After an emotional Ballpark No. 6, I headed out west to compose myself and to experience the Pacific Northwest, including Ballpark No. 7 – T-Mobile Park, home of the Mariners.
I arrived in Oregon on Friday night (more accurately, Saturday morning) and plan to drive up to Washington on Wednesday for Fireworks Night and a July 3 meeting between the St. Louis Cardinals and Seattle Mariners.
I don’t have any significant memories of the Mariners other than playing “Ken Griffey Jr.’s Slugfest” on N64.
(It was never my favorite MLB video game, but the commercial was definitely something.)
The only things I knew about Mariners history before researching it were that they boast a couple megastar alumni (Junior and Ichiro Suzuki) and strung together one phenomenal regular season at some point in my lifetime.
Mariners History Lesson
The Mariners are a 1977 expansion team that didn’t finish a season above .500 until 1991. They originally played in the Kingdome and moved to Safeco Field (renamed T-Mobile Park in 2019) in 1999.
Two years later (Ichiro’s rookie year), they posted the most-ever wins by an AL team, finishing 116-46. They went on to lose to the Yankees in the ALCS that season.
The Mariners have made three American League Championship Series appearances (1995, 2000, 2001) but haven’t made it to the postseason since.
Cardinals Connections
Three former Redbirds play for the Mariners, and one is scheduled to start on Wednesday, when Mike Leake takes the mound against former teammate Adam Wainwright.
(The other two are starting pitcher Marco Gonzales, which is how the Cardinals acquired Tyler O’Neill, and Sam Tuivailala, who is on a rehab assignment after an Achilles injury sidelined him last season.)
Game Preview
Cardinals vs. Mariners
T-Mobile Park
Wednesday, July 3, 2019
7:10 p.m. PT
Probable starting pitchers: STL Adam Wainwright (RHP) vs. SEA Mike Leake (RHP)
The Cardinals had a magical Albert Pujols weekend but have since struggled yet again. Going into the series, they are 41-41 but only three games out in the division (as of right now when I’m writing this because the Brewers already lost today).
Seattle got off to a hot 8-1 start in April but quickly crashed and burned. The Mariners now sit at a dismal 37-51 going into the series and are 18 games out of the AL West.
Personal Game Notes
– The Cardinals are 4-2 when I attend games specifically for Ballparking It.
– This marks the second time they’ve faced a former Cardinals starting pitcher when I’m in attendance. (The last resulted in a Cardinals victory over Lance Lynn and the Twins at Ballpark No. 2.)
– This is my second stadium with a retractable roof. (The last resulted in a loss to the Brewers at Ballpark No. 3.)
– The Cards are 2-0 when I’ve seen them at AL stadiums in the Ballparking It era.
– This is my second Wednesday game (the other being Ballpark No. 2) and first time repeating a specific weekday on this journey.
On Deck: #SpookySummer
I’m in the middle of Spooky Summer 2019 – Halloween all year long, so I’m making a pit stop in Snoqualmie, Washington, to channel my inner special agent Dale Cooper and celebrate Fourth of July Twin Peaks style. Who killed Laura Palmer, anyone?
I’m also planning to hit up Timberline Lodge (as seen in “The Shining”) on my way back to where I’m staying in Oregon.
Maybe I’ll even find Bigfoot. #believe