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!