Baseball!

OK I have been a little slow about bloging about this but the major league baseball season is underway!
Monday was opening day – schedule magnet day. All of the losses for the Mariners from last season are gone and we are on to a new clean slate. 2pm start against the Minnesota Twins. Before the game the Presidents of the United States of America play a few songs at home plate; Lump & Love Everybody. The staff, coaches, and players were all introduced. Awards from last season where handed out. Beltre, Boone, and Ichiro all collected their hardware. Edgar Martinez threw out the first pitch. Jamie Moyer pitched a great game and the M’s went on to win 5-1! Seson who had had an always Spring, at least in games I was there hit two home runs! Beltre looked great and Ichiro was, well, Ichiro. Here was the starting line-up for the season:
Ichiro RF
Jeremy Reed CF
Adrian Beltre 3B
Richie Sexson 1B
Bret Boone 2B
Raul Ibañez DH
Randy Winn LF
Miguel Olivo C
Wilson Valdez SS (this is kind of the surprise considering he only signed with the team two days before but Pokey Reese is on the 15 day DL)
Attached are a few photos I took on opening day
Tuesday I was back at the park and this time I brought my youngest brother. The M’s jumped on the best pitcher last season in the American league, Santana, and where up 4-0 after one inning. I turned to him and said I did not think that four runs would be enough to win the game. Gil Meche got in trouble for the M’s in the fifth inning and between him and the bullpen and we ended up losing to the Twins 4-8. The crowd was really small for the game and I later heard on the radio that it was like the forth smallest crowd since Safeco field had opened. Night weekday games in April are kind of rough. It ended up not being that cold which was nice.
Friday I was back again as the Texas Rangers came into town. Instead of sitting in my seats in the section right behind the M’s dugout I was in section 307 looking down on right field. I was kind of disappointed in that when I had gone to buy the group tickets from the M’s they told me the best they could do was rows 9 and above out in that section which is the first row above the walkway. When we get to the game the whole section below us was virtually empty so after the second inning we move our whole group down to the first few rows. This was a back and forth game but in the end the M’s won 9-6. It was a very fun game and I even got my name up on the scoreboard at the end of the fourth inning. My digital camera is almost 10 years old and in an attempt to take the photo I missed it and have a photo wishing someone a 30th birthday instead of me my 35th! It was great to have a lot of friends at the game. Friends from the diamond club section stopped by and gave me a signed ball wishing me well and a great book on baseball to read. My friends just bough me lots of beer. After the game I stopped in on some people at the De luxe which is a bar by the Harvard Exit movie theatre on Capitol Hill. It is a nice little place with a couple of pool tables. I had never been in there before and I might have to pop in there a little more oftern.