Southern Culture on the Skids

The Tacoma Rainiers' season is in full swing. Currently they sport a moderately respectable record of 17-20 and are in third place, five games out of first, out of their division’s five teams. Salt Lake leads the pack with a 21-14 record. As Seattlest reported on April 13th, the Rainiers’ hometown arena, Cheney Stadium, still has the feeling of authentic, pre-steroid baseball. However, Seattlest just learned that one of its classic features is, as we write, being replaced and upgraded. All the wooden stadium seats, which not only have been in the stadium since it was built, but date back to their first game in the San Francisco Seals stadium back in 1931, are being given the old heave ho. During their prosperous lifetime, the seats have supported the sweaty bottoms of fans of the Seals, the San Francisco Missions, and for two years their only major league team, the San Francisco Giants. Upon the completion of Candlestick Park and the Giants’ move there in 1960, Tacoma snapped up the seats and installed them in the newly built Cheney Stadium. 35 years later, plastics, as presciently predicted by Mr. McGuire to the young Ben Braddock, have taken over, as this is the year that the wooden seats of old are being replaced with their plastic counterparts. After 74 consecutive seasons of baseball, you may be wonering where their next destination might be? Well, my friend, the answer is the homes of dedicated Rainers’ fans the world over, and that may well include you. They’re going for $75 a pop with quantity discounts.

In other Rainiers’ news, if you’re both a baseball and a World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) fan, this Friday, May 27th, is your night because Cheney Stadium hosts a live appearance and autograph session with two of the WWE’s biggest stars, Heavyweight Champion Batista and former Playboy cover girl Christy Hemme. Limit is one autograph per Rainiers ticket, and they’re $20 a pop. You can bring anything to have autographed, but for your personal safety, posed photos are prohibited.