I stayed up through the whole game, everyone! Keep your chins up!
Allow me to re-introduce myself …
Look, I’m not gonna lie to you, Day 1 kinda got away from me a little bit. It took me a while to get going on Day 2, but I eventually ventured out of my apartment, grabbed a couple coffees and some scratch tickets, and even worked in a shower before I sweated myself through the second game of the weekend.
I threw $190 into scratch tickets and walked away with $30 when all was said and done, but it’s not all champagne wishes and caviar dreams for Steven A. Taylor. There’s also copious amounts of line waiting! We left South Lake Union around a quarter to 3, Ubering our way to 1st & Edgar Martinez Way to the sight of yet another fuckload of people waiting in lines to grab Day 2’s prize: a mini Griffey HOF plaque. We, no joke, got in the same line for the Left Field Entrance, at about the same distance as I was for Day 1. And lo and behold, we got our plaques.
Bee-you-tiful …
We opted to stay in the stadium, as opposed to making our usual trek to Sluggers, because the 24 Retirement Ceremony was starting at 5:30, and we sure as shit didn’t want to miss it. Since we were starving, food was our #1 priority. I made the mistake of ordering a Mariner Dog (ate two bites and threw the rest away) and some Club Level “garlic” fries. You tell me, is this abomination an appropriate order of garlic fries?
Horse. Shit.
That’s either garlic powder, or parmesan cheese, but there’s NO FUCKING GARLIC on that shit! Safeco, I expect better.
Once I got rid of that shit, I ended up walking a million miles to get a mediocre slice of pepperoni pizza and a cup of chocolate soft serve ice cream, before turning my attention to the $6 Tecates they sell at the Hit It Here Cafe. Beer: you can’t fuck up beer.
Let your freak flag fly …
The ceremony was fantastic. The Mariners know how to do one thing well, and that’s throw a party for their greats. The usual suspects showed up, from Alvin Davis, to Dan Wilson, to Jay Buhner, to Jamie Moyer, to Edgar Martinez wearing a backwards cap, to Dave Niehaus’ widow; while a bunch of shockers popped in, like Steve Largent, Cortez Kennedy, Gary Payton, Spencer Haywood, Rickey Henderson, and others. Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Kobe Bryant, and even Jeff Gordon had jumbotron salutes. It was truly a star-studded affair.
The Great One …
We even got a Griffey speech with almost no blubbering! It was everything you could ever want from a ceremony!
Retire them numbers …
Then, the game happened, and I don’t even know anymore. Like the previous night, Mike Trout hit a 3-run homer in the first to put the Mariners at a huge disadvantage. Unlike the previous night, the Mariners were unable to respond with more than a single run in the bottom half of the inning. But, in spite of Taijuan Walker’s mediocre return from the DL (4 innings, 6 runs), the Mariners continued to chip away! 1 run in the first, another in the third (Guillermo Heredia’s first ever homer), 2 runs in the fifth (Guti homer, to pull him within a triple of the cycle), and 4 runs in the seventh (a Leonys Martin sac fly, and a MONSTER 3-run homer from the hero of the night, Shawn O’Malley).
It was truly a magical night. Shawn O’Malley even followed up his game-winning homer with a diving stab the next inning to take a hit away from them, resulting in chanting from the sellout crowd. Was I JUST complaining of O’Malley’s defense earlier this week? I don’t recall that! Surely t’was some other blogger! Was I among those leading the chants for the rest of the evening? No hypocrite guy, but MAYBE!
Big ups to the bullpen tonight, for picking up where Taijuan failed to leave off. Cody Martin went 2.2, Drew Storen got the last out in the 7th (and the win). Wilhelmsen came in to dominate the 8th, and Edwin Diaz got the game sealing double play to close out the 9th. Bing, bang, boom, Mariners defeat Angels 8-6, and we all went home delirious.
Day 3 happens later today, and I, for one, can’t wait.
Let your body move to the music …