in California and Hawaii. It grew out of the North American Baseball League and planned five teams: the Hawaii Stars, Na Koa Ikaika Maui, San Rafael Pacifics, the Sonoma County Grapes (a traveling team), and the Vallejo Admirals. The Grapes opted out before the season started, and the Admirals were added as a fourth charter team. Travel costs and financial issues led to changes during the year, including the East Bay Lumberjacks joining (and later being renamed the Bay Cal Lumberjacks) and the Admirals briefly suspending operations before resuming play.

The season ran from May 28 to August 25, with 75 regular-season games (186 total when including interleague play). The league scheduled interleague games against teams in Japan’s Baseball Challenge League and against the Freedom Pro Baseball League in Arizona, but travel costs created ongoing scheduling and participation challenges. By the end of the season, the Hawaiian teams ceased operations due to travel costs, and the Bay Cal Lumberjacks did not return for 2014.

Playoffs began with a round-robin play-in hosted by the Vallejo Admirals at Wilson Park to determine who would advance to the semifinals. The Na Koa Ikaika Maui then advanced by defeating the Admirals 8–3 in the semifinal, and Maui went on to beat the San Rafael Pacifics 6–1 in the championship game held in San Rafael, earning the first Pacific Association title. The San Rafael Pacifics finished as runners-up.