There are a few TV show theme songs that make me really happy to hear; the one for Mr Show, the ones for both versions of The Office, the one for Home Movies – because I know that I’m going to spend the next half hour or so laughing my head off and just plain being entertained. I got an email yesterday about my relocation. It would be easy to keep the tickets at Section 331 and just stay put, but staying put does not afford me the ability to take the best pictures, and at the last game against the As, I was down in 125 and was able to get some really good mid-pitch action shots of Roy Corcoran.
So I am aiming for the view box seats along the first base line, to get that angle. The guy I was talking to put me on hold for a minute or so, and I got to listen to clips of Niehaus talking about this past year’s highlights, while that ‘adventure’ music they always play outside at SafeCo, and I have to be honest, it made me all giddy, just like hearing the theme for Mr Show. The next 4 months are going to be the slowest months EVER; I know I keep saying that. Hockey is simply not a substitute, no matter how hard I try, and football does nothing for me, other than give me an opportunity during the SuperBowl to make a proper cheesesteak for my poor friends in Seattle who have never been to Philly for a real one.
I meant to post this before some of the info in it became irrelevant, but I think that the bulk of it is important for Ms fans to know. This is most of a form letter I received recently. I lost the formatting with the transfer from the PC at work to the Mac here at home, but here it is:
I’m the new guy. Jack. The new general manager of the Seattle Mariners. This past Wednesday was my first chance to meet a good number of our full and half season ticket holders who were invited to lunch at Safeco Field (my note: this would explain why I didn’t receive an email, as I am not giving them enough money for this privilege, apparently, and can only afford the 16 games). It was heartening for me to see so many people on a chilly, rainy day in November who wanted to talk about Mariners baseball. The questions were all good ones, and confirmed what I have been told by many people: the fans in Seattle want the Mariners to win the World Series as much as we do. As you can imagine, it has been an intense couple of weeks since October 21 when I came on board. As a candidate for this position, I viewed the franchise as one of the very best in Major League Baseball – great fans, great ballpark and ownership in a great part of the country. Many of the ingredients are in place for the Mariners franchise to be a perennial contender. I love the game of baseball, so this job is a labor of love. After my first few weeks on the scene, I am more excited now than the day I learned I would be the new general manager. This organization has many assets already in place at both the major and minor league levels. And I’ve rolled up my sleeves and made some important changes in our baseball operations staff, started some trade talks at the general managers meeting I attended recently, and I’m in the process of hiring a field manager (my note: which of course has already been done). While all these steps are important, we all need to acknowledge that it will take time to put together a championship-caliber team. We are focused on building a strong foundation and on constantly accumulating quality talent. Along the way, I do believe we’ll be better in 2009, and I’m confident that you will enjoy watching our young team develop into a winning team that wins year after year. I am as anxious as you are to see this club turn around, but I am not going to say that this is a 1, 2, 3, or 4-year plan. Ideally our personnel moves will help the Mariners this season AND in future seasons. We are going to get better at all phases of baseball operations, and the results will show up on the field…..
I am very pleased to see that he seems to be taking the concerns of the people who pay the Mariners’ salaries seriously, and it’s nice that the whole “win” word has been brought up. It is also nice to see a realistic approach to this team, and it sounds like he is happy to be here, which is FAR preferable to someone just doing their job and going through the motions. Good for him. Good for us!
Apparently the loss of O’Flaherty means the gain of Gaby Hernandez to our 40-man. I had heard good things about him when we first got him in the Arthur Rhodes trade with the Marlins, and I’m stoked that he is now part of our roster, I will be interested to see what he can do. I plan to attend more Rainiers games whenever I can, and I’m guessing that is where he’ll start out this next year, depending on what Spring Training brings.
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As a Brewer fan, I was a bit miffed to learn that Jack Z got your GM job. The Brewers can make a kill in the 2009 draft with all the first round picks they have so I’d have preferred him not leaving before that was accomplished. But I figured that Doug Melvin (our GM) wouldn’t have let him go if he didn’t think there was an equally competent replacement in hand (though I’ve wondered about Melvin’s judgment calls at times), so I’m not so concerned now. And clearly Mr. Z had earned the opportunity to run a team. He’s had a good start, hopefully he’ll keep it going for you guys. There are many indications that he’ll lead the Mariners on to the road to respectability.
I don’t think you’re alone. I went to the Brewers’ board after all was said and done, and there was a lot of disappointment. I guess you can’t please everyone, and it’s probably a good thing that fans don’t run the teams; nothing would ever get done! Zduriencik has already been mowing through our staff like a crazy person (which is probably not a bad thing). I get the impression that when people who haven’t been paying any attention to the off-season come back to SafeCo, they’re gonna say “who the hell are THESE guys?” haha!
The Brewers did a great job last year, though I was hoping to see a home run so that guy would use the slide. :/
The Brewers did a great job last year, though I was hoping to see a home run so that guy would use the slide. :/
The way the Brewers were swinging their bats against Philly, it was almost impossible to see Bernie Brewer go down the slide.
Prince Fielder did hit a homerun in game four, though. I’ll check my clip vault to see if I have it and will share it if I do. 
Yeah; I wasn’t rooting against the Brewers, more like FOR Moyer. I harbor no animosity against Milwaukie, though their beer leaves some to be desired, compared with our beer here. heh.
And please, I’d love to see a video of it, it’s an unusual mascot thing, and I love unusual things about this game.