Tacoma Rainiers shortstop Mason McCoy became the inaugural member of the Tacoma baseball 20-20 club when he lifted an opposite field homer in the first inning of last night’s 10-1 victory over Round Rock.
The homer was McCoy’s 20th of the year, adding to his career-high total. He has already reached the 20 stolen base mark, and currently sits with 21.
Believe it or not, no player in Tacoma’s franchise history going back to the construction of Cheney Stadium in 1960 has ever had a 20 home run, 20 stolen base season until now. I spent the morning poring over the final stat sheets from the last 62 seasons, and can confirm that it has never been done before. In fact, there have been very few close calls.
There have been 55 seasons of 20-or-more home runs by individual players in Tacoma’s history, starting with Dusty Rhodes for the 1960 Tacoma Giants and ending with Jose Marmolejos last year.
We have had 60 players swipe 20-or-more bases in a single season, many of them occurring during the “Billy Ball” era Oakland A’s/Tacoma Tigers days in the early 1980s. Tacoma did not have a player steal 20 bases in a season until 1964, when Jose Cardenal stole 40 (and was only caught six times!). Prior to this year, Ian Miller was the last to reach 20, easily eclipsing that number in 2019.
Throughout all of these seasons, no player has had 20 home runs and 20 steals at the same time until now.
Some notable close calls:
Kelvin Moore of the 1981 Tacoma Tigers was the closest to the goal. He hit 31 home runs that season, and stole 19 bases. He was caught stealing eight times that year – I wonder how many times he was caught during the last week of the season if he was sitting on 19 steals? Moore came back to Tacoma in 1982 and hit 21 home runs with 15 steals.
Ollie Brown of the 1965 Tacoma Giants was the first player to come somewhat close. He hit 27 home runs, but came up substantially short in the stolen base column with 15.
Local legend Jim Nettles was the opposite of Ollie Brown, statistically. Playing for the Tacoma Twins in 1973, Nettles stole 31 bases but finished with 15 homers. If you’re reading this, Jim, you should have hit more homers!
Outfielder Scott Lydy of the 1994 Tacoma Tigers hit 17 home runs and stole 22 bases. That’s pretty close.
In the Tacoma Rainiers era (1995-present), our closest players to 20/20 have been the late Greg Halman in 2010 (33 home runs, 15 stolen bases) and Wladimir Balentien in 2007 (24 dingers, 15 bags). I was surprised to see that neither Adam Jones nor Shin-Soo Choo came particularly close.
Congratulations to Mason McCoy. He’s all alone in his private Tacoma Twenty-Twenty Club. Maximum exclusivity has been attained.
—
Our final home weekend of the season starts tonight, with our last Fireworks Friday of the year. First pitch is at 7:05, hopefully you can make it out to the park.
RAINIERS DAILY
YESTERDAY: After five-and-a-half innings holding a tight 1-0 lead, the Rainiers scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning on the way to a 10-1 win over Round Rock on Thursday night. Tacoma sent 11 batters to the plate in the sixth, with Drew Ellis hitting a leadoff double and also getting an RBI single in the frame. Cade Marlowe‘s three-run homer was the big blow in the inning. The Rainiers used six pitchers, with starter Tommy Milone going the first three innings without allowing a run.
TODAY: Round Rock Express (76-68) at Tacoma Rainiers (70-74), 7:05.
OPPONENT AFFILIATION: Texas Rangers.
OPPOSING MANAGER: Matt Hagen
SEASON SERIES: Tacoma leads, 4-2.
PITCHERS: RHP Spencer Howards (3-4, 4.05) at LHP Roenis Elias (2-3, 5.64)
ROSTER MOVES: Yesterday the Rainiers added catcher Jake Anchia from Double-A Arkansas, and pitcher Colby Morris returned from the Arizona complex.
HOT HITTERS: Mason McCoy has a five-game hitting streak, and he has reached base safely in 25 of his last 26 games… Jonathan Villar has homered five times and driven in 13 runs during a 12-game hitting streak… Marcus Wilson has hit safely in five straight… Forrest Wall is 12-for-37 over his last nine games… Drew Ellis has a six-game hitting streak.
OPPONENT NEWS: Round Rock has faded down the stretch, losing seven of the last nine games… former Rainiers and Mariners outfielder James Jones is now a relief pitcher with Round Rock… Seattle native Josh Sale (Bishop Blanchet High School) and Federal Way’s Nick Tanielu (Federal Way High School, Washington State University) are with the Express… infielder Ezequiel Duran and starting pitcher Cole Winn are the most decorated prospects on the Round Rock roster… Elier Hernandez has an eight-game hitting streak.
BROADCAST: All games will be broadcast free on a live audio stream which is available right here.
Unfortunately, there is no traditional terrestrial radio station carrying the games at this time.
PCL SCOREBOARD: Follow all league games in real-time with links to broadcasts and Gameday screens right here.
Links:
- Good stuff, Jarred! Kelenic had a big game to help the Mariners beat Oakland in his return to the major leagues.
- However, Julio Rodriguez left the game with lower back tightness and is getting an MRI on it today.
- The Times has an article on the Seattle Mariners groundskeepers.
- More on the developing new ballpark drama in Salt Lake City.
June 7, 2023