Game recap from ESPN.com

I went to this Wednesday afternoon game at T-Mobile Park in Seattle to get my first Mariners game in for the season, and to take in the massive star power:

  • The amazing generational talent Shohei Ohtani pitching for the Angels
  • Future Hall-of-Famer Mike Trout, who I had not seen play before
  • Julio Rodríguez (2022 Rookie of the Year) of the Mariners early in his second season

It was a great time all around, even though the Mariners lost 4-3. Weather was good, just a little chilly but not bad. I sat in one of my favorite parts of the park: Section 328, in the upper level but low in the section in Row 4, which offers a great overall view of the field plus the southern end of downtown.

View of a baseball stadium
View from my seat with Shohei Ohtani at bat

One thing I love about where I live is that I can go to games without needing to take the car out of the garage, so no screwing around with traffic or parking! I can walk (35minutes) or get a free Metro shuttle (5-10 minutes) to the dock for the King County Water Taxi ($5.75), and then have a lovely scenic ride across Elliott Bay to downtown. From there it is maybe a 15-minute walk to the stadium.

This was the view back toward West Seattle:

View of West Seattle from the King County Water Taxi
View of West Seattle from the King County Water Taxi

Looking the other direction, toward the south end of downtown:

View of south end of Seattle downtown from a boat
View from the Water Taxi approaching the southern end of downtown, with the baseball stadium just to the right of center

Again, the star power in this game was off the hook. Here’s Ohtani delivering a pitch to Julio in the bottom of the first inning:

Baseball game with Shohei Otani pitching to Julio Rodríguez
Shohei Ohtani pitching to Julio Rodríguez

Of course, being at a baseball game, snacks were a necessity!

Sam with a bag of Cracker Jack
Gotta have some Cracker Jack at a baseball game!

In the last few innings of the game I set out on foot to explore the stadium and see what was new this season. This was the first time I had seen the Julio photo booth, so of course:

Sam in the Julio Rodríguez photo booth
Here I am in the Julio Rodríguez photo booth

All in all, an enjoyable afternoon. The Mariners have a few more of these “businessman special” (forgive the gendered antiquated term for weekday day games) games this season and I’ll definitely want to go again.

After the game, I walked back to the water taxi and walked home. Pretty great to go to a game and be home before 6pm.

This was also the first game I had been to with the new pitch clock and other game-speed-up rules, and the accelerated pace was noticeable in a pleasant way. I grew up playing baseball every summer from ages 5-20, so the pacing is innate for me, and this felt good.