Everette Aquasox - 7/4/16

The Everette Aquasox are a single-A minor league affiliate of the Seattle Mariners.  Located just a 20 minute drive from our hotel, so why not!? 

Tonight the opposing (and winning!) team was the Eugene Emeralds, a single-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. 

As one would expect, the accommodations and concessions are minimal but the entertainment was well above average.  

 

It was an exciting ball-game with a lot of action. The between-inning shtick put major-leagues to shame: games, contests -with lots of prizes, races, songs, dances, and the ever-present mascot, Webbly. The fans were enthusiastic supporters of their team, participating with gusto. And it was a double give-away day! (a t-shirt and Pepsi.)   

After the game the entertainment continued with a watermelon eating contest, a game of launchball, and a really great fireworks display!

 

What a fun way to spend the 4th of July!!

Carter's Mascot Report - 7/3

Well, it sure has been awhile since I've written anything for the blog, so excuse me if I'm a little rusty. A couple days ago at the Mariners stadium we enjoyed a great baseball game, with a even greater mascot. However, we did not see much of him this outing, which was a little bit of a disappointment. He sure made up for it when he dressed up as Uncle Sam and danced on top of the dugout along to Yankee Doodle Dandy. Pregame, fans could meet the Moose and even take a family picture with him in the Moose Den. Overall I give the Moose a 6.5 out of 10.

Robert's Sport Report -7/3

In the game of baseball it is very difficult to show dominance over a certain player, and even harder over an entire team. However, one of the clearest ways to show dominance is by throwing a no hitter. And, the last time these two teams faced, that is exactly what starting pitcher for the Mariners, Hisashi Iwakuma, did to the Baltimore Orioles. As Iwakuma and the rest of the Seattle Mariners attempt to follow up this performance with another win, the visiting Baltimore Orioles and their starting pitcher, Ubaldo Jimenez, were on the flip side trying to redeem their 0 hit performance.

Although the chance of repeating a no hitter was ended by the second batter in the 1st inning, with a Soo Hyun Kim double, the Orioles had a fairly quiet first couple of innings. The Mariners were the first to strike in the 3rd inning, and they struck big: starting with a walk to Chris Iannetta, and followed by back-to-back singles by Ketel Marte and Leonys Martin. It was then Seth Smith's turn up to the plate. Seth Smith, who has been on a recent hot streak, did not slow that streak in his at-bat in the 3rd inning. With the bases loaded, Smith hit a rocket to right center, landing in the bleachers for a grand slam! The 4 run lead was short lived, though. In the top of 4th, Mark Trumbo hit a solo home run.  This was followed by a string of 2 singles and a double, to score 2 more runs, bringing the game to 4-3 Mariners. J.J. Hardy was credited with the 2 RBI's, hitting in Jonathan Schoop and Pedro Alvarez. Starting the bottom of the 4th inning, Franklin Gutierrez drew a walk, followed by a single from Ianetta, and was driven in by Marte to give the Mariners a 5-3 lead. Still, in the bottom of the 4th with runners on 1st and 3rd and Seth Smith back up to the plate, a very rare occurrence in
the professional baseball league took place: a Balk by Orioles' pitcher Miranda. Unfortunately for him, this was his Major league debut. In the top of the 7th the Orioles scrapped together a run with a few singles, bringing the score to 6-4. And although the Orioles closed the run gap to only 2 runs in the bottom of the 7th, the Orioles seemingly ended all hopes by putting together 3 more runs -starting with a single by Robinson Cano, followed by back-to-back-to-back doubles by Cruz, Seager, and Adam Lind. The bottom of the 7th was the end of the action, since in the following innings between the two teams there was only one runner on, which was a walk to the Orioles.

Although the domination of another no hitter did not occur, another exciting show of power and dominance did occur. That was the completion of a Seattle Mariner 4-game sweep over the Baltimore Orioles, with this 4th and final game in the series ending in a 9-4 Mariners victory.

Mariners - 7/3/2016

                        Number 29…

                           AGAIN!

Yes, we know we have already reported on our 29^th ballpark.

But that was a bit misleading.

In reality, only 3 of us had been to every US ballpark.    Until today.

When last the Belove Family was in Seattle, Robert was about 4 years old and Carter wasn’t even born yet.  But we also hadn’t even thought of the idea of touring all MLB parks, let alone keeping a blog.  So, today Carter was treated to a game at his final US ballpark, and the rest of us got to look at this park with fresh eyes.

And, who knows?  Changes and upgrades may have been made in the 14 years since we last saw a game in this park, because we didn’t remember liking it quite this much.  Safeco Park may just be our new favorite covered stadium!  It is a well-designed, appealing, and boasts many amenities.

 

Safeco sports a “carport” style roof, which slides off the back when open.  Closed, it just covers the top of the stadium, rather than enclosing it, acting like an umbrella to protect from Seattle’s rain.  It is worth noting that the look and feel of the stadium is different with the roof open and closed.  It is similar to the difference between daylight and twilight, even with the extra-bright LED lighting.  According to the stats we saw, the roof is open 78% of the time.

Concessions and activities on the main level are generally situated to allow great views of the game-in-play while standing in line (a feature the Belove family agrees is a must-have!)  Hallways are open and airy, and the park is generally very well designed.  We were especially impressed with how easy it was to leave the park at the end of the game.  For the number of people attending, we never felt stuck in traffic - walking to the car, exiting the parking lot, or making our way back to the freeway. 

Safeco has a pretty great variety of concessions.  They, of course, have all the basics –hotdogs, hamburgers, garlic fries, etc. They also boast a few things we have not seen before.  Grilled-cheese, anyone? And what about a stand featuring natural, organic, home-grown food?  We wondered why no one had thought of a self-serve frozen yogurt and toppings bar before, and we know quite a few people who would like a wine bar at their local park. The chocolate-covered strawberries on a stick looked DELICIOUS!  But the obvious Safeco concession is the Ivar’s Seafood and Chowder booth.  Jim especially liked the “Bottomless Soda.”  Although $10 is a lot to spend on a soda, an average ballpark will often charge $6.  If you generally buy more than one, your soda easily pays for itself.  And it comes with a lid!! –BONUS!

You would expect a ballpark in Seattle to be pretty eco-friendly.  And you would be right.  Although they can’t compare with Minnesota in the water-reclamation department (the roof makes that unnecessary), they do a fantastic job with the recycling.  They boast a 90% recycling rate, and all food is served in compostable packaging.  At the end of each game, food scraps and packaging are removed to a site where they are turned into compost.  The compost is then returned to Safeco, where it is used in on-site gardens to grow the food served in their Hit It Here Café.  Pretty great, huh?  Safeco is also the first ballpark to install LED lighting, with uses significantly less energy than the halogen that most parks use.  And, BOY is it bright!!!

Mariner fans seem to prefer quiet in their park.  Except when a great play is made, the general tone is a buzz of quiet conversation.  There is little in the way of “shtick” (motions, claps, yells, songs, etc.) that fans of some parks prefer.  In between innings, fans were entertained by a small variety of the usual “cams” and games, plus a couple of things we had not found in other parks, such as Hydroplane Races- an animated race where fans root for the hydroplane of their choice.  One thing we saw several of, were Lucky Row giveaways.  In one case, each member of the lucky “random” row received Dibbs, another time it was garlic fries, and a third they were given bags of swag from MLB network. 

We liked this ballpark so much that, as Jim says: “If we lived up here, we would go see a game every time the A’s came to town!”