I had signed up for a four-mile Capital City Highlights Tour in Sacramento. I run, but I’m not a runner. Now, on a weekday morning, I’m greeted by my tour guide, a bonafide running beast, who launched a running-tour business in September. Would I be able to reach the finish line?

Bryan Valenzuela’s sculpture, “Multitudes Converge,” will illustrate the convergence of the Sacramento and American rivers, and it is one of four pieces of public art commissioned for the Golden 1 Center in downtown Sacramento.

In September 2014, the River Cats signed a two-year affiliation agreement with the San Francisco Giants, effectively ending the team’s 15-year partnership with the Oakland Athletics. Less than two years later, the two clubs have inked a new four-year deal, extending the agreement through 2020, marking one of the few times the Giants have signed a four-year agreement with a Triple-A affiliate.

The contractual obligation between a Major League Baseball club and the Triple-A Minor League Baseball affiliate is a standard player development contract with very clear responsibilities. 

Historic business names will go up in lights at the Golden 1 Center food court with the installation of six original neon signs for Shakey’s Pizza Parlor, Tower Records, Coronet Portraits, Franke’s Drugs, Newbert Hardware and Sleeper Stamps & Stationery.

Once players make it to Triple-A, the prospect of being called up to the majors is more tangible. Only about 10 percent of all minor league players make it to the big leagues, and the majority are pulled from the more talented and experienced Triple-A teams, which represent the highest level of Minor League Baseball. 

Moore believes UC Davis could be the first institution in the country to have an approved clinical trial using banked stem cells in a young, athletic population.

These days, college athletics is as much about big business as competition on the field. We recently sat down with Sacramento State Athletic Director Bill Macriss to talk about the challenges small programs face as they try to compete with the behemoths of big-time college sports.

Did you know that Sacramento has been home to professional basketball, football, indoor soccer, outdoor soccer, baseball, tennis and rugby teams? We highlight 12 of our sports milestones and 10 standout athletes.

So while the word — and the practice — might make you roll your eyes, playing hardball can be useful and even necessary when the stakes are high. But please, use sparingly both verbally and in action.