Opening Day in Seattle!

This is a Seattle Style 'Edgar Dog.' Apparently when you say 'Seattle Style' they give you a squeeze of cream cheese. I thought that should make it 'Philly Style' but I wasn't about to rain on any aspect of the Mariners' opening day festivities.

We arrived early enough to secure a fence-side view of King Felix Hernandez warming up in the bullpen. The kid didn't look jittery at all. His fastball was echoing triumphantly into Kenji's glove. We knew the A's were in trouble.

King Felix ended up having one of the most impressive opening day starts in the history of baseball. He became the youngest opening day pitcher since Doc Gooden in 1985. He recorded 12 strikeouts in 8 full innings of work, while allowing no runs. It was the first time since Bob Gibson's opener in 1965 that a pitcher has struck out 12 over eight innings without surrendering a run.

As the K's accumulated, the crowd got more and more into it. It felt like when Randy Johnson used to dominate in the Kingdome. Everyone would stand up and yell with two strikes, and then their would be that explosion when the third strike was blown by the hitter. Something special is going on up in Seattle. Take note America!

I was hoping for a complete game shutout, but the M's opted for Putz in the 9th to close it out. Richie Sexson provided the offensive heroics with a 3-run lazer beam over the wall in dead center.

I am already contemplating a return trip to catch the King's second home start. It is nice to have some huge buzz about Mariner baseball once again!