Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Mariners

I went to the Mariners game last night with Joy and some other colleagues.  Safeco Field is a perfectly nice stadium and it was a lovely night.  The retractable roof was open and it was the second home game of the season.  The place was probably more than half full, but not by much.

The seats and aisles were clean and apparently well-maintained.  The bathrooms were decent.  There were plenty of concession stands.  Generally, I am not as much a hot dog snob as many Chicagoans, but I refused to purchase one in a stadium that had a stand for sushi and sake.

Joy did.  She said it was fine.  I got a hot pretzel.

Then we took pictures so that we could upload them to Facebook like giddy little children.


We had a discussion about visiting other parks.  What is the etiquette of rooting or not rooting for a team on another field?  On one hand, it is kinda cool to watch a game and not be emotionally invested.  On the other hand, I like being emotionally invested.  I also think it is only polite to root for the home team, unless the other team is actually yours.  I once went to a game in Champaign - Illinois vs. Michigan.  I am a Wolverine fan and the Wolverines were pounding on the Illini.  I was never so quiet during a sporting event in my life.

So I rooted for the Mariners.  Minus Milton Bradley.  I somehow think that worked for him.

Several of us got up in the sixth inning for refreshments.  OK, fine.  It was cold, I didn't have my Soldier Field gear and I wanted a hot chocolate.  Which I found.  Graham (from Chicago) and David (from Louisiana) came back saying that there was no line for beer, but the Starbucks line was seven deep.  They almost took a picture, it was so odd.

In the end, Milton Bradley, who was such a useless punk as a Cub, won the game for the Mariners.  He had a good catch and a clutch throw to home plate, stopping a run from scoring.  He hit a double.  Then in the 8th inning, he hit a three run home run.

I wouldn't normally seek out a ball game in another city, but it was a good time and I am glad we did it. 

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