Tickets were $35 and it included a Felix shirt and a K card for the King's Court section plus we got the beard hat promotion. I say that was a pretty good deal. We bought four tickets. I still can't believe dad said he would go to a Mariner game. I told Ben we were going to the Mariner game and he got excited. We've never been to a Mariner game together yet and we've been dating for almost three years. I knew that Friday was going to be a long, long day.
The night before I tried to have everything ready so I didn't have to do it at five in the morning. I got my mitt, my Mariner blanket, a jacket, gloves and our tickets and put it out in the Escape. All I needed to do now was to make sure I had my wallet, phone and what I was going to wear. I had some extra cash I was saving for some fun money from my Seahawk art that I paint. Up to that point I have accumulated $115.
It was really hard to be at work. I was so excited to go to beard hat night and it was Friday, which meant I could sleep in on Saturday! Ben had the day off and so did dad. Mom worked until about 12:30 so I had Ben drive over to our house and pick them up and bring them to L&I at 3. We would leave my pass inside Ben's car and take the Escape to Seattle.
I got done, headed downstairs and they were here right at 3. We traded some stuff between each car, made sure we had everything and we headed up I-5 hoping traffic wouldn't suck this afternoon. I wanted to leave this early because of the potential traffic, finding a parking spot and I didn't want to be in a hurry when we were at the field. Plus, we had to be there to get our beard hats and our Felix shirts.
We got onto I-5 and the only slow parts were through Dupont, because everyone had to look at the people on the side of the road, near the Tacoma Dome and not again until we were almost to our exit for Safeco Field. We stopped at the rest stop in Federal Way so everyone could use the restroom and Ben could get some coffee. We were back on the freeway in no time. I still wanted to make it to Seattle before 5, plus I heard they were shutting down the viaduct so that could pose a problem.
We got off at our exit and headed towards the field. I always try and see if I can park in my free place near Holgate, Massachusetts and 6th Ave before I pay for parking. They've changed that area so much to where spots are limited during certain times of the day. A lot more homeless tents have been put up since last time I was here. We parked near the DSHS building, grabbed our stuff and locked the door. We had a four city block walk...which was not that bad if you're not in a hurry, which we weren't. I just wanted to be here so we could get our stuff, eat and see the people we knew who were at the game.
We entered through the left field entrance, our bags were checked at our tickets scanned. We received our beard hats from two nice gentlemen and preceded up the stairs to get in line for our Felix shirt and K card. I couldn't believe how long the line was! I hoped we got a decent size by the time we got there. Geez. An Asian family was standing in front of us and they looked hilarious in their beard hats and asked why we weren't wearing ours. Mom said because it was too warm to wear them. Which was very true; I was pretty warm and I am sure everyone else was too. The forecast called for some rain and cooler weather for tonight's game and I'm glad they lied. It was a gorgeous evening for some baseball!
We got our shirts, dad, Ben and I had to have mediums because everyone took the larges and mom got an XL. I only wanted a large because I had layers on. We got our K cards and I gave mom some money and we all just kind of wandered around until game time.
Ben and I looked for some food. I wanted Ivar's and he wanted something different so we fed him some chicken tenders and fries and of course a beer. I got my fish and chips and we found a good place to sit our food and watch the Royals finish their batting practice.
We walked over to where Annette said she would be. She is an usher that stands at the top of the sections and directs people where to go if they have questions about their seats or don't understand their tickets. We found her and chatted with her for a good 20 minutes. She updated us on some of the things she and her husband were up to, her upcoming trip to Hawaii and of course geocaching. We got a picture with her before we left.
My boss, Melanie, was also at the game with her friend "new" Mike. I couldn't remember which section she said she would be in so I gave her a call and we met up at her seats for another 20 minutes or so. She was excited to see me, we talked about traffic on the way up, I met "new" Mike, we took a couple of photos and she congratulated Ben on his new job. We stood there for the Star Spangled Banner, said our goodbyes and headed to our seats in the King's Court.
For $40 bucks, a beard hat, a T-shirt and a K card the view was not that bad. We couldn't see the scoreboard because we were right next to it and the left field foul pole was right there but it was still fun to sit in that section.
On April 23, 2016, Hernandez claimed the record for most strikeouts by a Mariners pitcher when he struck out Rafael Ortega of the Los Angeles Angels for his 2,163rd strikeout as a Mariner pitcher. The previous record of 2,162 strikeouts had been held by Randy Johnson.
Tonight, the King's Court was celebrating that milestone.
The game was pretty slow through most of the early innings. Felix walked a couple and struck out a couple. When they did get on base the defense kept them from scoring which was exciting.
We got up in the middle of the 4th inning for some popcorn. We got an awesome souviner tub to go with it. I've never eaten popcorn at a Mariner game before.
We stood up with the rest of the crowd when Felix was on the verge of striking out another victim, K! K! K! K! K! K! It was awesome!
Ben and I put on our beard hats again around the 8th inning and started being goofy. Mom took some more pictures and we enojoyed the rest of the game. A reliever came in and continued on Felix's shut out. Then the last batter, in the 9th inning with two outs and 2 strikes, belted one to dead center field. Our centerfielder did some Ken Griffey leaps and stole, what could have been the tying run to send the game into extra innings, but snagged it at the last minute, ending the game 1-0. It was an epic way to end the game.
We tried looking for more beard hats but everyone took theirs with them. We walked back to the Escape and headed back to Tumwater to take Ben to his car. We traded stuff, got my pass back and we all went home. It was a long day and I was tired. We got home after midnight.
Next Adventure: Shelton Springs Disc Golf and some Geocaching
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