Recent Stories with tag death cab for cutie

More exciting than Mariner baseball

Baseball is supposed to bring fathers and sons together, and it certainly did yesterday for the father and son sitting one row in front of me. It brought them together in a united effort to ignore the fiasco unfolding before them and instead play video games on their iPhones.

We weren't out of inning six before son, a pre-teen in a stylish windbreaker, busted out Cube Runner. Dad, who bore a passing resemblance to Phil on Modern Family, got next turn. By the eighth they'd moved on to what looked like Centipede.

I stupidly kept my eyes fixed on the field, where the Mariners put forth the lamest opening day offensive effort in team history. Two hits! Two! Yes, the Mariners had been two-hit before in a home opener, but that was by Pedro Martinez in his prime. A's starter Justin Duchscherer is a talented pitcher, but vintage Pedro he's not.

For sheer awfulness, the only home opener comparison is 1992, when the M's bullpen blew a five-run lead in a portentous 12-10 loss.

Starting pitcher in that game 18 years ago was Randy Johnson. The Big Unit who appeared a few hundred yards to the south yesterday at Safeco to throw out the first pitch. Johnson made his entrance from centerfield, walking toward the mound enveloped by a sustained standing ovation. His pitch, to longtime battery mate Dan Wilson, was an indisputable strike. Wilson and Johnson met and shook hands after the pitch; they were soon joined by fellow Mariner legends Edgar Martinez, Jay Buhner, and Ken Griffey Jr. for a '95 Mariners photo-op....

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We've come a long way, baby. I can remember when the Mariners' opening day musical guest was Kenny G, and the first pitch honoree was Morganna, the Kissing Bandit.

Today's Mariners opening day festivities, which begin at 3 p.m. at Safeco Field, will feature Death Cab for Cutie; the local boys will sing two unannounced "classic baseball" songs. Randy Johnson, the best pitcher in team history, will throw out the first pitch. And Ichiro will get his Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards. If you aren't going to be at Safeco, you can watch the event live on the M's website.

 

Death Cab practicing their Opening Day set (@therealmariners via Twitter)

Also new to fans this year: A renovated menu, including more options for vegans, gluten-haters, foodies, and the frugal. For example: A Dungeness crab sandwich served on garlic artisan French bread from Essential Baking Company. (That's at the "Sound Seafood" stand in section 248.) A new stand called "The Natural," in section 132, will feature vegetarian, vegan, and organic foods. Like fresh fruit! What a revelation! As someone who'll hit probably 25 M's games this year, I'm delighted, as I would prefer not to end the summer weighing 275. Another improvement: a new LED scoreboard in left field.

Parking is always a nightmare on opening day; when you combine a near-sellout crowd with the normal commuter crowd, it gets gross. Happily there are some traffic improvements. The new Royal Brougham way overpass opens today (map in pdf), it provides direct access to the Qwest Field parking lot, and will also put cars, bikes and pedestrians over the train tracks. Other good news: There are now two turn lanes from 1st Avenue S. onto Edgar Martinez Way and the entrance to the Safeco Field lot. Bad news: The northbound I-5 exit onto 4th Avenue S. won't be open until later this month.

Oh! And there will be a baseball game played! Game time is 3:40. The M's Ryan Rowland-Smith and the A's Justin Duchscherer will pitch, the same matchup as we had last Wednesday in Oakland. Neither pitched well, nor did they figure in the decision, a 6-5 A's win. Let's go Hyphen!