Editor’s note: And now a break from my normal drivel. This is a post from my better half, Mollie. She is a blogger of a different variety (that is to say she talks about actual important things in life) over at One/Change. I couldn’t be happier to lend some of my blogspace to her. Quite frankly, her mere presence adds a level of sophistication and intelligence not seen in these parts for a long time. Be sure and give her a warm welcome.

Going to baseball games is one of my favorite things to do with Kendall. It enjoys the esteemed company of camping, long walks, and Saturday morning breakfast at El Greco.

Friday night we went to a game we have been looking forward to all season. It was our “living the high life” game. The Tigers were in town to play The Mariners and we got to watch the (whole) game from behind home plate. Incidentally, it happened to be Ichiro’s first game since signing his contract and the crowd was on fire (too bad Ichiro wasn’t…sorry buddy).

It was a good game, but The Mariners lost. The Tigers played a crisp game and The Mariners couldn’t keep up. Bottom of the 9th, the score was 6-3, players were one 1st and 3rd with 2 outs. Ben Broussard came up to the plate to pinch hit for Jose Lopez. Kendall and I stood up, cheering The Mariners, cheering Broussard on, and hoping for a home run to tie up the game. We were joined by a few others, but not by all, and definitely not by the 65 year old lady behind us who began to hysterically scream at me to sit down. Fortunately, I didn’t hear her until her third attempt because, as she said, “the crowd was too loud”. That should have been her first clue that we were at a sporting event and not at home napping.

My thoughts on this are as follows: 1) if you pay so much for a seat that it keeps you from being able to enjoy the game because you want to get what you pay for, then either stay home or sit in the bleachers (which I love…so, on second thoughts, don’t sit there); 2) if you are more passionate about telling other people what to do than you are about the game…stay home; 3) next time I will spend less time getting into ridiculous arguments with the sour old bag behind me, and more time watching the game and cheering for the Mariners.

Thanks to the 2 different couples who came up to me afterward offering me encouragement in my struggle against people who just don’t get what going to a ballgame is all about.

By the way, I cut off my tussle just in time to see Broussard strike out.

The Mariners did not let the unthinkable (losing their franchise player) happen. They locked up Ichiro for 5 years and will pay him $90 million. One thing we all know about Ichiro is that he remains healthy. He has played in 98.5% of the Mariners games since the start of the 2001 season.

Ichiro’s skills are without question. He’s a disciplined hitter who will most likely not lose his swing until after this contract is up. Mariner’s general manager Bill Bavasi said that he wanted Ichiro to head to the Hall of Fame wearing a Mariners cap. I think that bodes well for the Mariners.

I have to say, that as a frequent patron of the centerfield bleachers at Safeco Field, I’m glad that Ichiro will be around to dazzle us until 2012.

My time as a Mariners fan is admittedly short, but in the few short months I’ve experienced Seattle baseball, I’ve enjoyed. I’ve enjoyed Ichiro’s weirdness, Richie’s home run swing, timely hitting and a bullpen that is capable (if not brilliant). I’ve also enjoyed seeing Mike Hargrove manage. His lineups have been all over the map this year, but I have to say that the strings he has pulled have usually gone very well.

Mike Hargrove will probably not go down in history as the greatest manager ever (nor should he), but from what I’ve seen in my short time here, he’s a quality manager and more importantly a quality human being. Since he announced his resignation Sunday morning, many people have begun to speculate as to why he’s calling it quits. Personally I don’t care. He’s a grown man. He has himself and his family to answer to, not a bunch of mopes blogging about his personal life on the internet (and I would definitely put myself in that category).

Grover, I wish you and your family the best. Come visit in October.

Make no mistake, I am a Cubs fan. The current series between the Cubs and the Mariners is a actually a treat. But my allegiance is clear. I have one singular rooting interest, the Cubs. I couldn’t want the Cubs to win, and the Mariners to lose these three games more than I currently do. The strangest thing is watching a game at Wrigley Field and not listening to the Cubs broadcast team of Bob Brenly and Len Kasper. It just doesn’t seem right to hear Dave Niehaus, Dave Sims, and Mike Blowers talking about the ivy, and the rooftops like they did on Tuesday evening. The Cubs are in need of a lot more wins, and the Mariners have already gotten their roadtrip off to a good start. Unfortunately, the Mariners came out on top in Tuesday night’s marathon 13 inning game.

First of all, Michael Barrett, You’re my favorite Cub. You’re scrappy, you bring a lot of offense from the catcher position, you smack around your rival catcher, get smacked around by Big Z. But my goodness, you have to catch that ball in the top of the 13th, it was there in plenty of time. Sure it was in the dirt a bit, but it’s your job and your team needed you to make that play. Similarly Derrek Lee, you did a great job knocking the ball down, it would have been an amazing play for you to catch it, but again, these are the types of plays your team needs to pull itself together and back into the hunt in the NL Central.

I always like to keep a whipping boy in the Cubs pen, it just helps me cope. Ryan Dempster has pitched his way out of my doghouse, making plenty of room for Will Ohman. Ugh. I’ll take Carlos Marmol, Angel Guzman, or hell, bring back Jeff Fassero, but Will Ohman has some serious getting-guys-out problems. I hope Lou is pitching him, just to expose his weakness, so Jim Hendry has no choice but to get him out of town. It is small consolation that Ohman was used so late in the game. That Lou trusted so many others before he went to Ohman. It helps. It helps me to see that Lou isn’t just as bad at managing a pitching staff as Dusty Baker.

On Mother’s Day, the pink bats and wristbands were in full effect. The Mariners squeaked out a win Sunday to take the weekend series with the Yankees. Horacio Ramirez led the charge with 6 1/3 strong innings of work. For the Yankees, veteran Andy Pettitte only gave up 2 runs over 7 1/3 innings.

The Yankees definitely had their chances. In the top of the 8th they had men on first and second with only 1 out. Brandon Marrow came in and proceeded to strike out Alex Rodriguez to end the inning in dramatic fashion, much to the delight of the Safeco faithful. JJ Putz came in and gave up a double to Hideki Matsui, but locked it down by striking out 3 in the top of the 9th to pick up his 9th save.

This was my first experience of Safeco when it felt full. Everyone around us seemed pretty into the game except for the huge group that was surrounding us that seemed to be there as some part of a group. They were definitely more interested in spelling out “Happy Mother’s Day” on the front of their shirts and “Yankees Suck” on the back, than they were in watching the game. For the most part I don’t have a problem with a little ballpark fun on a Sunday afternoon, but let’s not turn our baseball parks into places where the games take second stage. I know that hearing that from a Cubs fan may not hold any water, but I feel the same way about Wrigley.

All in all a good weekend for the Ms. And just for the record, the Yankees do suck.

We hadn’t even gotten into the stadium, and Felix was already on his way out. He tweaked his elbow and removed himself from the game. I never wanted to say this, but is “King” Felix, the next Mark Prior? I sure hope not, but it  kind of feels the same.

I was at the Mariners game tuesday night against the Twins and a few things stuck out to me.

While jeff weaver pitched pretty well through 4 innings, Mike Hargrove was too slow with the hook. With the bases loaded he let Weaver pitch to Torii Hunter. Just so we’re clear, there wasn’t anyone even up in the bullpen. I’m not a seasoned Mariners fan yet, is this normal?

The second thing I’ve come to know is that Raul Ibanez is the laziest outfielder I’ve ever seen. In the 7th when Joe Mauer hit a “double” to left center, Ibanez lazily strided to his left, and pulled up before he reached the ball. I think Ichiro was shocked. Ichiro could have made the play but it looked like he pulled up too because ibanez was going to “make” the play. This guy’s a butcher in left. And this year his bat isn’t making up for it.

What I’ve so far about the Mariners

• Mariners games are really fun, and the bleachers are some of the best seats in the house.
• Mike Hargrove doesn’t handle his pitching staff very well (even if it is Jeff Weaver)
• Raul Ibanez sucks

As my wife and I had a sushi date here in Seattle, the Battle of Japan was going on at Fenway Park in Boston. Ichiro and Dice-K meeting up for the first time in the majors. There was a lot of hype going into this game. The whole Ichiro-Dice-K angle, Felix Hernandez vs. Dice-K angle, and of course Dice-K vs. Kenji Jojhima (well maybe not the last one).

It turns out that the biggest story of the night was King Felix tossing a complete game one-hitter. His bid no-hitter was broken up in the 8th inning when J.D. Drew singled softly to center. This would have been the first no-hitter for the Mariners since the great Chris Bosio’s no-no on April 22, 1993, against these same Boston Red Sox in Boston.
Felix Hernandez has definitely had his share of hype. Well, I guess his nickname (King Felix) should give you a hint as to the expectations placed on this guy. After a promising rookie campaign, he came into last season overweight and struggled. He went 12-14 last year with a 4.52 ERA. This year, he has slimmed down, hit the weights and come out of the gates with a bang. If only the rest of the Mariners pitching staff could follow that same regimen, the M’s would be in good shape.

Yesterday I mentioned that my wife and I were heading to Safeco Field for our first Mariners game. We made it, and it was really fun. The baseball wasn’t the most brilliant (more on that later), but overall it was a great experience.

I work about 3 blocks away from Safeco, so my wife (Mollie) picked me up from work and we just walked over to the park. I have been wanting an retro Mariners hat for awhile, actually since before we even thought of moving here. So as we made our way from the office, down the street filled with food and souvenir vendors setting up their tents, we stopped into a souvenir shop that looked at least reputable. I found the cap I was looking for and we were on our way. The smell of caramel corn was too alluring for us to pass up, and since you’re allowed to bring outside food into the ballpark we pulled the trigger on some corn.

It has long been one of my favorite things to do. The walk up into a baseball stadium, first you start to see the seats filling up, people milling about. But then, then the field (btw, I just got chills writing that) opens up. The grass is so green, and tightly manicured. The basepaths laid out so meticulously. It captures me every single time. I shared the love of this moment with my wife when I brought her to her first game. It was Miller Park in Milwaukee and Greg Maddux was going for number 299. She took to the tradition, and now we share the love of coming into a park and seeing the field.

Wednesday night was no different. In fact, because it was a new place, and now our baseball home, it was even more important that we do it right. That we experience it to the fullest. Our seats were in the upper deck on the third baseline. We could have entered the stadium from the left field entrance, but that would not have done the experience justice. We were compelled to enter through the home plate entrance, and give ourselves the grand tour. I think we made the right call. Upon entering we saw the baseball bat sculpture pictured above. I think it’s cool when elements such as a baseball bat can be beautifully used to create artwork (probably a discussion for a different blog). Anyway, there were these two kids (Mollie and me) that were just giddy as they entered the stadium a full hour and half before the first pitch. We were there so early that the Mariners were just finished BP, and the A’s were just prepping for it. The stadium was pretty empty, but that was perfect for us. We wanted to explore and see what this place was all about.

We sat down about 15 rows behind home plate. Thanks to whomever those seats belonged to, we borrowed them to settle into Safeco, and chow on a little caramel corn. We looked around and saw the field, and the architecture, the players on the field taking BP, and grounders, and just goofing off.

After we snacked and settled, we decided we would take a stroll and look around. We walked along the main concourse seeing all of the vendors selling their gear. I have to say that the amount of different food smells I got was pretty amazing. There was Asian food, BBQ, pizza, and of course hot dogs. But the smell that permeated the most was that of garlic fries. I guess that is something that Safeco is known for. Before we decided on what to have for dinner we needed a beer. Another great thing about Safeco is that the beer vendors offer a better selection than your typical ballpark. The regulars are there of course, your Bud and Bud light. Actually, I’m not sure if it was a Bud or a Miller kind of place, and quite frankly I couldn’t care less. What I did care about was that they offered a bevy of regional micro brews for our drinking pleasure. Mollie and I both settled on a Manny’s Pale Ale (a Seattle original). After that we climbed up to the upper deck, found our seats and decided on some grub. We wanted to stay traditional (especially on our first visit). If you can get the standard fare down, I can trust you with the other stuff. So beer, hot dogs, and garlic fries it was for us. We sat down, watched the teams warm up, and enjoyed our meal.

The Game

Then the game started. Ugh. As, I think, we all know, the Mariners are not a good baseball team. Of course they won their first two games against a team that they struggled against last year. Good for them. On Wednesday, they got their asses handed to them. I don’t know if it was Rich Harden just dealing it or if the Mariners just can’t hit a round ball with a round stick? They managed to get 3 hits all game. They did grab 4 walks (hey I’m looking for the good stuff too) for a total of 7 baserunners… all game. Even if all of them scored they couldn’t have matched the run production that Miguel Batista allowed. He got pounded early and often. I know he’s a number 3 starter, but he’s not a good number 3 starter. I watched the game last Friday he pitched against the Cubs, and he looked just as lost then.

I think the most disappointing thing about the team was their plate discipline. Trust me when I talk about bad plate discipline, I’m a Cubs fan. They weren’t taking the first pitch, they were swinging from their heels, and over their heads. They looked silly. Adrian Beltre in particular. It looked like he had no business being in an MLB batters box. I’m not sure if anyone remembers how Aramis Ramirez started off last year after Derrek Lee broke his wrist. Well, it was bad. And that is what Beltre looked like.

3 games does not a season make, but the Mariners definitely need to get it together with their bats.

Tonight, my wife and I will be heading to our first Mariners game at Safeco field. We now live about a 15 minute bus ride away from the ballpark so we have tickets for 5 games this summer, and hopefully will be able to make it to even more games than that. I’ll post pictures of the game when I get back, but would love to hear if anyone has any good Safeco stories, or recommendations.