Dave Phinney has been somewhat of a legend with his work at Savage & Cooke and his past labels such as The Prisoner and Orin Swift Collection. Now as the Vallejo Admirals enter their eighth year in independent minor league baseball, Phinney is hoping the team can age in the same way as fine wine.

Phinney, who also formed the Nimitz Group with Gaylon Lawrence Jr., and Sebastian Lane, bought the Admirals from Kevin Reilly for an undisclosed amount last week. As Phinney walked into Wilson Park on Friday morning he remarked, “If you had told me 20 years ago I’d be buying a baseball team at some point in my life, I’d be laughing at you.”

However, Phinney was happy and serious when he sat down to chat in the Admirals home dugout.

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The Vallejo Admirals announced that Heather Luna, a veteran of the Pacific Association, will be the team’s new General Manager.

Luna worked as the Assistant General Manager with the San Rafael Pacifics during their 2018 Pacific Association championship season.

Luna grew up in Napa and played several sports as a child. She did her undergraduate work at Sonoma State and earned a Masters in Sport Management from the University of San Francisco. She has worked for two Super Bowl host committees, managing the Volunteer Department.

VALLEJO, Calif. — The Vallejo Admirals announced the sale of the team from Kevin Reilly to Dave Phinney, a Napa Valley winemaker and one of the partners in the Nimitz Group.

Reilly had owned the team since early 2015. Under Reilly, the team won its first Pacific Association championship in 2017. The Admirals also made the Pacific Association playoffs the past three seasons.

“It has been a great ride,” Reilly said. “It started as a way to give Vallejo residents a place to gather, have fun and see the best of their city, featured in the between-inning events. It became a small part of the resurgence of Vallejo. I am honored to have been part of it and I’m happy it will be in excellent hands going forward.”

“I am very excited to be a part of this next chapter of the Vallejo Admirals,” Phinney said. “We take this responsibility very seriously and with that in mind I am proud to announce that my good friend Carmen Policy has agreed to assist us at an advisory level with an eye towards joining the ownership group that includes another good friend two- time World Series Champion and Petaluma native Jonny Gomes.”