Tacoma Rainiers

When is an alternate logo not an alternate logo? I think the answer is probably when it adorns every single piece of merchandise available in the team store, appears on every single publication - ticket brochures, pocket schedules and programs, all the staff clothing features it and generally, the primary logo is nowhere to be found.

That's what I observed at the Tacoma Rainiers home opener a couple weeks ago. Everything was plastered with this logo, a logo that is technically their alternate and supposedly was only supposed to be worn on special occasions. Maybe the team won't be wearing it all the time on the field, but off the field, this logo suddenly seems primary.

Which is too bad, it's not a very good logo at all. It doesn't fit at all in with the current set of logos at all and while the star is supposed to represent the Mariners affiliation, the elimination of the teal totally distances it from the Mariners.

But what makes this a disaster is that the cursive "R" that is an iconic northwest symbol that has been passed down through generations to represent the word Rainier - from the Seattle Rainiers to Rainier Beer and now to the Tacoma Rainiers - is nowhere to be seen. I'd even suffer through the awkwardness of this logo...


...over the new alternate logo simply because the cursive "R" is front and, well, off-center.

Other parts of this alternate package work better than the logo. The jersey script is fantastic and the red and the blue really remind you of the Seattle Rainiers jerseys . However, the jersey itself looks like a softball uniform. Check out those sleeves! Not to mention that I'm a traditionalist that hates solid color uniforms. That's a whole nother post in itself.

Whatever, it's not the whole package I have a problem with. It's the complete takeover of Cheney Stadium by this lesser alternate logo. Is this logo the future? Will this become the primary logo shortly?

If it does, I'm extremely disappointed. I'll admit that an update is overdue, but an overhaul, and a cheap overhaul at that, is completely unnecessary.


Team: Tacoma Rainiers
League: Pacific Coast League
Location: Tacoma, Washington
Stadium: Cheney Stadium
Mascot: Rhubarb
Merchandise: Very little available. I hate that MiLB.com has taken over many team's online presence.