The Rest of the Game

So I was trying to blog while at the game yesterday, but for some reason my cellphone service went kapooey and I was unable to upload anymore photos. Oh well, it's not so bad because now at least I can crop the photos, like this one of The Other Kenji. We were sitting in left-center field, in the first row, right above the Mariners' bull pen, were we got to watch Kenji Johjima warming up before the game.

You might have been able to see us on TV had anyone hit a home run our way. But since no one did, here we are as the pixelated specks we were, sitting just above the left edge of the Dodge sign. This is the bleachers section - the only section in the ballpark that's not quite protected by Safeco Field's retractable roof. Sometime during the fourth or fifth inning we got rained and hailed on!

Anyway this was the first time I've ever been to the opening day game of any sports team, at least that I can recall. It was fun to watch the opening ceremonies and see the players run down the red carpet from right field.

I started taking pictures of the players running out onto the field and then realized that I was never going to remember which player was which since they come out so teeny-tiny. So I made it a point to take Ichiro's photo last, that way I'd at least know which one he was. :)

After all the players were introduced, a giant US flag was brought out onto the field and the National Anthem performed by Seattle Opera tenor Marcus Shelton. And that's about the time I realized I wasn't able to send blog posts anymore so I stopped taking pictures.

Between the cold, the precipitation, the first inning home run by the Texas Rangers and the lack of scoring by the Mariners, it was shaping up to be a pretty crummy game. But then somewhere around the sixth inning things started to turn around. By the 7th, the Mariners had scored five runs and the sun even made an appearance. Then JJ Putz made an appearance in the bull pen below us and I took my phone out for one last picture. :)