Tacoma Rainiers

From BR Bullpen

TacomaRainiers.jpg

Team History[edit]

The Tacoma Rainiers of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League and briefly in Triple-A West, were baseball's geographically closest Triple-A/MLB partnership for decades - until MLB's 2021 Minor League Reorganization paired the Minnesota Twins and St. Paul Saints. The Seattle Mariners farmhands play their home games at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma, WA.

Tacoma teams have played in every PCL season since 1960, with two different franchises under various nicknames - often that of their parents, except for some runs under the locally traditional pro baseball moniker "Tigers". Tacoma teams fed a total of six parent clubs before joining the M's in 1995, when they took Seattle's longtime PCL nickname.

That nickname might logically be assumed to be for the well-known local mountains. In fact, it was first used on a Seattle baseball team after Seattle brewer Emil Sick bought the Seattle Indians and renamed them for one of his beer's brands. Sicks would later do precisely the same thing with the PCL's Vancouver Maple Leafs, buying them and renaming them Capilanos - not for the Squamish word for "beautiful river" but for his thus-named beer brand.

Making the 2010 playoffs, the Rainiers made it possible for that off-season's facelift to start on time by moving their home games to Seattle's Safeco Field - its first playoff action since 2001.

The Rainiers play Copa de la Diversión Hispanic engagement campaign games as La Familia de Tacoma (Tacoma Family).

Year-by-Year Record[edit]

Year Record Finish Manager Playoffs Hitting coach Pitching Coach
1995 68-76 6th (t) Steve Smith Terry Kennedy Jeff Andrews
1996 69-73 7th Dave Myers Terry Kennedy Jeff Andrews
1997 75-66 4th Dave Myers Henry Cotto Jeff Andrews
1998 77-67 7th Dave Myers Dave Brundage Ron Romanick
1999 69-70 8th Dave Myers Dave Brundage Jim Slaton
2000 76-67 5th Dave Myers Dave Brundage Jim Slaton
2001 85-59 1st Dan Rohn League Co-Champs Henry Cotto Jim Slaton & Chris Bosio
2002 65-76 13th Dan Rohn Orlando Gomez Jim Slaton
2003 66-78 14th Dan Rohn Gary Thurman Jim Slaton
2004 79-63 3rd Dan Rohn Terry Pollreisz Rafael Chaves
2005 80-64 2nd (t) Dan Rohn Lost League Finals Terry Pollreisz Rafael Chaves
2006 74-70 7th Dave Brundage Terry Pollreisz Dwight Bernard
2007 68-76 12th Daren Brown Terry Pollreisz Dwight Bernard
2008 80-64 4th Daren Brown Alonzo Powell Dwight Bernard
2009 74-70 6th Daren Brown Lost in 1st round Alonzo Powell Dwight Bernard
2010 74-69 7th Daren Brown (61-54) / Jose Castro (13-15) League Champs Powell/Castro (5/11-8/9) Jaime Navarro
2011 70-74 8th (t) Daren Brown Alonzo Powell Dwight Bernard
2012 63-81 13th Daren Brown Jeff Pentland Dwight Bernard
2013 76-68 6th (t) Daren Brown (17-10) / John Stearns (59-58) Howard Johnson Dwight Bernard Scott Steinmann
2014 74-70 7th (t) Roy Howell Cory Snyder Jaime Navarro
2015 68-76 11th Pat Listach Cory Snyder Jaime Navarro
2016 81-62 3rd Pat Listach Lost in 1st round Scott Brosius Lance Painter
2017 66-76 13th Pat Listach Dave Berg Lance Painter Denny Hocking
2018 66-73 11th Pat Listach Dave Berg Lance Painter Alexander Capriata
2019 61-78 13th Daren Brown Roy Howell Lance Painter
2020 Season cancelled
2021 73-47 1st Kristopher Negron / Tony Arnerich (interim) 5-5 League Champs Zac Livingston (interim), Roy Howell Rob Marcello Eric Young Jr.
2022 72-78 6th Tim Federowicz Brad Marcelino Alon Leichman Seth Mejias-Brean, Zach Vincej
2023 77-73 4th John Russell Brad Marcelino Jairo Cuevas Eric Farris, Ty Kelly
2024 John Russell Shawn O'Malley Jairo Cuevas Eric Farris

Further Reading[edit]

  • Jim Price: "You want stars, titles, nicknames? Tacoma's got 'em", in Mark Armour, ed.: Rain Check: Baseball in the Pacific Northwest, Society for American Baseball Research, Cleveland, OH, 2006, pp. 76-81.

Related Sites[edit]