SEATTLE -- With the Seattle Mariners having one of the best
seasons in baseball history, Safeco Field usher Ron Finlay has
heard plenty of boasting by fans, especially when it comes to the
All-Star Game.
|  | | A familiar sight: AL closer Kazuhiro Sasaki celebrates another save. |
"They say just let the Mariners play the National League,"
Finlay said.
That's pretty much what happened. With eight players selected
for the American League team, Tuesday night's All-Star Game was a
lot like a home game as far as local fans were concerned. They gave
thunderous welcomes to each of the Mariners, from the player
introductions to outfielder Ichiro Suzuki's hit off Randy Johnson
in the first inning to Kazuhiro Sasaki's save in the ninth of the
AL's 4-1 victory.
"It's great -- almost an embarrassment of riches, but I think
they deserve it," said Alan Spicciati of nearby Federal Way. "I
have a lot of friends in Philly, and the Phillies are in first
place but they only have one player here, so it's kind of hard to
talk to them."
It wasn't exactly like a regular game, of course. There were
more fireworks, more great players, more bobbing-head Ichiro Suzuki
dolls.
And though the Mariners were just 2-for-12 and didn't drive in a
run, the team's fans were happy.
"Tremendous -- it was worth the drive across the state," said
Terry St. Mary, a firefighter from Pullman, Wash. "The boys
represented us real well out there. I just wish we could have had a
few more on the team. Some of those other guys deserved to go."
Seattle fans weren't above bragging about the number of players
they had on the team, or sticking it to the New York Yankees, who
had more than the Mariners until closer Mariano Rivera was pulled
with a sore ankle. Jeff Nelson replaced him on the roster, and Mike
Cameron was added later.
One fan's sign posted the score: "SEA 8 NYY 7 F."
Before the game, fans milled outside. They flocked to beer
tents, scarfed sausages and tried to crack 80 mph at a pitching
cage set up in the street. Some tried to get tickets, but those
didn't come cheap: $150-$250 for upper-deck seats and $350-$500 for
those in the lower deck, according to Red Sox fan Ricky Amisano of
Boston, who surveyed several scalpers before settling on a $150
ticket.
One scalper offered Seattle residents Pamela Yin and Tomoko
Miyashita seats nine rows from Suzuki, the Mariners' right fielder
and seven-time batting champion in Japan, for $2,000 apiece.
They wouldn't pay that much, but others paid even more to watch
Suzuki on Tuesday. Hiroyuki Akai, of Tokyo, said his boss paid
$10,000 to bring four of his workers to the game.
"He's a really good boss," Akai said.
Akai, who teaches at a prep school, said he often watched Suzuki
in Japan and is glad to see the rookie leading the American League
in hits.
Asked why he was so generous with his employees, Akai's boss
said in Japanese, "I'm just Ichiro's fan."
The game's international flavor went well beyond Seattle's
Japanese All-Stars, Suzuki and Sasaki. In an Olympics-like pregame
ceremony, performers carried the flags of more than two dozen
countries onto the field, representing the nationalities of players
in major leagues. Five foreign-born Hall of Famers -- Luis Aparacio,
Orlando Cepeda, Ferguson Jenkins, Juan Marichal and Tony Perez --
threw out the first pitches.
Steve DesGarennes wasn't missing a chance to make money off
Suzuki's popularity. He carried a neon sign advertising "Ichiro
Cards $20-$800."
The prized item: an autographed Upper Deck baseball card made
partly with a piece of a Suzuki game jersey.
He had trouble finding takers.
"Some of the kids ask to see it, but it's kind of out of their
price range," DesGarennes said.
Fans from around the country didn't seem to mind that the
Mariners, who have scorched their way to a 63-24 first-half record,
were so well represented in the game.
"It's great for them," said Lon Huffman, who came from San
Francisco to watch the Giants' three All-Stars. "Has there ever
been a home team for the All-Star Game with a record like this?"
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