Looking for things to do with Dad this weekend? Try a non-traditional approach this Father's Day and treat him to a fun activity around Sacramento. In addition to the events below, find even more in Sacramento365.com's Holiday Events section or do a quick date search for the weekend to see an even wider variety of activities.   Get sporty with it: Superheroes 5K Run/Walk: Capitol Mall; Sun 8am: The bad guys will tremble this Father's Day as thousands of superheroes storm the Capitol Mall in this larger than life 5K run/walk. At the finish line there will be prizes awarded to the best superhero costumes and those who were faster than a speeding bullet. Father's Day BBQ at the River C

Watching the Sacramento River Cats isn’t like going to a Giants or A’s game – and that’s a good thing. There’s nothing like the minor leagues, especially at the AAA level played by the hometown River Cats. Players in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) are as close to the Big Leagues and that big time money and fame as you can get. Fans in Sacramento waited more than 20 years for professional baseball to return before the Cats arrived in 2000, and were rewarded with being the top farm club for a franchise that’s a mere 100 miles away. That means you can watch a River Cats player at cozy Raley Field, then follow him to the highest level once he hits Oakland. Another local bonus is that Stockton

Paul Valéry, the French writer, poet and philosopher, once said, “An artist never really finishes his work, he merely abandons it.” Those words exemplify the process that took place over a three-year period to create a mural at Rio Americano High School. On Tuesday night, April 30, the unveiling of the completed mural took place at Rio's band building. The high school's “Rio Music” project commenced in 2010 with the sponsorship and support of the Sacramento River Cats and the Rio Band Boosters. Artist Markos Egure was commissioned for the project, which proceeded in three different phases. Egure's other artistic work can be seen at various sites in the Sacramento area. Egure, and the

Dan Straily was sent down three days ago to make room for the long-awaited return of Brett Anderson. Straily did nothing wrong. In fact, he could be called back to the big club very soon. And after his strong start in Sacramento on Thursday, that call could be very soon indeed. Straily went five strong innings and helped the Sacramento River Cats win their fourth in a row by beating the Salt Lake Bees 6-3 at Raley Field on Thursday evening. “He threw the ball well,” said Cats manager Darren Bush. “He moved the ball around, changed speeds and was aggressive. He looked good!” The first couple of innings flew by for both teams. As for Straily, he even struck out the side in the second, d

The River Cats were sailing along on this eight-game homestand. As winners of the first five, things seemed to be on cruise control. But this is the Pacific Coast League, where anything can happen — and quite frequently does. The Nashville Sounds came to town for a four-game stop and, after losing the first contest, found their stride and took the next game from Sacramento. On Tuesday evening the Cats would lose their second game in a row to the Sounds 5-4 on a wild pitch by Merkin Valdez in the top of the ninth inning. On Wednesday afternoon, the River Cats were looking to end their small two-game losing streak, and did so when Daric Barton was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in t

With rumors swirling that Cats phenom pitcher Dan Straily would be called up to the big club at any moment, Tyson Ross got the call to replace Straily in the starting lineup for Thursday’s tilt against the Memphis Redbirds. With nearly the same type of clutch hitting as the night before, Ross’s fine performance and solid relief from James Timmons, Pedro Figueroa and Rich Thompson out of the bullpen, the Sacramento River Cats beat the visiting Redbirds 4-3 in front of 8,762 faithful in another exciting contest at Raley Field. Even though it was the late clutch hitting of the Cats that helped pull out the victory, Cats manager Darren Bush couldn’t let the performance of his starter go unno

To say the Oakland A’s have an eye for pitching talent and like to have lots of live arms is like telling a 35-year-old that Santa Claus doesn’t exist. Duh! Graham Godfrey is one of those live arms that for one reason or another hasn’t been able to find his mark when called up for duty. Godfrey thinks he may have found what ailed him over his last few starts, when his earned run average skyrocketed from 1.21 on June 15 to 3.29 prior to the game on Wednesday evening. “I’ve been battling an injury and you can kind of notice the dip in my numbers,” said Godfrey. “It was something I was trying to pitch through, but I just needed some time off. I was able to rehab it and get it strong again

The Sacramento River Cats faced off against their division rival the Tucson Padres on a hot Sunday afternoon at Raley Field. The Tucson Padres were quiet for the first four innings as the River Cats’ starting pitcher Tyson Ross kept them without a hit. In the first inning the River Cats looked strong, as Jermaine Mitchell started off the River Cats’ bottom of the inning with a double. Collin Cowgill followed with a walk and Josh Donaldson singled to left field. With the bases loaded and nobody out, prospects looked good for a high-scoring first inning. Kila Ka'aihue registered the first out as he popped to second base. Michael Taylor reached first on a fielding error and Mitchell sc

Much of the excitement during the River Cats game on Sunday afternoon happened during the bottom of the second inning as they faced the Las Vegas 51s. The game did not start well for the River Cats, as Brad Peacock walked the first Las Vegas batter he faced. Las Vegas’ Anthony Gose wanted to test Peacock’s delivery and tried to steal second base. However, catcher Josh Donaldson was ready, and threw to second basement Eric Sogard as Gose was trying to steal second base. Peacock proceeded to strike out Adeiny Hechavarria for the second out. Peacock pitched a strong six innings, and struck out eight Las Vegas batters. David Cooper popped out to first baseman Daric Barton and ended the to

With all the pitching changes on the Oakland A’s staff that have already occurred this season, you don’t really know who may be called up from one level for good or get a one-time start on the roster. So when Dan Straily took the mound on Thursday evening to throw his first pitches against hitters at the Triple-A level, even though he had an incredible strikeout-hit ratio, no one, not even Straily, knew quite what to expect. Straily admitted that maybe he had to shake off a little case of the jitters early in the game. “I was a little nervous there early on,” said Straily. “It was nice I was able to watch a couple of games, and settled in that way. But going out there and towing the rub

The Sacramento River Cats played catch up with the Tacoma Rainiers in their game on Thursday night. Tacoma began their scoring with an early rally on the top of the second inning when the Rainiers’ Carlos Peguero singled to center field. Vinnie Catricala reached first on a fielding error by the River Cats’ Brandon Hicks and Peguero reached third. Mike Wilson hit his fourth homer of the season and the Rainiers took a 3-0 lead. At the bottom the third the River Cats began a short rally after a Hicks pop out and a Wes Timmons ground out. With two outs Jermaine Mitchell singled to second base. As Grant Green came to bat, Mitchell stold his 10th base of the season and moved to second. Gree

This Sunday, June 17, 2012 is Father’s Day. Why not avoid the traditional gifts and treat Dad to a meal or a fun-filled day out? Sacramento365.com's Holiday event section has many options as well, but let us outline some for you below! Eat & Drink Well Father’s Day Brunch with Live Mariachi: Zocalo; Sun 9am Join Zocalo for their annual Father's Day Brunch with live mariachi music. Fun for the entire family! Father’s Day Blues and BBQ: Old Sugar Mill; Sun 11am-5pm Bring dad out for blues, BBQ, & cigars by Art of Cigars on the Carvalho Family Winery Crush Pad. Father’s Day Beer Brunch Cruise: Empress Hornblower; Sun 11:30am-1:30pm Dad will enjoy the unique experience of a Father's Day Be

Bobby Cary from Woodcreek High School in Roseville has been named the grand prize winner in the Water Spots Video Contest, sponsored by the Regional Water Authority and Sacramento Bee Media in Education program. Cary's video was one of nearly 90 half-minute spots submitted in the first annual contest designed to teach kids about using water efficiently. Celebrity judges narrowed the videos submitted down to 11 finalists, and the public voted Cary's video their favorite. The finalists and grand prize winner were unveiled on Raley Field's Jumbotron before a Sacramento River Cats game. The top three winning students and teachers also received cash prizes. Cary's winning video is now part of

Graham Godfrey is killing it in Triple-A. If he keeps up the numbers like he has so far at this level, he’ll easily be a pitcher of the year candidate. Problem is, that's a minor league award and Godfrey is determined to get back to the A’s and stay there. On Thursday evening, Godfrey did his part to increase his chances of being recalled and in hilding down the Fresno Grizzlies offense by only allowing one earned run in eight strong innings of work. This time, the bullpen let him down, as the usually reliable Fautino De Los Santos gave up three hits – all singles in the bottom of the ninth – as the Grizz knocked off the Sacramento River Cats 2-1 at Raley Field in front of 9,431 fans.

With their division rivals in town and the possibility of seeing Manny Ramirez and Yoenis Cespedes, the series opener against the Fresno Grizzlies promised to be an exciting one. In front of a solid Tuesday crowd of 8,729, Ramirez didn’t play (finished 10-game rehab stint), but it didn’t matter as the River Cats beat the division-leading Triple-A team of the San Francisco Giants 4-2 on great pitching and a walk-off home run by Brandon Hicks. It was relatively quiet until the bottom of the second inning when Cats first baseman Chris Carter led off with a walk. After he stole second, Anthony Recker, who was optioned back to Sacramento yesterday, ripped a line shot into left field that plat

Coming into Thursday night’s contest at Raley Field, the Sacramento River Cats were on a roll. As winners of four of their last five, the team’s confidence was riding high, especially considering the pitching staff had only given up seven runs in the last five games. All that changed with the Tacoma Rainiers in town. They brought their ace, Anthony Vasquez, who had a streak of nine consecutive quality starts on the line dating back to last July, pitched a gem and kept Sacramento’s bats confused by changing speeds often. The pitching performance allowed the Rainiers to win the game 1-0 on a beautiful 79 degree evening in front of 4,304 fans. For the River Cats, the action got started in t

The River Cats lost to the Tacoma Rainiers 2-1 in final inning of Wednesday’s 10-inning game. This was the second game in the River Cats four-game series against the Rainiers. The River Cats won the previous game Tuesday 5-1. The sun shone off and on through the partially cloudy sky, and the 68-degree temperature made the stadium a comfortable place to sit and watch the game. Fans were smiling and cheering the entire time. The first inning appeared promising for the River Cats after Rainier shortstop Carlos Triunfel’s interference at bat caused the first out of the game. The interference also sent center fielder Trayvon Robinson back to first after his attempt to steal second and third.

In the first two series of the year the Sacramento River Cats won both of them by winning three of the four games played in each. In the third series of the year, it was a close one, but the Cats beat the Reno Aces 2-1 in a classic pitchers’ duel on Monday night at Raley Field. The Aces were the first to scratch a run onto the huge Raley Field scoreboard when Ryan Wheeler ripped a 3-0 pitch from Cats starter Jarrod Parker that went screaming over the right field fence on a rope for a solo home run. Parker was solid though three innings of work. One-third of the way through the game, he had four strikeouts, three hits and a walk. In the bottom half of the third, Cats left fielder Grant G

As the grass gets greener and the sun starts to shine more often, the question for some players in the Oakland A’s system is - which team will they be starting the season with, the Oakland A’s or their Triple-A affiliate, the Sacramento River Cats? Some players, like Jemile Weeks, suited up in the maroon and grey of the Cats for most of last year until getting the call to don the Kelly green and gold of the Athletics late in the season. For Weeks, it’s a comfortable feeling knowing that a good portion of the River Cats players he spent most of the last couple of years with had a chance to make this year’s big club. “It’s great, I love it,” Weeks said. “These are guys I played with in th

The Sacramento River Cats organization is hiring for about 200 stadium jobs starting next week, and unlike previous years, this year’s jobs are being filled online – not at a job fair. “There’s a wide variety of positions we’re hiring for,” said River Cats spokesman Nick Lozito. “They’re all positions that involve interaction with our fans, so we’re looking for people who are friendly and people who can help maintain what we’ve created here.” Positions include grounds crew, ticket sales, in-game promotions crew, kid’s corner attendants and parking attendants. Applicants don’t need to be experts on baseball, but they must be at least 18 years old, Lozito said. Before hiring, applicants w