The San Rafael Pacifics minor league baseball team opens its season with a 7:15 p.m. game at tonight.
The game, against the Sonoma County Grapes, is sold out.
Corte Madera's Eugene Lupario is a minority owner in the Pacifics franchise. "It's been so much fun, but so much work," Lupario told the Marin Independent Journal. "It's funny, you don't think about it, but we have to organize everything that the Giants and A's have to organize. The scale is so fundamentally different, but we still have to check all those boxes."
San Rafael Mayor Gary Phillips and former Mayor Al Boro will throw out the first pitches during pre-game festivities.
The Pacifics will play 42 games at Albert Park through Aug. 26.
Their other opponents in the North American Baseball League's North Division are the Na Koa Ikaika Maui and the Hawaii Stars.
The Sonoma County Grapes and the Hawaii Stars are travel teams that were created when teams from Orange County and Yuma, Ariz., left the league earlier this year.
The Grapes do not have a home field but are expected to become a permanent franchise next year.
More than 150 prospective players attended the Pacific's April 15 tryouts.
The Pacifics will play home games through Sunday, except for Thursday, then travel to Maui. The team is managed by Mike Marshall, who played 11 seasons in the Major League with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the New York Mets and California Angels.
Bay City News Service
