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Baseball is back next week, but it has already started for two American League West teams. So strange that the Mariners and Athletics have already played two games in Tokyo.
 
Though a lifelong fan, there was no way I could watch the opener as it happened on live television, because the game started at 3am Pacific U.S. time, as I get up around 6am every Wednesday for my weekly early day at the library (I start at 8). Gina and I later found out that a re-broadcast of the game would be on a 7:30pm, sixteen hours after it actually happened. I tried so hard not to find out who won the opener, because I wanted to see it without knowing the outcome beforehand--told everyone at work not to tell me who won, I avoided the radio sports channel, baseball websites, etc.

We made it to 7pm and started to watch "The Charlie Rose Show" on the Bloomberg Business network as we waited for 7:30 TV baseball broadcast. And with only 20 minutes to go, the business blurbs at the bottom of the screen read: "Seattle beats Oakland 3-1 to start baseball season in Tokyo." I had been able to avoid that info
for thirteen hours, but no more. Pretty weird to see the A's tie the game at 1-1 and then
be able to say, "well, that's the only run they're going to get!"

Just a couple of weeks ago, the Seattle Mariners were playing great baseball, just a game or two off the pace.

They've fallen completely flat since then. They've now lost seven in-a-row--the last two games to Texas, 5-0 and 4-0. Pathetic offense--the worst in all of baseball. Couldn't bunch two or three hits together to save their life. The team has not scored a run in
26 consecutive innings.

So when one of the radio broadcasters in Seattle wondered what music should be played at the stadium when the Mariners hit a rare home run, I thought of this one from the 1970s: Remember when Bernadette Peters sang a tune on Saturday Night Live called
"Making Love Alone"?

This will be brief, as I'm recovering from cataract surgery (my left eye this time) on Wednesday. Thankfully, it went well.

A couple of weeks ago, in Boston, both the Red Sox and Mariners were dealing with an intense sun field, and Seattle lost a 2-1 game when Ichiro Suzuki said he couldn't see a fly ball to right. The ball bounced off his thigh for a triple, and two batters latter, the Sox got a walk-off, game winning hit from Carl Crawford.

But things even out, as the Mariners beat the Angels in Seattle Thursday when Torii Hunter lost a fly ball in the sun and what would have normally been a catch and the third out of the inning became a ball that dropped near Hunter, and the Mariners won in the ninth inning, 2-1. Outfielders had been battling the sun for at least half the game.

The weird thing about all of this is to say that the Mariners won because of the extreme
sunshine in Seattle.

With some of football's endless hype being pushed off the table (although news about the possibility of a lockout will long be there), it's finally time for the Grand Old Game.

Major League Baseball starts today for some teams, with the Mariners starting on Friday. Whether or not Seattle will be playing real baseball this year remains to be seen. A fresh baseball season really rejuvenates me--who knows, maybe I'll get that bagger's job at the supermarket soon.

Got to hear the new Baseball Project, Vol. 2: High and Inside (Yep Roc Records), and it's probably even better than the first volume. Members of bands like Dream Syndicate,
the Young Fresh Fellows and R.E.M. (that would be Steve Wynn, Linda Pitmon, Scott McCaughey and Peter Buck) have put together another great set of rockin' tunes that is far more listenable than your average baseball novelty. C'mon now, do you really want to hear a version of Terry Cashman's "Talkin' Baseball" more than once a year?

Volume 2 highlights include the bittersweet "1976," when the Tigers' late Mark Fidrych captured the imagination of even casual baseball fans;  "Please Don't Call Them Twinkies" (the Minnesota Twins); "Fair Weather Fans" (where you wonder which team should be on the receiving end of your passion if you've moved around the country); and the crazed "Ichiro Goes to the Moon."

In the course of a (Dusty) baker's dozen cuts, Baseball Project, Vol. 2 gets into danger and mortality, which gives the package a lot of depth. I'm talking about Tony Conigliaro getting plunked in the eye and Ray Chapman losing his life in a similar situation--that one is told from the viewpoint of the pitcher who delivered the fatal blow in "Here Lies Carl Mays."

"Chin Music" may be the most fun and lyrically reckless of all the tracks--depicting those close shaves when batters take a pitch high and inside. It's got my favorite lyric on
Baseball Project, Vol. 2, one terrific album: "Ryne Duren wore coke bottle glasses/
his best pitches looked like intentional passes."

Alright...I'm so looking forward to baseball season.

But who do I complain to about both teams wearing their dark tops in the same game?

When one team decides to wear their dark shirts, the other team should have to wear
white (or gray). Otherwise, you've got a clash of two positive colors with little negative space; sometimes the uniforms are nearly identical. I hate that--looks like a bunch of kids on a playground instead of big leaguers.

Somehow, in the midst of yet another wretched baseball season in Seattle, there's always a glimpse of what looks like a bright future. Accomplished and developing players still come up with something enjoyable to experience almost every night. Maybe I'm just hopelessly hooked on baseball, because this glimmer of excitement pertains to a last place team.

Wednesday was really special as the Mariners' ace, Felix Hernandez, became the third youngest pitcher since 1952 to record 1,000 career strikeouts. It's been a blast to watch him all year. Though just 10-10, his ERA (earned run average) is something like
2.40, and he continues to be among the most feared hurlers in the game, as he blew past both the Yankees and the Red Sox (Wednesday) in two of his best and nastiest starts. What a pitcher.

Mariners third baseman Jose Lopez was asked afterward if he realized during the game that Hernandez had achieved that remarkable feat of quickly getting to 1,000 strikeouts. "Oh yeah," said Lopez. "I count them."