Section 101 and Mariners, liarheads
A reader forwarded us his response from the M’s on Section 101:
Thank you for your comments regarding the new bleacher seats in centerfield. Bleacher seats are extremely popular with our fans as a place to enjoy the game and we have received many requests for these seats in the centerfield ball catch area. With the arrival of summer weather, we decided it was a good opportunity to put the bleacher seats in place. This small bleacher section will be in place for the remainder of the season, but we appreciate receiving your feedback as we will evaluate our decision during the off-season.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact us. Please contact me if you have additional questions or comments.
Sincerely,
Frances Traisman
The Seattle Mariners
(206) 346-4458 direct
(206) 346-4450 fax
http://www.seattlemariners.com/
Couple of things to note:
One is that they’re lying: the seats have been there all year — this wasn’t some decision they just made.
Two is that at least they’re pretending to reconsider the idea for next year.
Three is that they’re very popular, which if you’ve been to games and seen how many people sit there, is clearly not true.
Still, the second one is hopeful. If you haven’t already, go on and complain. This may make a difference yet.
Comments
19 Responses to “Section 101 and Mariners, liarheads”
I imagine most people want the cheap $7-9 bleacher seats and not the $24 “bleacher seats.â€
This is off topic, but nonetheless reflective of the season.
On Seattle’s official site, there is a poll:
Who has been the Mariners’ unsung hero in 2004?
Willie Bloomquist
Jolbert Cabrera
Ron Villone
George Sherrill
J.J. Putz
—
It’s pretty sad when it comes down to this…
Derek, how do you feel about the ALCS banner in right field, which I like to call “the field day ribbon”
I for one wish that they would remove that banner. After all, who wants to “celebrate” their failures? Why, yes, the Seattle Mariners!
But I’m just one of those fans who should move to Philadelphia, right (paging folks like Darryl in Gig Harbor).
“Bleacher seats are extremely popular with our fans as a place to enjoy the game…”
Popular among the team’s fans or management’s fans? I have a feeling it’s the latter, a group composed mostly of blood relatives and people being paid by management (their lawyers, PR firms, etc.).
and we have received many requests for these seats in the centerfield ball catch area.”
The fact that all of those requests came directly from the team’s accountants is apprently irrelevant.
“This small bleacher section will be in place for the remainder of the season, but we appreciate receiving your feedback as we will evaluate our decision during the off-season.”
The kiss of death. It would probably be better if they had said something along the lines of “we’re sticking with the bleachers for the forseeable future” instead of this. If someone takes a firm position with you there’s still a chance to change it. If they’re putting this much PR spin on it you’re really in trouble.
Oh, it looks like the end font style html commands aren’t enabled (/b, /i). If possible, I think those would be nice to enable for the comments. I tend to prefer to use italics to make quotes stand out, because blockquote takes up way too much space, especially if you want to respond line by line.
The bleacher seats didn’t come in until the first Yankee series. Before that the bleacher seats out there didn’t exist. They were removed after the Yankee series but then they were put back in a few weeks later for good. I may be wrong on the few weeks later, but I know for a fact that they haven’t been there the whole season.
The worst part of those bleachers is that they’re an eyesore. They look like the sort of thing Junior High Schools set up on the sidelines so that parents can watch their kids play football. And visually they just don’t fit with the architecture of the stadium. (Maybe I should be putting this in a letter to the M’s.)
No, dont do that; they might elect to spend money on making them look better, which would then require their continued use to pay off the new money spent.
Just sent this note to the email address:
I’ve been meaning to write for a while that I am very sorry to see the M’s have decided to build permanent bleachers in the center field picnic area, which is one of the best and most unique places in the ballpark. My friends and I often left better seats to stand in this area, where I could always count on a great atmosphere and good conversations with other hardcore fans. At a recent game, we had tickets in this area and found the seats so cramped and uncomfortable that I preferred to stand at the bar over the bullpen area. Practically everyone I talked to in the “temporary†bleachers shared this view, and many vocally wondered why the M’s would charge a higher price for these terrible seats than for a regular outfield bleacher. Not a single person I spoke to over three games thought it was a good idea to replace the picnic area, and most were quite angry about it.
Especially since management has done such a disappointing job putting a competitive and entertaining team on the field this year, it is offensive to the fans, who have been extremely generous with the M’s and the stadium since its controversial inception, to sacrifice such a great benefit of the park for short-term revenue.
Please consider announcing that you will not continue with this practice, which bespeaks contempt for the fans, indifference to the distinctive greatness of the ballpark, and pure naked greed.
Thanks, and go M’s!
Hey Derek, you happen to see the Times today? They did their little dating comic strip thing and their location: Safeco Field centerfield landing.
I guess nobody told them about the bleachers.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/living/2002023895_socialStudies93.html
Priceless irony right there, not to mention final evidence that the Times just doesn’t have a clue.
DMZ,
Are you sure that the bleachers have been there all year? I’m almost positive this has been a 2nd-half-of-the-year thing. I went to 4 games in the first half, and still remember everyone milling around at the tables.
The more I think about it, I’m absolutely positive they weren’t there. I just went to my sixth game of the year during the last homestand, and that was the first time they were there.
Just wanted to make sure you had the facts.
Pete: we’ve discussed this before and they’ve been there all year. Every game… I don’t know for certain, because I wasn’t at every game and didn’t TiVo them all, but the PI’s Answer Man column implies that they have been. Last year they were temporary, this year they’re there every game. If you downloaded the desktop-size photos of the stadium I took early this year, you can go back and note that they’re in there as well.
Link to that post
The PI noted they’re there for every game.
I’m not sure why you’re absolutely positive about this, but you’re wrong. It was true last year, and it is not this year. They’ve been there all year.
And on formatting: sure it works fine if you use the tags correctly.
I could swear I went to a game earlier this year where the bleachers weren’t there – we lost to the Astros that game, a Wednsday I believe.
Great Letter, btw, Rob.
Those pictures are from July though. And the mariners actually scored a run and had a runner on third in the first. Are you sure those aren’t fake?
I can positively guarantee you that they haven’t been there all year. I’ve been to pretty much every game there this year and they didn’t start until the Yankee series and even after that they were removed until maybe just before the all-star break (just a guess on time). Part of the reason I know is because I’ve been back to the beer gardens on numerous occasions in several early games this year.
[b]sure[/b]