Rainiers Home Opener
by marc w on Apr 17, 2009 11:56 PM PDT
32 comments
The Rainiers opened the refurbished Cheney Stadium tonight with an easy 6-2 win over the Sacramento Rivercats.
There's been a lot of talk about the new scoreboard...here it is:
There's been even more talk about Jeff Clement's slow start. The Sexwagon was apparently annoyed at that, as he went 3-4 with a HR and a 2B. Here, mere moments before the HR....Mr. Jeff Clement:
Also rocking the house: Mike Carp.
For real pictures, please wait for Positive Paul's.
Rainiers won behind Chris Seddon and Denny Stark. Seddon pitched 5 1/3 of 4 hit 2R ball. He K'd 5 and walked 2, overcoming a shaky first inning. The lefty threw a FB between 86-89 (mostly right at 87), and a 79mph change. Denny Stark went 3 2/3 IP of 1 hit, 3k 1BB ball. He's doing his best to separate himself from the rest of the Rainiers reclamation projects (Jim Parque, Kevin Appier, etc.).
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Dig the Studs throwbacks, but it's too bad they toned the down the giant horse cock.
by acblue on Apr 18, 2009 12:19 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Not sure about the Studs throwbacks.
I mean, we’re not watching the damn Studs (except for Jeffie Sexwagon, Graham), we’re watching the Rainiers. I’d dig an old Seattle R’s throwback, or an old school Tacoma throwback, but donning the unis of an amateur team seems odd.
by marc w on Apr 18, 2009 1:07 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Eh, I think it's cool.
Kind of odd to do it for the home opener, but I think the Cheney Studs thing is a pretty cool bit of history to bring up.
by acblue on Apr 18, 2009 1:17 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
What exactly is the story there?
Ive never heard of them. And im a minor league follower.
by Slica on Apr 18, 2009 1:32 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
You mean like these?
Just a start. More coming, I suppose, although I left after the 5th (right as Carp HR’d, DOH!)
This signature space for rent.
by PositivePaul on Apr 18, 2009 1:06 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Yep, like those.
Carp looks great.
(I’ll try to get more decent photos on Sunday, since I’ll actually be close. Damn opening day when mooks who couldn’t give a shit about baseball come to the park because of fireworks and boredom.)
by marc w on Apr 18, 2009 1:09 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Shelton was playing third according to the box score.
What’s up with that?
"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett http://mvn.com/marinersminors/
by JY on Apr 18, 2009 8:21 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I picked up on that, too.
My guess is they’re trying to get as many people reps at third, defensively, so that they have some options if and when they trade Beltre. I don’t think he was horrible out there, but I wasn’t there for all of the game, and when I was paying attention, it didn’t seem much was hit his direction.
This signature space for rent.
by PositivePaul on Apr 18, 2009 9:57 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Holy mackeral that's a beautiful scoreboard
Determined, Jonesing Commentor | Proud proprietor of Wyomingroutes.org & Washingtonhighways.org
by I'm NOT Corco on Apr 18, 2009 10:54 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Yeah it is!
I didn’t do a tremendous job of capturing it, because there’s a long skinny part that runs basically along the entire left field wall, and it’s hard to capture that with a huge telephoto lens. When Petit hit his home run off the skinny part, the dudes in the press box were freakin’ out a little bit…
This signature space for rent.
by PositivePaul on Apr 18, 2009 11:12 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I uploaded this photo...
…so you can see the skinny part of the new scoreboard (click on it to view it larger on my Flickr account).
This signature space for rent.
by PositivePaul on Apr 20, 2009 11:55 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yes - supposedly the largest in the minors (or largest HD screen, anyway)
They had some issues with shaky video feeding it, but hey, it was opening day.
Cheney’s old and was never set up for video, so the cameras are often in make-shift locations, like a guy on the outside of the press box on a little porch, or most notably, the guy in red in centerfield standing on a portable little machine of some sort. You can see him in Paul’s photo…above the ‘Less Filling.’
by marc w on Apr 18, 2009 1:00 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
So is the idea of a new stadium in Tacoma pretty much dead for now?
by acblue on Apr 18, 2009 1:01 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yep.
I’m not a neutral observer, so I’ll just say “woooohoooo!”
They got state money for that scoreboard/upgrades too, which may help. They seem to be doing a lot better with ticket sales – it’s getting hard to find box seats, which is really annoying for me but good for ownership.
by marc w on Apr 18, 2009 1:11 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Some of the ideas I saw on Exit 138 were pretty cool
but I like Cheney a whole lot. It could use some upgrades, but I can think of far better things for Tacoma to build.
by acblue on Apr 18, 2009 1:16 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah, it really wouldn't happen without a sweetheart deal from the city
and Tacoma’s given sweetheart deals to too many people. Time to play it conservatively, especially now.
Cheney’s history is so cool that it’d be a real shame to mothball it.
(exit 133, btw.)
by marc w on Apr 18, 2009 1:27 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I still don't see anything wrong with Cheney
It feels a little older but the overall quality of the stadium feels no better/worse then any other minor league stadium I’ve ever been in, and I’d imagine with the new scoreboard it feels a lot better
Determined, Jonesing Commentor | Proud proprietor of Wyomingroutes.org & Washingtonhighways.org
by I'm NOT Corco on Apr 18, 2009 5:26 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Have you been to many AAA stadia?
I love Cheney, and a part of me thinks minor league stadia need to be MORE like Cheney, not less. But go to Portland, Sacto, Memphis, Nashville, etc… they’re these little replicas of major league palaces. They make Cheney look like a high school field. At least for a while, they generated tons and tons more revenue than Cheney ever will. Now, I wonder if the cost of constructing them will come back to bite teams (as it has in Memphis). Still, I understand (though I don’t agree) why Tacoma/Schlegel thought about constructing something state-of-the-art elsewhere in the city.
by marc w on Apr 20, 2009 3:11 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
PGE Park is awful for baseball though
it’s not really a replica of anything that you’d want to replicate. Sacramento’s park is awesome, Memphis’ is the best AAA park I’ve ever been to but Sacramento’s is pretty close.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
by pdb on Apr 20, 2009 3:16 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
In terms of amenities and revenue generation, it's still a different world to Cheney.
Maybe it’s more like the Oakland Coliseum compared to Memphis… I don’t know, something good, but they’re still MLB-like, whereas Cheney is just a total throwback.
by marc w on Apr 20, 2009 3:35 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah, true enough
I think the Oakland Coliseum comp is a good one, actually – the Beavers have no business playing in a 19,000 seat general-purpose stadium. They draw about 5K a night, which is a decent crowd for AAA ball but they are lost in the size of PGE.
The city is in the midst of a MLB-style back alley ownership beatdown negotiation to get a new stadium, though, so that might fix it, if the money to build it is found.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
by pdb on Apr 20, 2009 3:38 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
That B&W picture of the field is amazing.
Poster-worthy amazing.
Marc and Paul, you guys are awesome. Can’t get enough of your pictures.
by Wilder. on Apr 18, 2009 11:30 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Hmmm
These pictures, and the presence of Shelton, Clement, and Carp down there, make me want to attend a Rainiers game. Cheaper food and beer than Safeco too, I would imagine.
by appleshampoo on Apr 18, 2009 3:01 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
If only it didn't take forever to exit the parking lot.
by msb on Apr 18, 2009 11:13 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Park at Fred Meyer.
I fucking hate you Mariners
by kentroyals5 on Apr 18, 2009 11:30 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
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