Or For His Love of the Game
I have made it no secret that I have not always been a Mariners (or baseball) fan. For over 60 years, I have disliked baseball. I could never get into the speed of the game, nor the lack of significance of each individual game. Games seemed too long, seasons seemed too long Maybe I was blinded by ignorance, maybe I always hoping that baseball should be something that it is not, maybe I just never gave baseball a chance. However, for the last 3 years my non-football season life has revolved around the Mariners and baseball in general. What has changed? My grandson.
I have mentioned some of the difficulties my grandkids have had here at SKA. I am not going to cover that again, but it is the tie in to baseball. About 5 years ago the kids were looking for excuses to not go straight home from school. They found baseball. This allowed then to stay at school until I got off work. The girl started out playing tee-ball, and the boy started out with coach pitch baseball. I found myself watching practice and/or games almost every night, and enjoying myself. I would not say at this point I actually enjoyed baseball, just enjoyed watching the kids having fun. The girl only did 2 years, before she lost interest, but she still showed up to support her brother. The boy however has turned into a natural. Not Seager level yet, but that is his hero and who he wants to model his game after.
Which brings us to the Mariners. With the boy’s love of baseball increasing, I figured it was time I actually went to a professional baseball game with the kids. Not really knowing what I was getting myself into, I asked SKA some advise on how to proceed. I received all kinds of good advise, including Todd’s request to “shut the hell up, and talk to someone that cares.” This really motivated me, and I went and bought a 5 or 6 game pack. I still did not really know what I was getting myself into but I was excited to go, as they were excited to go. It did not disappoint. I do not know if it was the excitement of the stadium, the excitement of attending my first game or just the excitement of the kids, but we had a blast. One of the original games was a Kyle Seager tee-shirt night (which ended in a win by a homerun via Seager) that really elevated the boy’s respect for Kyle. The boy has sense moved from short stop to 3rd base, we have season tickets, and the rest is the history of the World Series year of the Mariners, 2016.
Yesterday I stated that the Mariners needed to start winning, and preferably starting last night. I did not actually think they were going to however. They had a difficult task ahead of them, and they were matching up LeBlanc against Sale. No real surprise the Mariners got behind early, 3-0. Sale was a monster on the mound, allowing only one hit, although he did walk 3 and hit 2 batters. None of this matter as the Mariners could not figure out Sale, as he effectively blew through the Mariner’s line up for 8 innings. At this point I turned to the grandson, and asked him if we should call it a night. Even though the Mariners have kept the lead to only 3-0 after the 4th, we were still down in the 9th with no real sign of turning this around. He said no, we should at least go 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th, and see if something can get started. For some reason, the White Sox brought in Robertson in the 9th. So we watched as Gutierrez singled, Cano hit into a fielder’s choice, Cruz walked, and Dae Ho strike out. 2 outs. We look at each other as Seager walks up to the plate. No way we are walking away from a Seager at bat, we were committed. Seager blast a single to left field as Cano scores and Cruz heads to second. I turn to the boy, as he simply says “It is happening!” Lind steps in for Iannetta, and blasts a 3 run homerun. Mariners win 4-3.
The boy went into a frenzy, saying this is why he loves baseball. In all honesty, baseball probably saved my grandkids. Baseball brought them permanently into my home. Which is why I will always support his love of baseball (Mariners.)
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