Petaluma Top Ten

7. Wine Country Baseball League
The ticker tape is still falling in New York celebrating the Yankees victory in the World Series but if you’re already jonesing for the sound of the crack of a bat don’t despair. The inaugural 16-week season of the Wine Country Baseball League is scheduled to begin June 1, 2010. If you can remember the Crushers, you’ll recall the infinite pleasures of watching the national pastime in our own backyard with major league-lite players playing their hearts out with seats priced at about what you’d paid for a single cup of stale beer at a Giants game. The league will have 12 teams in three divisions; Petaluma is represented in the Southern division of the Sonoma Conference, where our hometown Pirates will contend with teams from Sebastopol, Rohnert Park and Sonoma. Leonhardt Vineyards is the primary sponsor of the league; if you purchase a case of Leonhardt Zin you’ll score four season tickets to the team of your choice. And it’s even for a good cause: By charter, 25-50 percent of the gate and concession profits will be donated to local charities. To check out schedules and special events, visit www.WineCountryBaseball.com.