Unless you’re actively trying to not pay attention, you’re aware that baseball is back. My kids and I were looking forward to the new season and the possibilities that it holds for our local team. A few moves by the Seattle Mariners during the off season really seems to have invigorated the team.
Only problem was opening day was coming and the team wasn’t going to be in town. Again. For the 5th year in a row the Mariners were going to be opening baseball season on the road. Against the Oakland A’s. Again. Alright, that’s a rant for another time.
The Mariners and Safeco Field came up with an interesting option. Open House. Due to a number of modifications to Safeco Field, this was a good opportunity to showcase the new features as well as celebrate the opening of baseball season. Free admission to the ballpark and watching the game on the new enormous high-definition screen? Sounds like fun. Throw in a free shirt and you know there’s going to be some people showing up.
I won’t go into all the drama about what it took to get there. The gates opened at 6 with game time just after 7. We wound up listening to the first inning on the radio in the car. And parking. Whoops. Well, we parked relatively close-ish.
So we get into Safeco Field and get our shirts. I like the sentiment. I do wish, however, the Mariners wore actual “blue” more often for their uniforms. Great slogan, but a little misplaced since grey, white and teal are most often worn. Whatever.
Inside Safeco Field it’s like a party. Only the team isn’t there. That didn’t matter, because it’s Opening Day. And King Felix is pitching. Everybody was given special “K” cards decked out in red, white and blue in honor or opening day. The “K” cards are usually yellow and only given to people sitting in the King’s Court section.
While Safeco Field is usually a very active place during games, there was a different feeling this time. Maybe it was because it was Opening Day. Maybe it was Felix Hernandez. Maybe it was because it was free. Maybe I’m projecting my own excitement. Maybe it was a combination of all the above. The kids were having a great time.
We sat and watched the game a little, then Déla wanted to head down to the field. Yes, you could go down to the field to check out the new wall and dimensions.
It took a little bit of wandering and asking, but we found out how to get down – through the bullpen. One of my favorite players is Tom Wilhelmsen. I’ve documented a few times over the last couple of years meeting Tom, and there’s a promotional shot of him leaving the bullpen, headed to the pitcher’s mound as a countdown to opening day. I really like the shot, sort of a “super hero” type of image.
It was exciting to be in the bullpen, even if we couldn’t actually be “IN” it, just sort of walking through it on the path the pitchers do as they enter the field. Walking out that door onto the warning track, just like the pitchers do… I got kinda tingly. It was very cool.
Wandering around, however, we got to an even better part. You could go into the dugout – both visiting and home teams. While I’ve never taken a tour of Safeco Field, I’m pretty sure the dugouts are off-limits most of the time. Even when the field is open for people to walk around the dugouts are off-limits.
I can’t stress enough how exciting it was to be able to sit in the Major League Baseball dugout and watch the game. We checked out both the Mariners and “visitors” dugouts, and you can imagine which one was more crowded.
And almost no visit to Safeco Field would be complete without a visit from and to two of the icons – Moose and Dave.
Alright, not exactly the dynamic duo you would have expected.
Apparently word is between 15,000 and 20,000 fans showed up. And then there was this tweet:
How many people are at Safeco tonight that have never (or rarely) been because they can’t afford it? Kind of awesome. #Mariners
— P_Whit (@MarinerMagic) April 2, 2013
Suddenly I was humbled. Sure, I’m a budget fan, attending games because I can get my kids in for $1 through the Kid’s Club and packing sandwiches instead of always buying lunch at the stadium, but there are so many more people who never get to a baseball game. Ever. And this was a nice way to give that crowd a taste of life at the ballpark.
There’s been some talk online about the future of this project. Maybe it will happen again. I’d love to see it happen during the All-Star game. One obvious option is away games for the playoffs. Somebody mentioned having baseball themed movie nights. I know I’m not the only one who hopes this wasn’t a one time affair.