Go To The Park
Dave · April 21, 2010 at 8:41 am · Filed Under Mariners
Put me in the ranks of those who don’t understand why Safeco has been empty the last two nights. Two of the three lowest attended games of all time? I get that the economy isn’t great, but this is a fun team to watch.
I’m not going to turn into an advertisement agency for the team, but seriously, go to the game tonight. It’s Felix Day, for one, and that should be enough right there. The M’s are also offering discounted field level seats, so you can pay $24 for a prime view tonight.
There’s no reason for there to be 15,000 people at Safeco Field. The Mariners have put a quality product on the field, and are an organization worth cheering for. Put on a sweater and go to a game.
I usually go by myself — other than taking my mother a couple of times when she was in town (she’s a Yankees fan, ugh, but once I convinced her to go see the Expos because Frank Robinson was managing), I think every game I’ve gone to in the last five or six years I’ve gone by myself.
As Jack.Hartsock says above, if you want to concentrate on the game it’s actually better to be there by yourself. Since I tend to go to see particular pitchers pitch (Pedro, Clemens, Johan, etc — and of course Felix) I kind of prefer it. But if you’re worried about socializing there’s plenty of opportunity for that even in spite of the usual Seattle live-and-let-live (aka The Chill). If you buy the cheap OF bleacher seats it’s easy to insinuate yourself into other people’s conversations (I frequently have to bite by tongue so as not to), and I’ve been pleasantly surprised a few times by the quality of the baseball talk I’ve overheard. I sometimes wonder if the more dedicated/well-informed fans are actually in the cheapest seats.
And of course there’s always the beer garden down by the bullpen, though that always seems to be more of a singles-bar-without-single-women kind of place, full of backwards-cap “bro” dudes high-fiving one another and checking out the other guys’ dates.
I often think that myself. I love sitting out in the bleachers, too…and not just because it’s a cheap ticket. Usually, you’ll find fans out there who are quite knowledgeable and are actually engaged in watching the game (a number of them with scorecards in hand, even)…and if you’re out in the center-field bleachers, you’re not likely to find too many people paying more attention to the Diamondvision jumbotron than what’s happening on the field — since that thing is impossible to read out there when you’re directly underneath it, anyway.
I guess I’m not the only ONE :),,,, I always ask my friends to go, but they don’t like watching baseball. If they go, will have to pay their tickets so is cheaper just to go alone..
Great comment. My feelings exactly.
If only I lived in Seattle.
Those of us in the southernmost reaches of the pacific northwest have to plan special trips to get up there.
I look forward to seeing my M’s play in May!