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Overview

Sick's Stadium was erected for Emil Sick, a successful Seattle brewer. It was relatively common for brewers to invest in sports teams, particularly baseball franchises before Prohibition, as a stadium was a handy venue in which to sell and advertise beer to a mostly male clientele. Owning a sports franchise also provided personal prestige and popularity, particularly if the team won regularly.

Building History

The Seattle brewer, Emil Sick (1894-1964), built this stadium for his baseball team, the Seattle Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League. (Not coincidentally, Sick also owned the Pacific Northwest brewing rights for Rainier Beer.) Sick spent $350,000 to construct the popular stadium erected on the site of Dugdale Park, a previous baseball facility that burned in 1932. The stadium opened on 06/15/1938. the Rainiers (and subsequent minor league teams) played here until the mid-1960s; later, the stadium housed the Seattle Pilots franchise awarded by the American League in 1967. They played at Sick's Stadium between 04/11/1969 and 10/02/1969. The team was purchased in bankruptcy proceedings by the Ford automobile dealer, Allan Huber "Bud" Selig, Jr., (born July 30, 1934 in Milwaukee, WI,) and moved it to Milwaukee, WI, in 1970.

After the Seattle Pilots left, the Class A minor league team, the Seattle Rainiers, played in the park between 1972 and 1976. It was demolished in 1979; a Lowe's home appliance store stands on the site.

Building Notes

Sick's Stadium originally seated 11,000 on opening day in 1938, but was expanded gradually to hold 25,000 spectators by 06/1969. After owner Emil Sick died in 1964, the name of Sick's Stadium came to be written "Sicks' Stadium" indicating family ownership of the facility.

Demolished in 1979;

PCAD id: 4169