Through 1927, champions were usually the regular-season
pennant winnersβthe team with the best
winβloss record at the conclusion of the regular season. From 1928 to 1954, postseason
playoffs were the predominant method of determining champions. Participants from 1936 to 1954 were the four teams with the highest
winning percentages. After a period of postseason dormancy, the playoffs returned in 1963 along with the advent of a divisional alignment. From 1963 to 1977, the winners of each of two divisions vied for the championship. The league operated using a
split season format from 1978 to 1997, with the winners of each half facing off for the right to play for the PCL crown. From 1998 to 2020, the league was split into two conferences of two divisions each. The division winners within each conference met to determine conference champions, and those winners competed for the league championship. The 2021 winner was the team with the best regular-season record. In 2022, the league championship was determined by a single playoff game between the East and West division winners. Beginning with the 2023 season, the league adopted a
split season format, in which the league championship is determined by a best-of-three playoff series between the winners of each half of the season, with the winner meeting the champion of the
International League in the
Triple-A National Championship Game.[1]
The
Pacific Coast League was founded in 1903.[2] A league champion has been determined at the end of each season. With few exceptions, champions from 1903 to 1927 were simply the regular-season
pennant winnersβthe team with the best
winβloss record at the conclusion of the regular championship season. The first league champions were the
Los Angeles Angels, who won by 27+1⁄2 games over the
Sacramento Senators in 1903.[3]
The 1904 and 1905 seasons were contested as
split seasons. Under this format, the schedule was split into two parts. The team with the best record at the end of the first season won the first pennant. Standings were then reset so that all clubs had clean records to begin the second season. If the first season winner also won the second season, they were declared the league champion. If a different team won the second season, the two winners would meet in a playoff series to determine the champion.[4] The
Tacoma Tigers, winners of the first half of the 1904 season, won the first PCL playoff championship by defeating Los Angeles, who tied with Tacoma for the best record in the second half, 5β4β1, in a best-of-ten-games series.[5][6] Roles were reversed in 1904 as Los Angeles bested Tacoma, 5β1.[5]
The only other playoffs during this period occurred in 1918. After two PCL cities,
San Francisco and
Salt Lake City, passed "work or fight" laws to aid the effort to win
World War I, league directors voted to suspend the season after the games of July 14. A postseason series between the first-place
Vernon Tigers and second-place Los Angeles was held to decide the champion.[7] Los Angeles won, 4β2.[8]
Rise and fall of the Governors' Cup (1928β1962)
Playoffs were held briefly from 1928 to 1931, again involving a split season with the winners of each half meeting in a best-of-seven series to determine champions.[9] In 1928, the
San Francisco Seals defeated the
Sacramento Senators, 4β2, to win the first Governors' Cup.[5] The Seals and future winners of the playoffs were awarded a trophy cup named in recognition of the three states with PCL teams at the time:
California,
Oregon, and
Washington.[5] The league returned to recognizing pennant winners as champions from 1932 to 1935.[9]
The Governors' Cup playoffs were revived and expanded from 1936 to 1954. Utilizing the
Shaughnessy playoff system, the top four teams in the league, based on
winning percentage, competed for the championship. The first round typically consisted of a best-of-seven series between the first and fourth-place teams and a series between the second and third-place teams. The winners of these semifinals then faced one another for the championship in a best-of-seven series.[9] The first four-team Governors' Cup was won in 1933 by the
Portland Beavers, who defeated the
Oakland Oaks, 4β1.[9] Financial problems resulted in the cancellation of the playoffs in 1950, 1952, and 1953 and the shortening of the final round to best-of-three series in 1951 and 1954.[9] The last Governors' Cup, awarded in 1954, was won by Oakland, who swept San Francisco for the title.[9]
Postseason play and the awarding of the Governors' Cup was discontinued from 1955 to 1962.[5] During this time, regular-season pennant winner were declared champions. The trophy itself was placed in the
Helms Athletic Foundation Museum in
Los Angeles in 1954, sold to a collector when the museum closed, and was subsequently stolen. A number of other trophies have been awarded to championship teams in later years during which postseason play occurred. The one given in the 1980s and early 1990s was four feet tall and incorporated three full-size baseball bats and a glove. One design from the mid-1990s resembled
Major League Baseball's
Commissioner's Trophy issued to
World Series champions. From 1998 to 2019, the trophy was an engraved glass wedge fixed to a wooden base.[5]
Divisional era (1963βpresent)
The Pacific Coast League divided its teams into two divisions for the first time in 1963 after absorbing three teams from the former
American Association, which had disbanded after the previous season.[10] From 1963 to 1977, the winners of each division met in a best-of-seven series (sometimes five) to determine a champion.[9] The playoffs were expanded to include two
wild card teams in 1978. The winners of each division faced the second-place team in their own division, and the winners of these semifinals then played for the PCL championship, with each series being the best-of-five games.[5]
From 1979 to 1997, the PCL adopted a split season format while maintaining its divisional alignment. Typically, the first and second-half champions within each division played a semifinal series to decide division champions. The winners of these then played for the league championship.[11] In some instances, a team that won both halves of the season received a
bye into the championship round, while in others the team in that division with the second-place full-season record was awarded a wild-card berth and became the first-place team's opponent. The divisional round began as a best-of-three contest,[11] but it was expanded to the best-of-five in 1983. The championship round was usually contested as a best-of-five series, but it became the best-of-seven in some seasons.[5]
The PCL expanded again in 1998 when the American Association, which had been revived in 1969,[10] dissolved for a final time after the 1997 season.[12] The league was then split into two eight-team conferences consisting of two four-team divisions. The division winners within each conference met in a best-of-five series to determine conference champions. Then, the conference winners played a best-of-five series to decide the league champion.[9]
The 2020 season was cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.[13] The Pacific Coast League ceased operations before the 2021 season in conjunction with
Major League Baseball's (MLB) reorganization of
Minor League Baseball.[14] In place of the league, MLB created the Triple-A West, a circuit divided into two divisions of four teams each.[15] Prior to the 2022 season, MLB renamed the Triple-A West the Pacific Coast League, and it carried on the history of the PCL prior to reorganization.[16] Rather than hold playoffs for its championship, the Triple-A West's 2021 title was awarded to the team with the best regular-season record.[17] The
Tacoma Rainiers won this championship by two games ahead of the
Sugar Land Skeeters.[18] In 2022, the winners of each division, East and West, met in a single game to determine the league champion.[19] Beginning in 2023, the regular-season was split into two halves, and the winners of each half meet in a best-of-three series for the league championship.[20][21]
Champions
Key
Year
Some years are linked to articles about the champion team's season
Score
Score of the championship series
*
Co-champions
P
Regular-season pennant winner (1936β1954)
12
Won both the first and second half of the season (1979β1997)
^Los Angeles (133β78) finished 27+1⁄2 games ahead of Sacramento.
^Portland (114β58) finished 21 games ahead of Seattle.
^Los Angeles (115β74) finished 18 games ahead of San Francisco.
^Los Angeles (110β78) finished 13+1⁄2 games ahead of Portland.
^San Francisco (132β80) finished 13+1⁄2 games ahead of Portland.
^Portland (118β85) finished 7 games ahead of Oakland.
^Portland (113β79) finished 2 games ahead of Vernon.
^Oakland (120β83) finished 1 game ahead of Vernon.
^Portland (109β86) finished 7 games ahead of Sacramento.
^Portland (113β84) finished 3+1⁄2 games ahead of Los Angeles.
^San Francisco (118β89) finished 5 games ahead of Salt Lake City.
^Los Angeles (119β79) finished 8 games ahead of Vernon.
^San Francisco (119β93) finished 2 games ahead of Los Angeles.
^The 1918 season was suspended after the games of July 14 due to "work or fight" laws that were passed in
San Francisco and
Salt Lake City to aid the effort to win
World War I. A postseason series between first-place Vernon and second-place Los Angeles was held to determine the champion.[7]
^Vernon (111β70) finished 2+1⁄2 games ahead of Los Angeles.
^Vernon (110β88) finished 5+1⁄2 games ahead of Seattle.
^Los Angeles (108β80) finished 1+1⁄2 games ahead of Sacramento.
^San Francisco (127β72) finished 4 games ahead of Vernon.
^San Francisco (124β77) finished 11 games ahead of Sacramento.
^Seattle (109β91) finished 1+1⁄2 games ahead of Los Angeles.
^San Francisco (128β71) finished 12+1⁄2 games ahead of Salt Lake City.
^Los Angeles (121β81) finished 10+1⁄2 games ahead of Oakland.
^Oakland (120β75) finished 14+1⁄2 games ahead of San Francisco.
^Portland (111β78) finished 5 games ahead of Hollywood.
^Los Angeles (114β73) finished 6+1⁄2 games ahead of Portland.
^Los Angeles won the championship by virtue of winning both halves of the season.[51]
^Oakland (118β82) finished 4 games ahead of San Diego.
^Hollywood (109β71) finished 5 games ahead of Oakland.
^Hollywood (106β74) finished 8 games ahead of Seattle.
^Seattle (95β77) finished 3 games ahead of San Diego.
^Los Angeles (107β61) finished 16 games ahead of Seattle.
^San Francisco (101β67) finished 3+1⁄2 games ahead of Vancouver.
^Phoenix (89β65) finished 4+1⁄2 games ahead of San Diego.
^Salt Lake City (85β69) finished 1+1⁄2 games ahead of Vancouver.
^Spokane (92β61) finished 11+1⁄2 games ahead of Tacoma.
^Tacoma (97β57) finished 10 games ahead of Vancouver.
^San Diego (93β61) finished 12 games ahead of Tacoma and Salt Lake, who were tied for second place.
^Albuquerque and Tacoma were declared co-champions on the basis of having won the regular-season division titles after the semifinal series between Portland and Tacoma had been postponed by three rainouts and the teams could not afford to wait to complete the series.[96]
^The best-of-five series was reduced to the best-of-three due to rain and unplayable field conditions.[103]