Email early this morning:
Hi. My name is Luke Duecy and I’m a reporter for KOMO TV.
Saw the post about an autographed baseball … found in a park.
I like that story – and I’m wondering if we might work together to find an owner?
We’re passing his contact information on to the finder, who says the ball has many signatures from the Pacific Coast League.
For those who (like me) never heard of the Pacific Coast League, it has a typically obtuse (to non-fans) site here. “Chihuahuas, Padres extend affiliation pact.”
Fortunately, there’s Wikipedia:
The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a minor-league baseball league operating in the Western, Midwestern, and Southeastern United States. Along with the International League and the Mexican League, it is one of three leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball. It is officially named the Pacific Coast League of Professional Baseball Clubs, Inc.
Locally, we have the Tacoma Rainiers, affiliated with the Mariners.
That’s right. He went on to pitch for the Detroit Tigers. Didn’t he pitch and win two games in a day for the Rainiers or something? Or was that someone else? I’m pretty sure someone did.
Also, one of the reasons you’ll find a seemingly large number of local baseball fans of Detroit and San Francisco, are because of the PCL links. Family tradition you know.
Mike, Mike, Mike.
You should know better. I know you’re a transplant, and not the biggest sport fan on the face of the planet, but you’ve been here long enough. The old Seattle Rainiers of the PCL was the professional birthplace of Fred Hutchinson:
Per his bio: Fred Hutchinson, known throughout baseball as “Hutch,” was a right-handed pitcher who entered the organized baseball ranks in 1938 with the unaffiliated Seattle Rainiers of the AA Pacific Coast League and caused an immediate sensation at age 19, winning a league-best 25 games and that season’s Minor League Player of the Year award as bestowed by The Sporting News.
Wow, never heard of the PCL? Guess I know since I grew up in Tacoma. The Tacoma team has been around for years and has been – depending on the Major League affiliate (that I remember), the Cubs, the Twins, the Tigers, and the Rainiers. There are probably some that I’ve forgotten.
At one time it was the third league. The Seattle Rainiers were PCL. Which is one of the reasons why the team chose Rainiers instead of Mariners when they became their AAA franchise.