About Sick's Stadium
Sick's Stadium, named for brewing magnate Emil Sick who built it for the Seattle Rainiers minor-league team in 1938, entered baseball legend through one chaotic, improbable year as an MLB venue. When Seattle was awarded an expansion franchise in 1969 — the Pilots — the city had no major-league-ready ballpark. Sick's Stadium underwent a rushed renovation, but when Opening Day arrived, the work was still underway. Toilets were being installed as fans took their seats. The locker rooms were cramped. The plumbing failed. It was glorious in its dysfunction.
Pitcher Jim Bouton was there for every absurd moment, and his account of the season — the landmark book *Ball Four* — became one of the most consequential sports books ever written, shattering the mythology of baseball's gentlemanly image. Bouton wrote about the Pilots with affection and honesty, capturing a team trying to exist in a stadium and a city that weren't quite ready for big-league baseball.
The Pilots went bankrupt after a single 67-95 season and were sold to a Milwaukee group that relocated them as the Brewers. Sick's Stadium continued hosting minor-league baseball until the mid-1970s before being demolished. A Home Depot now occupies the site in Seattle's Rainier Valley neighborhood — perhaps the most anticlimactic conclusion for any historically significant ballpark in America.
Fun facts
- Jim Bouton's Ball Four — arguably the most famous baseball book ever written — documents this single-season team.
- Toilets were still being installed when Opening Day arrived; renovations continued throughout the season.
- The franchise relocated to Milwaukee after just one season, becoming the Brewers.
- A Home Depot now occupies the site in Seattle's Rainier Valley — the most anticlimactic fate of any historic ballpark.
- The Pilots went bankrupt so quickly that their baseball cards are now among the rarest in the hobby.
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