Baseball is something to share with the family
MARINERS
Got together last night with our group of guys who own Mariners' season tickets together. Eight of us buy two seats, ensuring each get 10 games in a decent spot – we sit behind the hand-operated scoreboard in left.
Three of the group live in the Puget Sound area, and they either participate in our draft by phone or through a representative – sadly that rep is an honest man, so the Seattle people don’t get stuck with all Tampa Bay and Cleveland games.
So last night we picked our games. We choose lots, pick two dates at a time and go up and down the list until all the games are gone. The first three to disappear were the Yankees – did I tell you the honest man was a Yankee fan? Seems almost impossible to believe, doesn't it? – and then such dates as opening day and the last week of the season.
Me? I went for the weekend Junior is in town – knock on wood – with the Reds, along with the accompanying Monday night date with the Red Sox. Our plan is to have our 22-year-old son fly up from Southern California to see his childhood hero in action one more time.
Is there anything better than that? And is there anything else that better illustrates the hold baseball can have on fathers and sons? We'll sit in the bleachers, grab a dog and a beer (for him, my waistline won't allow it) and tell embellished stories about games gone by.
I can't wait.
Today's hot list …
• Raul Ibanez tells John Hickey of the P-I he always felt he was a cleanup hitter, even when he struggled to get playing time the first time around with the M's.
• Without a catcher at home, M's coach John McLaren sometimes has to get creative to get ready for spring training.
• The makeup of the bullpen is still the topic of conversation around camp, with George Sherrill's fate a key aspect of that.
• Another topic that won't die: the future of Ben Broussard.
And our question for the day …
• If you could pick one ex-Mariner who is still playing and have him rejoin the team, who would it be and why? As much as I love Junior, I guess my choice would have to be Freddy Garcia, because the M's could use the pitching.