I've been wanting to go to a ball game for a while now and, recently, I learned that the Mariners were hosting a Salute to Armed Forces Night…with reduced prices for active-duty and veterans. Hooah!!
Right up my alley!! I did some checking on-line and found two seats for $11 in a pretty good section of the Stadium. I thought they were bad at first but once I got there, I was pleasantly surprised.
Well, I got them and off we went…out to the ol' ball game!!
For the Salute to Armed Forces Night.
Hooah!!
And to get there, we rode on OUR Link To Fun!!
Seriously, the Link has opened up so many things for me to do. It's been a real asset especially when it only costs .75 cents cuz I'm so doggone old.
It was a beautiful day when we set out.
I got this shot from the pedestrian overpass to the stadiums. You can see Century-Link Field on the left and the campanile at the King Street Amtrak Station next to it.
First entrance is at Center Field...
Then there is the Left Field Entrance...
And some interesting artwork in a restaurant that I did not let myself go into. Mmmmmm, pastrami!! It was better that I stayed outside. Much better. But nice art, eh? I liked it.
We finally came in through the Home Plate Entrance. They do things right at Safeco. It's a beautiful facility and well-maintained.
After I took the shot above, I turned to my right and got this shot of the Hall of Fame display.
And, then, at the top of the stairs, we ran into this Army Jazz Combo laying down some hot licks. They were good…and loud. Very loud.
But we made it. On the first level I got this shot of BP.
Here it is from the third level…where my seats were. Actually, we had some good seats. We were, literally, right behind home plate. Albeit a good distance away from it but we were right behind it.
I didn't think the crowd would be too big. And a half hour before game time it looked like I was right.
I mean, there were PLENTY of seats to be had.
The Opening Ceremonies were great. They did a good job and got a lot of servicemen involved doing all kinds of different things.
Here they had service organizations like the VFW and the American Legion along the third base line…and active duty servicemen along the first base line. They had representatives from every branch of service and, even, the National Guard.
What was really neat was that they had the two teams, the Rangers on the third base line and the Mariners on the first, join the organizations and servicemen for the moment of silence and the playing of the National Anthem.
They had the Army First Corps Band play the National Anthem while a solder sang it. Impressive!!
They had a lot of kids involved with the ceremonies and that was cool. The Mariner Organization did a quality job.
But we were settled in our seats, Level 3, Row 20, Seats 13 and 14 and we were ready for some…
BASEBALL!!
And we had our snacks ready too!!
Buy me some peanuts and … we did!! Hey!! I didn't get that Pastrami Sandwich so it's OK that I got me some peanuts…salted peanuts. Mmmmmm….
Hooah!! We were there at Safeco Field!!
A lot of fun!!
Haha, typical. As soon as the game began, so did the rain.
Here comes the roof...
I don't know why but I was fascinated watching this huge behemoth moving quietly across the top of the stadium shutting out the sun...
Until we were suddenly at an indoor game.
It was impressive.
Play Ball!!
This little gomer is fast becoming my favorite Mariner. He's hit three homers in the last three games AND he actually looks like he is having some fun, that he enjoys playing this game. The kid actually smiles ever-so-often. Plus he's a decent third baseman.
I had thought we'd have plenty of room to stretch out in our seating area. I was wrong.
Seattle fans just like to come to the game late. And they did.
I just heard that the official attendance was 38K. Well, it wasn't totally filled, but there were a LOT of people there for this game.
A lot!!
The game was good even though the Mariners lost. Yeah, big surprise, eh?
Felix Hernandez, The King, started the game and when he left the score was tied, 3-3. Take a close look, you can see the Rangers have a runner on each base. Then The King walked in a run on four straight balls.
Still his King's Court roared and screamed and waved their little 'K' cards every time he threw a strike.
Every time. Loudly.
And we got to see Robinson Cano. He's a solid hitter and a good fielder at second.
The game was moving right along until this. It was a close play at first and the runner was called out.
Out comes the manager and he issues a challenge so it has to go to Instant Replay.
And, we got five minutes of this.
Oh, we got to watch the reruns, several times, in slo-mo, from many different angles.
To be fair, I thought, along with the vast majority of the crowd, that he was safe. It was paper-thin close, but he just beat it out.
Imagine our chagrin when they took off the headsets and then motioned that he was out. It was the loudest the crowd had been all evening. It was a bad call and I'm wondering just what in the heck they were watching cuz it sure wasn't what we were seeing.
Stupid Instant Replay. Send it away.
But the game went on and, eventually, the Mariners found a way to lose.
And, we got our special coins for the evening. They minted commemorative coins for the Armed Forces Night.
Pretty cool, eh?
And then we headed home, in the rain.
I got this grab shot of Century-Link field outside the Left Field Entrance.
In the rain. In Seattle.
And this shot of Safeco Field from the Link Station.
Here comes de Link…Here comes de Link.
Easy-Peezy and we were home.
All in all, it was fun. Bottom line, though, this is really a once-a-year event for me. I'd rather stay home and watch the game from the couch. Better view and no irritating people around irritating me.
Hoo and Ah!!
Thanks, Mariners and Boeing, for the enjoyable evening.
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