Going to see the Mariners

When times are good, be happy; 


but when times are bad, consider: 


God has made the one as well as the other. 


Therefore, a man cannot discover
anything about his future.

Ecclesiastes 7:14

Now I know that the Mariners are having a really bad year, but I'm still a loyal fan, and I know that they are a bunch of really good ball players, and the fact that they aren't doing well points to some unseen problem going on with the organization.

But I am a bit mad at them for getting rid of Richie Sexson  However, on the other hand, I am so happy for Richie that he is with the other team I root for, the New York Yankees.  In my estimation the absolute ultimativo team to play with the the Yankees.  I have no idea how I came to this idea, but I'm fine with it.

After a pretty good nights sleep we got up, got dressed, packed up, and tidy up our room, had a cup of coffee and headed into town for a latish breakfast before going to the game. Chuck and Lynn highly recommended a place called "14 Carrots". The felt that it was a pretty good Seattle representation of a Portland type restaurant. We didn't get too lost on the way, and it wasn't long before we were on the right street going in the right direction.

There was much about the restaurant that seemed like it could be in Portland, but there were things that weren't. For example the people were too tan, and too tidily dressed. But the menu was very nice. We ordered a breakfast quesadilla, a cinnamon roll, and a half of grapefruit, which was way more than half. It made me wonder what they were doing with the other little bit. The cinnamon roll was made with whole wheat, and was a bit healthier than you usually find in Portland.



After breakfast we headed right for the parking near the stadium. To my shock the very nice area around the parking, which is called Pioneer Square, was filled with hostile looking street people. We parked our car right by the little hut in the parking lot, hoping for the best. I took my camera bag and all its stuff with me, thus leaving not much that a self-respecting thief would want. Though I must admit I've always found your common thief to be extremely dumb.

But we quickly left that scene and headed towards the stadium with coffee in mind. We found the perfect place, Cafe Umbria. We got our coffee, mine was awesome, and we sat at a quiet table and finished our crossword puzzle. At about 12:40 Riley began to get worried that we'd be late for the game. So we gathered things up and head towards the stadium.



We had pretty good seats, but we were surrounded by a pretty odd assemblage of people. Our row had quite a lot of empty seats, so whenever it seemed a good idea we changed seats. The group in front of us was a club of old men who had blue baseball hats on that had names on the back of them like "squidgy" and "Bro-co-lee". The group in back was a fellowship of people probably in their 50's who were really rather rowdy. At one point we moved way down the row because is struck me that I could get French fries down my back as they were being very rambunctious with them right behind me.

The Mariners are a bunch of good baseball players who have come upon hard times. They still have it in them to be a great team, as long as the management stands behind them.

the line up

Ichiro - RF

Bloomquist - CF

Ibanez - LF

Beltre - 3B

Lopez - 2S

J J Putz - Closer

Betancourt - SS

Johiima - Catcher

So these were all pictures that I took of the team members with my camera right where I was sitting.  Unfortunately they didn't win, but it was a good game, and most of the fans stayed till the finish, which is an indication that there was a hope they could win.  That's what baseball is all about.  Rarely are you without hope.

"You better cut the pizza in four pieces
because I'm not hungry enough to eat six."
Yogi Berra