Annie's got the news from all your favorite local sports teams, for better or for worse.
Weekend Sports Roundup: Quiet Bats Edition
Extra, Extra
Dave Niehaus is going to be memorialized on maps, Dan Savage will appear in the TV guide, and your hard-earned money no longer has to go to Nick Lachey if you live in Tacoma.
$11 Million/Year Mariner Pitcher Not Good Enough for Minor League Pennant Race
The Mariners are sending free agent bust Carlos Silva out on a rehab assignment today. The original plan was to send him to AAA Tacoma, but Silva will go to A-ball Everett instead. Why? Because the Rainiers have unexpectedly stormed back into the Pacific Coast League pennant race, and having Silva pitch might "jeopardize" their chances, in the words of TNT's Larry LaRue. Yes, a pitcher who'll make $11 million this year (and $11.5 million both next year and the year after) can't be trusted against the Salt Lake Bees. Just shoot us now.
How Far to the Nearest Worthwhile Baseball?
On Saturday the Mariners blew a ninth inning lead to lose to the Atlanta Braves in Atlanta. The loss was disappointing to many, but shocking to few; the team with the worst record in baseball often finds ways to lose games in the ninth. On Saturday Seattlest drove south (not 35 hours south) to watch a baseball game and the team we watched also lost, 4-2.
We Went: Alpha P, Kublakai, Neema, Premonition and Jay Barz @ Nectar
Friday's show at Nectar Lounge was a great showcase for both classic and fresh, emerging talents in local hiphop. Alpha P, a gratifyingly professional, unflaggingly high-spirited crew of twelve headlining the show, were working NW underground hiphop in the 90s; the other acts on the bill included Tacoma-based Jay Barz (a raucus party act, himself), pissed-off Neema of Unexpected Arrival, fast-talking Premonition and the bulging vein on his neck, and charismatic story-teller Kublakai--interviewed by Seattlest here. Though the show started late, DJ Hanibal won us over when he played Snoop and Dre's "Nuthin But A G-Thang," which we'd coincidentally just finished reminiscing about with our show-going companion.
Help Wanted: Mascot
We were going to send this to our cousin, but then we remembered how bad he looked at our antler party.
Nick Lachey Buys Tacoma Rainiers, Tacomans (?) Rejoice
Everyone knows the recipe for fame in America...
"Pack it up, Pachy--you're goin' to the bush leagues"
If you are a bad baseball player, you get transferred from the major league Seattle Mariners to the minor league Tacoma Rainiers.
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.
Baseball Swag Schedule
Seattlest once had a choice between Saturday and Sunday Mets games, and we chose Saturday because the schedule read "Free Mets Jersey Day." We thought to ourselves, "Score!" It will likely surprise no reader that the "jersey" in question was a thin t-shirt with jersey styling (v-neck, buttons down the front) printed on it. We laughed and laughed. And we still wear the shirt.
Tacoma Rainiers Season Home Opener - Play Ball!
Seattlest loves the Mariners. And Seattlest loves Safeco Field. That being said, there’s nothing like the smaller game of minor league baseball. Fortunately, our neighbors to the south in Tacoma boast the Rainiers, the only team to continuously play in the Pacific Coast League since 1960 (plus a brief stay in the league back in 1904-1905). Over their 45 years the Tacoma Rainiers have shared affiliations with seven major league teams including their current partnership with our beloved Mariners. The Rainiers field is in the barebones and classically unpretentious Cheney Stadium, erected back in 1957 in a mere 14 days. There is no instant replay or computerized hydroplane race, the wooden seats are all original, you’re guaranteed to be close enough to risk a foul ball clocking you in the nose, and the outfield lights remind you of the old days.

