Cheney Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Pa ...

, United States. Originally built for

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

, the stadium is currently home to the

Tacoma Rainiers The Tacoma Rainiers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. They are located in Tacoma, Washington, and play their home games at Cheney Stadium, which opened in 1960 ...

of the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Ba ...

, as well as professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club

Tacoma Defiance Tacoma Defiance, formerly Seattle Sounders FC 2, is an American professional soccer team based in Tacoma, Washington, U.S. that competes in the MLS Next Pro, the third tier of the national soccer pyramid, as the reserve team of Seattle Sounder ...

of the

MLS Next Pro MLS Next Pro is a men's professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that is affiliated with Major League Soccer. It launched in 2022 with 21 teams and will expand to 28 in 2023. The league comprises 27 reserve sides for MLS clubs ...

. The stadium opened in 1960 and has a capacity of 6,500. It is next to Henry Foss High School, and the stadium has an agreement with the school to use the school parking lot for parking.

History

Cheney Stadium is named for Ben Cheney, a local businessman who worked to bring minor league baseball to Tacoma and also was put in control of the project. Cheney Stadium was constructed in 42 working days after the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yo ...

had committed to moving their Triple-A affiliate from Phoenix if the city could open the stadium for the beginning of the 1960 season. Construction included light towers and wooden grandstand seats from Seals Stadium in San Francisco. Several of the wooden grandstand seats are still in place today. Cheney Stadium has been home to

baseball continuously since 1960, in the form of seven teams: the Tacoma Giants (1960–65), Cubs (1966–71), Twins (1972–77), Yankees (1978), Tugs (1979), Tigers (A's) (1980–94), and the Rainiers (Mariners) (1995–present). Notable players who played in Cheney Stadium include

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

inductees Juan Marichal,

Gaylord Perry Gaylord Jackson Perry (September 15, 1938 – December 1, 2022) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a right-handed pitcher for eight different teams from 1962 to 1983. During a 22-year baseb ...

Reggie Jackson Reginald Martinez Jackson (born May 18, 1946) is an American former professional baseball right fielder who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, and Cali ...

and

Ken Griffey Jr. George Kenneth Griffey Jr. (born November 21, 1969), nicknamed "Junior" and "the Kid", is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played 22 years in Major League Baseball (MLB). He spent most of his career with the Seattle M ...

, as well as Tom Kelly,

Jose Canseco José Canseco Capas Jr. (born July 2, 1964), nicknamed Parkway Jose, Mr. 40-40 and El Cañonero Cubano (The Cuban Cannon), is a Cuban-American former Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder and designated hitter. During his time with the Oakla ...

Mark McGwire Mark David McGwire (born October 1, 1963), nicknamed "Big Mac", is an American former professional baseball first baseman who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1986 to 2001 for the Oakland Athletics and the St. Louis Card ...

Jason Giambi Jason Gilbert Giambi (; born January 8, 1971) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and designated hitter. In his Major League Baseball (MLB) career, which began in 1995, Giambi played for the Oakland Athletics, New York Yan ...

, Félix Hernández,

Cliff Lee Clifton Phifer Lee (born August 30, 1978) is an American former professional baseball starting pitcher who played for 13 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Between 2002 and 2014 he played for four teams, most notably the Philadelphia Philli ...

and

Alex Rodriguez Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez (born July 27, 1975), nicknamed "A-Rod", is an American former professional baseball shortstop and third baseman, businessman and philanthropist. Rodriguez played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the ...

. The stadium hosted the baseball competition of the

1990 Goodwill Games The 1990 Goodwill Games was the second edition of the international multi-sport event created by Ted Turner, which was held between July 20 and August 5, 1990. Following an inaugural edition in Moscow, the second games took place in Seattle, United ...

and hosted the 30th annual

Triple-A All-Star Game The Triple-A All-Star Game was an annual baseball game held from 1988 to 2019 between professional players from the affiliated Triple-A leagues of Minor League Baseball. These leagues were the International League (IL) and Pacific Coast League ...

on July 12, 2017. It was the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion ...

' alternate training site in 2020 when the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

forced the cancellation of the Minor League Baseball campaign and the abbreviation of the Major League Baseball season.

2011 renovation

On November 11, 2009, it was announced the City of Tacoma was considering a $30 million renovation to Cheney Stadium. Early renovation plans included a new grandstand superstructure, roof and concourse, as well as new concession stands, seats, luxury suites and a restaurant. The proposal drew little controversy from taxpayers. On November 19, 2009, the Tacoma Rainiers renewed their lease with the City of Tacoma to keep playing at Cheney Stadium for 32 years. The deal relied on the renovation proposal getting passed. The proposal, now said to be $28 million in cost, was approved on November 25, 2009. The approval means the Rainiers will continue to play in Tacoma until at least 2041, and renovations were completed before the 2011 season. The renovations included basic repairs, 16 luxury suites, a kids' "play area", more restrooms and concession stands, and a new restaurant.

Soccer

The reserve team of the

Seattle Sounders Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

, known at the time as Seattle Sounders FC 2, moved to Cheney Stadium in 2018. The team rebranded as the

in 2019, but maintained the Sounders affiliation. The club plans to build their own

soccer-specific stadium Soccer-specific stadium is a term used mainly in the United States and Canada to refer to a sports stadium either purpose-built or fundamentally redesigned for soccer and whose primary function is to host soccer matches, as opposed to a multi- ...

in a nearby parking lot, with assistance from the Rainiers, and aims to open the new ground in 2021.

OL Reign OL Reign is an American professional women's soccer team based in Seattle, Washington. Founded by Bill and Teresa Predmore in 2012 as Seattle Reign FC, it was one of eight inaugural members of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). In 2020, ...

, then known as Reign FC, of the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federati ...

announced their move to Cheney Stadium in 2019, and will join the Defiance at the new stadium. It takes less than a day to convert the stadium between baseball and soccer by removing the pitchers mound and covering the infield with sod. Reign moved their home matches to

Lumen Field Lumen Field is a multi-purpose stadium in Seattle, Washington, United States. Located in the city's SoDo neighborhood, it is the home field for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL), the Seattle Sea Dragons of the XFL, t ...

beginning with the 2022 season.

Gallery

Image:Cheney Stadium outfield.jpg,

References

External links

Cheney Stadium Home Page

Cheney Stadium - Tacoma Sports

{{National Women's Soccer League stadiums Minor league baseball venues OL Reign Sports venues in Tacoma, Washington 1960 establishments in Washington (state) Tourist attractions in Tacoma, Washington 1990 Goodwill Games venues National Women's Soccer League stadiums Pacific Coast League ballparks