Rainier Caps

The Pacific Coast League started out as a Minor League in baseball. It was only minor in the sense that it wasn't stationed on the east coast. The quality of play and feeder system for players were diverse and good enough to, at it's height, qualify as a third "major" league, servicing the west coast.

This is precisely what happened, too. The PCL was granted "Open Status", which meant that it was beholden to no league and could operate in it's markets as it always had, as if it were the top tier of the sport, because, in essence, it was.

It was granted Open Status, though, in 1957, right before the Dodgers and Giants moved to California, supplanting two of the most well known teams (the SF Seals and the LA Angels) in the league, and sapping all the momentum they'd built up over the years to get to that point.

So, I commemorate the PCL here with two caps. They're from the same team, the first from 1939, and the second from 1955:

I like the contrasting color schemes. Know the team? The Seattle Rainiers  one of the natural team names for Seattle teams. Have you noticed that some city team names just come naturally, while others are forced. Look at Seattle. There's the Sounders, Seahawks, Mariners, SuperSonics, and Rainiers. How about the San Jose Sharks? The Washington Wizards? For every Hartford Whaler there's a Sacramento King.

I was watching a ballgame earlier this season, a local Angel game. The Angels played the Mariners in Seattle, and both team wore their 1955 PCL uniforms. The Mariners, normally navy and teal, wore the red caps and red lettering from this Rainier scheme, while the Angels, normally red, wore the dark navy scheme that fit that same season. It was cool; the teams dressed in each other's colors. Plus, it was King Felix pitching, which was cool.