Sicks' Stadium / Sick's Stadium

[POLO GROUNDS 1957]

Hello all.does anyone out there remmber going to sicks stadium to see the pilots in 1969 or to see baseball period at the old ballpark.lets hear from you. also checkout this site for some photos of old sicks stadium


looking foward to hear from you all out there. Donald


http://groups.yahoo.com/group/theoldballpark

[POLO GROUNDS 1957]

sicks stadium

Here is a nice early photo of sicks stadium

[POLO GROUNDS 1957]

sicks stadium

Here is a photo of the sicks stadium stands.

[skeletor]

sicks stadium

yup, caught a couple of games there in the summer of 1969, to see
the Pilots play the Tigers...on the way to the California..to get some
hippie love...heh,heh,heh..( I was 22 )

jeez o'petes, sicks was probably one of the worst 'major'league stadiums
of all time..sheer torture to see a game there..heck, it was just an old
AA 0r AAA park, that was quickly and badly 'upgraded' to the majors,
to house the new Pilots..until a future stadium was built..Always liked
the Pilots..they had some real misfits on that team, like Jim Bouton,
Gary Bell, Ray Oyler, etc...the seats in the park-were ratty old rusty
seats, place stunk of grime, and the water pressure around the park,
was almost zero..not a nice place..i can only imagine the state of the
clubhouses....sheeeesh

[POLO GROUNDS 1957]

sicks stadium

yup, caught a couple of games there in the summer of 1969, to see
the Pilots play the Tigers...on the way to the California..to get some
hippie love...heh,heh,heh..( I was 22 )

jeez o'petes, sicks was probably one of the worst 'major'league stadiums
of all time..sheer torture to see a game there..heck, it was just an old
AA 0r AAA park, that was quickly and badly 'upgraded' to the majors,
to house the new Pilots..until a future stadium was built..Always liked
the Pilots..they had some real misfits on that team, like Jim Bouton,
Gary Bell, Ray Oyler, etc...the seats in the park-were ratty old rusty
seats, place stunk of grime, and the water pressure around the park,
was almost zero..not a nice place..i can only imagine the state of the
clubhouses....sheeeesh

I also have heard alot of negative things about sicks stadium including the water pressure problems.i cant understand that the stadium was not ready for opening day of 1969. it was not like that they did not have any notice of seattle not getting a team. the place looks nice in photos and at the time of 1969 the stadium was around 30 years old. i am sure that sicks stadium could have been fixed up reel nice,look at seals stadium in san francisco i have heard alot of good things about the stadium.sicks stadium was finally torn down in febuary of 1979.

[Ressurection of Ray Oyler]

My father had wonderful memories of Sicks and the Rainiers. In the 40's and 50's it was a beautiful minor league park. Seattle wanted major league ball but was in fact behind the 8 ball in their preparation for it. In 69 the stadium was a mess and the franchise was probably failing before they set foot on spring training ground in Arizona.
After the '69 the stadium started to flounder into obscurity. I think they played some class A games in their and then I think they had some high school games in their also. Then it sat there abandoned like a ghost for a few years it seems before it was torn down. My great grandmother lived in the neighborhood and so I passed it many times on my way to visit her. It still had the Pilots neon sign hanging over its entrance until the day of its death. I always wanted to sneak into the old place but I never did. I wish I had. The last I heard there was an Eagle Hardware store on the lot and that somewhere inside the store was a plaque commemorating where homeplate had once been and that where tightwad hill had been was now just parking lot.

[skeletor]

Sicks on the decline

My father had wonderful memories of Sicks and the Rainiers. In the 40's and 50's it was a beautiful minor league park. Seattle wanted major league ball but was in fact behind the 8 ball in their preparation for it. In 69 the stadium was a mess and the franchise was probably failing before they set foot on spring training ground in Arizona.
After the '69 the stadium started to flounder into obscurity. I think they played some class A games in their and then I think they had some high school games in their also. Then it sat there abandoned like a ghost for a few years it seems before it was torn down. My great grandmother lived in the neighborhood and so I passed it many times on my way to visit her. It still had the Pilots neon sign hanging over its entrance until the day of its death. I always wanted to sneak into the old place but I never did. I wish I had. The last I heard there was an Eagle Hardware store on the lot and that somewhere inside the store was a plaque commemorating where homeplate had once been and that where tightwad hill had been was now just parking lot.

What a shame, to see a once grand park fade away and die...The photos
that Polo placed on this thread, are wonderful..in her heyday, SICKS ,musta
been a great place to take in a ballgame..The inside looked pretty grand..as
that whole northwest area, had some great PCL teams in the 40's and 50's..

by the time MLB expanded into Seattle, by 1968, for play in 1969, the park
had fallen into a sad shape..and from what i can remember from my couple
of games there in 1969, to see the Tigers, it was a virtual dump..and probably
not much upkeep was given to SICKS, before-and during the PILOTS debut
season..I've heard stories of teams, showering and dressing at the local
hotel, as the clubhouses were a mess..along with rusty water, very low
water pressure and other problems...I always had the feeling that the guys
who owned the SEATTLE franchise, had no real money, and were vastly
under funded..and hence, the shoddy condition of the park, and no money
for the team...no surprise that after one season, the Pilots were killed, and
the team quickly moved-during spring training..to become the BREWERS.

sad that Sicks never had the chance,to shine as the once jewel that it was.

[Ressurection of Ray Oyler]

I always have wondered if the Sorianos plan was to just buy the team and try and hold it for a year and then try to sell to someone who would keep the team here. They apparently had no idea what a mess the whole thing was and that they must have thought baseball would boom right out of the gate in Seattle. The Rainiers had been so popular that they must have thought that the Pilots would automatically succeed.

The stadium at the time of 1969 was in a state of disrepair sure, but that couldn't be the reason the franchise failed so miserably. I think Sicks is more a metaphor of the dissasembled mess that the organization was. Being just a young kid it was a heartbreaker for myself to see them go. Long live the Pilots (in my memories atleast)!

Thank you Polo Grounds for those pictures. I have seen pictures of Sicks in the 40's and 50's and it looks like it was just a beautiful park for the times. It's dissapointing to me the lack of sentimentality that the city of Seattle has towards Sicks Stadium. No, it wasn't the Polo grounds or Ebbetts for that matter but I seem to remember they couldn't wait to tear it down. That's life. But to me it will always be that green field in my mind.

[Tailwind Tommy]

Sick's Stadium Demolition

sick's stadium demolition.bmp

Couldn't the city of Seattle upgrade or renovate Sick's Stadium instead of demolishing it?

[Tailwind Tommy]

Pilots Home Opener

Pilots.jpg

Wouldn't we have rather continued to enjoy scenes like this? As Jimmy Dudley, voice of the Pilots, use to say: "Something beautiful to see"

[Ressurection of Ray Oyler]

Dig that name Tailwind Tommy! I thought I was the only person left who remembered that. Good to know there are others out there.

The city of Seattle would love for people to forget that the Pilots ever existed (when I say city of Seatte I mean city government). For the last 35 years there has never been any acknowledgement of the Pilots. They've continually turned their backs at honoring the team. Would anyone love to see a Seattle Pilots old-timers game at Safeco? I would! It will never happen though. How 'bout a turn back the clock game? Doubt it will ever happen. They honored the Seattle Steelheads an old northwest negroe league team (great honor I must add) but never have they mentioned honoring the Pilots.

Poor Sicks Stadium its' only mistake was that it housed the 1969 Seattle Pilots. That's why they were in such a hurry to tear it down.

[skeletor]

demise of sicks

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Couldn't the city of Seattle upgrade or renovate Sick's Stadium instead of demolishing it?

looks like it was a clear case of being penny wise and pound foolish..

the city of Seattle, had no interest in saving this oce grand lady..
some great baseball over the years, was played there...and with
the demise of the Pilots, before the start of spring training 1970,
was the nail in the coffin, that doomed sicks..a sad commentary

[Tailwind Tommy]

Memories of Ray Oyler

jdoyle3.jpg

Hey Resurrection... Here's one for your Pilots' book! A J.D. McCarthy photo taken at Tiger Stadium. Ray Oyler - Died in 1981. PILOTS BESTS: Most double plays by a shortstop (4), most double plays started by a shortstop
(3); most putouts by a shortstop (5); most assists by a shortstop (8).
"Sock It To Me"

[Ressurection of Ray Oyler]

Yes, yes. Dick Mcauliffe (doubt I spelled it right) said he was the best defensive shortstop he ever played with. He had to be considering he had one of the most anemic bats ever seen in the majors. I remember well when he died and cut his obit out of the paper and probably still have it somewhere. You're a good man Tailwind!! Thanks!

[ElCaminoSS]

they had some real misfits on that team, like Jim Bouton,
Gary Bell, Ray Oyler,

They werent really misfits just ahead of their times. But lets not forget Steve Hovley. And yes the stadium is a parking lot and theres a statue where homeplate used to be and and a plaque that says something like, If you were standing here in 1969 you would be in perfect position to knock one out. Jim bouton said he visited it and the statue had the batter standing sideways in the box and it would be easy from that position to hit one out because it would be 100 feet foul. Theres also a faking pitching rubber for where the mound was, unfortunately its right next to a cash register