July 2004 Archives

I've become lazy and lackadaisical in my updates. We saw two games recently:

Mariners v. Oakland A's, 7:05pm July 21, 2004
Brad took the bus down first and Henry and I drove down later, so that Henry could play in the park with some of his former preschool classmates. We parked on the street for free, quite close to the stadium, so there are some advantages to getting to a game late. The M's won this one (6-5) on a walk-off home run by Bucky Jacobsen, on the first pitch in the bottom of the tenth inning. Also, I'm nearly breathless to report that the fan who wears the Superman t-shirt and dances for the stadium cameras found a female counterpart, also wearing a Superman (or, perhaps Superwoman) t-shirt and dancing. At first, they were seated separately but, by the end of the game they had hooked up and were dancing side by side. Awwww... Some fans tried to get a wave going but failed, smacked down by the rest of us curmudgeons who think the wave has no place at a baseball game, no doubt.

Mariners v. Anaheim Angels, 1:05pm July 25, 2004
We drove down for this one, parking in our usual lot for $10.00. When we arrived, the skies were cloudy (a marine layer, as they say down in southern California) and the air cool, but as the game progressed, it heated up and got sunny. Seattle won this one 6-2, with home runs by Dave Hansen (hit the foul pole right near our seats) and Bucky Jacobsen. And, add "God Bless America" to the list of things that don't belong at baseball games. I joined Carlos Delgado in his quiet protest against the playing of "God Bless America" during the seventh inning stretch, leaving my seat. The seventh inning stretch is for "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." Whatever my current opinions of the war or any of our country's policies are, I think the national anthems (when a Canadian team is playing, Canada's anthem is sung also) at the beginning of the game are enough. The whole "God Bless America" thing seems fake, more like a mockery of patriotism than actual patriotism.

In other important news, Demetrius (aka Heavy D) delivered the rosin bag to the mound.

Well, I never did follow up on my last post with more thoughts on SBC Park in San Francisco. The main things I remember: it was loud, crowded, and very blustery. They played the Oakland A's, a big rivalry, and the fans were really raucous, to the point of obnoxiousness. Sensory overload hit Henry and Brad quickly on their walk around the stadium (I was already overloaded from a day traipsing around the city and so had reached a mindless numbness), so we retreated early, longing for the expansive concourses and mild-mannered fans of Safeco.

On to our two most recent games back here at Safeco Field...

Mariners v. Cleveland Indians, July 17, 2004 at 7:05pm Final: Mariners 5, Cleveland 6 Seats: Section 112, row 28, seats 1,2,3 Weather: Hot, sunny, and muggy Roof: Open Transportation: Drove, parked at Donna's Diner for $8.00 Hydros: Yellow? Hat Trick: #3 Food & Drink: $39.00 of the usual stuff Play Area: Henry and Brad played at it. Henry's hat got taken by another kid, who threw it in at hole in the play structure. A nice person working at the play area got the hat for Henry, and then threw the other kid out, even though he was clearly too young to understand what he'd done! Sigh. Freebies: Stickers, baseball cards.

It was fun to see the new guys (Bucky Jacobsen homered), but in the end it was the same old frustration. Curmudgeon guy next to me had a lot to grump about! (He does have to get up at 4am everyday, though; I recall being pretty grumpy myself when I kept those hours.)

Mariners v. Boston Red Sox, 7:05pm July 19, 2004
Final: Mariners 8, Red Sox 4 in 11 innings (We stayed until the end.)
Seats: Section 129, row 31, seats 1,2,3
These were fantastic seats, in one of the sections right behind home plate. We were near a bunch of Bosox fans, which made for some interesting shouting matches during the game. ("Let's go Red Sox!" they yelled. "Nineteen-Eighteen!" we yelled.)
Weather: Sunny with few puffy clouds, warm with decreasing humidity. A nice evening for baseball.
Roof: Open
Transportation: Drove, parked in the usual lot for $10.00.
Hydros: Green
Hat Trick: #1 (Henry called it!)
Food & Drink: $37.75 of the usual junk.
Play Area: Yep, me and Henry. Saw the Coast Starlight (Amtrak train), Henry ran around with a bunch of other kids, and even played some pretend baseball with them.
Freebies: Mariners "School Pack" which consists of 2 pencils, a pencil sharpener, a stubby ruler, and a plastic case to carry them in. Stickers, baseball cards.

Okay, so that's it for that game... not! Brad said after that this was one of the most exciting ball games he's attended. At least, the last 4 innings were. The Mariners came back from a two run deficit by scoring two home runs in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game; they won in the eleventh on a walk-off grand slam home run. So, we've now seen a walk-off balk, a walk-off walk, and a walk-off grand slam. There were some good defensive plays in the game and some bad ones, both adding their share of excitement. Both new guys and old guys contributed and the game (in those last 4 innings) was fun baseball. Having all the Red Sox fans around us screaming (and then groaning) probably enhanced the experience.

Having family from Massachusetts, I am sort of a Red Sox fan; you can't escape it, I think there's a gene. My own personal baseball cheering hierarchy, which is still evolving as I learn more about the game, goes something like this:
1. Will root for the Mariners regardless of opponent.
2. Will root against the Yankees regardless of opponent.
3. National League team of choice: NY Mets.
4. Will root for the Red Sox in most other cases, even with sulky or churlish players, unless they are playing the Mets in interleague or World Series play, in which case I have to go with the Mets.
5. Pitch to Bonds.
6. Trade Yankee pitcher Mike Mussina so I can root for him.

A baseball thrill tonight, watching Barry Bonds hit homer number 680 at SBC Park. More on the SBC experience later...