The Nyquist Trophy

		P.C.L. bigwigs discuss retirement, enshrinement, and disappear-ance options on the league’s most tangible historic artifact.

Real life

Beginning in 1928 the Pacific Coast League champion was awarded a trophy called the Governors’ Cup. Sometimes there would be no postseason series; the Cup would just go to the team with the best regular season record. Other years the top two teams would play a series (usually best-of seven) for the Cup. Beginning in 1936 the playoffs were expanded to include four teams—half the league—with a best-of-seven semifinal leading up to a best-of-seven final.

Occasionally the league ran into financial struggles that led to the shortening or even cancellation of the postseason. 1954 was the last year the original Governors’ Cup was awarded, as Oakland defeated San Francisco in a quick best-of-three tilt.

In classic bush league fashion, the original Governors’ Cup, placed in a Los Angeles museum sometime after 1954, was stolen and was never recovered. The league has adopted various championship awards and postseason formats since.

The Redux

We chose 1921 as the start date of our league—seven seasons before the real-life Governor’s Cup came into existence—but we thought it was a cool-sounding name, so from 1921 to 1927 the winner of our best-of-seven league championship series was considered the Governor’s Cup champion.

On November 18, 2017, we lost our good friend Eric Nyquist, one of the founding members of our league. Besides being one of the most genuinely positive and friendly people you could ever meet, Eric was a passionate baseball fan and history buff, and we believe he would have appreciated the re-christening of our championship award to honor him. Beginning with our 1928 season, our league's highest honor is known as the Nyquist Trophy.