For the 1974 season, the Milwaukee Brewers' Class AAA team moved to Sacramento and was forced to play in a horseshoe-shaped football venue, Hughes Stadium. This abomination had a 233-foot left field fence (with a 40-foot high net) and was only 390 to center and 300 to right. In claustrophobic environment, the Solons hit 305 home runs and scored 937 runs. Twice, teams combined to hit 14 homers in one game.
Stephen McCartney, who had a rare color image posted in a new Topps Vault offering, was a 178-pound converted infielder who hit 32 home runs and had 30 assists in the cramped outfield. But his totals were surpassed by teammtes Sixto Lezcano (34 homers), Gorman Thomas (51 homers but with 175 strikeouts) and hometown boy Bill McNulty (55 homers, flirting with the PCL record of 61 set by Tony Lazzeri in a 198-game season). Top Brewers prospect Tom Bianco also had 28 homers. But McCartney, unlike any of the other hitters mentioned here, never reached the big leagues.
