Dobbins, Dick, 1934-1999

Dick Dobbins, a resident of Berkeley, California, began collecting baseball cards in 1946, the beginning of a life-long passion for the Pacific Coast League (PCL). After many years of collecting cards, photographs, and other PCL-related memorabilia, Dobbins eventually developed a business dealing in baseball memorabilia during the late 1960s. Later, he organized the first Northern California sports memorabilia show, which focused as much on the PCL as it did on Major League Baseball. He authored many articles on such topics as collecting memorabilia, the history of baseball in the San Francisco Bay Area, and the PCL. He was a consultant to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the San Francisco Examiner, and the San Francisco Giants. In 1994 he co-authored (with Jon Twichell) a definitive history of baseball in the San Francisco Bay Area, Nuggets on the Diamond. He subsequently authored The Grand Minor League: an Oral History of the Old Pacific Coast League, which was published posthumously in 1999.

Biography of Dick Dobbins

Dick Dobbins, a resident of Berkeley, California, began collecting baseball cards in 1946, the beginning of a life-long passion for the Pacific Coast League (PCL). After many years of collecting cards, photographs, and other PCL-related memorabilia, Dobbins eventually developed a business dealing in baseball memorabilia during the late 1960s. Later, he organized the first Northern California sports memorabilia show, which focused as much on the PCL as it did on Major League Baseball. He authored many articles on such topics as collecting memorabilia, the history of baseball in the San Francisco Bay Area, and the PCL. He was a consultant to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the San Francisco Examiner, and the San Francisco Giants. In 1994 he co-authored (with Jon Twichell) a definitive history of baseball in the San Francisco Bay Area, Nuggets on the Diamond . He subsequently authored The Grand Minor League: an Oral History of the Old Pacific Coast League, which was published posthumously in 1999.

History of the Pacific Coast League

The Pacific Coast League (PCL) was founded in 1903, and consisted of four franchises from the California League - Oakland, Sacramento, San Francisco, and Los Angeles - and two new franchises in Portland and Seattle. For the next 54 years, the PCL was the dominant baseball presence on the West Coast, eventually adding franchises in Hollywood and San Diego. For much of that time, the PCL had no contractual affiliation with the rest of professional baseball, and was often referred to as the "Third Major League." While major league teams from the American and National Leagues routinely negotiated with PCL teams for the rights to individual players, the PCL was not part of the major/minor league system. The PCL's talent pool was extraordinary, as evidenced by the number of National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees beginning their careers in the PCL, including Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Tony Lazzeri, "Lefty" Gomez, the Waner brothers, Ernie Lombardi, and Harry Heilman.

As the population on the West Coast grew and transportation over longer distances became less time-consuming and expensive, there was a push to move Major League Baseball west. In 1958, the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles and the New York Giants to San Francisco, ending the unopposed popularity of the three most affluent PCL teams, as well as the independent status of the PCL. Shortly after the arrival of Major League Baseball to California, the PCL was incorporated into Major League Baseball's national farm club system. The PCL still operates as of 2009 as a AAA minor league, the most advanced classification below Major League Baseball.