Photographs courtesy of the Paul Hamaker Collection Despite the loss of the Tigers after just one season, the Rainiers would finally see a return to glory in 1951 as Hall of Fame superstar Rogers Hornsby took over the franchise and managed them in 1951 to a 99 win season� beating the Hollywood Stars to win their 4th Championship and their first since their "3-peat" performance before the war. The Rainiers featured a powerhouse team with three 20+ HR players including Wally Judnich (35 2B, 21 HR, 102 RBI, .329); Al Lyons (34 2B, 20 HR, 94 RBI, .286) and the team's biggest star Jim Rivera (40 2B, 16 3B, 20 HR, 112 RBI, 33 SB, .352� along with 20 game winner Marv Grissom. Hornsby would last just the one season as manager, as he would be called up to lead the St. Louis Browns MLB franchise as Manager the following season. The Rainiers continued to play well, winning in the mid to upper 90's every season before Fred Hutchinson led them to their 5th Championship in 1955. It would be their final season as a co-op as Major League Baseball affiliations finally came back to Sicks Stadium in 1956� this time for the long term. |