Big Weekend at the Safe!

Since we've been missing so many M's games this year (apparently our "boys of summer" are also taking the summer off!), I promised Gerry we could go to every game of this past home stand (for those scoring at home that was SIX GAMES!)  We had quite a bit of "scrip" accumulated (they put the money back into our account when we exchange our tix for future - this season only - use) so I thought it would make it much more enjoyable if we upgraded our tix to the "All Star Club" - fabulous suite seats with a full-buffet and really great parking all included in the package!

And though we didn't get to see much in the way of play (c'mon Kyle - "bobblehead" is a promotional giveaway, not a level of play!) on Friday night we did have an awesome front row view to some spectacular fireworks:



Saturday was pretty impressive (again not the game...we were shutout 10-0).  The pre-game festivities included (for the first time in a REALLY long time) a sell out crowd - all there to watch Ken Griffey, Jr. (in what is surely just a warm-up to Cooperstown) be inducted into the Mariner Hall of Fame.  It was quite the lovefest.

While we weren't the first to arrive...

...we weren't the last either.

We arrived by 3:30 pm (for a 6:10 supposed start) and the line for what will probably be the last Junior bobblehead until 2016 was already incredibly long!  Once the line started moving it was all incredibly efficient and orderly and we had plenty of time to collect our bobbleheads (for the grandsons), return them to the car, make our way back into the ballpark, find dinner and be in our seats for the the ceremonies began at 5:30 pm.

When finally introduced, Junior made his way, appropriately enough, in from centerfield - his number #24 painted on the grass.  Once last time he headed for home plate to be greeted by the entire Mariner Hall of Fame (Alvin Davis, Marilyn Niehaus - representing her husband, Dave Niehaus, Jay Buhner, Edgar Martinez, Randy Johnson and Dan Wilson) along with his wife, children and parents and Mariner management (Howard Lincoln, Chuck Armstrong and John Ellis).  All that was missing was Trey (Junior's oldest who was off playing football for the Arizona Wildcats but sent a video message) and Lou Piniella.












Watching the videos and listening to the tributes and Griffey's gracious and heart-felt thanks to everyone who contributed to his success - his parents, his family, his teammates, the front office, his agent and so many friends and fan - I was struck by a couple of thoughts:

• The visual of the entire Mariner dugout - so many of these kids not much older than Griffey was when he started in 1989 (Brad Miller our current short-stop was actually BORN the year Griffey was a rookie!) - all of them with their caps worn backward in homage to the man who was not only responsible for the SEATTLE Mariners (not the Tampa Bay Mariners instead) but a true legend of the game.

• How genuinely touched he was by the outpouring of affection from fans and teammates.  Tears came to his eyes when a video tribute from Ichiro was played.  They had become tremendous friends when given the chance to play together that last season in 2009.  And Griffey spoke eloquently and effusively when thanking absolutely everyone.

• And I couldn't help but think of another young man who came up with this organization.  All he ever, ever wanted was what Griffey always had - family, friends, fans and how these two lives could not have taken more divergent paths.  These two youngsters seemed so similar at the time and one couldn't help but feel the greatness that was before each of them.  Now one is a certain Hall of Famer, headed not only for Cooperstown but destined for a happy, wonderful life post baseball...the other most likely looking towards the bitter end of a once-promising career with his "achievements" now pock-marked with asterisks indicating a "less than honest" performance. 

But while the pre-game was certainly moving and a joy to witness, the top of the third inning turned out to be the only highlight of the game itself:

August 10, 2013, we celebrated our 33 1/3 wedding anniversary and while I've never seen it listed on the Hallmark website of suggested traditional wedding anniversary gifts, apparently the "modern" equivalent for reaching the one-third century mark is a notice on the GINORMOUS Mariner Vision screen.

[He's pretty sneaky that husband of mine.  I don't know which impressed me more - he arranged for this early in the season, he kept the secret, he remembered to look up at the screen at the appropriate time so he could record the memory!]

~later, tw