As a part of the Time Tested Books’ Living Library series, co-sponsored by Midtown Monthly, author and baseball historian Allan O’Connor presented Sunday at Time Tested Books on Sacramento’s long history in the “Other Major League.”

He talked about his book, “Gold on the Diamond,” which chronicles the history of Sacramento baseball teams since the sport arrived here during the Gold Rush.

“Before 1960 and before the usage of air travel by major league baseball teams, the Pacific Coast League was in many ways a third major league, located on the west coast while the American and National Leagues served up the national pastime on the East Coast,” O’Connor shared.

The Sacramento Senators, nicknamed the “Solons,” were a team in that western “major league.”

The parity between the Pacific Coast League and the "big leagues" back east was so complete that standout Sacramento players such as Joe Marti and Dave Freitas stayed in their hometowns because they could make just as much money here as they could playing with the American League or National League teams. Also, teams in the west were flying to the next city while their counterparts in the east were still traveling by train.

Cuno Barragon was a Hispanic kid who grew up playing ball in his neighborhood around 13th and L streets in the ’30s and ’40s. By the 1950s he was playing catcher for the Sacramento Solons, and at the end of the 1960 season was dealt to the Chicago Cubs.

During his three-year stint as catcher with the Cubs in the early 1960s, Cuno Barragon hit against the great National League pitchers of that era: Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Bob Gibson, Juan Marichal, and Warren Spahn.

“Which ones were especially tough to hit?” Barragon was asked.

“They were all tough to hit. Have you seen my batting average?” Barragon joked.

Barragon and O’Connor went back and forth, sharing baseball stories with fellow Sacramentans, including longtime baseball fan Dean Ono.

“I saw them when they were at Hughes Stadium in 1974, when a couple of guys like Gordon Thomas from the Solons made it to the Brewers and were leading the league for home runs,” Ono said. “I remember when I jumped the fence to get one of their foul balls,” he added with a laugh. “It was always a great time.”

Other audience members shared similar memories of Sacramento’s PCL team.

Ron Deal said he remembers seeing the Solons play on Edmonds Field, which he said wasn’t all that different from Raley Field.

“I was a kid when I was watching them at Edmonds Field, but you know it wasn’t much different,” Deal said. “They had the green fence and boards and the stands. The league dimensions were a little bit different, but other than that, Raley Field is just a modern version.”

Something that was different, though, was the technology.

“People have asked me if I’ve ever hit somebody who threw 100 m.p.h, “Barragon said. “I say, ‘Well we didn’t have a clock, but I can show you a bone bruise.’ ”

The next event in the Time Tested Books’ Living Library series will be Sunday Oct. 17 with Richard Simpson. Time Tested Books is located at 1114 21st Street.