Fair weather flip flopper fan

OK!

The Mariners won all 3 games with the Red Sox, and I got to see the third game in person Wednesday afternoon!

Before they came to Seattle, Boston was the leading team in both National and American leagues. Today it's the Dodgers (National) by 1 game.

















It was great fun watching such wonderful baseball - I think all other sports consider a high score the reflection of a "good, well played" game.

Not baseball.

Wednesday's game was 2-1, Seattle.

Thing is, I appreciate and love teams that play well and consistently. The M's have been up and down - but the Mariners team playing those three winning games was reliable and consistent and extremely professional. Totally impressive.

So whereas before the series I was favoring Boston with my fan hat, now I'm flip flopping and wearing my Mariners cap since they seem to have pulled it together.

To me, this isn't like supporting the Cubs. I mean, I support them no matter what because .. well, because they're the Cubs. Even when I root for the Chicago White Sox, I still support the Cubs because .. well, because they're the Cubs.

The problem I've had with modern baseball teams is that I believe they need to be as loyal to fans as they want us to be to them. Seems to me that today's teams tend to lean more toward impersonal corporate thinking and make too many decisions that favor making money rather than the love of the game and respect for certain players.

Every team must make money to survive. But with ticket prices as excessive as they are (with some exceptions at The Safe) and outrageous food costs, it seems that the least we can ask for is team managements who respect the fan, the players and the bottom line.

I think, overall (and please correct me if I'm wrong) Red Sox management considers the fans their 10th team member, and have a staunch loyalty to them when they make decisions that affect the team.

The Mariners? Not so much. With exceptions, there have been notable disappointments in the handling of great players and player/staff/announcer hiring practices. It feels like that impersonal "corporate team" spirit.

Despite that, I can't dismiss how well they played in this series with Boston - consistently, with impressive teamwork and extra effort every play?

I honestly don't care if any team wins or loses as long as they are giving their greatest effort and playing well.

So here I go - rooting for the Mariners again because they're working together as a team; everyone is contributing and making that extra effort.

I'm going to another game this coming weekend.

Fans could use a couple of tips as well: smoker fans who puff away outside the stadium should realize their smoke does not magically disappear. As I waited for my friends to arrive, standing outside The SAFE, the second hand smoke was so thick as to be nearly intolerable. And there were lots of kids (now that school's out!), pregnant women, and people like me who are not only cancer survivors but allergic to smoke.

And the number of fans who march up and down the aisles is pretty shocking. These games are apparently considered more a social activity for them - an expensive social activity - rather than a sporting event because they didn't seem too focused on what was transpiring on the field.

Some fans were a kick in the pants - so much fun to watch, too. A group of young Japanese women - Ichiro fans - had signs "hearting" him, and got some TV camera time, which thrilled them! Our guy Ichiro came through - he was the "2" in the 2-1 score.

A small slice-size of pizza my friend Jarrod bought was $6.50; a bottle of water, $4.00. I ate before the game to avoid costly and caloric indulgences.

What he didn't know before he reads this blog is that his pizza fell out of the box onto the ground under his seat when he was off getting me a small ice cream snack. The box had been tenuously placed when he left; when we tried to catch it before hitting the floor, our hands weren't fast enough!

Uh-oh.

Another friend, Tom, and I quickly snapped it up and put it back in the box pretty much the way it came.

Fortunately we kept tabs on you, J, and there have been neither germ nor bacteria ramifications. It's too late for psychosomatic symptoms now. And you'll feel good to know we followed the 5 second rule (in this case it was more like 2) and figured there was no need for you to spend all that money on another! :-)

I had a blast ... dancing and singing to the music, making suggestions for plays, pitches and manager decisions, cheering, interacting with other fans, laughing and chatting with J and Tom. I tried to get a photo of Ichiro "waving at me." I figured if I caught him at just the right angle as he leaped with his glove high overhead to catch a fly ball, it would appear that he was waving to me. But, sadly my camera doesn't have a strong enough zoom lens, so you wouldn't have been able to see who it was and it just looked like someone catching a ball.



















OK we had a great social time, too. But we didn't march up and down the aisles all afternoon interrupting other people's view of the game! ;-)

And there never is a dull moment for a baseball fan when a great game is being played!

Thanks, Boston and Seattle for giving us a superb game that was fantastic to experience!

This coming Saturday night's game between Toronto (which has been coming on *strong!*) and Seattle should also be fantastic!

Batter up!

I'm very excited.

I'm going to a Mariners-Red Sox day game Wednesday afternoon with a couple friends.

I love to watch Ichiro play. He's an inspiration to anyone who wants to pursue anything seriously. He's superbly disciplined and constantly preparing himself for his next move.

If you are able to watch him play at Seattle's Safeco Field (known as The Safe here), you'll see something you don't see in just about any other baseball field come the end of the season. Because he moves around so much, the grass is still full and green and growing there.

Most other players in their home ball parks tend not to move as much, so where they play their outfield positions, the grass is beaten down and the area worn.

One summer day I was walking my little Pomeranian Oscar around a three mile path at a place here called Green Lake. He was a perfect little gentleman when he walked with me, never paying attention to anyone or anything else but me.

A group of Japanese tourists were chatting away, coming from the opposite direction, when they saw Oscar, who was, if I do say so myself, a very cute little dog. They were absolutely fascinated with him and how well he behaved. I even got down to show them how he would sit and shake hands.

They "ooooooed" and "aaaahed" at my little guy, talking (I imagine) about what a great little dog he was.

I only know how to say "thank you" in Japanese, and did so. But I wanted to say more. After all they were snapping Oscar's picture and fussing over him so much.

So I spread my arms and declared, "ICHIRO!"

They stopped, sort of stunned, were silent a moment, then spread their arms and echoed in unison, "ICHIRO!"

To which I anwered, "ICHIRO!"

To which they responded, "ICHIRO!"

And we simultaneously bowed a number of times as we parted.

Seattle Times columnist (and now Seattle City Counsel member) Jean Godden declared "Ichiro" a "universal language!"

Meanwhile, the Mariners have had a pretty up and down season. It's always disappointing when one's hometown team isn't consistent. A couple of players are, like Ichiro, but the pitching has been, as Randy says, "pitchy." Inconsistent.

And one of my favorite teams has always been the Red Sox. So while I'll be happy if the Mariners win, I have to say the Red Sox are having a spectacular year and deserve the winning season they're enjoying. David Ortiz is someone I love to watch play as well.

Ichiro may leave the team after this season if they're not in contention. Can't say I blame him. He's such a reliable, winning component of the team, but unless all his team members are just as reliable? Especially the starting pitchers? It will be a sorry sorry day in Seattle if the Mariners lost our champion.

In short, I'll be happy if either team wins. But I have to keep that to myself. My mother is a diehard Mariners' fan, and I'd never live it down if she saw me on TV (she watches the games all the time) cheering for the Bosox. And it would be just my luck that I'd get caught on camera the nanosecond I cheered for the Bosox.

It's always fun to go to a game with friends. One of the things I like most about baseball is that it's a game that can be enjoyed along with a great conversation or two.

Awhile back I worked as the news director and morning news anchor for a rock radio station in Seattle - the short lived KSPL FM. The morning disc jockey, Joe Michaels, and I were given Mariners' shirts with our names on the back and we'd go to games and hand out free Mariners tickets to listeners who came up to us during the game and asked us if we were Colleen Patrick and Joe Michaels from KSPL.

PA's (public appearances) like that were always enjoyable for me.

The station arranged for several of them to boost ratings.

One of which was an elephant race. Several stations in town participated - each with its morning team (DJ/Newsie) riding a contending elephant.

Let me tell you - elephants are *very* large and tall and sitting on the neck of an elephant makes one feel as if one will fall over and plunge a couple stories unless one maintains one's balance. Joe sat behind me, sort of hanging on to me and the slightest pressure from him made me feel like I would topple over on the pavement below.

"Get back! Sit back!" I thought I commanded as I was sure he was so close I could feel his breath against the back of my neck. Until I realized I was too scared to speak, and what I felt on my neck was my flop sweat dripping.

I've always believed that those poor elephants wished we would have fallen so they could laugh at us doing such ridiculous things for attention. I bet they wished we would have instead brought attention to the need for them not to participate in such silly activities and be sent home where they belong, to roam freely.

Lessons learned.

Oh - and as I recall our elephant won the race. Probably in a rush to get the crazy woman off its neck who kept screaming - in her own mind - "Get back, Joe! Sit back!"

Took me a week to stop shaking.

Yep. One more thing to talk about at the game. Think I'll have some kettle corn, too.