How Far to the Nearest Worthwhile Baseball?
On Saturday the Mariners blew a ninth inning lead to lose to the Atlanta Braves in Atlanta. The loss was disappointing to many, but shocking to few; the team with the worst record in baseball often finds ways to lose games in the ninth. On Saturday Seattlest drove south (not 35 hours south) to watch a baseball game and the team we watched also lost, 4-2.
We drove forty-five minutes down I-5 to see the Mariners' AAA affiliate Tacoma Rainiers lose 4-2 to the Portland Beavers. In a full but tiny Cheney Stadium, we watched guys who we saw at Safeco earlier this season play left field (Ballentien) and read about guys in the program who are now the starting catcher for the Seattle Mariners (Clemente). We watched a southpaw start for the Beavers and pretty much impose his will on the Rainiers for seven innings while his teammates knocked single after single just out of the infield to score enough runs to win the game. There was a little great baseball, a bunch of ok baseball, and a few terrible plays, as you would expect.
Nine dollars bought a seat that was about as far from home plate as the Diamond Club at Safeco, the singles scene might have run a little hotter--and much younger--than at the Hit It Here Cafe and there was a life-sized cardboard cut-out of Nick Lachey in the gift shop, but the question remains: Why would you drive forty-five minutes to see guys whose hopes and dreams include making it up to the worst team in baseball, when you can hop on a bus for fifteen minutes and see the actual worst team in baseball? The answer is that down south you can see a team play like their hopes and dreams for the season still have a pulse.
