Amanda Lee’s treatment table lies firmly down a weathered hallway of white brick walls and fluorescent lighting. Its dark blue vinyl surface, encasing a layer of durable foam padding, is refreshed daily to accommodate its ever-rotating visitation schedule. The table’s enduring wooden base has held users waylaid with immeasurable ailments, with an increasingly wide range of position and age. Yet each player who enters Cheney Stadium’s home locker room can expect the exact same level of care from the Tacoma
Rainiers’ seasoned athletic trainer, regardless of their baseball tenure.
The intentionality of Lee’s training philosophy dates back to her own competitive sports days. As an avid multi-sport athlete, Lee was in constant movement. A misdiagnosis of a basketball injury in high school piqued her interest in the athletic training field. She was directed by an athletic trainer to a physician to properly identify her concerns, which ultimately led her to undergo surgery on both of her legs. In preparation, Lee meticulously researched what the procedure involved, and how it impacted her anatomy.
“This was my first surgery, so naturally, I was a little nervous, which caused my deep dive into what the surgery entailed,” remembered Lee. “I wanted to know exactly what they were going to be doing!”
After diving further into how the human body works, Lee’s career path began to take form. She attended the University of Tulsa for her undergraduate degree in athletic training, and interned in 2018 for the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Double-A affiliate, the Tulsa Drillers. With minor league baseball halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she pursued a dual master’s of science in kinesiology and sports psychology at A.T. Still University, which she completed during the 2021 season.
Her sights were immediately set on working in baseball upon graduation and following in the footsteps of Sue Falsone, the first female head athletic trainer in any major American professional sports league. Lee was determined to be the second.
Lee has been ascending towards that title with the Mariners since 2019 in a manner familiar to most of the prospects she works with. In 2019, she started as the High-A Everett AquaSox’s athletic trainer, becoming the first female on-field staff member in Mariners history in the process. After one season, she moved to the Mariners’ Double-A affiliate, the Arkansas Travelers, where she worked until the end of 2024. Lee has been with the Rainiers, the Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate, for the past two seasons and with the Mariners for a total of eight seasons as she’s climbed the minor league ladder. She currently holds the roles of both athletic trainer and assistant minor league athletic training coordinator, a position she’s held for three years.
The archetypal scene of taping ankles and wrapping ice packs is just a small part of Lee’s job, but evaluating injuries and making return to play decisions under pressure are a major part of what happens behind the scenes.
“We develop rehab programs that are similar to physical therapy, manage emergency care, and are heavily involved with injury prevention through screening, workload management, and overall day-to-day care,” said Lee. “We also coordinate care with physicians, strength coaches, and front office staff and handle a lot of daily medical management for athletes. We wear a lot of hats.”
While Lee’s coordinator role is more administrative, her on-field duties with the Rainiers are where she feels she makes the most impact. Her experience at different minor league levels has informed how she develops various treatment plans for players at any stage of their career.
“One thing I really pride myself on is treating everyone the same,” said Lee. “I don’t care if I have someone on my treatment table that has six years in the big leagues or if I have a guy on the [development list] that we might have signed or called up from a lower level. The level of care I provide is always the same across the board.”
The main differences Lee has experienced from level to level are availability of resources and equipment.
“Obviously, at the lower levels, there is a lower budget for things in the training room, so being more creative with my treatment approach was essential. In Tacoma, especially being right down the road from Seattle, we have more access to things, which makes a lot of the moving parts of our job a little easier most times, especially regarding convenience.”
At higher minor league levels like Tacoma, Lee described an urgency to ensure health and readiness with the roster generally composed of top prospects and 40-man roster players who could be called up at any moment. At lower levels, hands-on techniques can vary because trainers with less experience can be part of the team. Injury prevention is and should be the same at each level, Lee believes, and is one main consistency in each clubhouse.
Lee takes pride in the impact of her job showing up on the field when she helps players get back in the game and sees their improved performance. Injury prevention and recovery management are at the forefront of her everyday duties, and her job requires her to excel in order for players to stay healthy and recover quickly.
“Even though most of the work happens behind the scenes in the training room, the result is that players can compete consistently at the highest level.”
Lee has an established track record of success with the Rainiers and each of her previous teams, but as a woman in a male-dominated sport, she has had to prove herself even more than most. While there can always be challenges, Lee has found her on-field role as a woman to be very rewarding. She’s constantly focused on staying prepared, executing tasks to the best of her ability, and building trust with athletes and staff.
“Once people see your knowledge and work ethic, respect follows,” said Lee. “I hope the example I set for younger women is that there is absolutely space for them in roles like this. If they are passionate and willing to put in the work, they belong here just as much as anyone else.”
Lee’s strong standard will be a guide for all who follow in her footsteps, especially for young women who look up to her in the same way she did to Falsone many years ago.
