Seattle Rainiers Explained

Seattle Rainiers
Firstseason:1919
Lastseason:1976
Allyears:–, –
City:Seattle, Washington
Uniformlogo:Seattle_rainiers_caplogo.svg
Past Class Level:
  • Class A – short season (1972–1976)
  • Triple-A (1958–1968)
  • Open (1952–1957)
  • Triple-A (1945–1951)
  • Double-A (1919–1945)
League:Northwest League (1907–1918, 1972–1976)
Division:PCL West (1963–1968), NWL North (1972, 1975–1976), NWL West (1973–1974)
Past League:Pacific Coast League (1903–1906, 1919–1968)
Pastmajorleague:
Pastnames:
  • Seattle Rainiers (1938–1964, 1972–1976)
  • Seattle Angels (1965–1968)
    Seattle Indians (1907–1937)
    Seattle Siwashes (1903–1906)
Pastparks:
Leaguechamps:1924, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1951, 1955, 1966
Divisionchamps:1966
Colors:Red, navy blue, white

The Seattle Rainiers, originally named the Seattle Indians and also known as the Seattle Angels, were a Minor League Baseball team in Seattle, Washington, that played in the Pacific Coast League from 1903 to 1906 and 1919 to 1968. They were initially named for the indigenous Native American population of the Pacific Northwest, and changed their name after being acquired by the Rainier Brewing Company, which was in turn named for nearby Mount Rainier.

History

Along with the Los Angeles Angels, Portland Beavers, Oakland Oaks, Sacramento Solons, and San Francisco Seals the Indians were charter members of the Pacific Coast League which was founded in after the California League and the Pacific Northwest League merged. They were known in the Pacific Northwest League as the Seattle Clamdiggers. Though the team finished second in 1906, the PCL contracted from six teams to four after the season (mainly due to the failures of the Sacramento franchise). For the next 11 seasons, the Indians played in the Northwest League, at the time a Class B league.

The Indians re-entered the PCL in 1919 with Portland (which had dropped out of the league after 1917), bringing the number of teams in the league to eight. The Indians finished in last place that year, but jumped to second in 1920. In 1924, the Indians won their first PCL pennant, clinching the title on the last day of the 202-game season.

For more than a decade after their championship run, the Indians were mired in the second division year after year. In 1932, their home park, 15,000-seat Dugdale Field, burned to the ground. Located at Rainier and McClellan Streets, it had been built in 1913 when the Indians played in the Northwest League. For the next six years, the team played at Civic Stadium, featuring a playing field of hardpan dirt.

Events took a definite turn for the better in 1938 when Emil Sick, owner of Seattle's Rainier Brewing Company, bought the Indians and renamed them the Seattle Rainiers. He began construction of Sick's Stadium, a 15,000-seat facility on the site of old Dugdale Field. Sick invested in the team, and it bore results. The Rainiers finished first in 1939, 1940 and 1941. They lost the postseason series in 1939, but won pennants in 1940 and 1941. In 1942 and 1943, the Rainiers finished in third place, but did win another PCL pennant in 1942.

After a few lean years, the Rainiers won PCL flags in 1951 and 1955, the last pennants won under Sick's ownership. After the 1960 season, the team was sold to the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox in turn sold the Rainiers to the Los Angeles/California Angels in 1965, who renamed the team the Seattle Angels, as they were known during their last four seasons.

The last hurrah for the Rainiers-turned-Angels came in 1966, when the Seattle Angels won the championship of the PCL's new Western Division (the PCL had absorbed former American Association teams in the midwestern and southwestern parts of the United States). In the playoffs, the Angels defeated the Eastern Division champion Tulsa Oilers, for Seattle's last PCL pennant.

The team's last year was 1968, in which they finished in eighth place overall. Seattle had been granted an expansion team in the American League, the ill-fated Seattle Pilots, which began play in 1969. The Pilots would last but one year in Seattle, before a bankruptcy court sold the team to a group headed by Bud Selig and were moved to Milwaukee in 1970.

The Class A Rainiers

After the Pilots left, Seattle was without professional baseball for the first time since 1900. Following a two-year void, a Sacramento man named Art Peterson bought a Class A Northwest League franchise for Seattle, named them the Rainiers and signed a deal to play in Sicks' Stadium (where the team inherited the Pilots' old offices). The Rainiers played five seasons in the NWL between 1972 and 1976 with two winning teams.

The team was a co-op operation in 1972, drawing players primarily from the San Francisco and Baltimore minor league systems. Managed by former St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Ray Washburn, the Rainiers went into a tailspin in August and finished last in the NWL North Division. The Cincinnati Reds picked up Seattle as an affiliate for the next two seasons. The Rainiers came in with two second-place showings as the team groomed future major league pitchers Manny Sarmiento, Mike Armstrong and outfielder Lynn Jones during that time,[1] as well as manager Greg Riddoch. Peterson went the independent route for 1975 and 1976, signing his own players. One of those was outfielder Casey Sander, a Seattle native who played one season in 1975 before embarking upon an acting career, eventually landing a regular role in the longtime ABC-TV sitcom Grace Under Fire. The 1976 team had the best showing of the Rainiers' five-season run, finishing second by one game to the Portland Mavericks in the NWL's Northern Division.

On September 1, 1976, Seattle shut out Portland 2-0, with local product George Meyring winning the final professional baseball game in Sicks' Stadium.

In 1977, another American League expansion team was awarded to Seattle, the Seattle Mariners.

Season-by-season record

SeasonPDCDivisionFinishWinsLossesWin%Post-seasonManagerAttendance
Seattle Rainiers
19203rd10291.528Buzzy Wares284,950
19214th10382.557Duke Kenworthy235,096
Seattle Indians
19224th90107.457Walter McCredie, Bert Adams166,817
19234th9997.505Harry Wolverton, Red Killefer153,258
19241st10991.545League champions by virtue of best recordRed Killefer232,502
19253rd10391.545Red Killefer158,847
19267th89111.445Red Killefer139,505
19273rd9892.516Red Killefer145,997
19288th64127.335Jim Middleton96,660
19298th67135.332Ernie Johnson97,776
19306th92107.462Ernie Johnson103,341
19314th83104.444Ernie Johnson147,787
19326th9095.486Ernie Johnson, George Burns74,012
19338th65119.353George Burns79,064
19347th81102.443George Burns, Red Killefer182,920
1935BSN7th8093.462Dutch Ruether235,729
19364th9382.531Lost in semi-final series to Portland 0-4Dutch Ruether262,240
19377th8186.458Spencer Abbott, Johnny Bassler144,866
Seattle Rainiers
19382nd10175.571Lost in semi-final series to San Francisco 1-4Jack Lelivelt309,723
19391st10173.580Lost in semi-final series to Los Angeles 2-4Jack Lelivelt355,792
19401st11266.629Defeated Oakland in semi-final series 4-1
Defeated Los Angeles in championship series 4-1		Jack Lelivelt295,820
19411st10470.598Defeated Hollywood in semi-final series 4-3
Defeated Sacramento in championship series 4-3		Bill Skiff273,855
19423rd9682.539Defeated Sacramento in semi-final series 4-1
Defeated Los Angeles in championship series 4-2		Bill Skiff250,779
19433rd8570.548Defeated Los Angeles in semi-final series 4-0
Lost to San Francisco in championship series 2-4		Bill Skiff143,447
Division winner League champions

Affiliations

The Seattle Rainiers were affiliated with the following major league teams:

YearAffiliation(s)
1935; 1946 Boston Braves
1948 Detroit Tigers
1956–60; 1973–74 Cincinnati Reds
1961–64 Boston Red Sox
1965–68
(as Seattle Angels) 		Los Angeles/California Angels

Notable Rainiers alumni

Baseball Hall of Fame alumni

Notable alumni

Players

Tribute

The Mariners occasionally wear Rainiers uniforms as a "1950s throwback" promotion.

In 1995, the Tacoma Tigers, the Mariners Triple-A affiliate, adopted the Rainiers name and have been using it ever since.

References

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Crossley . Drew . 1972-1976 Seattle Rainiers . funwhileitlasted.net . 10 February 2019 . 22 February 2019.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Seattle Rainiers".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.