Padres and Mariners: Vedder Cup action resumes this Sunday

As we approach the first game of spring the anticipation is palpable. This Sunday when the Padres take the field they do so against their hated rival from the Pacific Northwest -- the Seattle Mariners.

Since 1936 these cities and their baseball teams have done battle but it was not until last year that the clash took on a name -- The Battle for the Vedder Cup.

After holding the Vedder Cup in 2010 the Padres lost the Cup back to Seattle during a tumultuous 2011. In Peoria, Arizona on March 4th, our San Diego Padres prepare to confront the detested Sea Men of Seattle in a precursor to the 2012 Interleague showdown.

This Sunday's Spring Training opener serves as a mere preview to what will come in 2012 but it's a barometer of sorts, nonetheless. Each side will look into their opponent's eyes and evaluate their prospects -- their prospects of either retaining or RETAKING the Vedder Cup!

As pitchers and catchers prepared to report to Peoria in 2011 I wrote a detailed history of this epic but little known rivalry . . .



Published at RJ's Fro last February, I attempted to connect the dots for the uninitiated:

After the San Diego Padres destroyed the Seattle Indians in the first home game in team history things would never be the same. The Padres would finish ahead of the Indians during both the ’36 and ’37 campaign and shortly thereafter Seattle would abandon the name it carried from 1903-1937 in favor of the Rainiers.

What does it all mean? Has the history of this matter been subverted in an attempt to hide unsavory truths?

Seattle was a city founded on a belief of synergy amongst those inhabiting their corner of the U.S. and would ultimately choose a team mascot that reflected that particular ethos. In contrast San Diego opted for a mascot that was in conflict with the indigenous people of their corner of the U.S.

I will posit that the Padres and Indians may have had a betting proposition in place… a loser-leave-town type of arrangement where the team finishing lowest in the standings after two seasons would drop their team name. Perhaps PCL Padres owner, “Hardrock” Bill Lane, because of his gambling nature as a gold prospector, entered into a betting agreement with the Seattle Indians’ owner Bill Klepper, a man reported to be both greedy and gutless. Or maybe the gutless Klepper tried to do something right, for once in his life, by preserving his team’s name while eliminating one that arrived to the west accompanied by strife.

The above may be examples of the wild speculation that occurs when a detailed history is conspicuously absent. But it cannot be denied that the Seattle Indians vanished after 1937 as Klepper sold the team to Emile Sick who rechristened his PCL team the Rainiers, a horribly unpopular move at the time. The name Rainier referred not to the famous volcanic peak (Mount Rainier) but instead to Sick’s other business: The Rainier Brewing Company.

In 1938 the name of Indians was dismissed and the Rainiers were born. The Seattle Rainiers went on to enjoy immediate success in the Pacific Coast League where they would be fondly remembered as the precursor to the Seattle Mariners.

I implore fans to read the entire article over at RJ's Fro. To fully engross oneself in the narrative, is to seek understanding and ultimately education. Know your history and prepare for the 2012 Battle For The Vedder Cup.