Naccarato held leadership roles with the Tacoma Tides and the Tacoma Stars
The Tacoma sports community lost the person most responsible for the fact that there is a Tacoma sports community. Stan Naccarato passed away on Wednesday at the age of 88. Naccarato is perhaps most famous for keeping the Triple-A baseball team now known as the Rainiers from leaving town in 1971, raising $100,000 in 16 hours to keep them here after the Chicago Cubs moved their Triple-A affiliate from Tacoma to Wichita, Kansas.
Although Naccarato's legacy is most closely tied to baseball, he is also responsible for launching Tacoma's soccer history.