thumb|right|upright=1.5|alt=A pennant reading "1911" bearing the images of 19 men in baseball caps|A [[pennant (sports)|pennant celebrating the 1911 Pacific Coast League champion Portland Beavers]]
The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball. A champion has been determined at the end of each season since the league was formed in 1903.
Through 1927, champions were usually the regular-season pennant winners—the team with the best win–loss record at the conclusion of the regular season. From 1928 to 1954, postseason playoffs were the predominant method of determining champions. Participants from 1936 to 1954 were the four teams with the highest winning percentages. After a period of postseason dormancy, the playoffs returned in 1963 along with the advent of a divisional alignment. From 1963 to 1977, the winners of each of two divisions vied for the championship. The league operated using a split season format from 1978 to 1997, with the winners of each half facing off for the right to play for the PCL crown. From 1998 to 2020, the league was split into two conferences of two divisions each. The division winners within each conference met to determine conference champions, and those winners competed for the league championship. The 2021 winner was the team with the best regular-season record. In 2022, the league championship was determined by a single playoff game between the East and West division winners. Beginning with the 2023 season, the league adopted a split season format, in which the league championship is determined by a best-of-three playoff series between the winners of each half of the season, with the winner meeting the champion of the International League in the Triple-A National Championship Game.
The San Francisco Seals won 14 Pacific Coast League championships, more than any other team, followed by the Los Angeles Angels (12) and the Albuquerque Dukes and Portland Beavers (8). Among active PCL franchises, the Tacoma Rainiers have seven championships, the most of all teams, followed by the Sacramento River Cats (5) and the Las Vegas Aviators and Oklahoma City Comets (3).
History
Pre-playoff era (1903–1927)
thumb|left|upright=1.4|alt=Twenty-two men and one boy wearing dark suits|The [[San Francisco Seals (PCL)|San Francisco Seals (shown in 1909) won 14 championships, more than any other team.]]
The Pacific Coast League was founded in 1903. A league champion has been determined at the end of each season. With few exceptions, champions from 1903 to 1927 were simply the regular-season pennant winners—the team with the best win–loss record at the conclusion of the regular championship season. The first league champions were the Los Angeles Angels, who won by games over the Sacramento Senators in 1903.
The 1904 and 1905 seasons were contested as split seasons. Under this format, the schedule was split into two parts. The team with the best record at the end of the first season won the first pennant. Standings were then reset so that all clubs had clean records to begin the second season. If the first season winner also won the second season, they were declared the league champion. If a different team won the second season, the two winners would meet in a playoff series to determine the champion. The Tacoma Tigers, winners of the first half of the 1904 season, won the first PCL playoff championship by defeating Los Angeles, who tied with Tacoma for the best record in the second half, 5–4–1, in a best-of-ten-games series. Roles were reversed in 1904 as Los Angeles bested Tacoma, 5–1. Los Angeles won, 4–2.
Rise and fall of the Governors' Cup (1928–1962)
Playoffs were held briefly from 1928 to 1931, again involving a split season with the winners of each half meeting in a best-of-seven series to determine champions. In 1928, the San Francisco Seals defeated the Sacramento Senators, 4–2, to win the first Governors' Cup. From 1963 to 1977, the winners of each division met in a best-of-seven series (sometimes five) to determine a champion. In some instances, a team that won both halves of the season received a bye into the championship round, while in others the team in that division with the second-place full-season record was awarded a wild-card berth and became the first-place team's opponent. The divisional round began as a best-of-three contest, The league was then split into two eight-team conferences consisting of two four-team divisions. The division winners within each conference met in a best-of-five series to determine conference champions. Then, the conference winners played a best-of-five series to decide the league champion. The Pacific Coast League ceased operations before the 2021 season in conjunction with Major League Baseball's (MLB) reorganization of Minor League Baseball. In place of the league, MLB created the Triple-A West, a circuit divided into two divisions of four teams each. Prior to the 2022 season, MLB renamed the Triple-A West the Pacific Coast League, and it carried on the history of the PCL prior to reorganization. Rather than hold playoffs for its championship, the Triple-A West's 2021 title was awarded to the team with the best regular-season record. The Tacoma Rainiers won this championship by two games ahead of the Sugar Land Skeeters. In 2022, the winners of each division, East and West, met in a single game to determine the league champion. Beginning in 2023, the regular-season was split into two halves, and the winners of each half meet in a best-of-three series for the league championship.
Champions
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="font-size:85%"
|+Key
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|Year
|Some years are linked to articles about the champion team's season
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|Score
|Score of the championship series
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|*
|Co-champions
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|P
|Regular-season pennant winner (1936–1954)
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|12
|Won both the first and second half of the season (1979–1997)
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:center"|WC
|Wild card qualifier (1978–1997)
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+Champions
!scope="col" | Year
!scope="col" | Champion
!scope="col" class="unsortable"| Score
!scope="col" | Runner-up
!scope="col" class="unsortable"| Other playoff teams
!scope="col" class="unsortable"|
|-
|1903
!scope="row"|
| — || style="text-align:left"| Sacramento Senators || — ||
|-
|1905
!scope="row"|
| 5–1 || style="text-align:left" |Tacoma Tigers || — ||
|-
|1906
!scope="row"|
| — || style="text-align:left"| Seattle Siwashes || — ||
|-
|1907
!scope="row"|
| — || style="text-align:left"| San Francisco Seals || — ||
|-
|1908
!scope="row"|
| — || style="text-align:left"| || — ||
|-
|1909
!scope="row"|
| — || style="text-align:left"| || — ||
|-
|1910
!scope="row"|
| — || style="text-align:left"| Oakland Oaks || — ||
|-
|1911
!scope="row"|
| — || style="text-align:left"| Vernon Tigers || — ||
|-
|1912
!scope="row"|
| — || style="text-align:left"| Vernon Tigers || — ||
|-
|1913
!scope="row"|
| — || style="text-align:left"| Sacramento Sacts || — ||
|-
|1914
!scope="row"|
| — || style="text-align:left"| || — ||
|-
|1915
!scope="row" style="text-align:left"| San Francisco Seals
| — || style="text-align:left"| Salt Lake City Bees || — ||
|-
|1916
!scope="row"|
| — || style="text-align:left"| Vernon Tigers || — ||
|-
|1917
!scope="row"|
| — || style="text-align:left"| || — ||
|-
|1918
!scope="row"|
| 5–2