Ever since the idea of a Ken Griffey Jr. return to the Mariners was possible, I've been intrigued. Last week, I constantly checked out the Mariners' homepage hoping to read, "Griffey Returns Home". However, that never came to be. In fact, yesterday was one of the worst emotional roller coasters I have ever been on. First, a report from an Atlanta paper stated that Griffey had agreed to terms with the Braves. My feelings: my heart dropped, my nerves went numb, and I felt tears building up inside. Why? Why do I care and what impact does this have on me? Well, it means something to me. In fact, it means a lot to me. I'll explain.
Baseball, to me, is where some of my greatest childhood memories reside. Edgar Martinez' double off of Jack McDowell to score Joey Cora and Ken Griffey Jr. was the pinnacle of those memories. The Mariners lost the first two games of the best of 5 series to the NY Yankees. Everyone had written off the Seattle Mariners...except the fans here in Seattle. We never gave up and we never admitted that anything was over. We knew what we needed to do and we knew exactly how to do it. After tying the series up at two, all eyes were set on game 5. Before going any further, I have to explain how we actually came to this point.
The Mariners played very well for most of the 1995 season. However, it was the last month of the regular season that baseball witnessed one of the greatest comebacks in baseball history. The Mariners trailed the California Angels by 13 games in August. By the last game of the season, the Mariners had tied it all up and the entire season rested on a tie-breaker to be played in Seattle. This was the first time that the Mariners had ever played in a playoff atmosphere game. For the first time in my life, I got to see how much baseball meant to people and I saw how it brought people together. Sure, things like this have happened to a few teams in the past, but it was different in Seattle.
I remember that life stood still and every teacher had the game on so that we could watch it. They could care less what we did that day because this was something that we were to remember for the rest of our lives. To this day, it still is.
We roughed up Mark Langston, saw sloth-like Luis Sojo clear the bases with an "inside the ballpark homerun" (realistically, it was a double with an error, but we all consider it a homerun), and saw Randy Johnson point to the skies as he struck out the last batter. The emotions, the fireworks, the hugging, the cheering, the smiles, the love...this was baseball for me. It has never lost its luster.
Seattle has never gotten much support from the sports world and our baseball and football teams were on the verge of moving to Florida. It was Edgar Martinez' double that saved the Mariners...and it was Ken Griffey Jr.'s smile on the bottom of that stack of Seattle Mariner players that we all remember so vividly. His facial expression was the joy that is baseball. It's supposed to be fun and, to people like me, reminds us just how wonderful the game of baseball truly is. I love baseball...I always have and I always will.
The 95 season was something that I will never witness again in my life. Even if something like that happens, it won't be the same. That's not to say that I wouldn't love to see something like that again, but that was a one-way ticket for me and I'm content with that. We all forget what happened in the ALCS. Just to be a part of that series was nothing short of amazing. Everyone had written us off and we stuck together to prove them all wrong. That was our statement to the baseball world that we have a team in Seattle called the Mariners and that we, the fans, will always stand by them.
Edgar Martinez never left this team. Jay Buhner never left this team. Everyone else, left this team. Tino Martinez left, Alex Rodriguez left, Randy Johnson left, and "The Kid" Ken Griffey Jr. left. Unlike those that left, nobody was shown more love than the love that we gave Jr. on that weekend that he returned to Safeco Field for the first time in 7 years as a member of the Cincinnati Reds...I attended all three games. He was afraid that he would get "booed". That may have been true if it were any other city in this country, but he underestimated the love that exists in Seattle. We remembered what he did for the game of baseball in Seattle and for our lives and we wanted to let him know how much that meant to us. Seeing him play baseball in person gave me goosebumps. It gave me glimpses of what drew me into this game.
It may have been Edgar's 2-RBI double that won game 5 of the 1995 ALDS for the Mariners, but it was the smiling face at the bottom of the pile that we will always remember. It was the smile of a boy who loved to play baseball. It was the smile of a baseball player experiencing the joys of playing this wonderful game. It was Ken Griffey Jr.'s smile that we fell in love with. To see that and experience it just one last time, would give hope to, not only me, but a city so desperate for something to numb us from the pain of losing and being disrespected.
As I write this, I feel scared. I'm scared to wake up and read "Griffey Signs With Braves". That may not have much of an impact on the average citizen or even the average baseball fan. However, it will have a huge impact on someone like me...who wanted to see his #24 Seattle Mariners jersey, see him in batting practice with his hat backwards, and to see him smile just one last time. That's all we ever wanted. We have one last chance to experience a little bit of the magic that was 1995. It's our last chance to show our kids how memorable that was to us and how important Griffey was to that equation. If he signs with the Braves, he will become nothing more than a distant memory and it will do irreparable damage to the hearts of Seattle fans that love this game, and this team, so very much. I hope, I wish, and I wait. Please Jr...please come home.
4 comments:
Matthew, this is absolutely what I was feeling. That picture says it all. Those were some of the best days of my life and some of my best memories with my sons. In those days, I was still working at the hospital and had friends who had access to "group tickets" all the time and we went to a lot of games at the Dome, remember? I even had a favorite parking spot (which now sits in the middle of Safeco....) and we could "do a game" for about 30 bucks back then. Me hauling all the food and goodies in my backpack.
I remember sitting in the outfield and cheering for 2 different teams back when Phil was a Kenny Loftin fan and he was with the Indians. I was cheering for both teams at the same game. Weird but good times.
Those were the days. I remember going to Back to School Night at Aylen and walking around with my headphones on. People stopping me in the halls to ask who was winning. Mr. Van Hulle giving us a quickie round up of the first month of school and then turning on the radio.
I remember the absolute JOY that that season brought to us all and yes, the grinning face of Jr. under the pile at home plate. I too have spent the last weeks hoping that he would come home to finish out his career with the people who loved him best, in the "House That Griffey Built."
I know that other cities with long histories of sports franchises have been through this time and again, but for those of us who REFUSED TO LOSE, this is a heart breaker.
Good blog kiddo. Sad that my Tyler won't get to have a Griffey jersey.
I thank for giving us those memories. I remember stuffing your bag full of popcorn, Red Vines, etc. and heading into the Kingdome. I remember leaving my wallet with $200 in cash and driving nearly 1.5 hours, roundtrip, to find my wallet still there with everything still inside of it. I've seen him hit many home-runs in my day and I, along with Brian, would love to see Tyler get that memory as well. Mr. Van Hulle and my math teacher, Mr. Guistino, were two of the biggest Mariner fans and would always keep us in the loop. This was the "birth" of my love for the game and I hope that part of it comes back to write another chapter.
ok, i read it, i get it, i feel it :)
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