This blog is focused mainly on the Seattle Mariners, but I keep track of other teams as well (mainly, the Baltimore Orioles, the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Philadephia Phillies, but there are occasional nods to the Seattle Sounders, Green Bay Packers, and Detroit RedWings, among others). This is not really a typical sports blog; I prefer to talk about my own personal experiences at games and with the game, rather than focus on statistical analysis. I know what stats are and generally how to use them, but have no love for numbers. Trust me, it’s for the best. This blog assumes that the reader is familiar with the roster and business of the Seattle Mariners. This site also operates under the belief that if you’re reading it, you also read Lookout Landing, USS Mariner, etc. on at least a semi-regular basis.
I’m a 43-year-old ex-musician living in West Seattle, a 10-minute drive from SafeCo Field. I went to my first baseball game back in my teens when I lived near Portland, at what used to be PGE Park (now a stadium for the MLS Timbers FC). I guess I must not have shown enough enthusiasm for it for my folks to take me again, but I remember having fun there. I also remember expecting more people to be in attendance. Poor Beavs. (I may have thought I was at a major league game at the time, I don’t remember).
Back in 2004, a friend called me and told me that his girlfriend got tickets through her job to a baseball game at SafeCo, and did I and my boyfriend want to go? We did. I remember we were sitting way up in the nosebleed 300 level over the first baseline, and it was very sunny and hot. I don’t recall if the Mariners won or lost, but it was 2005 before I went to another few games. In 2006 I organized a few outings with friends; it was more of a social event for me, a reason to go drink overpriced beer, eat overpriced ballpark food, and hang out at a place a lot of us would not normally go. We paid attention to the game, but only peripherally. About the middle of 2007 was when I decided that I liked the game enough to start following it on TV, and my visits to SafeCo increased, as did my attention to players other than Ichiro. The first time I saw JJ Putz save in person from the left field bleachers, that was pretty much it, I was hooked; JJ remains my favorite player to this day. I don’t know if it was the dramatic entry to Thunderstruck, or I had one beer too many or what, but I was officially addicted to baseball. Games were made a priority, and I eventually became the person who always asked what channel The Game was on when I was at other people’s houses.
For my birthday in late 2007, some friends and my husband (formerly boyfriend) pooled money together and got me two seats in a 16-game plan for the 2008 season. I picked out the area I figured would give me the best vantage point on the game; behind the plate in the upper deck, section 331. I went to FanFest, plotted out who was going to go with me to which games, read updates on the roster, and started really immersing myself in the team and the game. I created a filter in my personal LiveJournal account to talk about the games I went to, and air my opinion on how well the games were going (it was 2008, there was a lot of swearing). With the persuasion of friends, that turned into a public LJ account (which is filed as my archive in the links listings), which turned into this site, after the 2008 World Series.
While I don’t generally mention stats, I know a good player from a bad one, and I know the rules of the game. I love baseball like a fat kid loves cake, no joke. My opinions may or may not match a given reader’s, and that is perfectly fine with me, I have no problem admitting that what I don’t know about this game could fill a few volumes – but I am interested in furthering my education, so if you read something posted here that is incorrect, please feel free to let me know. I own my mistakes, and you will likely see a lot of “EDIT” notes here. I welcome new information and criticism – but if you post a response here that looks like trolling or spam, it will be deleted. I have no problem with polite disagreement, but I won’t argue with you if that’s all you hit ‘reply’ for. Be civil, that’s all I ask. I also welcome discussion, questions, etc. I’m pretty much an open book, and I don’t bite.
I no longer sit in section 331 – in 2009 it was in 323, and 2010 it was 182. Currently, I’m in 182 again over left field, the best and simultaneously least expensive spot for season tickets. I may not go back to the upper deck – but I will always remember my first season up there.
