Tonight’s game was far superior to last night’s. I went to pick up Gray and our friend Ethel, and played designated driver tonight – though I did drink a collector’s cup full of Dr Pepper, which should have me wound up ’til morning. I don’t drink soda often, but it seemed like a really good idea; I should be set for a while now on my soda consumption.
I had a spicy chicken dish at the teriyaki place down by the pen. Highly recommended, by the way. Gray and Ethel had gone on a quest to find cigarettes, so I hung out by myself for a bit and chilled. They showed up around 6 or so, and we waited for Ryan Rowland-Smith to warm up. I’ve been having some issues with my camera, and for some reason, very few of my photos came out very well. Somehow, the shutter speed got turned WAY down, and I couldn’t get a clear photo, even on the sports setting. That was rectified, but not before I fought a lot with it, so my pictures of Hyphen’s warmups didn’t come out too hot. I love how he looks at the back wall, even when he’s just taking some pre-game tosses:
Our hero takes a break:
And then of course the bullpen arrived, and there were fist bumps and handshakes aplenty for Hyphen before he took the field. And then this happened:
I have to say, seeing my favorite player smack one of my least favorite pretty much made my night (of course, the favor was returned, but it’s the thought that counts). At about 1:28 or so, Messenger seems aware that they’re being watched.
Then, the regular huddle and some shuffling occurred:
This business has attracted crowds now; people actually go down there to watch it happen. Most of them are fairly mystified and entertained by it. This is what happens when you take away one motivational factor – they’re just going to find another. I sometimes wish that there was a window or something so that the opposing team’s bullpens could see this take place. I don’t know how much it might get in their heads, but I have to think it might give them pause.
After more beer (and my giant cup of pop) was obtained for my friends, we went to find our seats. We wound up in section 195, on the far south end of the center field bleachers. I have to say, I was expecting not to enjoy the game as much because the scoreboard isn’t really visible without cranking one’s head around to see it – but sitting in this section actually made me pay more attention to the game itself, because I had to to know what was going on. If you saw Mike Carp hit his first major league home run tonight, we were sitting right above the guys that caught it. I also discovered tonight that the center field bleachers are extremely close to the trains, a fact that didn’t hit me until I tried to talk to Gray, and my voice was drowned out by the sound of the horn of a passing freighter.
Hyphen went through the top of the Sox lineup before we even got to our seats. He worked fast, pitching through 8 innings, resting the pen, and allowing Aardsma to come in for a save. Through 116 pitches, he threw 35 balls, 81 strikes, and gave up only one run, a solo homer to Gordon Beckham. He struggled a bit in the 6th, but other than that did a wonderful job.
In the top of the 2nd, Ryan Langerhans made a beautiful diving catch on a Paul Konerko hit to end the inning. He then paid Kenji Johjima the favor of a sac to center to score Joh in. Two runs came in for us in the first inning, the Langerhans sac was the third. Mike Carp’s homer was the 4th, and that was all we needed to make RRS the pitcher of record. The guys who caught it were collected by SafeCo staff, and returned 20 minutes later, with several shirts, a baseball bat, and 4 game tickets. Quite the haul!
Some guy above us was blowing bubbles, which was odd. So Germaine Dye had some bubbles near him on the field, they’re sort of visible in this photo:
And now some questions, anyone who reads and wants to answer, feel free to educate me. What is the purpose of the grass square in right field? Ichiro likes to plant himself right in the middle of it (it’s prime right field territory, also in the Dye photo), and I originally thought it was part of a new planting when I saw it last year with Wladimir Balentien standing on it; but it’s still there. Is it access to the sprinkler system? It’s a mystery!
And this is the second one – I came to the abrupt realization tonight that we have a tarp. Why do we need a tarp? Even when it pours suddenly, they don’t tarp the field, and I’ve never seen a tarp on the field….why, tarp?
Anyway, after the game was won, here’s a bit of fairly scruffy video of the post-game bullpen march across the field:
It was a great game. Tomorrow is Morrow day, and I’m looking forward to it; though putting Brandon Morrow on the hill against John Danks seems like sending a kitten in to fight a pit bull.
The Square “Patch”—–
There are actually a couple reasons and factors
Main reason–
Its because the the RF basically stands in the same exact spot (or within 3 -4 feet) that spot wears out the grass faster than it can grow back (Its like with real grass NFL football…often you will see the grass get worn down by the end of the seats between the 35 yard lines than the rest of the field)
After a While…with all the wear, the grass doesnt grow back fast or thick enough……so they replace the worn section (if you ever been to the beer garden in the standing area….there is an area behind the fence where ya see extra grass…this is the “replacement” grass for any damaged spots)
The essenitally dig it up as sod, and then replace damaged spots.
As far as the color difference…..The replacement grass is a slightly different blend of seed, than was originally installed at Safeco….so there is a color difference from that.
Also, sun angle that the new grass grew under effects blade shape and other enviromental factors of the difference between “behind the fence” and being in RF
The Tarp—-
They have a Tarp, just in case the Roof is open, and becomes in operative…..if it sticks open and it Rains during a game…….well…the field has decent drainage….but was not designed to be rained on, then played the next day.
Another reason for the Tarp….Its kinda part of baseball tradition to have one……The Kingdome had a Tarp….I could never come up with one good reason to have one for astroturf and a Dome stadium.
Another reason for the Tarp…..I think it was 2001 or 2002…They Held WrestleMania Safeco Field…they use the Tarp to Protect the infield with the Seating arangement and various areas that had equipment.
So they use the Tarp once in a blue moon for other reasons.
So what you’re saying is that Ichiro can tear a hole in the ground? haha!
That’s interesting about the tarp; I know, but perhaps choose to dismiss, that other events do occasionally occur at SafeCo. It had crossed my mind that it might also be a safeguard in case of roof failure, but that was the only reason I could think of last night – and I was sober!
Love the bullpen videos. I’m assuming the favorite player – least favorite player is referring to Aardsma/Silva. I see where you’re coming from, but even though he’s awful, it at least looks like he gets along well with everyone on the team and might… MIGHT… be contributing to the good attitude/chemistry we’ve heard so much about. So I’ve been trying really hard to fight the urge to hate him lately.
Oh, I am too; but it is hard. He’s just not a favorite. I think I still have unresolved issues from last year – but I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. I was actually almost hoping to see him pitch tonight (I say “almost” because I was getting a little cold and kind of wanted to go home).
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Our hero takes a break:
And then of course the bullpen arrived, and there were fist bumps and handshakes aplenty for Hyphen before he took the field. And then this happened:
And now some questions, anyone who reads and wants to answer, feel free to educate me. What is the purpose of the grass square in right field? Ichiro likes to plant himself right in the middle of it (it’s prime right field territory, also in the Dye photo), and I originally thought it was part of a new planting when I saw it last year with Wladimir Balentien standing on it; but it’s still there. Is it access to the sprinkler system? It’s a mystery!
And this is the second one – I came to the abrupt realization tonight that we have a tarp. Why do we need a tarp? Even when it pours suddenly, they don’t tarp the field, and I’ve never seen a tarp on the field….why, tarp?
The Square “Patch”—–
There are actually a couple reasons and factors
Main reason–
Its because the the RF basically stands in the same exact spot (or within 3 -4 feet) that spot wears out the grass faster than it can grow back (Its like with real grass NFL football…often you will see the grass get worn down by the end of the seats between the 35 yard lines than the rest of the field)
After a While…with all the wear, the grass doesnt grow back fast or thick enough……so they replace the worn section (if you ever been to the beer garden in the standing area….there is an area behind the fence where ya see extra grass…this is the “replacement” grass for any damaged spots)
The essenitally dig it up as sod, and then replace damaged spots.
As far as the color difference…..The replacement grass is a slightly different blend of seed, than was originally installed at Safeco….so there is a color difference from that.
Also, sun angle that the new grass grew under effects blade shape and other enviromental factors of the difference between “behind the fence” and being in RF
The Tarp—-
They have a Tarp, just in case the Roof is open, and becomes in operative…..if it sticks open and it Rains during a game…….well…the field has decent drainage….but was not designed to be rained on, then played the next day.
Another reason for the Tarp….Its kinda part of baseball tradition to have one……The Kingdome had a Tarp….I could never come up with one good reason to have one for astroturf and a Dome stadium.
Another reason for the Tarp…..I think it was 2001 or 2002…They Held WrestleMania Safeco Field…they use the Tarp to Protect the infield with the Seating arangement and various areas that had equipment.
So they use the Tarp once in a blue moon for other reasons.
So what you’re saying is that Ichiro can tear a hole in the ground? haha!
That’s interesting about the tarp; I know, but perhaps choose to dismiss, that other events do occasionally occur at SafeCo. It had crossed my mind that it might also be a safeguard in case of roof failure, but that was the only reason I could think of last night – and I was sober!
Love the bullpen videos. I’m assuming the favorite player – least favorite player is referring to Aardsma/Silva. I see where you’re coming from, but even though he’s awful, it at least looks like he gets along well with everyone on the team and might… MIGHT… be contributing to the good attitude/chemistry we’ve heard so much about. So I’ve been trying really hard to fight the urge to hate him lately.
Oh, I am too; but it is hard. He’s just not a favorite. I think I still have unresolved issues from last year – but I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. I was actually almost hoping to see him pitch tonight (I say “almost” because I was getting a little cold and kind of wanted to go home).