Last night I witnessed part of a comeback that made everybody (at least the 37,000 Seattle Mainers fans at Safeco Field) feel good, extra good. Richie Sexon, mired in a really horrible hitting slump, hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth. I lost a latte, betting he'd go down swinging as he had in his two previous at bats. Here he's mobbed at home plate. Yes, that's the Mariners' Moose waving the flag.
Going backwards in the evening, the ceremonial first pitch was thrown by the Burger King guy, I think. Weird.But my favorite moment of the evening was reviewing some of the pictures I had in my camera, and discovering that I had captured a modern day version of a famous painting, Night Baseball, by Marjorie Phillips. Joe DiMaggio is at the plate, Yankees vs. the Washington Senators, 1951:
my picture is a little more glitzy, but the moment frozen in time is the same..
I use Night Baseball every year in art, as a prompt that sets everybody off on a chalk pastel picture of a game involving a ball. It's great fun, and it was great to step away from a lot of much more serious things for a few hours last night.
My whole collection of shots from the evening is on Flickr, here. Thinking of you, Jeff Utecht, now back in Shanghai, you woulda loved this game.
2 comments:
Thanks Mark!
I saw 6 Ms games this summer in 6 weeks...so I can't complain...but I miss it. Miss the fans, the ballpark, the guy playing the buckets as I leave the ballpark and our routine. We always buy sunflower seeds from the first vendor, then a dog from Joe's stand...it has to be Joe's. You must have the dog finished and throw your wrapping away in the garbage can outside the left field entrance before entering the ball park....and of course you MUST have garlic fries in the middle of the 5th.
Not sure where/when this tradition started but everyone that goes to ball games will me must hold to it. I was 5-1 this summer so I guess you stick with what works.
I love Seattle! I'm glad it was a good game and if they make the ALCS I'm flying back for a game!
Thanks for the pics and great shots!
Reading your BLOG and viewing the pictures sure brings back that moment when Sexton hit that baseball out of the park. I can still hear the crowd cheering!! Thanks for a great game.
Latte Dave
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