The Tacoma Rainiers doomed themselves to a losing record Saturday, but they also set a franchise record in the stands.
A crowd of 7,590 filled Cheney Stadium as the Fresno Grizzlies took a 4-2 win from the home team.
When fan No. 7,134 stepped through the gates, it established an attendance record for Triple-A baseball in Tacoma. With two games remaining, 364,092 have watched Rainiers home games this season, topping the 2010 record of 363,635.
This is the third straight season the club has increased its attendance record. The Saturday crowd also extended the club record to 18 sellouts this season.
“I think the new ballpark is obviously a big part of it,” Rainiers president Aaron Artman said. “… It’s just really neat to see the way the community has supported the team. I think we’re all pretty humble and grateful for the support we get out here, and Tacoma seems to be embracing it.”
The attendance record follows a $30 million renovation of Cheney Stadium, which opened in 1960. However, the Rainiers began this final weekend of the season drawing an average of 5,242 per home game – 12th among the 16 teams in the Pacific Coast League. Round Rock (Texas) leads the PCL with an average of 8,478.
“For one thing, our park is smaller than a lot of the ones that rank higher, so we’ll never match the guys that can draw,” Artman said. “We can fit 7,500 max – standing room only – in the park. So that is one of the challenges there if we were going to compete with them. I think we’re pleased with how many people came out. … When you look at April and May especially, with the weather that we had, we had a lot more people in the stands in April and May than we had (most seasons). … I think we’re really pleased with where we are.”
The attendance increase also came despite a decline on the diamond. The 2010 Rainiers won the PCL championship, while the current team fell to 69-73 Saturday and is now assured of its first losing season since 2007.
Tacoma never led as starting pitcher Jarrett Grube gave up two runs in the first inning. Grube got the loss, falling to 4-4. Michael Saunders and Johan Limonta led the Rainiers with two hits each.
“I thought Grube wasn’t as good as he has been, but he wasn’t bad: He gave us a chance to win,” manager Daren Brown said. “… Offensively we had some chances. … We just came up short.”
ON TAP
The Rainiers and Grizzlies continue their series at 1:35 p.m. today. Probable starting pitchers are Fresno right-hander Shane Loux (8-12, 4.70 ERA) and Tacoma right-hander Erasmo Ramirez (3-2, 5.60).
Don Ruiz, 253-597-8808 don.ruiz@thenewstribune.com
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