Rawlings Official Baseball for the Pacific Coast League signed in blue ink by multiple members of the 1996 Tacoma Rainiers. The 1996 squad – the AAA affiliate for the Seattle Mariners – finished the year with a 69-73 record under the leadership of manager Dave Myers. The 1996 squad featured several Mariners prospects that would be remembered more for disastrous trades than their impact at the MLB level for the Seattle team. Jose Cruz, Jr., played 22 games for the Rainiers in 1996 as a 22-year-old outfielder, slugging .539 with a .383 on base percentage. On the mound, 23-year-old Derek Lowe was one of Tacoma’s top starters with six wins and 105 innings pitched. Bob Milacki led the pitching staff that year with 13 wins, a 2.74 earned run average and five complete games in 164 innings pitched. Jim Bonnici led the offense with an .866 on base-plus-slugging percentage in a team-high 562 plate appearances, batting .292 with a team-best 26 home runs. Notable future Mariner Raul Ibanez batted .284 in 456 plate appearances at 24 years of age. A 20-year-old Alex Rodriguez appeared in two games for the Rainiers that year, while future Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays and Texas Rangers manager Don Wakamatsu appeared in one game.
Made/Created
Date made
1996
Lexicon
Search Terms
Baseball, Tacoma Rainiers, Professional/Semi-Pro
Relationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Tacoma Rainiers
Person or Organization
Myers, Dave, Tacoma Tigers, Western International League, Pacific Coast League, Northwest International League, Seattle Mariners, Dan Rohn, Memphis Redbirds, Brown, Daren, Jose Castro
