Mariners Baseball Game

Sunday, May 8, 2011

It was supposed to rain all weekend so I convinced Joe that we should just go to the Sunday afternoon Mariners baseball game since they have a roof for the field for when it rains. The Mariners were playing the White Sox, the third day of the series which was 1-1. It ended up being a nice day, just partly cloudy without rain while we were out.

Safeco Field has a retractable roof that rolls over the stadium on rainy days. It’s like an umbrella for the field. When open, like today, the roof rests over the BNSF railway tracks to the east. It is not uncommon for a train horn to be funneled into the stadium during the game. It takes 10 minutes to fully open or close the roof. It’s also supposed to be nearly silent, blending in with the game noise. The seating capacity is 47,878 for baseball games. Safeco Field was opened in July 1999, with Mariners star Ken Griffey, Jr. at the groundbreaking ceremony. Safeco Field has been referred to as “The House That Griffey Built.” It is a ‘retro-modern’ style ballpark with features built in the 1950s with modern amenities. It has a brick façade, asymmetrical field dimensions, a natural grass field and great sightlines from all over the stadium. 

I got a Mariners hot dog, soda and popcorn when we got there. It was a slow game. We watched the first few innings from the edge of the concourse above center-left field. Safeco Field has an extensive food and beverage selection beyond the traditional ballpark fare of hot dogs, pizza, soda and beer. There is sushi, featuring the “Ichiroll,” burritos, teriyaki, stir-fries, pad thai, garlic fries, crepes, seafood and barbeque. There was a great beer selection with Mac and Jack’s, Lazy Boy, Pyramid, and Guinness. There was even a Starbucks, but I guess that shouldn’t surprise me anymore. Joe got some chicken fingers and yummy garlic fries, which were loaded and gave us the best breath. Although there was no scoring, the Mariners pitcher striked out many White Sox players. After the Mariners catcher had to chase after an erratic throw to home plate, the White Sox scored two runs when no one covered home plate. We decided to walk around the rest of the concourse. The Mariners tied the score up. I was a little cold walking the windy concourse so we went to sit in center-right field. The stadium was only about 54% full on Mother’s Day so there were plenty of empty seats to grab that may not have been what you paid for. Neither team was able to score again before the ninth inning. We stayed until the White Sox scored a run in the tenth inning. That was our cue to leave to beat the rush from the stadium. The final score ended up 5-2, yet another loss for the Mariners at the bottom of the American League West. 

We went to Uwajimaya, the largest asian market afterwards to stock up on groceries. We bought some sushi-grade tuna to make spicy tuna salad this week. I can’t wait to move into the new place so we’ll have all our stuff to make our own sushi rolls.