Tips for a happy Seattle Mariner experience.
I have been to Safeco Field, the 首页 of the Seattle Mariners, quite a bit. Now, I am 由 no means an expert on the ballpark and couldn’t even begin to tell 你 everything about it, but for those who have never been to see a game at beautiful Safeco Field this should be at least helpful and informative.
I live about 300 miles from Seattle and I can get there 由 going straight West on Interstate 90. It takes about 4.5 hours if the traffic isn’t horrible. The drive through Washington starts beautiful, then goes to the Palouse/Columbia River Basin area which is very similar to a desert and finally once 你 get to the Cascade Mountain Range the scenery is beautiful. 你 can see two awesome 查看 on the way there. On a clear 日 sometimes 你 can see Mt. St. Helens to the south and after 你 get into the Cascades, keep an eye out for Mt. Rainier – Washington State’s highest peak. Seattle itself is a beautiful city and 你 can see two awesome sights when 你 交叉, 十字架 the bridge to the city. On the north 你 can see the 大学 of Washington overlooking Lake Washington and to the south 你 can see the ever prevalent 太空 Needle.
更多 recently is has become increasingly easy to get decent Mariner game tickets. I have found ticket prices for baseball games to be fairly reasonable if 你 account for 座位 location and the fact that 你 really get 3-4 hours of entertainment. This season (2008) the Mariners increased their ticket prices again, but 你 can still sit in the lover level infield for about 55 dollars. I know it seems like a lot, but it’s worth every penny to sit where the action is. I have sat in every possible location for a Mariner game, and there is not a bad 座位 in the house. No matter where 你 sit 你 will get a great view of the game. So if you’re looking to save a lot of money and don’t care where 你 sit, then I highly recommend the center field bleachers at 8 dollars a ticket. That’s a steal. Now there are a ton of ways to get tickets. 你 can go to the link to get tickets, which seems to be a very 流行的 option. Another option is to go to a Seattle Mariner team store if there’s one in your area. This is helpful because here 你 can talk to a live person who can find 更多 specific tickets for where 你 want to sit. Another good option since the Mariners aren’t selling out every game is to go directly to the same-day sales windows at Safeco Field. This is really great because sometimes 你 get lucky because season ticket holders give up seats for games the 日 of, 或者 night before, the game. Another good, and legal option, is to buy tickets off of scalpers that are found everywhere around the ballpark before game time. I iterate that this practice of scalping is perfectly legal in Washington state so long as the tickets are not sold for 更多 than face-value. However, if 你 are going to a high-profile game, then scalpers do often sell tickets for greater than face value. How else could they keep doing what they do? Now a game can be high 个人资料 for several reasons. 1. The opposing team is either the Yankees, Red Sox, Athletics 或者 Angels. 2. The opposing team has a very high 个人资料 player that everyone wants to see play such as Johan Santana, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez. 3. The opposing team is has a player 或者 manager that was once a member of the Mariner organization and is either absolutely hated 或者 loved 由 current Mariner faithful. Here’s a prime example; the last Mariner game I went to was a high 个人资料 pitching matchup between Seattle’s Felix Hernandez and the Yankee’s Randy Johnson, whom is also a former Mariner. I was lucky to find an amazing 座位 only 15 rows behind 首页 plate (I could see the filth of Randy Johnson’s slider). I didn’t have tickets before the game. I asked several scalpers and tickets were going for about 80 dollars for cheap seats. I pressed my luck and went to the ticket window to find my prized ticket for regular game-day prices.
So now you’re in Seattle for Mariner game day. If 你 are there for an evening game, which I often am, I have a few pre-game recommendations. Parking is everywhere. If 你 arrive a few hours before game time, then 你 should be able to find a spot near the railroad tracks north of the ballpark. 你 can park in the garages on either side of the park for $20 and fight some serious after-game traffic. There are also a lot of little lots where 你 can park for 10-15 dollars depending on the location. I highly recommend that when thinking of a place to park that 你 map your exit strategy accordingly because the traffic is awful and 你 don’t want to get turned around in downtown Seattle.
There is a lot of stuff to do before the game starts. 你 can get yourself some Mariner gear at the Team Store located at the ballpark from the Edgar Martinez Blvd. side. If 你 are hungry there are a lot of options. Across the 街, 街道 is the Pyramid Alehouse serving good American 食物 and a reasonable price. The wait can be long so plan accordingly. 你 can also go over to the Outback 啤酒 garden and get a Bloomin’ Onion. There are also a lot of venders cooking up hot dogs, chicken, burgers and sausages all around the stadium. 或者 if 你 are looking to get a real up close look at Safeco Field then I recommend taking the Safeco Field tour, which is about 8 dollars and leaves from the Mariner Team Store at various times during the 日 (depending on when the game starts). The tour is awesome because 你 get to sit in the press conference room, sit in the dugout, see the stadium from the field (sorry, 你 can’t walk on the grass), and get a feel for what it’d be like to see a game from nearly every vantage point in the game. Oh, and 你 get a glimpse into the life of a broadcaster from the press box – watch for flying balls!
The turnstiles begin moving about an 小时 before game time. Hopefully while 你 were walking around the park 你 decided to grab some candy, 《花生》 and 饼干 jacks because 你 are allowed to take your own 食物 into the game, but 你 can’t take your own drinks. So grab that reasonably priced bag of 《花生》 from the vendor outside 或者 spend an arm and leg for a much smaller bag in the park. There are a lot of awesome things to do inside the park before the game starts. Often, the Mariners can be found taking batting practice. Since 你 don’t have to go to your assigned 座位 right away, 你 can run down to the dugout and maybe snag an autograph 或者 two. I’ve gotten Willie Bloomquist, Yuniesky Betancourt, Jose Lopez, Raul Ibañez, and Adrian Beltre. The players are encouraged to interact with the 粉丝 a bit, so take advantage of it if 你 can. Another great option is going to the bullpen marketplace to see the starting pitchers warm up through the chain-link fence. There’s nothing 冷却器 than hearing the pop of the catcher’s mitt from a 90 mph fastball. 你 can take a look at the art around the stadium as well if that interests you.
There is every kind of 食物 你 can imagine in the park. 你 can get everything from a classic hot dog to sushi if that’s your thing (I’ve had the sushi and it is very good). The only 食物 that I recommend are the garlic fries. When the smell of those fries hits my nose it is amazing. It’s almost worth the price of admission alone. Now, if 你 like to consume beer, I recommend doing it before the game at a local pub within walking distance because 啤酒 in the stadium is way overpriced and often warm and flat. But that’s baseball for you, I guess. So now it’s time for the first pitch. 你 have your 《花生》 and soda. Hopefully 你 brought your 手套 to catch that foul ball coming your way. Just sit back and enjoy the sights and sounds of Major League Baseball. Stand up and sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during the 7th Inning stretch and cheer on the Mariners.
I have been to Safeco Field, the 首页 of the Seattle Mariners, quite a bit. Now, I am 由 no means an expert on the ballpark and couldn’t even begin to tell 你 everything about it, but for those who have never been to see a game at beautiful Safeco Field this should be at least helpful and informative.
I live about 300 miles from Seattle and I can get there 由 going straight West on Interstate 90. It takes about 4.5 hours if the traffic isn’t horrible. The drive through Washington starts beautiful, then goes to the Palouse/Columbia River Basin area which is very similar to a desert and finally once 你 get to the Cascade Mountain Range the scenery is beautiful. 你 can see two awesome 查看 on the way there. On a clear 日 sometimes 你 can see Mt. St. Helens to the south and after 你 get into the Cascades, keep an eye out for Mt. Rainier – Washington State’s highest peak. Seattle itself is a beautiful city and 你 can see two awesome sights when 你 交叉, 十字架 the bridge to the city. On the north 你 can see the 大学 of Washington overlooking Lake Washington and to the south 你 can see the ever prevalent 太空 Needle.
更多 recently is has become increasingly easy to get decent Mariner game tickets. I have found ticket prices for baseball games to be fairly reasonable if 你 account for 座位 location and the fact that 你 really get 3-4 hours of entertainment. This season (2008) the Mariners increased their ticket prices again, but 你 can still sit in the lover level infield for about 55 dollars. I know it seems like a lot, but it’s worth every penny to sit where the action is. I have sat in every possible location for a Mariner game, and there is not a bad 座位 in the house. No matter where 你 sit 你 will get a great view of the game. So if you’re looking to save a lot of money and don’t care where 你 sit, then I highly recommend the center field bleachers at 8 dollars a ticket. That’s a steal. Now there are a ton of ways to get tickets. 你 can go to the link to get tickets, which seems to be a very 流行的 option. Another option is to go to a Seattle Mariner team store if there’s one in your area. This is helpful because here 你 can talk to a live person who can find 更多 specific tickets for where 你 want to sit. Another good option since the Mariners aren’t selling out every game is to go directly to the same-day sales windows at Safeco Field. This is really great because sometimes 你 get lucky because season ticket holders give up seats for games the 日 of, 或者 night before, the game. Another good, and legal option, is to buy tickets off of scalpers that are found everywhere around the ballpark before game time. I iterate that this practice of scalping is perfectly legal in Washington state so long as the tickets are not sold for 更多 than face-value. However, if 你 are going to a high-profile game, then scalpers do often sell tickets for greater than face value. How else could they keep doing what they do? Now a game can be high 个人资料 for several reasons. 1. The opposing team is either the Yankees, Red Sox, Athletics 或者 Angels. 2. The opposing team has a very high 个人资料 player that everyone wants to see play such as Johan Santana, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez. 3. The opposing team is has a player 或者 manager that was once a member of the Mariner organization and is either absolutely hated 或者 loved 由 current Mariner faithful. Here’s a prime example; the last Mariner game I went to was a high 个人资料 pitching matchup between Seattle’s Felix Hernandez and the Yankee’s Randy Johnson, whom is also a former Mariner. I was lucky to find an amazing 座位 only 15 rows behind 首页 plate (I could see the filth of Randy Johnson’s slider). I didn’t have tickets before the game. I asked several scalpers and tickets were going for about 80 dollars for cheap seats. I pressed my luck and went to the ticket window to find my prized ticket for regular game-day prices.
So now you’re in Seattle for Mariner game day. If 你 are there for an evening game, which I often am, I have a few pre-game recommendations. Parking is everywhere. If 你 arrive a few hours before game time, then 你 should be able to find a spot near the railroad tracks north of the ballpark. 你 can park in the garages on either side of the park for $20 and fight some serious after-game traffic. There are also a lot of little lots where 你 can park for 10-15 dollars depending on the location. I highly recommend that when thinking of a place to park that 你 map your exit strategy accordingly because the traffic is awful and 你 don’t want to get turned around in downtown Seattle.
There is a lot of stuff to do before the game starts. 你 can get yourself some Mariner gear at the Team Store located at the ballpark from the Edgar Martinez Blvd. side. If 你 are hungry there are a lot of options. Across the 街, 街道 is the Pyramid Alehouse serving good American 食物 and a reasonable price. The wait can be long so plan accordingly. 你 can also go over to the Outback 啤酒 garden and get a Bloomin’ Onion. There are also a lot of venders cooking up hot dogs, chicken, burgers and sausages all around the stadium. 或者 if 你 are looking to get a real up close look at Safeco Field then I recommend taking the Safeco Field tour, which is about 8 dollars and leaves from the Mariner Team Store at various times during the 日 (depending on when the game starts). The tour is awesome because 你 get to sit in the press conference room, sit in the dugout, see the stadium from the field (sorry, 你 can’t walk on the grass), and get a feel for what it’d be like to see a game from nearly every vantage point in the game. Oh, and 你 get a glimpse into the life of a broadcaster from the press box – watch for flying balls!
The turnstiles begin moving about an 小时 before game time. Hopefully while 你 were walking around the park 你 decided to grab some candy, 《花生》 and 饼干 jacks because 你 are allowed to take your own 食物 into the game, but 你 can’t take your own drinks. So grab that reasonably priced bag of 《花生》 from the vendor outside 或者 spend an arm and leg for a much smaller bag in the park. There are a lot of awesome things to do inside the park before the game starts. Often, the Mariners can be found taking batting practice. Since 你 don’t have to go to your assigned 座位 right away, 你 can run down to the dugout and maybe snag an autograph 或者 two. I’ve gotten Willie Bloomquist, Yuniesky Betancourt, Jose Lopez, Raul Ibañez, and Adrian Beltre. The players are encouraged to interact with the 粉丝 a bit, so take advantage of it if 你 can. Another great option is going to the bullpen marketplace to see the starting pitchers warm up through the chain-link fence. There’s nothing 冷却器 than hearing the pop of the catcher’s mitt from a 90 mph fastball. 你 can take a look at the art around the stadium as well if that interests you.
There is every kind of 食物 你 can imagine in the park. 你 can get everything from a classic hot dog to sushi if that’s your thing (I’ve had the sushi and it is very good). The only 食物 that I recommend are the garlic fries. When the smell of those fries hits my nose it is amazing. It’s almost worth the price of admission alone. Now, if 你 like to consume beer, I recommend doing it before the game at a local pub within walking distance because 啤酒 in the stadium is way overpriced and often warm and flat. But that’s baseball for you, I guess. So now it’s time for the first pitch. 你 have your 《花生》 and soda. Hopefully 你 brought your 手套 to catch that foul ball coming your way. Just sit back and enjoy the sights and sounds of Major League Baseball. Stand up and sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during the 7th Inning stretch and cheer on the Mariners.