Junior ...

Seattle Mariners
Detroit Tigers
Safeco Field - Seattle, WA
04-19-09

My first thought when watching Junior's first Spring Training at bat was that he has lost weight and looks good. His swing looked awesome still. Whether this would be a good baseball move or not was up in the air, but I liked it. The commentators on that Spring Training night seemed to concur. The he hit a homer on opening night. The opening few weeks have made this appear to be a solid baseball move.

I have been looking forward to this for some time. I was able to see one of the 07 Reds appearances at Safeco Field and loved seeing Junior again that day. However, to see him again in an M's uniform would be especially cool.

So, I went down to Seattle early today. Parking was easy. I walked to the International District and got a bowl of Donburi chicken. An hour and a half prior to the game I walk up to the ticket booth, one with no line mind you ... and the cheap seats are sold out. The only tix left are 20-something or more each.

I am broke. I have enough for the 8 buck ticket and a scorecard on me. Payday is a week and a half away.

So ... I trudge on up Occidental past the scalpers. I HATE these guys. They are there at every event. They all have cell phones and blue tooth headsets on and are there as a group, even if standing in different places. I mention that I was looking for a cheap seat. The guy says, "Twenty dollars." He starts to hand me a ticket as if that was all it would take. I shake my head no and put my hands in my pocket. He tries not to look surprised that I have brushed him off. There is no point going to any of the other guys since they all work together. For a few minutes I go up the road and look through the stores, hoping that I might get lucky and find someone looking to unload a ticket because they were in a group and have one too many. It strikes me as stupid to remain, so I leave.

This post does not have pics of the game or a report on how good it was to see Junior again after all ...