Ciárán’s first Mariners game just happened to be during Kids Appreciation Day at Safeco Field. My day was already made before the gates opened (see the previous blog entry) so anything else that happened would be “gravy” (or whatever euphemism you want to use).
As is fairly standard practice, though it’s only our fourth game total at Safeco Field, we went as soon as we could when the gates opened to sit behind the Mariners dugout, hoping to catch a player for an autograph. The Mariners Moose posters that were being given away to all kids were available at the gate as we entered, and I wisely brought a cardboard tube to hold them in. After securing the posters from damage and getting Ciárán’s new shirt on him, we rushed to the dugout.
There was already a crowd gathered, and even a player signing whatever was placed in front of him. August and I were excited until we got there and saw it was Tom Wilhelmsen. This isn’t to say he’s a bad guy, on the contrary. He was chatting with the fans, took the time to sign posters, balls, whatever. No, he’s a real nice guy. It’s just that he is the person August got an autograph from last time.
The field was laid out in order to allow kids to go down as a sort of “parade” on the field, which August and Déla wanted to do, so instead of hanging out by the dugout we went to where the signs led us to get onto the field. We entered the field at the edge of center field working our way around clockwise. It was neat, because August understood how special it was to be able to go down on the field. Granted, we couldn’t go on the grass, but still, being able to walk around the ball park was pretty cool.
We paused at the Mariners dugout. Why? It’s the Mariners dugout! That’s where the players sit during the game! Just a few minutes previous we were sitting right behind there. Déla seemed the most impressed with this.
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Watching my kids go around the field was fun. There were a lot of mascots that came out for the various sports teams in the area ranging from Tacoma to Everett, even Smokey The Bear and a few of the corporate sponsors. It was a bit overwhelming, actually. The kids were more enamored with the ball players from both teams warming up on the field. August wanted me to ask for autographs, but I thought better of it.
After going around we still had plenty of time, so we went back to the dugout area to see if we would be able to get an autograph. Turns out, a couple of players did indeed come up to the stands to sign things. We managed to get balls autographed, which is going to inspire its own blog post about athletes and their treatment of fans. I’m just glad I packed sandwiches for the kids to eat while we sat waiting.