Sick's Stadium

Sick's Stadium first opened on June 15, 1938 as the home field of the Pacific Coast League's Seattle Rainiers (the renamed Seattle Indians). It was named after Emil Sick, owner of the team and of the Rainier Brewing Company. The Rainiers played at the Stadium through 1964, after which they were renamed the Seattle Angels, but continued to play at Sick's through 1968. In 1946, the stadium was briefly the home of the Seattle Steelheads of the short-lived West Coast Baseball Association Negro League, who played at the stadium while the Rainiers were on the road. For many years, it was considered one of the best stadiums in the minor leagues.

After Emil Sick died in 1964, and various members of his family shared ownership, the name of the park was changed to reflect that fact, from the singular possessive form "Sick's Stadium" to the plural possessive form "Sicks' Stadium".

On April 11, 1969, Major League Baseball came to Seattle with the American League expansion Seattle Pilots debuting at Sick's Stadium. Seattle had been mentioned several times as a prospective major league city. The Cleveland Indians almost moved there in 1965, but owner William Daley decided against it because he didn't feel that Sick's Stadium was suitable for a major league team. Charlie Finley considered moving the Kansas City Athletics to Seattle in 1967, but when he visited Seattle he quipped that the stadium was aptly named. He advised Seattle officials to get a new stadium if it wanted a major league team.

It soon became obvious why Daley (who bought a stake in the Pilots) and Finley were wary about Sick's. A condition of the American League's agreement to grant Seattle a team was to expand Sick's Stadium to 30,000 seats by the start of the 1969 season. However, due to cost overruns, poor weather and other delays, only 17,000 seats were ready by opening day. The scoreboard wasn't even finished until the eve of opening day. The stadium expanded to 25,000 seats by June. However, many of those seats had obstructed views. The clubhouse facilities were second-class. Also, no upgrades were made to the stadium's piping, resulting in almost nonexistent water pressure after the seventh inning, especially when crowds exceeded 10,000. This forced players to shower in their hotel rooms or at home after the game. Under the circumstances, only 678,000 fans came to see the Pilots--a major reason why the team was forced into bankruptcy after only one season. The team moved to Milwaukee for the 1970 season and became the Milwaukee Brewers.