What in the name of Henry Cotto is going on here in Seattle?

Everywhere you look around this town ... Mariners shirts and hats. The White Collar Guys are wearing them. The Blue Collar Guys are wearing them. The Birkenstocks are wearing them. The Pierced Noses are wearing them. There are guys sitting in bars in the middle of the afternoon talking about whether Jay Buhner's going to be ready for the second half.

Is Mike Schooler aware of what's going on here? How about Rey Quinones? Really, I'd like to know if Jim Presley and Ken Phelps have gotten wind of this.

Isn't this the town where they used to run a Baseball 101 section in the local newspapers every spring, with instructions on how to score a game, when to cheer, etc.? Isn't this the city where the loudest cheers were reserved for the "Shell Game" on the Diamondvision?

I know it is, because I was the biggest Mariners fan in the country, oh, 15 years ago. And I sat in the Kingdome, worshipping the Astroturf that Alvin Davis, Mark Langston and Bill Swift walked upon. You see, my brother Scott was the backup catcher and pinch-hitter on those Mariners teams. Want to know what it meant to be an M in those days? Scott once got a jaywalking ticket in downtown Seattle while walking to the Kingdome. For a game.

Harold Reynolds was once approached by a nice old woman who noticed (or so he thought) his Mariners polo shirt. "Oh, are you in the Marines, young man?" she asked.

"No ma'am," Harold replied, "I play for the Mariners." She walked away unimpressed.

Well, I'm here to tell you that times have changed more than Scott Bankhead or Mike Kingery or Domingo Ramos would ever believe. This town is Mariners Crazy. Safeco Field -- a truly great yard -- was sold out for the 18th time on Tuesday night. And it will be sold out again on Wednesday and Thursday. The All-Star Game is coming to town in a couple of weeks and, right now, about half the Mariners roster is going to be playing. And David Bell, as vanilla a player as there is on this team, might just take his .250, 7 homers and 35 RBIs into the starting lineup, because these rabid Seattle baseball fans are stuffing the ballot box.

I really doubt Mickey Brantley or Pee Wee Briley would believe it.

Jeff Bradley is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail jeff.bradley@espnmag.com.