Portland Beavers at Tacoma Rainiers
June 25, 2006 Cheney Stadium, Tacoma, WA.
During the month of June, I was reading the book Foul Ball by Jim Bouton. Bouton, of course, is the former major league pitcher who caused quite a stir when he wrote his previous book, Ball Four, which exposed the day to day life in the major leagues. In Foul Ball, Bouton chronicled his experiences in trying to save an aging ballpark in Pittsfield, Massachusettes while fighting big corporations who wanted to build a new baseball stadium (with public money) in the town. The big boy's argument was that cities, even those considered minor league, had to build sparkling, new baseball amusement parks to keep up with the competition. In 2000, Pittsfield lost their MLB-affiliated team to Troy, New York when that city built a new ballpark.
In the last ten years, there have been numerous examples of long-time teams leaving for new ballparks in the minor leagues. The Louisville Redbirds, for decades the AAA team for the St. Louis Cardinals, moved to Memphis and its new ballpark. The Albequerque Dukes left their aging stadium and moved to Portland, Oregon and newly renovated PGE Park. Albequerque then passed a levy for stadium renovations and took a team from Calgary, Alberta. These are just a few examples of a cut-throat competition.
So with this atmosphere going on, will somebody explain to me why the Tacoma Rainiers still play at Cheney Stadium?
Cheney was built with the remnants of San Francisco's Seals Stadium in 1960 ( Tacoma was the SF Giants' Triple A club for its first five years of existence) and has virtually remained the same ever since. A concrete saucer surrounding home plate and then bleachers extending along the foul lines. The field itself is wonderful with deep power alleys and a thick, green outfield. On a clear day, Mt. Rainier is very present just to the right of right field. It is a very nice place to watch a game. Beer and food prices are reasonable and the experience is pleasant. On this particular day, it was a Sunday afternoon that was extremely warm and a good sized crowd that watched the Rainiers beat the Beavers, 6-5.
It's just getting through the bombshelters to get to it. The stadium grounds are separated by always reliable but hardly nice looking cyclone fencing. And then walking around the grounds is a study in painted concrete. Nothing remarkable nor insulting. There is a mural of faceless ballplayers in a dugout wearing the different uniforms of all the Tacoma teams that called Cheney home, including the Cubs, Twins, Tugs, Tigers, and Rainiers. There is a Tacoma Hall of Fame on the first base side with the plaques of Gaylord Perry, Juan Marichal, Tom Kelley, and Stan Naccarato to name a few. Then after that is just lovely white painted brick. A cavernous brick hideout is the Brewpub, bathrooms are huge brick cubicles. The great building projects of the late fifties are well represented here.
Tacoma baseball has been circumspect for the last ten years. Ownership has been a question and the future of the Rainiers in the city has been brought up in newspapers and civic discussions. And yet, there is really never a serious thought of the team moving (I could be very wrong on this). The Seattle Mariners, Tacoma's parent club, loves the fact that they get and send players just thirty-five miles away. The Rainiers do draw well as compared to the other Pacific Coast League teams.
I just found it odd that after reading this book by Bouton and the recent history of sports in America brimming not so much with stories of the games but with threats of owners moving and sports palaces being built without the approval of the public, Tacoma and Cheney Stadium is still around and hosting games in Triple A baseball.
It's refreshing....I guess.... sort of....
posted by paul shipp @ 10:43 AM
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