20 Years Ago Today--A New Era Begins For Seattle Baseball

I attended what was then Safeco Field for the opening of Seattle's brand new outdoor baseball stadium. I had won the above ticket for the game in an office drawing and attended with co-workers.
 The future looked much better for the Mariners at the time then the Seahawks.  Well, the Mariners had one great season in 2001 at Safeco,  but since that season, they have not been able to put another play-off team together. Meanwhile the Seahawks have been to 3 Super Bowls, winning one.
Safeco Field is now named T-Mobile Park.

Griffey Statue Vandalized

The Ken Griffey, Jr statue at Safeco Field was vandalized yesterday. The bat was snapped off in the evening hours.
 Police were able to take a suspect into custody and recover the bat.  The vandal somehow took the bat from the statue, leaving the rest in tact. 
Reports say that Mariner officials are in touch with the artist to find out if a seamless repair can be made. 
The statue honors the Mariner Hall Of Fame centerfielder, who is credited to saving baseball in Seattle and is considered one of the best to ever play the game.

Heritage Distilling--BSB

The radio commercials say "you can't spell baseball without BSB".  Heritage Distilling commercials have been all over the radio. Heritage Distilling is one of the vendors at Safeco Field where the Mariners play.
  BSB stands for "Brown Sugar Bourbon". I am not a bourbon drinker, but I decided to try BSB when we attended the game last Sunday. I had it mixed with club soda and it was real good. 
On my next visit to a Mariners game, I hope to bravely try the grasshoppers.

Name Change In The Works For Mariner Stadium

The Seattle Mariners have announced that Safeco Insurance is not seeking to renew it's naming rights to the stadium in the Sodo District. The M's are already in the process of  a seeking a new client. Some suggestions for a new name from fans include Boeing Field and Starbucks Grounds (get it, grounds).   The now, not so new stadium has been Safeco Field from before the very first pitch was thrown in 1999.

Barers Watch Big Mariner Win

Robbie Cano arrives home after hitting the first of 2 homers last night.  The Mariners beat the Oakland A's 5-1.  They are still alive in the wild card hunt.
Deb and I sat in the "Hit It Here Café" at Safeco Field.  When I got the tickets for this game as a birthday present from my inlaws back in July, I had no idea how significant this game would be. 
The M's have 2 games left in the season and need to win both to take care of their business.

Edgar Martinez Speaks At Ricoh Seminar

Ricoh Copiers held a seminar for people from The UPS Store and other perspective customers.  The event was held at Safeco Field where the Mariners play.  Edgar Martinez (top picture with Deb and myself) was the guest of honor. Edgar opened himself up to questions from the audience.
We also took a tour of Safeco, the middle picture was taken from the press box which our guide said was the largest one in the country.  the bottom picture was taken in the Mariner Dugout.

This Year's Hutch Award Winner--Alex Gordon

Kansas City Royals left fielder Alex Gordon has been selected as this year's winner of the Fred Hutchinson Award.  The award is given to the player who best exemplifies the courage of Fred Hutchinson, a Seattle native and Major League manager whose life whose life was cut short by cancer.
Gordon, whose Royals made the World Series and where the Cinderella story of 2014, won his 4th consecutive Gold Glove.  He also won the American League's Platinum Glove Award as the best defensive player in the league.
Gordon will be presented with the award at a luncheon at Safeco Field on January 29th.  Dave Winfield will be the keynote speaker.

An Afternoon At Safeco

Fernando Rodney takes the mound in the top of the 9th with the Mariners leading 4-1.  It was not a smooth inning for Rodney,the M's all-star closer, who gave up a run and hit a batter with a pitch to load the bases, but he was able to hang on and strike the last batter out to preserve a victory over the Chicago White Sox.
We were at the game, yesterday.

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

I had a great time last night with with wife, and friends as we went to Safeco Field to watch the Mariners play the Baltimore Orioles.  Although the M's came up short, we watched an excellent pitching performance by Felix Hernandez.  We also stayed around for the fireworks display afterwards.  Before we went over, we met for a pre-game brew at Henry's

Mike And Dave

We took my Dad to Safeco Field on Father's Day to watch the Mariners play the Texas Rangers.  Here I am at the statue honoring the great Mariner announcer Dave Niehaus.  Perhaps, rubbing the stature's shoulder gave the team good luck.  The Mariners broke a 5 game losing streak, beating the Rangers 5-1.

Paul McCartney Plays Safeco

It was the concert of a lifetime.  It was a dream come true and even better, it was on my birthday.  5 years ago, Ringo Starr at St Michelle Winery, it was the first time that I had seen a Beatle live in concert, that by coincidence was also on my birthday and while Ringo was wonderful, last night's McCartney concert was off the charts. 
Recently turned 71, McCartney played everything from new releases, Wings songs, Beatles song from during and after the mop top period, He did a touching version of "Blackbird" speaking of how he had written it after reading about and observing civil rights tension in the South during the 60s. He paid tribute to departed band mates John Lennon and George Harrison as well as his late wife, Linda.  His tribute to wife Nancy "My Valentine"  was beautiful and moving. He did one of my old favorite, "Live And Let Die" , a theme from the James Bond movie with the same name with special effects and fireworks.
It was the first rock concert in Safeco, which Paul recognized.  He stopped for a moment "to drink it in"  He also did a tribute to Seattle native Jimi Hendrix and keeping his Seattle theme, invited surviving Nirvana members to join him on stage to perform with him during his encore.
The top 2 pictures were taken from Seattle Times site as our cells ran out of batteries.  In addition, it was much clearer than what we would have been able to take. I scanned my ticket this morning. We were on the floor, 8 rows up to the left of the stage. 

Deb And Jay

It's Deb's turn to pose with ex-Mariners at Safeco. Deb was there to attend a Ricoh Copier Seminar. Here's Jay Buhner.  The Mariner's trade with the New York Yankees worked so well in our favor, that the move was immortalized on Seinfeld.  The question is, how did Ken Phelps (the other end of the deal) feel about that?/

Mariner Win Highlight Of Fun Afternoon

Deb and I spent a sunny afternoon at Safeco Field with our nephews, Ethan and Connor watching the Seattle Mariners beat the Baltimore Orioles 4-3

Before we arrived at the game, we all made a prediction of what the final score would be and Deb hit it on the nose. The tickets that we had were incredible as we were right on top of the action. I would encourage everyone to get out to see the team this year. It looks like things are moving in the right direction as the team tries to rebuild into a contender.

Dave Niehaus Way

Safeco Field will now be located on Dave Niehaus Way South. The late Hall Of Fame announcer was honored yesterday by the naming of the section of 1st Ave South that passes Safeco Field and by a plate in front of the Mariner Announcer Booth. Fans at Safeco wore white shoes in honor of his unique style of dress. It was the first game of the year at Safeco (the team opened up on the road) and the Mariners lost badly, but although the Mariners had their good days and bad, Dave Niehaus was always great.

Niehaus Will Be Honored At Safeco

Mariner Nation will meet at 1:00 pm at Safeco Field to say good bye to legendary broadcaster Dave Niehaus Parking will be free at the stadium and the services will be stream on the Mariner's web site and also be covered live on some area TV stations.

An Evening At Safeco Field

The Mariners are having a horrible season, but the ballpark is still a gem. We've been to three games this year including one where the M's played the Boston Red Sox. The Mariners have won all three. Of course, King Felix pitched in 2 of them. The above picture was taken about 9:00 pm from the 300 level last night. We watched the Mariners beat the Oakland A's 2-0. Felix Hernandez had a career high 13 strike outs.

Happy 10th Anniverary Safeco Field!

This is an actual ticket from the first game ever played at Safeco Field on July 15th 1999! The Mariners played the first half of the season in the Kingdome.

Randy Johnson Returns To Pitch At Safeco

Randy Johnson was gone from the Mariners when Safeco Field first opened it's doors in 1999, but has returned many times as an opposing pitcher. Last Friday he made what could be his last appearance in Seattle.

Seattle's Safeco Field Will Celebrate 10th Birthday

The Seattle Mariner's Safeco Field will turn 10 on July 15h. The team moved from the Kingdome into the outdoor field in the middle of the season. I went to that game with some work buddies, having won a ticket in a drawing. Pictured above is the commemorative ticket. It was only the second outdoor Major League Baseball game that I had seen in my lifetime. I had watched the Mariners play at the Kingdome. Ironically, I had seen my first outdoor Major League game a month and a half earlier at Chicago's Wrigley Field. The Cub's opponent and the Mariner's opponent in both of the games that I have mentioned, by coincidence, was the San Diego Padres.

Blake In Town This Weekend

American Idol Finalist Blake Lewis is back the area to make a number of appearances. One will be singing the National Anthem at Safeco Field at the Yankee-Mariners tonight, of note to me because I will be attending that game. Blake is a native of Bothell. After watching a couple of his performances on the show, I'm pretty sure he will put an interesting "spin" on the anthem.