Although it was never recognized as a true major league, to which it aspired, its quality of play was considered very high.

A number of top stars of the era, including Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams, were products of the league.

Following MLB's reorganization of the minor leagues in 2021, it operated as the Triple-A West for one season before switching back to its previous moniker in 2022.

During the 1905 season the San Francisco Seals set the all-time PCL record by playing 230 games.

This allowed players, who were often career minor leaguers, to hone their skills, earn an extra month or two of pay, and reduce the need to find off-season work.

Another outcome was that a number of the all-time minor league records for season statistical totals are held by players from the PCL.

In 1904, NAPBL president Patrick T. Powers brokered terms with the PCL, clearing it of its outlaw status and designating it as a Class A league.

In 1919, with the earlier addition of the Salt Lake City Bees and Vernon Tigers, league membership reached eight teams for the first time.

[1] The Great Depression of the 1930s resulted in a lower quality of play due to the league's salary reduction.

Still, a number of top stars, including Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, and Ox Eckhardt, competed on PCL teams that decade.

Drawing from a strong pool of talent in the area, the PCL produced many outstanding players, including such future major-league Hall of Famers as Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Tony Lazzeri, Paul Waner, Earl Averill, Bobby Doerr, Joe Gordon, and Ernie Lombardi.

One of the better known was Frank Shellenback, whose major league pitching career was brief,[5] but who compiled a record PCL total of 295 wins against 178 losses.

In 1952, the PCL became the only minor league in history to be given the "Open" classification, a grade above the Triple-A level.

The hammer blow to the PCL's major league dreams came in 1958 with the arrival of the first MLB teams on the west coast (the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants).

Additionally, the PCL lost customers to the major league teams which then occupied the same territory.

[1] Several new teams arrived in the 1980s, such as the Calgary Cannons, Colorado Springs Sky Sox, Edmonton Trappers, and Las Vegas Stars, but the league began to stabilize as franchise relocations became less frequent.

The addition of the Iowa Cubs, Nashville Sounds, Oklahoma RedHawks, Omaha Royals, New Orleans Zephyrs, and the expansion Memphis Redbirds grew the league to an all-time-high 16 clubs.

[1] Despite its name, the league now extended well beyond the Pacific coast, stretching from Western Washington to Middle Tennessee; half of its teams were located east of the Rocky Mountains.

[6] In 2019, the team previously known as the Colorado Springs Sky Sox relocated to San Antonio, Texas and continued play in the PCL as the San Antonio Missions, assuming the identity of a team which had previously competed in the Double-A Texas League.

After the completion of the season, the winners of each half meet in a best-of-three series to determine a league champion.

Source:[21] One league team was acquired by the PCL following the disbandment of the American Association after the 1997 season.

Memphis, which was created as an expansion team in 1998, was transferred to the International League along with Iowa, Nashville, and Omaha, which joined the PCL from the American Association in 1998.

Wichita, which also traces its roots to the American Association, was moved to the Texas League along with San Antonio.

It was not until the mid-1930s that the league instituted regular postseason play that was only sporadically cancelled due to financial problems or other factors.

[28] Beginning with 2023, the regular-season is split into two halves, and the winners of each half meet in a best-of-three series for the league championship.