There’s actually some passion within the confines of Safeco Field!
So I think the Yankees have mailed it in for this season. There is absolutely no passion in how they are being managed or are playing. I think there are a number of players (no ARod is not included) that have a certain sense of entitlement that they should just automatically win and teams should just roll over. Well teams are wising up and playing all 27 outs against the Yanks, and the Yanks don't seem to want to compete once a lead has been lost for whatever reason. Maybe I'll be wrong and they'll get a wildcard spot as there is no way that they are claiming the AL East from Boston.
Fortunately for my friends who are Red Sox fans, the past couple of games in Seattle haven't caused a dent in their lead over the Blue Jays (yes, the Yankees are actually in 3rd place). Anyway Marc and I have been to 3 baseball games in a space of 5 days. That's a lot of baseball even for us so let me explain.
Ken Griffey, Jr. returned to Seattle for the first time since he left in 2000 to play in his hometown of Cincinnati, so Friday was the first game of the series. Marc said that we had to go since Griffey is his favorite (or at least one of his favorites) player. No problem. To be honest with you, I can't remember something being so hyped up in the 4 ½ years that I have lived in Seattle. This was a big deal – weeks and weeks of news coverage in print, TV and the web. Tons of tributes. More of the 1995 ALDS game winning play where Griffey scored the winning run against – yep, you guessed it – the Yankees, which is the single most over-played moment in Mariners history.
Anyway Marc wanted to see Griffey and to be fair to the Mariners, they did a very touching tribute to Griffey which had most of the men crying. To me, I just loved being in a packed ballpark again where you felt the energy of the crowd. In Seattle, people may come to the game but it's more of a social thing as opposed to watching the game. The fans don't get as vocal in key situations unless prompted by the PA announcer. In New York or Boston, vocal crowds are the norm and no prompting is required. Unfortunately the Mariners got their tails kicked in on that Friday night game after the tribute by a score of 16-1. To me, it was a shame. The Mariners had a packed house with everyone super pumped up because of Griffey's return and their pitching put them in such a hole that made it near impossible to crawl out of.
So anyway we had tickets for Monday and Tuesday of this week to see the Mariners play the "Evil People" aka Red Sox. Monday night's game was pretty good and the M's took it by a score of 9-4. Sat next to a family where the 7-year old had dance moves that made me wonder if he was somehow frozen in time from about 1977 since he really looked like he was imitating John Travolta of Saturday Night Fever. It was hysterical.
Last night's game started out pretty bad from a pitching perspective for both teams. Felix Hernandez, the M's ace, walked a bunch of people and clearly has not been the same pitcher since going on the DL earlier this season. Kason Gabbard, filling in for loud mouthed Curt Schilling – on the DL, had it worse. So it was something like 4-2 with the M's on top after 3 innings. This game seemed to have a bit of everything – defensive lapses, great catches, tie-breaking home runs, back and forth lead changes, huge strikeouts against big sluggers, etc. Made it really fun to watch. The M's end up pulling it out by a score of 8-7. They could give the Yankees a lesson or two about not giving up and playing hard until the end.
What made it great was that when the Yankees and Red Sox visit Safeco, once again the stadium becomes alive because of all of the transplants. Us fans from the Northeast are taught to be as vocally supportive of your team as possible and we tend not to disappoint regardless of the stadium we are in. For once, Mariners fans refused to be out-shouted by Red Sox fans and actually started yelling back at the Red Sox fans. It was great! Must say that the Mariners relief corps did an awesome job, particularly George Sherrill and JJ Putz, on shutting down two of the best hitters in the game – David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez. Safeco was rocking until the last strike and it was great. I wish it was like that all of the time, although it made me a little homesick for Yankee Stadium, but still. To me, the energy and the crowd are what really make going to a baseball game special and I have no doubt that the players feed off of it, whether they are home or away.