The Asian American Alli­ance of Marin (AAAM) is in­viting the public to watch the San Rafael Pacific play against the Vallejo Admirals on 6:30 p.m., Friday August 9 at Al­bert Park, 155 Andersen Drive in downtown San Rafael. The gates will open at 5:30 p.m.

This will be the San Rafael Pacifics’ first Asian Heritage Night. Sonoma County Taiko will be performing.

A single game ticket is $15. Enter promo code AAAM and all fans will receive $3 off any general admission ticket! In addition, the Pacifics will do­nate half of the proceeds to AAAM for every ticket sold.

The Pacifics was created by major league baseball execu­tive Mike Shapiro and investor Brian Clark in 2011 to play in the North American League. The Pacifics then won the championship in 2012.

Eugene Lupario and Sha­piro, along with Steve Allen, Lupario’s business partner, bought out Pacifics’ majority owner Brian Clark to make the Pacifics a primarily Marin-owned group.

The new owner, Redwood Sports and Entertainment, cre­ated the current league, the Pacific Association of Profes­sional Baseball Clubs, an inde­pendent professional baseball circuit not affiliated with Ma­jor League Baseball. The Napa Silverados, Salinas Stockade, Sonoma Stompers, and the Vallejo Admirals also play in the league.

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Sharpiro, Clark, co-owners Lupario and Allen, proposed to the City of San Rafael that Al­bert Field could be transformed into a minor league ballpark, and that San Rafael and the en­tire Marin County community would benefit from having a minor league baseball team as a part of its social fabric.

The proposal was unani­mously approved by San Ra­fael’s Parks and Recreation department and then twice ap­proved by the City Council.

On June 4, 2012, before a sold-out crowd at Albert Park, the first pitch was thrown and the San Rafael Pacifics were launched. The Pacifics won the 2012 North American League championship in its inaugural season.

In 2013, the Pacifics posted a league-best regular season re­cord of 54-21 (.720), and won the newly formed Pacific As­sociation’s Division Champi­onship. They also won in 2014, 2015, and 2018.

In 2017, the Pacifics drew over 18,000 fans over their 39-game schedule, averaging over 450 fans per game played at Albert Park in downtown San Rafael.

Attorney Leslie Lava joined the San Rafael Pacifics Own­ership Group.

The Pacifics, beginning in their seventh year in opera­tion in 2018, were the league’s most successful team, having won three championships in the league’s first six years and each year supported by the league’s highest attendance.

The Pacifics established themselves in the local com­munity for their engaging and unique family-oriented fan experience at their games, and for their commitment to community service; and was awarded in San Rafael’s 2015 “Large Business of the Year,” the 2015 “Spirit of Marin,” and as the 2017 Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s “Business Di­versity Award” winner.

The Pacifics also reaches out to the community through school, senior center and hos­pital appearances, fund-raisers and awareness campaigns, and baseball clinic and equipment programs for economically disadvantaged kids.

In August 2018, the team was put up for sale, and in 2019, was sold to Gabriel Su­arez who was drafted by the Montreal Expos in 2004. He retired in 2013 and began own­ing and operating minor league franchises.

Suarez hopes to continue with the success of the Pacif­ics. “I want people to remem­ber the Pacifics. I want them to remember the team and what’s (on the field),” Suarez told the Marin IJ. “I want them … to think ‘The Pacifics were an awesome part of that, an awe­some part of our trip here’ or ‘an awesome part of commu­nity’ if they live here.”

Godfrey Lee

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