By Julia PhillipsBaseball’s back and I couldn’t be happier.On April 14, me, my brother and some of his friends left Bellingham around noon and made our way down to Seattle to watch the Mariners play against the Rangers for our first Mariners’ game of the 2017 baseball season.
Baseball fans // Photo by Julia Phillips
With 162 games in a season, any team has the chance to grab a playoff spot and possibly make it to the World Series.Teams with better players and, more importantly, good chemistry are going to do well, but you can’t even fully rely on that in baseball. It’s unpredictable, which is one thing I love about it.If someone says the team with the best record in April will be in the same spot in September, I’d call them a fool.Baseball is all about getting a hot streak, winning a lot of games one month, and then going on a cold streak, losing some games during another month.It’s exciting when games are played almost every single day throughout the season.On April 14, the Mariners’ ace, King Felix Hernandez, was on the mound, Ken Griffey Jr. replica statues were given to fans, and it was college night.I love baseball and I’m a die-hard San Francisco Giants fan, but I love me some King Felix and freebies - especially when those freebies honor great baseball players like Ken Griffey Jr.In order to get the $13 college-night-priced tickets, you had to sit in the ‘view level’ which I call the nosebleed seats.
Safeco Field // Photo by Julia Phillips
We waited until the last minute to purchase the tickets so we were literally in the last row possible.The Mariners weren’t doing too hot before this game started and were heading into the game with a 2-8 record, and Felix was 0-1. I was hoping since the Mariners were honoring Ken Griffey Jr., the baseball gods would grace them with hot bats and solid pitching. It kind of happened.
Safeco Field // Photo by Julia Phillips
Remember how I said we were sitting in the very last row? Between the 6th and 7th inning, we got up and moved a tad-bit closer to the action and moved into seats down the third base line.
It was a much needed win for the Mariners, and the beginning of a 3-game sweep of the Rangers. From a non-Mariners-fan perspective it wasn’t the most exciting game or best performance from an ace, but I had a lot of fun watching the challenges and a home run from Cruz.Hopefully the baseball gods show some favor to the Mariners in their 40th year. It’s still so early so don’t stress out over records yet, wait until August for that.
