The Do's an Don'ts at Safeco Field

Having gone to the M's game yesterday, I noticed there's a few things you shouldn't do when you go to baseball's shrine in Seattle. To ensure you don't make the same mistake, here are some tips.

1. When you get bleacher seats on bright, sunny afternoon day, you'd better bring a hat - I realized rather quickly that we had ventured into an area that was about as hot as the surface of the sun - even though it was April in Seattle - and that my pale, weak, easily burnt skin would quickly resemble jerky. So I had to go down to the team store and get fleeced for a Boston hat. And the team store guy wasn't happy with me buying a Boston hat.

2. People show up late so make sure you defend your turf or moved to an empty spot - When the game started, the bleacher area was relatively empty but more and more and more people piled in. They were all roughly 300 pounds and had a Sidney Rice jersey on. These people also had a knack for trying to nestle up right next to you and squeeze you in your seat. Sidney Rice was never covered this closely in his NFL career. Since apparently Safeco ushers don't care if you move around in the cheap seats, move around to freedom becuase you won't regret hearing some guys drone on about how Seattle is the most-taxed city in American and how Motocross is "totally" going to happen at Century Link Field.

3. Coffee is expensive - Five bucks for a coffee?!?!? What is this Starbucks??!?! Oh you handed it to me in a Starbucks cup, I guess it is.

4. Dustin Ackley is as terrible in person as he is on TV - Like really bad. Like so bad the Jumbotron just shows reruns of Fraiser when he comes up to bat.

5. Watch out for the Seagulls - Good lord, its like a scene from an Alfred Hitchcock movie. I shudder to think of what the people on the first base side of Safeco had to endure from droppings...

Is Safeco Field middle-aged?

Safeco Field has gotten a lot of accolades for being a great place to watch a baseball game. However, it's now entering it's thirteenth year of existence and is ranked the fifteenth-oldest stadium in major league baseball. Isn't that weird? Remember what happened when the "new" Key Arena suddenly became unfit for the NBA? From SportsPressNW...

Between Camden’s ’92 debut and Safeco’s opening came parks in Cleveland, Arlington, TX. (where the Mariners play four starting Monday), Denver, Atlanta, Tampa and Phoenix. It is, in a word, astonishing.

The build-out for baseball in the past two decades is a reflection of many things: The game’s enduring appeal, public yearnings for nostalgia, connections and community, as well as the cunning of a monopoly operation that knows how to exploit those feelings and the vulnerability of electeds who know there’s usually nothing like a sports palace that can draw 51 percent of voters. Since 2008, things have changed.

With the prospects that higher employment and lower incomes, benefits, and job stability are becoming the new normal, the appetite for public palace building has shrunk. Certainly it has in Seattle, where various levels of government have rejected multiple bids by two public sports buildings, KeyArena and the University of Washington football stadium, to get public money for remodels. Back to Safeco. Having fresher parks around the country doesn’t mean Safeco is decrepit.

The building has been well-maintained and should easily outlive the Kingdome’s 24 years. But independent of nationwide trends, reaching middle age for an outdoor stadium in a marine climate means a continuing list of maintenance and upgrades, particularly with a giant mechanical, mobile roof.

The lease says the cost of these fixes are borne by the Mariners, according to the Public Facilities District that operates the shop. But if and when a big-ticket repair arises, the Mariners may suggest that the lease is unclear, and in any event, may ask/demand that the PFD chip in. That news would become public quickly.

While the issue probably won't be replacing the stadium, hopefully for the next 20+ years, but repairs to its infrastructure? The Mariners have been losing money so if something serious really comes up, will they step up to the plate and make the repairs? Our city governments across the nation were quick to pony up cash to build pro stadiums but now they're strapped for cash. You could see some serious debates and issues in the future, not just at Safeco but in other cities as well.

Stat Tracker: Boston Red Sox vs. Seattle Mariners

After spending the day roasting in the sun while photographing a marathon in Spokane, and a heated game of Laser Tag, I spent the later part of the day following the second game of the Boston Red Sox-Seattle Mariners series.

Here's the stat tracker for the game.

2 - Questionable sponsors for the Seattle Mariners broadcasts. First, a Waste Management commercial since apparently garbage men need to advertise these days. That's followed up by a "Tuff Shed" commercial. Ladies and Gentlemen, your 2009 Recession!

1 - pitch that Jason Bay saw before he sent the ball hurtling towards the left field bleachers. Mannywood? No, Baywatch is in season.

42,000 - number of fans attending the game, which is far above their usual "hey! anyone can come in from the streets to make this crowd look bigger" figures. Obviously Red Sox Nation is in full bloom at Safeco Field.

In the hundreds - the decibel level of the voice of Dave Niehaus when Bettencourt hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the second. Although, I didn't hear the obligatory "and it's a four to TWO ballgame."

1 - thing Ken Griffey Jr. and I have in common... neck fat.

1 - more Washington Lottery commercial from and I'll go ape-crazy. Seriously.

5 inches - the width of Red Sox manager Terry Francona's wad of gun in his left cheek. And I know it's gum because he takes the thing out, plays with it and then adds to it.

8 hard hit balls - that the 3rd base side ball girl handled wonderfully. She's a pro. Spokane Indians might want to take a look at her.

20,000 people - crammed into the beer garden of Safeco Field.

2 guys - in that beer garden that have Baltimore Orioles jerseys on. Apparently they're starting on Sunday and Monday for the O's.

Too many times - FSN announcers use the term "tough customer" when talking about batters for Boston. Oh and they mentioned Dustin Pedrioa was the defending 2008 AL MVP only slightly more often than the Spokane Chiefs announced they were the 2008 Memorial Cup Champions. Like we forgot or something.

2 GOOD GOD MOMENTS - I saw a woman in a Yankees' hat taking a photo of Griffey. Apparently she wanted to see somebody in the lineup that was struggling other than Mark Teixeira.

FSN also showed a group of Red Sox fans chanting "ICH - EE -ROW!" along with the rest of the crowd in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs. Nope. No Bandwagon to see here folks. Move along. Move along.

.207 - Batting average of Ken Griffey Jr. In case you were keeping track at home.

3, 698 - times I've seen Adrain Beltre foul off a pitch into his shin. This does not count towards his slugging percentage.

Epic Photo: The moat of new Yankee Stadium

Here's the infamous "moat" that separates the Legends Suite seats with the Field Level seats of the new Yankee Stadium. If that's not a collective middle finger to your fan base, I don't know what is.

Meanwhile at Safeco Field...

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeassseeeeee buy our tickets. Look, we have Ken Griffey Jr! Junior! The Kid! He's back! You can sit on his lap for all we care, just buy some tickets. Sure he's 40 pounds heavier and swings the bat like Blanche from 'The Golden Girls' but it's still the same guy. Hey homeless guy... want tickets to the game? We'll let you hold your sign up in the aisle way..."

Give Griffey the Stone Cold treatment

.171

That's Ken Griffey Jr.'s batting average with two home runs and two RBIs. Tonight he went 0-3 with two strikeouts in Seattle's 9-3 loss to Tampa Bay.

While the Mariners' didn't exactly bring in Griffey to be their offensive horse - it was to sell tickets - they're going to have to do something if he continues to be a gaping hole in the lineup.

Solution? Let me tell you a story of the WWE wrestler called Stone Cold Steve Austin. You see, Austin became incredible popular during what we could call pro wrestling's golden age.

However, poor Austin - at the peak of his popularity in 2003- his body just couldn't take it anymore.

But they just couldn't shelve him. Here's a hall-of-famer wrestler and they just couldn't drop the guy off the radar so suddenly.

Instead the WWE cut any sort of in-ring wrestling and basically had him run around performing antics and gag stunts, usually ending with him using the "stunner" on Vince McMahon. He drove beer trucks into the ring, ATVs into the ring, threw beer into the crowd, drove other vehicles into the ring and generally just raised all sorts of hell.

The WWE had found a loophole. Stone Cold wasn't actually wrestling anymore, but he was still a presence. A presence that the home crowd loved. And this what they should do for Griffy. Let him suit up, run around Safeco Field with a cooler full of beer. Griffey can drive a freakin' Monster Truck onto the diamond for all I care, he's Ken Griffey Jr., People would love that.

Except for the grounds crew.

And an added point of entertainment, they could build up an on-going feud with Bud Selig and just have Griffey use the "stunner" on Selig for in-between inning promotions.

Now I'd pay 40 bucks to see that.

Wonderful Washburn

Here's a stat line that 9-5 Mariners fans should be ecstatic about...

Jarrod Washburn (3-0)... 7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 9 SO

Oh and they beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 4-2 tonight at Safeco Field. Which is fine by my watch because it helps the Red Sox, who had their game postponed today.

Seattle fans have seen this before

According to USS Mariner, here was the type of pitches that Carlos Silva threw in his last two starts...

April 8th 23 fastballs, 61 sinkers.
April 14th 41 fastballs, 37 sinkers

That's two different types of pitches if you're counting. Although I'm not sure how you would classify the pitches that go careening into the protective screen at Safeco Field. Either way, the man is milking a 6.35 ERA and an 0-2 record after today's 8-2 loss to the Detroit Tigers.

After busting out some rather interesting software that charts pitches, the USS Mariner has come to this conclusion...

Carlos Silva’s sinker is indistinguishable from his fastball, if we grant that he even throws two pitches. He’s playing rock-paper-scissors with rock, rock, and rock.

If you're keeping score at home, that's bad news. But hey! At least the Mariners' bullpen has the same problem.

Now for your AL East fans out there reading Just South of North, which is Dylan Kitzan and that strange Austrian woman I met at the bar last night, the Red Sox are back to .500 after Jon Lester shook off a rough start to the season and looked like the Lester of old in a 2-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

Final line: Seven innings pitches, four hits and nine strikeouts.

For Red Sox fans, that's a very good sign that Lester is dealing again. And that the Yankees are giving up over 20 runs a game.