Flashback Friday:1999

Well these are going to be some interesting blogs i will be writing. I got the idea of Flashback Friday from Twitter. They have Throwback Thursday's so im going to write flashback blog on Friday's now, it makes sense. Well I decided to start off my first flashback blog with the year 1999. That year mark the opening of the Seattle Mariners new ballpark Safeco Field. Months before I started enjoying an outdoor ballpark i went to 17 unforgettable games at the Kingdome. The first game i went in the Mariners 1999 season was on April 7th. The M's played host to the Chicago White Sox, before the game I managed to get an autograph from Ken Griffey, Jr.! 

The pleasure of getting his autograph was an awesome expierence and that night he also hit one of his sweetest swinging homeruns and the M's won 7-3 and Griffey had a 4-4 night. Next game was on April 11th where the Mariners took care of the Oakland A's 11-8 and Griffey managed his first hit in his last at-bat of the night to. Now I'm not going to write about all the games i went to but i will write about the most memorable ones.

Now last year the Mariners bashed out 21 runs against the Texas Rangers but guess what? Those 21 runs were nothing compared to the 22 run outburst the M's had against the Detroit Tigers in 99. I really have to thank my parents for buying tickets like crazy for me that season. That was in my opinion the 2nd greatest Mariners game i ever went to! I mean i got Griffey, Martinez, and Buhner's autograph and that night i got to watch Jr hit a grand salami and a solo homer as well. 

The M's had an 11 run 5th inning and for some reason the Tigers let Mel Rojas pitch the whole inning! I had to endure going to 2 losing games but then the next game i went to was awesome! I say that because the M's pounded the Minnesota Twins 15-5. Now the games i went to in the Kingdome my record was 10-7 and I was so happy that i got to go to the final Kingdome game and the Mariners pulled out the win in an amazing night. Griffey hit one final Kingdome homerun to, that made the night more special. 

Now since the Kingdome is gone lets move to Safeco Field shall we? My first game at Safeco was the third game that the M's played at Safeco. The Mariners pounded out 9 runs as they won their first game at the new ballpark. Freddy Garcia pitched one hell of a game as he went 8 innings and Griffey went 2-4 with 2 RBIs in the game. Now i did have to wait awhile for my next Mariners game. Garcia pitched the night i went and he pitched another gem as he struckout 10 Devil Rays and the M's won 4-0. The final game i went to that year would also be the game Griffey would hit his final homerun as a Mariner, the M's won 13-3 against the Royals.

 I have to say 1999 was one of my favorite seasons as a fan to go to games. I saw a lot of homers fly out of the park (most of them were Griffey's doing) and i got to enjoy the final Kingdome game. After the 99 year Mariners fans remember that Griffey said farewell and was traded to the Reds but we got a great player in Mike Cameron for him though.