Baseball: A lot of upside for players sent to Tacoma

I was watching the Mariners game on TV the other night because we did not have tickets to the Tacoma Rainiers. The sports announcer said that someone had just been “sent down to Tacoma.” That sure sounded as if the poor player had been banished to a dungeon.

The fact is, Cheney Stadium is an excellent facility. Over the years it has been improved upon several times, and is not the black hole of Calcutta that some make it out to be. Many players have been assigned here to rehab or work on certain skills, and it seems they do very well when sent back “up” to Seattle.

With help from coaches such as Scott Brosius, players have vastly improved, and the local folk, like my husband and I, love to come out and cheer them on. So the next time you hear of a player being “sent down to Tacoma,” remember the hard-working Rainiers, their coaches and all the employees at Cheney Stadium (including Rhubarb), and go catch a game.

This story was originally published July 11, 2016 at 12:16 PM with the headline "Baseball: A lot of upside for players sent to Tacoma."