All-Star MVP....

It looks like the MVP All-Star is not a D-back, a ChiSox or a Twinkie. I think a bit of gloating is due on my part!

Time to move those flags around!

My family has a tradition--at least I hope it's a tradition. There are 3 flag poles on the shore of the lake and the previous owners flew the Norwegian, Swedish and Danish flags (or something like that). When my brother brought the place, my genius nephew had the brilliant idea that we should fly the flags of the Chicago White Sox, the Minnesota Twins and the Seattle Mariners. As the flags fly at different heights, they would be arranged by their standing in the American League.

Now, as a Mariner fan, this was tough. We were ALWAYS at the bottom--and miserably so. When I'd see my family, their first question was not "How are you?" or "How have you been?" but "What is wrong with your team?" But, being a true fan, I stuck to my team.

So, this morning, I was going through the sports pages at MSNBC.com and I noticed something. The Chicago White Sox are currently at .500. The Minnesota Twins are at .516. Wait for it....

....The Seattle Mariners are at .519!

So, by rights, there needs to be some reorganizing at the lake. Sadly, though, I doubt it will happen. There are 2 problems: First off, I'm the only Mariner's fan in the family and I think that this current standing will be easily "overlooked." Secondly, I think my father is the only person who knows how to put the flags up and change them and he is still in Arizona.

Oh well...I'll have to let this go (for now). But, let's see what happens in June and July!

Divine Intervention

I think God is a Mariner's fan. I just saw that the Boston game has been put on a rain delay and possibly postponed. You see, I think the big guy upstairs has the same theory that I have...the Mariners should only play every 5 days so that Felix will always be pitching.

Of course, the problem with this theory is that it only works in run-down decrepit parks like Fenway (National treasure? I've been in that place and it's a dump! Trust me, baseball would be far better off if they got rid of Fenway) or, well, other parks without retractable roofs. I'm not sure what God has up his sleeve for home games.....

Conversions

Today was a sad day for me. My co-worker who sat next to me had accepted a new job and this was the last day for her sitting next to me. Besides being one of the nicest people on the planet, she is--like me--a true Mariner's fan. Trust me, work is far more enjoyable when you have someone to discuss the play-by-plays in the afternoon.

Anyway, I've decided that I need to convert the Rochinator, who sits to cubes down from me, to Mariner fandom. The problem is, well, he's just not that interested. This might be due to the fact that he's German. Or the fact that he operates under the mistaken belief that Americans care about David Beckham. I dunno--there is something wrong with this. I think I may sneak in early and decorate his desk with M's memorabilia.

Hmm, for some reason baseball season is starting to look interesting!

More proof of global warming

It's a sad state of affairs. The Mariners-Cleveland series was WIPED OUT by snow. Dang global warming. (Okay, I can't complain that much as we were down 5-0 before they called the first game....but it's snow...and baseball! C'mon!)

Of course, I'm fighting my own environmental uphill battle at the moment since my Studmuffin does not recycle aluminium cans! Dude, that's 5 cents a can.....yeesh! Seriously, I set out the cans to recycle and he sneaks them down to the dumpster! All I have to say is that he did not grow up in Oregon.

Don't worry, they're just warming up.

The M's lost their exhibition game to the Padre's yesterday. I'm refusing to read too much into this as it is just the first game. I'm also trying to overlook their apparent strategy of replacing their up and coming players with, um, experienced (i.e., old and injured) players. Who knows, maybe there is a coherent logic behind this.

In any case, my Studmuffin and I, along with my parents, are going to a spring training game later this month. I had hoped to get tickets to the Arizona/Seattle game, but it didn't work schedulewise. So, we'll be watching the Mariners play the White Sox. It's a great situation...if the Mariner's win, I can gloat about it to my oldest brother and his family, who live in the Chicago area and happen to be White Sox fans. And, if the M's lose, well--it was just spring training anyway. Besides, it's the Mariners!

Just thinking of this does put me in a better state of mind. One bad thing about having the desk with the view is that sometimes that view is of gloomy, dreary weather. However, it's starting to heat up again in Arizona and, in less than 3 weeks, I'll be basking in the sun!

Quote of the day:
"Baseball is dull only to dull minds."
-Red Barber

Mariners 11, Diamondbacks 7

How sweet it is! Now, I can't say that I harbor any ill feelings towards the Diamondbacks as I do for, say, the Boston Red Sox. Frankly, as with the White Sox and the Twins, it's all a family thing.

You see, my parents used to be Mariners fans. Then they moved to Arizona where my mother tries to get the Guberif to be social. Unfortunately, my parents also quickly transferred their allegiance to the Diamondbacks.

Oh, okay, I think the Guberif may still have his senses intact but my mother is all gung ho about the D-backs. Really, I thought they were fans! You see, I am a fan. When I move from this area, I plan to get the digital cable package that includes the MLB just so I won't miss the Mariners. At M's games, I'm the loudest one in the stands (much the chagrin of my friends). When I watch games at home, I bring out the foam finger and wave it around until Carmel decides to attack it.

My mother, on the otherhand, is wishy washy; she gave up on her team just because of geography. It doesn't matter, though. The Mariners still won!

Things are turning around!

This is what we are greeted with at my brother's lake home in Minnesota. At least, this is what it was last year. The idea is that the 3 flags--the White Sox, the Twins and the Mariners--will be flying in order of their standing in the American League. Notice: The White Sox are highest, then the Twins and then the Mariners. Sadly, this was the case for all of last season.

THIS YEAR my Mariners are doing far better. We've won our last 4 games, sweeping the Padres in inter-league play and taking the first (so far) game of the series against the Orioles. More importantly, we have a better record than the Twins (although we are still far behind the White Sox).

I won't be at the lake this year, but I'm hoping that certain members of my family will stay true to the flags and put the Mariners in their earned place--even if the Mariners manage to overtake the White Sox (which they WILL!)

I may still be stuck in the box, but my M's are starting to break through...finally!

I found my USB cord!

That tricky little devil was plugged into my CPU. Whatever about that! Anyway, here is a picture of the Rainers...ahem, I mean, Mariners Exhibition Game.

This what we got to look at for a whole hour during the rain delay. Yep, it's pretty wet. Now, I had another picture I could have put here which actually had people in it. I chose not to do so for 2 reasons.

First off, one of my friends has a job that probably makes her less than inclined to have her photo posted all over the internet. Secondly, even though all I had had was half of a (very, very expensive) bottle of water, I look like I'm about ready to pass out into a drunken stupor! Yeesh! Talk about bad pictures!

Woo-hoo!

My M's beat the White Sox tonight...WOO HOO!!!!!! Personally, I have nothing against the White Sox (I save my hatred for Sox of a different color) and I think Chicago is a great city. But there's a family thing here...my oldest brother and his family are die hard Sox fans--which is fine. They live in Chicago, so it either had to be the Sox or the Cubs. But I've had to put up with a lot of derisive comments about my boys in blue from them which, I must say, is not called for. I mean, I never get on their case about being fans of a team who nearly ruined baseball back in 1919. Yes, I know their team is the reigning world champion and my team doesn't even have an AL Championship (yet).

But we do have the win tonight. WOO HOO!!!!!!!!

Major League Disappointment

The Mariner's season kicked off today with 5-4 loss to the A's. For some reason, their game was played at 2:05. On a Monday. Who is going to watch that? Luckily, it was replayed in the evening and I have to say, despite the loss, it was a good game.

I wish I could say that for the exhibition game I went to on Friday night. The Mariners, my boys in blue, came to take on the ineffectual Portland Beavers at PGE Park. Of course, I purchased tickets as soon as possible and began counting the minutes until the first pitch.

I knew the game was off to a bad start when the first pitch was greeted with boos. Governor Kulingoski had the honors--despite the fact that he is a democrat in a very blue state, he has earned the loathing of the citizens of Oregon. It's gotten so bad that republican Kevin Mannix, who is just to the right of Hitler, may actually win the election. Be afraid. Be very, very afraid.

Bad omen #2: Richie Sexson, who was born in Portland and now willingly lives in Vancouver, WA (yeah, I don't understand it either) was not playing. True, he's no Ichiro, but he is, in my oft stated opinion, the hottie on the team.

If that wasn't bad enough, the rain came in. Oregonians can put up with a lot of rain--more than most human beings. However, there comes a time when you have to let it pass through. So, at 8pm, the game went into a rain delay. Being as we are all hearty Oregonians, we waited it out--we sang along with such songs as "I love a rainy night" and watched the field crew do bellyflops on the tarps. Finally, an hour later, the tarps came off, the dance of the outfielders was performed and the game resumed.

Unfortunately, Ichiro, Betantcourt, Ibanez, the new Japanese guy and the like were gone. In their stead were a bunch of people I've never heard of. While they were good players--at least they were far better than the Beavers, which is no hard task--I still wondered who they heck they were!

I ended up leaving the game early--without anyone I knew, it seemed pointless to fight the cold air moving in. However, once I was home, I looked up the players who came on the field after the rain delay. The had put in the Mariner's farm team! Yes, for the bulk of the evening, I had been watching a very expensive AAA game!

What I understand is that if the game had been called for rain instead of a rain delay, the tickets would have had to be refunded. So, they put in the Tacoma Rainiers instead. So, we watched a $5 game for 10 times the price--I actually paid more for this ticket than I would to see a Mariners game at Safeco field! I understand that, in the pre-season, the major league teams need to avoid injury. However, isn't there some sort of acknowledgement that fans payed to see a major league team instead of 2 AAA teams? I can't fault the management for pulling out the Mariners, but I can fault the ballpark for keeping my money when a refund was in order.

3 more days....

...until the most wonderful day of the year. Yessirree....it's almost....

OPENING DAY!

Tomorrow I get my sneak preview as my M's take on the Portland Beavers (the Padre's AAA farm team). I really hope the M's win or else this could be very embarrassing start to the season. A couple years ago, I went to see the Padre's take on the Beavers and the Beavers won! And the Padre's were actually a good team at the time.