Green Green Grass of Home

DOWN SOUTH:  This afternoon we pushed responsibilities to the back burner and set out to catch a Mariners' matinee at Safeco Field. A little after 11 a.m., we caught a bus to the stadium district.

One of the reasons we went a bit early for the 12:40 start was because I wanted to check out the Anubus statue I knew was posted outside historic King Street Station.  CJ and Annabelle spotted it right after we stepped off the bus. An impressive statue it was (see top of the post).

I must say, Anubus was much more impressive than the Mariners' offense today. :/

They managed to score ONE run today (here's Annabelle's celebration of that) but that was it.

That being the case, the highlight of the game for our party was CJ and Annabelle being featured on the big screen twice. The first time was when they were dancing (doing the robot) to "Video Killed the Radio Star." Christian managed to capture a still on his cell phone (though it's not exactly conclusive proof that it's CeeJ and Bee!).

The second time, Kennedy joined the antics and the three of them danced to "Great Balls of Fire," which earned another feature on the big screen. Good times! (And so sad that that was the highlight of the game.)

Though there were blue skies, truth be told, it was a bit chilly at the park today. Here, Annabelle warmed herself by the fire out beyond the center field wall.

While she sat by the fire, I couldn't help but think of the photos we've been seeing out of Colorado the last couple of days.

Some pre-game highlights on the big screen were a BIG time blast from the past. They played a video montage letting us know that 13 years ago today was the last game played in the Kingdome. There was an extended video show of fond Kingdome memories. My oh my, so many good times we had in that horrid stadium!

Today we also went out to right center field and paid homage to Dave Niehaus. My oh my, how I still miss him.

I would have liked our visit with Dave a LOT better if there hadn't been a Safeco Field employee standing there, talking LOUDLY with a fan about how Dave was "losing it" before he died, making bad calls. UGH. How about just shutting the hell up? Or walking 10 feet in any direction, away from the statue? Gah.

SOME DAY: It's good to have goals, right? Well, I saw this woman many rows away from us today at the game and I aspire to be her. She was into the game, paying  attention but at any break in the action (in between innings, at bats, etc.) she worked her NYTs crossword puzzle. THAT is the LIFE!

BOOKED: When we got home this evening, I felt compelled to pull out a library book we got yesterday. It is called "Brothers at Bat: The True Story of an Amazing All-Brother Baseball Team."

It's about 12 baseball-playing brothers - the Acerras, from New Jersey. They played together on a semipro team formed which formed idn 1938 and went on for years. The team changed over time, especially when six of them went off to war in WWII and when one brother lost an eye due to an errant foul ball. But despite the challenges and times, the Acerras stuck together. Cool story!