There is a saying in baseball that goes like this " There is no such thing as a bad at the ballpark." On Friday I got a chance to test that theory. My first Mariners game was in 1998 in the Kingdome was a 5-3 loss to the San Diego Padres. Alex Rodrigez homered and Ken Griffey made a nice catch at the wall were my highlights. Before the day was done I was a baseball fan.
Over the years of attending games I had never witnessed what I say on Friday. The Mariners 12-3 loss over the Cleveland Indians made it official. I had officially seen a blowout in a major league baseball game. Did I have a bad experience at the game. Of course not. In fact, it was much better then listening on the radio, which is what I would have done if I wasn't at the game because the game wasn't on TV in Canada.
My day started when my family left at 2pm for Seattle. I was able to get out of school at 1:50. The border lineup was about 30 minuets, which is pretty good for a friday afternoon. We didn't run into any traffic until Lynwood. After that the traffic was really slow.
Eventually, my family did get to the stadium. We got there just past 6pm, 30 minuets before the pre-game festivities. During the offseason Hall Of Fame broadcaster Dave Niehaus past away. Before the first pitch the Seattle Mariners were going to pay tribute to their first ever broadcaster. In addition, the Mariners were going to recognize Felix Hernandez with his Cy Young award.
The Tribute to Dave Niehaus was filled with emotions. He was one of the best announcers, not only in baseball but in sports. Every night game when I was between the ages of 7-14 I would lay in bed listening to him. His passion for the game of baseball was off the charts. The Ceremony was very well done and had just enough emotion to it. It was not too sad but at the same time it was sad enough to realize that he meant a lot to people in the Northwest.
My favorite part of the ceremony was when Macklemore and Ryan Lewis sung "MY OH MY ". For a person to have the courage to write a song about a great guy is an accomplishment by itself. The song had great lyrics and was preformed beautifully. It has a good beat and it really makes you think of what a great guy he was. I also thought it was great to see King Felix get such a nice ovation for winning the Cy Young. I really liked the pre-game festivities.
Unlike the pre-game festivities, the game itself I did not like. The Indians pounded out 9 hits on Mariners starting pitcher Jason Vargas. He only lasted 31/3 and took the loss. What made matters worse was the Indians put up a 10 spot in the fourth inning. When the Mariners finally retired the Indians in the fourth I was like "wow, the Mariners won't even score 11 runs this series. "
When it was 12-1 in the Top of the 6th, I realized that there was no chance the Mariners would come back and I took a walk to the Team Store. I wanted to buy a T-shirt that had a players name on it but I wanted to wait to see who was having a good year so I will likely wait to July when I will be back at Safeco to buy one.
In the ninth inning, the Mariners rallied to trim the deficit to 12-3 but it was way too little, way too late. The Mariners for whatever reason just didn't have it on Friday night. Sometime your home opener is like that where for whatever reason they just come out flat.
All in all, I had lots of fun despite the 12-3 loss. My dad said we will make going to opening day a tradition for now on Jokingly or not, I hope he comes through in his word. I think the goal for the Mariners should be to go .500 at home. If you go .500 at home and 18 below on the road they would get to my goal of 72-90.
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