On the last Friday of the regular season, I attended a Mariners vs. A's game at Safeco Field with 4 friends: Brian, Mike, Al, and Roger. Safeco Field is located next to Century-Link Field (the NFL and MLS stadium) just south of downtown Seattle. Even though the Mariners had long since been eliminated from the playoffs, there was a good crowd on hand for Fan Appreciation Night. It was a typical Seattle day (constant drizzle), but underneath Safeco Field's retractable roof the conditions were as good as you could hope for late in September.
It is a little unfair to say Safeco Field has a retractable roof. A retractable roof insinuates that building is closed but can be opened up on nice days. I prefer to describe Safeco Field as having an umbrella; the ballpark looks and feels like an open air stadium but a steel roof can slide over the top of the stands and playing surface in the case of rain. Even when the roof is closed, the ballpark is still exposed to outside air in left field where the upper deck does not wrap around, a gap above the upper deck, and the ramps and stairs leading to the upperdeck concourse. Although the heart of downtown Seattle is about a 20 minute walk beyond left field, the gaps in the ballpark prevented the ballpark from feeling isolated.
Like a couple of other ballparks in the league, the main concourse of Safeco Field is above street level and you must climb a set of stair as soon as you enter the gates. The concourse is modern and spacious between the foul poles, but becomes a little tight in the outfield areas. The atmosphere was pretty fun as there was a 10 person marching band parading around the concourse and there was entire section wearing yellow "King's Corner" t-shirts for the night's starting pitching, "King Felix" Hernandez. I also enjoyed the Mariners Baseball Museum and Hall of Fame. Former players and the history of baseball in Seattle were showcased but there were also some hands-on exhibits, including one that made you look like you were robbing a home run. In left field there a basement concourse called the "The 'Pen", which has some of speciality concessions, cocktail stands, and standing room only seats with a view of the field looking through the bullpens. Straight above "The 'Pen" and the main concourse in left are a few small sections that are close in distance but elevated above the field. I think both of these places would be a fun perspectives to watch the game from. We sat in the bleachers above the hitter's eye and underneath the scoreboard in center field. The seats offered a good view but I feel bad for my friend Brian as he was surrounded by the four other members of our crew who bought garlic fries, the signature concession item at the ballpark. The garlic fries, french fries covered in a minced garlic paste, tasted good at first but soon the taste a garlic became overwhelming. I then proceeded to buy a hotdog to attempt to get the taste of garlic out of my mouth.
We were lucky to see a matchup of pitching aces: Felix Hernandez for Seattle and Bartolo Colon for Oakland. Unfortunately, "King Felix" didn't get off to a great start. Coco Crisp (4-5 on the day) doubled to start the game off for Oakland and three hitters later, Josh Donaldson gave the A's a 3-0 lead with a home run. The Mariners answered back with a couple of home runs of their own, the second of which was a home run to right by Kendrys Morales in the bottom of the sixth to make it 3-2. The man who caught the ball fell over the seat in front of him and landed on a woman who's boyfriend proceeded to sucker-punch the guy. In the later innings, the A's delivered a couple of punches of their own with 3 runs in the 7th and 2 in the 8th for a comfortable 8-2 win.
As part of fan appreciation night, there were giveaways between every inning. The grand prize was a car that was given away on the field after the game. Our group didn't win anything but there was a terrific firework show after the game. The
roof umbrella was opened and fireworks were launched from the
roof's umbrella's track in left field out over the field.
My take-away from Safeco Field is that it stands out among the ballparks with retractable roofs and has the atmosphere of some of the best the open-air stadiums. Safeco Field may not have all the features that I typically look for in ballparks, but it was certainly one of a kind. In many ways, watching a baseball game and enjoying my experience at the different types of MLB ballparks was what my journey was all about.
