Cindy and I were tooling around on Highway 16 about 7:00 pm on Thursday and she goes, "when's the last time we were to a Rainiers game?"

"Actually, they're in the playoffs this year.  They had their 1995 season.  They were like 7 games out with three weeks to go and won their division."

She got excited.  "Really?  Are they home tonight?" 

Just then we came around the corner on 16.  All the stadium lights were on.  Guess they're home.   "Do they start at 6 pm or 7pm?  I forget?"  The exit was looming.  I clicked on 850-AM and our man Mike Curto was announcing the end of the first inning.  Serendipity, baby.   Cheney is just a few minutes off the exit, and you can get to your seat faster than you can buy a slurpee at a 7-11.

We zipped around the corner, took the back entrance into the stadium... drove by a bunch of people walking, like, a mile to save $5 parking.  These amigos definitely do not pay to park at Mariner games.

Cindy hands a fiver out the window and asks the parking lot attendant, "Do you know what the series is at?"   He says, they lost last night, one more here and then three in Sacramento.  Cindy goes, and then who would they play?  The guy says, "that's all they play, I think, one series for the PCL championship."

We pay our $5 and cruise off.  "I think they'd play one more series," I mention offhandedly without looking up, trying to finish my Batman comic before we park.  Cindy cracks up.  "I guess the employees don't watch the games much."

.............

The parking lot was so jammed that they had to give us Gold Club parking.  Wow!  What's it going to be like inside?

There were three times as many fans as usual, which meant that the stands were about 1/3 full.   The usually-sleepy Cheney crowd was sounding off on every ball-strike call, getting on the ump, and generally having a lot of fun.

Early in the game Mike Wilson, yes the Mike Wilson who was the #26 Mariner this March, got a low-in FB and crushed it deep into the twilight.   In an NFL Street-kinda taunt, he dropped the bat literally before his followthrough was done, glaring at the ball until it disappeared over the Tacoma horizon (which, through that air, is about 150 yards away).

Most of the players were quite into the game.  

Olson argued a balk call vociferously; Shelton gave the ump a good chewing after a called-strike-three and the 3B coach came in to argue the strike zone as well; there was a big argument at 2B after a RiverCat swiped second easily.

..............

We get in there for the top of the 2nd.  Just in time to see Garrett Olson throw an 89 mph fastball by Oakland RF Aaron Cunningham for an easy strikeout.

Then Olson hits Eric Munson, yes baseball-reference.com/players/m/munsoer01.shtml?redir">that Eric Munson the 8-year MLB veteran, with a pitch.  

Cardenas, a lefty middle infielder, hits a two-bouncer between Lahair at 1B and Tuiasosopo (yep) at 2B.  Lahair takes one step towards it, stops, and watches it go by him about a yard away, so that he can get back to the bag when Tui gets it.  Nobody does.  1B and 3B.

Olson gives an Erik Bedard stare out into the stands.  :- )   As you know, nobody respects PCL baseball more than me, but it is hilarious watching a guy like Olson pitch in front of minor leaguers.   HEH!!

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Olson loads 'em up and then a RiverCat, irrationally, pops a mediocre fastball straight up into the air.   Olson throws another 89 fastball by Matt Carson -- the best hitter on a PCL mini-dynasty -- and he's out of it.

Siiiighhhh.

..................

Shortly thereafter:

1) 3B Chris Shelton has a one-hopper take a bad hop UP INTO his mitt, squares away, and throws 10' high to first.  Lahair goes up the elevator shaft impressively, hauls it in, but it's an E on Shelton.

.................

2) 3B Chris Shelton sees a batted ball take one hop, then a second short hop, and he slaps at it madly with his chin up.  Second error.

Without the slightest exaggeration, that second play, all by itself, would cause an ML scout to report to Don Wakamatsu that Shelton should never field 3B in Safeco.

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3) SS Navarro made a weird-and-wonderful football catch of a pass that some RiverCat threw him... oh, lemme get a fresh sheet of paper here :- )

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RiverCats starter Reineke had a strange motion, one I liked, with very little leg kick or load, but a flowery, Preying Mantis-type followthrough.

He seems to be Sacramento's best starter here in September, with the callups, but everything the Rainiers hit was just pulped.   ... right after Wilson's long HR, Adam Moore hit a deep, Mike Piazza-type bullet to the right-center wall 400 feet away.  It might have killed the CF if he'd tried to catch it.

Tui had two pulverized base hits and a third one held up for the CF to catch.  Prentice Redman ripped one into the LF corner and Bryan Lahair, running well, almost scored on it.   It seemed half of the *outs* were scorched.

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Series tied, back to Sacramento.  We got any other big league pitchers we can loan out for the weekend? :- )  M. French, perhaps?