I say this often, and when it comes to this long and ongoing journey, I am a total opportunist. I had some friends out in Seattle who were trying to get me out there to visit, and with some vacation time and a free-flight voucher, I coincidentially planned my trip around an appealing Seattle Mariners home game - against the New York Yankees. I had never been out to Seattle before either, so it was both beneficial for expanding my United States horizons, as well as knocking out the first of many difficult ballparks in America.

I find that Seattle is an absolutely gorgeous city, and I could honestly see myself living there at some point in my life. When, who knows, but the time I spent out there was entertianing, as well as breathtaking, as I took in all the nature and gorgeous skylines of the Greater Washington areas.

Safeco Field is an awesome ball park, with all sorts of modern conveniences. It's a little tricky to get to, but with capable feet, it's by no means a difficult trek. Out of all the parks I've been to thus far, Safeco offers the most beautiful sights outside of the park from the inside. Depending on where tickets are, the patron might get a good view of neighboring Qwest Field, the home of the Seattle Seahawks, others might see Puget Sound, and/or the rest of the city of Seattle.

Ichiro-mania which has been running wild for the better part of the last decade has definitely shown its influence on the team, the park, and the surrounding area. Safeco, whether it's coincidence or not, is conveniently close to the Asian/Chinatown area of the city. All throughout the park, there are Japanese people running around, clearly decided on whom they're rooting for, and lest we not forget the Asian-themed cuisine available at Safeco:

The game itself was entertaining, and I figured that I would be rooting for the hometown Mariners. Always good to be part of a good crowd, and I was impressed at how well the Mariners fans attended. Maybe it was because it was against the Yankees, who knows. Unfortunately, the party didn't last long, because Mariners starting pitcher, Miguel Batista imploded in the second inning, and it all went downhill from there. Moreover, I was enjoying the company of my friends at the time, so it didn't really matter.

Either way, in the 9th inning of this blowout game, Chris Reitsma emerged from the bullpen, and like a trained pitbull let off its leash, my mouth began spouting a line of obscenities and harrasing words down onto the field, fully convinced that he could hear me 450 ft. away while running in from the outfield. Apparently, this outburst upset a group of gentlemen in the further-up part of the upper-deck section I was sitting in, who decided that they would cheer for Reitsma instead.

Regardless, I continued my verbal assault on Reitsma, as he allowed runners to get on first and second base. With two outs, and runners on, stepping up to the plate was home run machine, Alex Rodriguez. If there ever was a time that I wanted to see an A-Rod homer live, it was right here and now. I continued my screaming, and finally one of four gentlemen had enough of it, and turned around and screamed: "Shut up, already! What's your problem!!"

Naturally, my response was simply the fact that Chris Reitsma sucked. And then came the kicker: "Man, that guy's my cousin!"

Cousin? Chris Reitsma's cousin? A relative of Chris Reitsma? Oh, this was good. Then the cousin asked what my problem with his cousin was; immediately, I spun my Atlanta Braves hat around, and pointed at the A emblem. My response was concise, and clear: "I am from Atlanta. I know first-hand how much your cousin sucks, probably more than you do. He is going to give up a massive home run." Probably not in those exact words, but something along the lines, probably laced with some tasteless profanity.

Unfortunately for me, Reitsma got a nod from the heavens above from Pujols, and he managed to strike out A-Rod to end the inning. The cousins, being likely classy Canadians did not take the opportunity to jeer at me for my false prediction, but that didn't stop me from yelling at them in my slightly inebriated state. "If you're Chris Reitsma's cousins, why do your seats suck!!!!" and "I see you're wearing your cousin's jersey!!!" (The jersey was a generic, blank Mariners home jersey)

Ahh, good stuff. Good memories.

Noteable performance(s):   Nothing really spectacular. Miguel Batista got lit up, and the Mariners never recovered. No home runs or anything either. Derek Jeter had three hits for the Yankees. The most noteable thing is former Nationals 2B, then Seattle Mariners designated hitter, Jose Vidro, who was the best and the worst hitter for the M's that evening. In five at-bats, Vidro hit a single and two doubles, which is quite respectable. Unfortuantely his two at-bats in which he didn't record hits, he recorded GIDPs (grounding into double play) something he was humorously notorious for doing a lot in Washington. And they were very timely - one to immediately kill the momentum of Ichiro's single to start the Mariners' charge in the first inning, and one to immediately kill the rally behind Ichiro's getting on base on Mariano Rivera in the bottom of the 9th, and sufficiently end the game.

Game Result:   New York defeats Seattle, 7-2. No rally, no attempted comeback. Seattle just kinda rolled over and died for the Yankees.

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