[2012 Baseball Tour] Part 3: Coors Field (Seattle Mariners at Colorado Rockies)
Well, that was an exhausting trip. Luckily, no weather interrupted any part of my plans.
Before the Game:
-I woke up at about 6 AM, had breakfast, and it was pouring when I got my rental car at the airport.
-Chilled at the hotel a bit after driving back there, then drove towards downtown.
-It wasn't raining at the hotel when I left there, but it was POURING when I was looking for parking. Splurged for a good spot (by good spot, I mean ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE HOME PLATE GATE), since I neeeded a quick out after the game to get to the Rapids game.
->my shoes; >traction in the rain; Pick one.
-Went in about 2 hours before the game (no rain, either!), but couldn't get to my seat for another half hour, so I went and took pictures of the Mariners warming up (including Hisashi Iwakuma, in his first year in the majors from Rakuten), then went around the park when the rest of the park opened up. I really like this place; you can see the influence from Camden Yards in how they designed this thing. (Then again, EVERYONE copied Camden Yards. :P)
-I saw an ad on the Jumbotron for "Anthony's Pizza" having a concession stand, and I thought "...I have to eat this, don't I." So I got two slices for $10. Two GIGANTIC slices. I have to say, that stuff is almost Cassano's bad. But since I tried the stadium version, and it's ANTHONY'S Pizza, I'll give them a free pass and eat there again next time I'm in Denver.
-Got to my seat; it was high up, but sadly I wasn't covered. Would have to move up late in the game to avoid the rain.
-Before the pregame on-field activities, they showed an MLB Network Prime 9 of the top 9 home runs of all time. I was disappoint that Kirby didn't make the list, but I can't complain with what they picked for #1. (THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT!)
-They had a whole bunch of high school bands perform the national anthem. It was kind of chaotic, but still not as bad as last week's anthem.
-Today's pitching matchup: the Mariners' Jason Vargas vs. the Rockies' Christian Friedrich, making his home debut. (Let the record show that I went to the home debuts of both a Christian and a Jesus. XD)
Top 2nd: After giving up a walk to Jesus Montero (Remember him in the Yankee recap? He got traded to the Mariners for a pitcher that blew out his elbow before the season. :P), Kyle Seager took Friedrich DEEEEEEEP to right field to put the M's on the board! 2-0 Mariners
Bottom 2nd: >Cuddy (Michael Cuddyer, former Twin) >using dubstep for an at-bat theme ...At any rate, I got a really good shot of Cuddy connecting with the ball, taking it deep to right, but he hit it right to Ichiro.
End 2nd: They had a "Finish the Lyrics" contest on the Jumbotron. It was really easymodo: 1. The line they wanted was a well-known chorus, 2. It was multiple choice, and 3. The other choices were stuff like "Hit me with your pet shark".
Top 3rd: After Casper Wells walked, Ichiro hit a dribbler past the pitcher; the 2B fielded it, but didn't attempt a throw, as both were going to beat the force out. (Oh my! Vintage Ichiro!) From there, Jesus hit home Wells, and Seager hit home Ichiro. 4-0 Mariners
Top 4th: Michael Saunders hits one DEEP to the left center canyon... caught by Dexter Fowler! Brendan Ryan puts one in almost the exact same spot, and this one dropped for a triple! And here's a good sign you're having a bad day on the mound: You give up an RBI to the pitcher. (Another good sign: the closed-captioning system calls you "Chris Jim Friedrichs".) Jason Vargas hit Ryan home (blooped one over the INFIELD WAY IN defensive shift), and that made it 5-0. 5-0 Mariners
End 5th: Want to know why I was late with this recap? For the Rockies' speed trivia challenge game, they used a theme song from a game show I KNEW I watched, but didn't remember which one. It took me ALL NIGHT after the Rapids game to find it! And I call myself a great game show mind! (Seriously. I credit those old game shows of the 70s and 80s for my career, as that's how I got so good at math.) For the record, it was the late-80s version of Chain Reaction.
Top 6th: This would be it for Christian. Michael Saunders doubled, Ryan singled, Vargas WALKED (Think about that! He was only able to retire the pitcher once!), and then Christian would get pulled, and booed off the mound. After Esmil Rogers came in, Dustin Ackley doubled home two runs, and Casper singled home one more. (Number of earned runs given up by Christian: NINE NINE NINE NINE NINE NINE!) I was thinking "if the rain comes and they put the tarp on the field, I think I'm just gonna go to the Rapids game." 9-0 Mariners
Bottom 7th: We haven't talked much about the Rockies' offense here, have we. Well that's because Vargas has shut them down all game. But that would change this half-inning. The ageless Jason Giambi (who I swear is in the Brett Favre stage of his career, grey stubble and all) went over the top on the Mariners' outfield, giving him a double! (Also, props to his choice of at-bat theme: the nWo Wolfpac theme. XD) Then with two out, Jordan Pacheco hit home Giambi, then Wilin Rosario immediately followed that up with a 2-run homer! There goes the shutout... 9-3 Mariners
Top 8th: Aaaaand here comes all that rain we were promised. I'm surprised they didn't stop the game, but with it being a 6-run game and 2 innings to go, might as well finish it, right? I retreated to the covered section, as I thought "If I'm gonna get drenched and catch a cold, I'd rather save it for the Rapids game." Ichiro (1-for-4 today) got on via fielder's choice, but his speed on the basepaths was valuable here. He got from 1st to 3rd on a single by Jesus, then got home on a passed ball! 10-3 Mariners
Top 9th: For the Rockies, in came Josh Outman. Why am I bringing him up, despite the fact he had a 22.50 ERA going in, and he got a nondescript 1-2-3 inning? HIS ENTRANCE THEME IS "WHITE AND NERDY". XD
Bottom 9th: By this time, the rain stopped, but I still stayed in the covered section, as my seat was all wet. Jason Giambi got a walk, but the Rockies were unable to do anything with it, thus mercifully ending the game. Oh, but one small thing I want to mention here: there was a sharp foul ball liner to left field at one point that was caught by an old guy's umbrella! FINAL SCORE: Mariners 10, Rockies 3
I really like this park; I think I'm gonna put it ahead of Yankee Stadium, at #6. (At some point I'll post a complete ranking.) The only beef with it I have is that they put in too many seats; they can fit 50k, but they only get about 25k for a typical game. The only way they'd get 50k for regular season games on a consistent basis (aside from the obvious solution, WINNING) is those once-every-8-years-or-so visits by the Yankees or Red Sox. The NL has the Cubs, but I don't think they'd completely fill the stadium every year.
And here are 135 pictures from the park. (With this and the 111 from the Rapids game, it's a new single-day record!) In it you'll find your usual collection of action shots, the infamous "Ichiro stance", and jumbotron hijinx!
Before the Game:
-I woke up at about 6 AM, had breakfast, and it was pouring when I got my rental car at the airport.
-Chilled at the hotel a bit after driving back there, then drove towards downtown.
-It wasn't raining at the hotel when I left there, but it was POURING when I was looking for parking. Splurged for a good spot (by good spot, I mean ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE HOME PLATE GATE), since I neeeded a quick out after the game to get to the Rapids game.
->my shoes; >traction in the rain; Pick one.
-Went in about 2 hours before the game (no rain, either!), but couldn't get to my seat for another half hour, so I went and took pictures of the Mariners warming up (including Hisashi Iwakuma, in his first year in the majors from Rakuten), then went around the park when the rest of the park opened up. I really like this place; you can see the influence from Camden Yards in how they designed this thing. (Then again, EVERYONE copied Camden Yards. :P)
-I saw an ad on the Jumbotron for "Anthony's Pizza" having a concession stand, and I thought "...I have to eat this, don't I." So I got two slices for $10. Two GIGANTIC slices. I have to say, that stuff is almost Cassano's bad. But since I tried the stadium version, and it's ANTHONY'S Pizza, I'll give them a free pass and eat there again next time I'm in Denver.
-Got to my seat; it was high up, but sadly I wasn't covered. Would have to move up late in the game to avoid the rain.
-Before the pregame on-field activities, they showed an MLB Network Prime 9 of the top 9 home runs of all time. I was disappoint that Kirby didn't make the list, but I can't complain with what they picked for #1. (THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT!)
-They had a whole bunch of high school bands perform the national anthem. It was kind of chaotic, but still not as bad as last week's anthem.
-Today's pitching matchup: the Mariners' Jason Vargas vs. the Rockies' Christian Friedrich, making his home debut. (Let the record show that I went to the home debuts of both a Christian and a Jesus. XD)
Top 2nd: After giving up a walk to Jesus Montero (Remember him in the Yankee recap? He got traded to the Mariners for a pitcher that blew out his elbow before the season. :P), Kyle Seager took Friedrich DEEEEEEEP to right field to put the M's on the board! 2-0 Mariners
Bottom 2nd: >Cuddy (Michael Cuddyer, former Twin) >using dubstep for an at-bat theme ...At any rate, I got a really good shot of Cuddy connecting with the ball, taking it deep to right, but he hit it right to Ichiro.
End 2nd: They had a "Finish the Lyrics" contest on the Jumbotron. It was really easymodo: 1. The line they wanted was a well-known chorus, 2. It was multiple choice, and 3. The other choices were stuff like "Hit me with your pet shark".
Top 3rd: After Casper Wells walked, Ichiro hit a dribbler past the pitcher; the 2B fielded it, but didn't attempt a throw, as both were going to beat the force out. (Oh my! Vintage Ichiro!) From there, Jesus hit home Wells, and Seager hit home Ichiro. 4-0 Mariners
Top 4th: Michael Saunders hits one DEEP to the left center canyon... caught by Dexter Fowler! Brendan Ryan puts one in almost the exact same spot, and this one dropped for a triple! And here's a good sign you're having a bad day on the mound: You give up an RBI to the pitcher. (Another good sign: the closed-captioning system calls you "Chris Jim Friedrichs".) Jason Vargas hit Ryan home (blooped one over the INFIELD WAY IN defensive shift), and that made it 5-0. 5-0 Mariners
End 5th: Want to know why I was late with this recap? For the Rockies' speed trivia challenge game, they used a theme song from a game show I KNEW I watched, but didn't remember which one. It took me ALL NIGHT after the Rapids game to find it! And I call myself a great game show mind! (Seriously. I credit those old game shows of the 70s and 80s for my career, as that's how I got so good at math.) For the record, it was the late-80s version of Chain Reaction.
Top 6th: This would be it for Christian. Michael Saunders doubled, Ryan singled, Vargas WALKED (Think about that! He was only able to retire the pitcher once!), and then Christian would get pulled, and booed off the mound. After Esmil Rogers came in, Dustin Ackley doubled home two runs, and Casper singled home one more. (Number of earned runs given up by Christian: NINE NINE NINE NINE NINE NINE!) I was thinking "if the rain comes and they put the tarp on the field, I think I'm just gonna go to the Rapids game." 9-0 Mariners
Bottom 7th: We haven't talked much about the Rockies' offense here, have we. Well that's because Vargas has shut them down all game. But that would change this half-inning. The ageless Jason Giambi (who I swear is in the Brett Favre stage of his career, grey stubble and all) went over the top on the Mariners' outfield, giving him a double! (Also, props to his choice of at-bat theme: the nWo Wolfpac theme. XD) Then with two out, Jordan Pacheco hit home Giambi, then Wilin Rosario immediately followed that up with a 2-run homer! There goes the shutout... 9-3 Mariners
Top 8th: Aaaaand here comes all that rain we were promised. I'm surprised they didn't stop the game, but with it being a 6-run game and 2 innings to go, might as well finish it, right? I retreated to the covered section, as I thought "If I'm gonna get drenched and catch a cold, I'd rather save it for the Rapids game." Ichiro (1-for-4 today) got on via fielder's choice, but his speed on the basepaths was valuable here. He got from 1st to 3rd on a single by Jesus, then got home on a passed ball! 10-3 Mariners
Top 9th: For the Rockies, in came Josh Outman. Why am I bringing him up, despite the fact he had a 22.50 ERA going in, and he got a nondescript 1-2-3 inning? HIS ENTRANCE THEME IS "WHITE AND NERDY". XD
Bottom 9th: By this time, the rain stopped, but I still stayed in the covered section, as my seat was all wet. Jason Giambi got a walk, but the Rockies were unable to do anything with it, thus mercifully ending the game. Oh, but one small thing I want to mention here: there was a sharp foul ball liner to left field at one point that was caught by an old guy's umbrella! FINAL SCORE: Mariners 10, Rockies 3
I really like this park; I think I'm gonna put it ahead of Yankee Stadium, at #6. (At some point I'll post a complete ranking.) The only beef with it I have is that they put in too many seats; they can fit 50k, but they only get about 25k for a typical game. The only way they'd get 50k for regular season games on a consistent basis (aside from the obvious solution, WINNING) is those once-every-8-years-or-so visits by the Yankees or Red Sox. The NL has the Cubs, but I don't think they'd completely fill the stadium every year.
And here are 135 pictures from the park. (With this and the 111 from the Rapids game, it's a new single-day record!) In it you'll find your usual collection of action shots, the infamous "Ichiro stance", and jumbotron hijinx!