Tour 2024: Cheney Stadium

All photos of Olympic National Park and Cheney Stadium available on Flickr.

Typically, the last day of our trips is a bit somber, which is normal for any vacation.  We're kind of just going through the motions by this point and sad that we've only got one day of ball left, and the anxiety about the travel home starts to build.  But it felt like each day of this year's trip was more jam-packed and exciting than the day before, and I woke up on Monday as energized as ever and pumped for our final day of activities: a day at Olympic National Park and closing out with a game at the venerable Cheney Stadium in Tacoma.  We came ashore back to America a little after noon and had to spend a few minutes washing the seagull leavings off of our rental car that we left in Port Angeles.  The main visitor center for Olympic Nat'l Park was only a few minutes from the ferry terminal, so we started there and picked up a map, and decided on Sol Duc Falls as the area of the park we would explore.  We really wanted to see the Hoh Rainforest (the largest and wettest rainforest in the US and the most visited attraction in the park), but it was a pretty long drive towards the coast that would have surely made us late to the Rainiers game that evening, and ball always takes priority.  Sol Duc was a beautiful consolation prize, if you can even call it a consolation.  The drive there was just as gorgeous as the hike itself - an hour west on US-101 that was almost entirely along the coast of Lake Crescent.  Once we arrived, it was about a three-quarter mile hike to the falls through a lush, tall, evergreen forest that looked nearly untouched by man despite thousands of people going there every summer.  I've enjoyed the hiking component we've added to our repertoire the last few years, and compared to Pilot Knob in Lake George and Papago Park in Phoenix, this was relatively easy even for somebody as out of shape as me.  Once we arrived at Sol Duc Falls, it instantly made the hour of hiking and 5+ total hours of driving worth it.  It's impossible to put the park and the falls into words, so I won't even try to describe it, but I felt so blessed we got to experience this on our trip.  I've always viewed the baseball aspect as just a way to see the country, and I'm grateful that I have a friend in Erik that feels the same.

We were back in the car by 3:00, and we rolled into the parking lot at Cheney Stadium just as gates were opening, a little after 6:00.  It was admittedly not a great start to our Tacoma experience.  We were tired from a long day of travel - by 3 modes of transportation! - and it was for some reason $10 to park in this lot.  Then we were forced to circumnavigate all the way to the opposite side of the stadium from which we parked to purchase tickets, even though there was a ticket window right by the gate we parked at, but for some reason it was fenced off.  However, once we got to the main gate and got inside, our moods instantly changed, and we had an awesome time.  Cheney Stadium was famously built in just 3 months and is locally referred to as the "100-Day Wonder" in tribute to that feat.  The San Francisco Giants were looking to relocate their top farm team from Phoenix in 1959, and promised Tacoma that they would move there if they could get a stadium built before the start of the 1960 season, and they delivered.  As you can imagine, the haste in which it was built meant this was never a stadium that was meant to survive a long time, and by the turn of the century, it was starting to fall into disrepair, and there were ownership changes and threats to move the team.  The community and local leaders never waivered in their support, and a massive renovation was approved and completed in time for the 2011 season.  

I hesitate to even use the word "renovation" as that implies some of the original structure was kept; it was really more like a complete reconstruction.  I looked at some photos of the former stadium before I started writing this post, and it is almost unrecognizable compared to what stands today.  Wooden grandstands and concrete structures were replaced with steel and wood.  The signature element is a 4-story tall entry building constructed of wood and faux wood as an homage to the forested region.  This building also faces the field on the back side, and contains luxurious suites, team offices, and the press box.  The press box is actually off-center which allows a suite/club area to be directly behind home plate where the press would normally be, and I thought that was a subtle but really unique gesture that provides a fan experience and viewing angle you can't really get many other places.  The Rainiers' concessions game inside was on point and a major aspect of the reconstruction.  You can get everything from fish & chips, to BBQ, to wagyu beef burgers, to the Ivar's chowder that seems to be a Pacific Northwest ballpark staple.  I went with a brisket sandwich and Erik went with the burger, and both were finger-licking good, particularly since neither of us had eaten all day.  As is also customary at ballparks of this region, there are no shortage of beer options here, particularly West Coast IPA's.  My favorite part of the park was the "R Bar" in left field.  We had seats right behind the 1st base dugout, but we moved over to the bar just before last call.  It's a super cool all-fan space that was kind of a cross between the Nashville Sounds bar and the Hohokam Stadium bar/fan area.  Besides being able to belly up to the bar and co-mingle in an open setting, the allure of going up there is that on a clear day, Mount Rainier is visible in the distance.  At over 14,000 feet tall, it towers over the Tacoma skyline and is obviously the team's namesake.  Sadly, we could not see it despite it not being very cloudy (and from what I'm reading it's only visible about half the time), but I did get a very clear view of the mountain on both my arrival and return flights.  We could overhear the local phrase of disappointment from folks at the bar - "mountain's not out tonight."  Despite this, Cheney Stadium was my favorite non-MLB park of the trip, and it's in my top 5 in all the minor leagues.  I loved the vertical scale of the park particularly the entry, I loved the energy and that it felt compact despite its tall sections of seats, and it had an above average variety of food and beer compared to most MiLB facilities.  The R Bar and the setting put it over the top and it's amazing how much those simple things make a difference in one's experience.  If this ballpark was in the middle of a cornfield and had no social spaces, it would have been a dud even if nothing else about it was different.  I can't emphasize enough that there is just an unquantifiable feeling at ballparks in this region of the country that you have to experience to believe.

In Everett, we were excited to see some of the rising stars for the Mariners organization, but here at the AAA level, we took note of the number of fallen ones.  There were certainly a few top prospects that were shuttling back and forth to Seattle - Jonathan Clase and Tyler Locklear to name a couple - but by and large, both rosters were littered with guys that had us saying "I didn't know he was still playing."  Jake Marisnick led off for the visiting Salt Lake Bees, and I legitimately thought he was out of baseball.  Once a promising young player with the Astros, he is now with his 8th organization in the last 5 years since leaving Houston.  Former Brewer Luis Urias has found his way to the Mariners organization via Boston, and was recently outrighted to Tacoma after hitting below .200 the last two years.  But the player I was most excited to see was another former Brewer, Keston Hiura.  He was possibly the most heralded hitting prospect to come through our system since Ryan Braun, and after a stellar rookie campaign in 2019, his complex swing could no longer keep up with major league pitching.  He was eventually outrighted in 2022 before electing free agency this past fall, and he was released from the Tigers AAA team last month.  He was quickly scooped up by the Angels and has been raking in Salt Lake, hitting 12 HRs in his first 19 games there, and he had an infield single on this night.  I'm really rooting for him to figure it out - mostly because I still have his jersey.  If the Angels of all teams don't have a spot for him, then I think his career might be over.  The Rainiers hung on for a 7-3 victory on Pride Night, in a rare Monday minor league game.  I could not believe how much the ball carried in Tacoma and I'm amazed the score wasn't higher.  Every outfielder seemed to be playing a couple steps in front of the track the whole night.  The Bees starter, Ryan Langford, must be on a strict innings limit because he was pulled after 2, and that's when the wheels fell off.  The Rainiers smashed 3 long balls off the Bees' bullpen, including a homer by Jake Slaughter that easily cleared the 29' tall wall in dead center marked at 425' from home plate.  He is only the 3rd player to ever accomplish that feat in the 65-year history of the stadium, and just goes to show that you never know what you'll see at the ballpark on any given day.  Salt Lake made it interesting with 2 runs in the 9th off of Carlos Vargas, but otherwise the game was in hand for Tacoma from the very first inning.

After our final game, we then decided it would be a good idea to return our rental car that night, and then take a shuttle to a shady hotel near the airport.  We thought this would afford us some more sleep by not having to worry about returning the car the next morning before our early flights, but we had to wait so long for the shuttle at 11pm on a Monday that I don't really think it did us any favors.  Oh well, lesson learned.  Another year and another great trip!  Next year is looking like we'll watching the A's play in a minor league stadium in Sacramento, and I'm already anxious for the 2025 schedules to be released.

park rankings and statistics: 
aesthetics - 8
views from park – 8 (wooded area and Mt Rainier)
view to field - 5 (good where we sat, but grandstand is very tall)
surrounding area – 2
food variety - 10
nachos - n/a
beer - 8
vendor price - 5
ticket price - 7
atmosphere - 9 (Pride Night)
walk to park – 2 (not sure why we couldn't use the gate closest to parking lot?)
parking price/proximity - 3 (adjacent lot for $10)
concourses - 7 (bonus points for intermediate concourse within grandstand)
team shop - 7
kids area - 5

best food – fish & chips
most unique stadium feature – main entry structure
best jumbotron feature – Pride Night tunes
best between-inning feature – Lucky Dice game

field dimensions – 325/425/325

starters – Ryan Langford (SL) v. Blas Castano (TAC)
opponent – Salt Lake Bees
time of game – 2:35
attendance – 3355
score – 7-3 W
Brewers score that day – 8-7 L

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 7/5/24:

Brewers 52-36, +6.0; 3 @ Dodgers, 3 v. Pirates, 3 v. Nationals

Twins 49-38, -6.0; 3 v. Astros, 3 @ White Sox, 3 @ Giants

Orioles 55-32, +2.0; 3 @ Athletics, 3 v. Cubs, 3 v. Yankees

2024 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 7

Peter - 20