Tacoma Rainiers

MiLB infobox
name = Tacoma Rainiers
founded = 1960
city = Tacoma, Washington
misc =

uniform
class level = Triple-A (1960–present)
past class level =
current league = Pacific Coast League (1960–present)
conference = Pacific Conference
division = Northern Division
past league =
majorleague = Seattle Mariners (1995–present)
pastmajorleague = Oakland Athletics (1980–1994)
*New York Yankees (1978–1979)
*Minnesota Twins (1972–1977)
*Chicago Cubs (1966–1971)
*San Francisco Giants (1960–1965)
uniform =
nickname = Tacoma Rainiers (1995–present)
pastnames = Tacoma Tigers (1980–1994)
*Tacoma Tugs (1979)
*Tacoma Yankees (1978)
*Tacoma Twins (1972–1977)
*Tacoma Cubs (1966–1971)
*Tacoma Giants (1960–1965)
ballpark = Cheney Stadium (1960–present)
pastparks =
leaguechamps = 2001
conferencechamps = 2001, 2005
divisionchamps = 2001, 2005
misc6 =
owner = Schlegel Sports Group
manager = Daren Brown
gm = Aaron ArtmanThe Tacoma Rainiers are a minor league baseball team that plays in the Pacific Coast League (PCL), and are the Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. Since 1960, a team in Tacoma, Washington has been in the PCL, the longest current active streak of membership in the league.

Tacoma's first entry in the PCL was the Tacoma Tigers, who joined the league in 1904, having moved from Sacramento after the 1903 season. The 1904 Tigers won Tacoma's first PCL pennant, finishing first in both halves of the split season schedule, seven games (annualized) over the runner-up Anaheim Angels. The 1905 Tigers won the first-half championship, then played so poorly in the second-half they moved back to Sacramento, finishing out the season as the Sacramento Solons, and losing the postseason series to the Angels. The PCL would not return to Tacoma for another 55 years; however, another Tacoma Tigers franchise operated in the Western International League from the 1930s until 1951.

The current franchise was founded in 1960 when the Phoenix Giants, an affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, moved to Tacoma and became the Tacoma Giants. In 1965, the Giants decided to move the team back to Phoenix, but fortunately the Chicago Cubs decided to move their affiliate, the Salt Lake Bees, to Tacoma the exact same year and renamed the team the Tacoma Cubs. For the next 19 years, the team mirrored the name of its parent major league club, being known through the years as the Tacoma Giants (1960–1965), Tacoma Cubs (1966–1971), Tacoma Twins (1972–1977), and Tacoma Yankees (1978). Subsequently, the team was known as the Tacoma Tugs (1979) and, once more, the Tacoma Tigers (1980–1994).

The team became associated with the nearby Seattle Mariners in 1995, whose Triple-A team for the previous ten seasons had been the Calgary Cannons. Tacoma adopted the Rainiers name in part as a tribute to the Seattle Rainiers minor league teams that played in Seattle from 1938 to 1964 in the PCL, and again from 1972 to 1976. The Tacoma Rainiers play their home games at Cheney Stadium, which hosted the baseball portion of the 1990 Goodwill Games. The Mariners' Safeco Field is about convert|30|mi|km to the north.

Oakland Athletics power hitters Mark McGwire, José Canseco, and Jason Giambi played for the Tacoma Tigers on their way to baseball stardom. Alex Rodriguez also played for the team in their first year as the Rainiers in 1995, before becoming a superstar, as did baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Juan Marichal.

In July 2006 the Rainiers were sold to the Dallas-based Schlegel Sports Group, giving pop star Nick Lachey a one-third stake in the team. [ [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_BBM_Rainiers_Lachey.html "Seattle Post-Intelligencer"] ]

Roster

References

*O'Neal, Bill. "The Pacific Coast League 1903-1988." Eakin Press, Austin TX, 1990. ISBN 0-89015-776-6.
*Snelling, Dennis. "The Pacific Coast League: A Statistical History, 1903-1957" McFarland & Company, Inc., Jefferson, NC, 1995. ISBN 0-7864-0045-5
* [http://www.tacomarainers.com TacomaRainiers.com]

External links

* [http://www.tacomarainiers.com/ The Official Tacoma Rainiers website]
* [http://www.rainiersblog.com/ No Rhubarb! - Rainiers fan blog]