Flashback Friday.....ok Saturday really

I know I said every Friday I would write a flashback blog about a really awesome sports event that I witness but I've been on vacation ok. Now for the past week has been tough for not just for me but also for this country. Before i begin this blog i want to say thank you to all the men and women who helped bring the mad man who decided to hurt this great country. Now right now as i write this im watching the pregame ceremony in Boston and i have so many tears in my eyes because im so proud of this country. Not only for not living in fear but for becoming stronger and supporting the great city of Boston after that terrible bombing at the Boston Marathon that has left 5 people dead and over 180 injured. I want to say this, stay strong America and Boston make sure you let everyone know who wants to hurt this great nation that we as Americans will never get weak we only get stronger and we unite as one to fight the evil in this world.

Now let me get down to business and write this blog. The date is April 15, 2012. Yeah just last year. I attended the game in Seattle and the Mariners faced the Oakland Athletics and my DVR at home was recording the History Channel. Why you ask? Well, last year on that date marked the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Yeah I know who cares right, well I care being a Titanic enthusiast. During most of the day I was watching nothing but the History Channel since they were showing nothing but brand new Titanic specials. Before I went up to Seattle I had enough time to even watch the movie Titanic, and by the way it's my favorite movie ever........Of all time. Now as I was going up to Seattle I actually had a really cool conversation with the bus driver about that. I told him that I know almost everything there is about Titanic, so he quizzed me and he was just as an expert as I was. You see in 1996 my 2nd grade teacher gave me a book to read (to shut me up HAHA) and there was 4 pages on the Titanic and it intrigued me to learn more about the history about the event that would be called the greatest maritime disaster in history. My second grade teacher was the best teacher I ever had cause I not only had her for second grade but I had an additional 2 year with her and in those 2 years she bought me 5 books on the Titanic and over those two years I became a genius on it and my love for the ship and it history grew even more.

Now getting back to the bus driver asking me questions......I answered every question he gave me correctly. He was even amazing of how much I knew on the ship and the history to go along with it. He was saying that he hoped to get me on the drive back to Tacoma after the game. So now I was at Safeco and ready to enjoy another fun filled night in Seattle. You know even if the Mariners lose a game I always enjoy spending 6 hours in Seattle, cause for some odd reason Seattle just makes me feel happy, me and my buddies Alex (@ALarson12thMan) and Austin (@austin329) always have fun when we go up there. 

So now I had about an hour til the gates opened at Safeco for a special night as well. It was Jackie Robinson day as well! So I got to wear a cool jersey that I only wear on that day....…I should wear it more though. I brought out my green Mariners 42 jersey with the name Robinson on it, I get so many "awesome jersey" remarks whenever I wear it. So while I was waiting for the gates to open I asked if anyone knew what anniversary that day marked.......Typically no one said Titanic so I informed them and had some cool discussions with them. Then the gates opened and I ran my ass in the stadium to get to a great position to catch some batting practice homers. I came so damn close to 3 baseballs that were hit by Dustin Ackley, Josh Reddick, and surprisingly Chone Figgins. Even though I didnt catch the homers I did get two baseballs that Charlie Furbush kindly threw to me, and I say threw to me because I was basically the only one that was perched in center field seats. Blake Beaven started the game and he went against Graham Godfrey in from of 19,950 fans. 

Now the pregame ceremony was awesome! I cant remember threw the first pitch but I do remember the awesome Jackie Robinson ceremony. The game began very well for Beaven, he went 1-2-3 in the first two innings and in the bottom of the 2nd inning the M's struck first. The inning began with Kyle Seager doubling to lead off the inning, now I was sitting in right field seats and the double came just inches away from my glove! Now Brendan Ryan did something that I was never expecting.......He hit a line drive homerun and put the Mariners up 2-0! Now Beaven got into trouble in the 3rd inning but he managed to get out of it and in the bottom half of the inning Justin Smoak pounded one about 6 rows behind me and about 9 rows away from me and the M's now lead 3-0. Now the top of the 4th was a nightmare for Beaven.......and I say that because with two on Erik Sogard hit a line drive shot to right and the A's tied the game back up at 3-3.

So there I was seating with two drunk Mariners fans behind me complaining and saying that this team sucks blah blah blah well I stupidly decided to tell to shut the fuck up and watch our team comeback and win this game. Well, since they have had plenty of $8 beers in them they called me some pretty foul names and said that this team is going to lose, now I should've bet them that they were going to win cause if I did I would've won the bet cause in the bottom of the 5th those stupid drunken fools shut up real quick and started cheering loud and I mean loud. The rally began with Figgins walking and then Ackley grounded out but thankfully Jemile Weeks had a throwing error and Ackley was safe. Now because this is April 15th Ichiro is still on the team and he helped the Mariners out by doubling to deep right field and Figgins scored on the play and the M's now lead 4-3. Smoak then lined a ball right to the pitcher and Ackley was able to scored on the throw to first and the lead was now 5-3.

Beaven then took over and shut down the A's until in the eighth when Tom Wilhelmsen was brought in to hold the A's not close because our closer was the heavily tatted Brandon League at the time. Wilhelsmen basically was a closer already cause after he walked Coco Crisp he went 1-2-3. Now we move to the top of the 9th and League was called to shut the door on the A's. League got the job done and I went home a happy M's fan and so did most of the people at Safeco Field, I say most cause you know there was Athletics fans there. Well, like I said earlier in this blog I got the same bus driver as I had from the ride up and we spent the whole ride back to Tacoma talking about Titanic. By the time I got home it was 12:30 at night and I spent 4 hours watching the Titanic specials I had on my DVR. Last year on April 15th was great and I have more flashback stories every Friday and I promise that this upcoming Friday I will be posting not only a recap blog about the Mariners game but a flashback blog.