Seattle Rainiers

• Location: Seattle, WA
• League: Pacific Coast League 1919-1921, 1938-1964; Northwest League 1972-1976
• Affiliation: Boston Braves 1935, 1946; Detroit Tigers 1948; Cincinnati Reds 1956-1960; Boston Red Sox 1961-1964; Co-op 1972; Cincinnati Reds 1973-1974
• Ballpark: Dugdale Field 1919-1921; Civic Field 1938; Sicks Stadium 1938-1964 and 1972-1976

Team History

The Seattle Rainiers were a longtime member of the Pacific Coast League, beginning play in 1919. The club, known as the Seattle Indians from 1922-1937, was renamed the Rainiers in 1938 when beer magnate Emil Sick bought the team and named it after his brand of beer (itself named for Mount Rainier, which can be seen from Seattle on clear days). That same season, the team began play in Sicks Stadium. The team played in the PCL for 27 seasons as the Rainiers before the California Angels bought the franchise from Sick and renamed the team the Seattle Angels. That lasted until 1969, when the American League placed the expansion Seattle Pilots in the city. When the Pilots left for Milwaukee after a single trouble-plagued season, the Rainiers returned from 1972 through 1976 as a Northwest League team before major league baseball again displaced the team.

Year-by-Year Record

Year	Record	Finish	Manager	Playoffs
1919	62-108	8th	Bill Clymer (38-70) / Charlie Mullen (24-38)	none
1920	102-91	2nd	Buzzy Wares	none
1921	103-82	4th	Bill Kenworthy	none
1938	100-75	2nd	Jack Lelivelt	Lost in 1st round
1939	101-73	1st	Jack Lelivelt	Lost in 1st round
1940	112-66	1st	Jack Lelivelt	League Champs
1941	104-70	1st	Bill Skiff	League Champs
1942	96-82	3rd	Bill Skiff	League Champs
1943	85-70	3rd	Bill Skiff	Lost League Finals
1944	84-85	5th	Bill Skiff
1945	105-78	2nd	Bill Skiff	Lost League Finals
1946	74-109	7th (t)	Bill Skiff (26-46) / Eddie Taylor (1-1) / Jo-Jo White (47-62)
1947	91-95	5th	Jo-Jo White
1948	93-95	4th	Jo-Jo White	Lost League Finals
1949	95-93	5th	Jo-Jo White (56-54) / Bill Lawrence (39-39)
1950	96-104	6th	Paul Richards	none
1951	99-68	1st	Rogers Hornsby	League Champs
1952	96-84	3rd	Bill Sweeney	none
1953	98-82	2nd	Bill Sweeney	none
1954	77-85	5th	Jerry Priddy
1955	95-77	1st	Fred Hutchinson	none
1956	91-77	2nd	Luke Sewell (73-57) / Bill Brenner (18-20)	none
1957	87-80	5th	Lefty O'Doul	none
1958	68-86	8th	Connie Ryan	none
1959	74-80	7th	Fred Hutchinson (38-47) / Alan Strange (36-33)	none
1960	77-75	4th	Dick Sisler	none
1961	86-68	3rd	Johnny Pesky	none
1962	76-74	4th	Johnny Pesky	none
1963	68-90	10th	Mel Parnell
1964	81-75	7th	Edo Vanni
1972	30-50	6th	Ray Washburn
1973	33-46	5th	Jim Hoff	none
1974	45-39	5th	Greg Riddoch
1975	35-44	5th	Ron Gibson / Doug Peterson / Bill Tsoukalas
1976	39-33	3rd	Arthur Peterson

Further Reading

• Dan Raley: "A man named Sick made Seattle well", in Mark Armour, ed.: Rain Check: Baseball in the Pacific Northwest, Society for American Baseball Research, Cleveland, OH, 2006, pp. 56-62.
• Damn Raley: Pitchers of Beer: The Story of the Seattle Rainiers, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE, 2012.

Related Sites

• Collection of some audio clips from Rainiers history