I love my job part 590543

Alright I often talk about how much I love my job and how great it is, and today I would like to tell a short story about something that I got to do because of my job that I would never have been able to participate in otherwise. For at least the last 2 years, the Seattle Mariners have put together a little thank you for their front office employees. They gather all the players and coaches put them in one of the Safeco Field conference rooms and put together an autograph signing prior to a game. The only stipulation is if you attend you must get a signature from everyone. Absolutely everyone, from Lee Tinsley to Ken Griffey Jr. it doesn't matter what they sign just that they sign something. this truly is a once in a lifetime opportunity because while it has become somewhat of a tradition you never know if management will decide they don't want their players to do this because it takes their focus away from preparing for the game or some other excuse.

Last year I was able to get my boss to have my favorite player, Adrian Beltre, sign something for me, which was a real treat. This year though went above and beyond.

A few months ago my boss received an email with the date and time of the signing (July 11th, 2:00) saying that he was invited along with a guest to attend. Of course I figured he was going to attend, I just started thinking about who I wanted to get a signature from again this year. When he RSVP'd that it would be him and a guest, I was curious who his guest was so I could maybe ask them from a signature or two as well. So I start talking about it with Wes and I ask if he knew who he was taking and he kinda knew what I was hinting at and so he just said "Allen, would you like to be my guest?" with a mischievous smile on his face. I really couldn't tell if he was joking or not but I still said yes. He then said he was planning on selling the pass but that he would really like it if I went with him.

I was ecstatic and pretty much talked to everyone on the staff about how I was going and how great it was going to be. I wouldn't shut up about it. I'm convinced that they were all both really jealous about me going and really annoyed that I kept talking about it. thankfully I was kind enough to return the favor that Wes and Brent did for me last year by offering them one signature. Sure I lost some of my favorite players in that deal (Kenji, Lopez, and Felix) but it was still the right thing to do.

I looked forward to the July 11th date with the glee of a child awaiting santa on Christmas. I made lists of who's signatures I wanted, what I wanted them to sign, and how I would handle the people I didn't really care that much about (I love ya Chris Woodward but I really couldn't care less about your autograph). I debated on what I was going to get signed by some of my favorite players right up until the day of the event. I knew the vague details of what I wanted: a Game used bat, 3 baseballs (one for the players I don't care about, one for the bullpen, and one for the managers. apparently I'm too OCD to just put them all on one ball), photographs, mini batting helmets, and the absolute must have: a framed photo of Ken Griffey Jr. and Ichiro celebrating Ichiro's game winning Grand Slam earlier this season. After my discount everything totalled a little over $250 but again completely worth it as the value on most of the items immediately increased once pen was put to it (though I would never sell them, it's how I managed to convince myself to buy them).

Once Wes and I got there we found out the details of how it works. There are 17 tables. Each table has generally 2-3 players or coaches at them. You start at a randomly assigned table and rotate through numerically. Wes and I started at table 3, and ended at table 2. Simple. Concise. Trouble first started when they announced that about half of the players were stuck in traffic from the Sounders game that started at 1. Just another reason why I hate soccer. So they pushed back the start time to 2:15. Then as if the flood gates had opened the players and coaches began to filter in. Well all of them except our table. No they were another 10 minutes late so we kinda caused a log jam of sorts behind us. It took about 2 hours to make our way through all of the tables. Everyone was nice and polite, Mike Sweeney took time away from his DL stint to sign for us which was unexpected but cool nonetheless. He was seated with Griffey and proceeded to show extra attention and praise to the parents and children that attended, which was great to see. Carlos Silva also took time to join us and sat with Felix. most of the pitchers sat together actually and they had their own brand of fun. On more than one occasion I saw them throwing sharpies at another table full of pitchers. Very cool.

One last story to tell happened at the end of the event, Erik Bedard, who has a reputation through the press as a bit of a stick in the mud, was seated with Russell Branyan. As the clock ticked towards warm ups, Russell turned to Erik and tried to rush him through the last bit of attendees. Erik, who for those unaware is a starting pitcher which means he only pitches every 5 days and his next scheduled start was Sunday, turned to Russell and said "why do I need to hurry? I've got nothing better to do. you're the one with a game to play." Too funny.

Like I said this was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I am so glad that I had the chance to participate in. I can't thank Wes enough for allowing me to go with him. So thank you Seattle Mariners for reminding me that sometimes working for a baseball team has it's perks.

Birthdays and Baseball

I wasn't always a baseball fan. In fact I distinctly remember in my interview one of the first questions asked was if I was a fan of the Mariners. The girl I had my group interview ecstatically went on and on about how she loved the team and going to games. I shrugged my shoulders and said that I had only been to two MLB baseball games my entire life and I went mostly for the environment. I even admitted to being more of a football fan.

She didn't get the job, I obviously did. Since then I have become a follower and a fan. I went to about 20 games last year for various reasons ranging from boredom to family and everything in between. If I open and there is a game that night, chances are I am going to that game even if I don't have friends going with me. I won't say that baseball has supplanted my love of the NFL but it has officially taken root in my life and I don't expect it to go anywhere regardless of if I remain employed by the Mariners.

Every year for the last 2 years I have been at Safeco Field on my birthday, and every year it has been one of the more memorable days of the year. Two years ago I was working, I had forgot to request it off. I forget what the big event was on this day but i do remember being asked by Marc our boss down at the ballpark the ever important question "What day is it?" To which led to this conversation:

me: "my birthday"
Marc: "really?"
me: "yeah, and you made me work ya jerk"
Marc: "you shoulda requested it off it isn't my fault"

I believe that cemented the love my job, because there are very few people who can get away with calling their boss a jerk, in front of the entire staff, and not get reprimanded at all.

After transitioning out of the ballpark at the end of the '07 season and into Bellevue Square I was able to actually plan my birthday party around going to the baseball game. The only issue was my birthday was on a Sunday this year. And with almost all of my friends that I wanted to spend time with on this oh so special day being Mormon and actually wanting to be seen as good people I wasn't sure how many people would want to come to the game with me.

I invited everyone. I wasn't expecting a huge turnout so I figured the more I invited the more fun Mormons I would corrupt and convince to join me. I think i had 14 people come join me at the ballpark. We had $7 center field bleacher seats and it was a lot of fun. My good friend Zach came in from the Tri-Cities to spend the entire week with me, we even took in 5 baseball games that week. My ex girlfriend Tori came to visit and brought two of her close friends with her from Yakima, and then some of my best and closest Seattle friends also came along for the game. Aimee was even kind enough to make homemade cracker jacks for everyone complete with prizes. The only aspect of my life not represented was my Lewiston Years, a transgression I hope to resolve soon. We had a glorious time, the Mariners lost (if you paid any attention to Seattle sports last year that was kinda common practice.) but it didn't matter, I was with my friends and I was happy.

This year once again the Mariners have a home game on my birthday. They face Baltimore and it's on a Monday. Once again I invited everyone. It's 1/2 family night down at the ballpark which means $10 seats and we actually get decent seats this year. I don't know how good the game will be, and I don't really know who's gonna come (so far 22 people have said yes and 25 people have said maybe. Like I said I invited everyone) but I do know that regardless it's impossible to have a bad time when there is baseball and birthdays especially when you have friends like I do who constantly bring joy to my life just by being in it.

Sick and tired

Alright I love my job, really I do. I get to hang out and watch sports all day. I get to read articles about sports and discuss sports with the few people who come into my store throughout the day. As a red blooded American male there is no way I could possibly complain about this job. And then this man happened -
Now as a sports fan I love Griffey. He was clean in an era where everyone else was dirty. He put Seattle baseball on the map. There are so many different reasons why people love him. I am not here to argue them. I'm just saying I am tired to hearing about them. See if you follow sports here in Seattle you would know that Griffey up there is a free agent. It would seem every single person who follows the Mariners either wants Griffey back or would like him to go away because his defense isn't great and his skills have greatly diminished in the 9 years he has been away from Seattle due to injury and the fact that he is approximately 9 billion years old. For the last 5 days the Seattle Times has been reporting that Griffey is coming back. Everything was set. He just needed to get a physical and finish up with a Pro Am golf tournament and he would be with the team posthaste. This got the aforementioned Mariner fans excited and this excitement brought them to my store and asking repeatedly when he was going to be with us and when we were going to sell #24 shirts and jerseys. Truth be told the idea of actually being busy this season thanks to the increased ticket sales Griffey would bring in got my hopes up and I waited for an email from the front office telling us the deal was done.

And then Atlanta became interested. Now it's a battle between two locations and captain indecisive can't be bothered to just make a choice and stick with it. It seems every single hour he's going to Atlanta, then Seattle, then Atlanta, then Seattle etc. etc. etc. I'm just tired of it all. At this point I really don't care about the added work or the increased ticket sales. I just want him to sign somewhere. ANYWHERE. He could decide he wanted to play basketball and sign with the Chicago Bulls and I would barely have the energy to fake yawn in enthusiasm. That's how little I care about this man who everyone can't seem to stop talking about.

So today, the day we are supposed to actually get a resolution to this madness I have decided I am not going to talk about it*. If you try to talk to me about my feelings or my thoughts or to try and get inside information that I don't have I will punch you in the face. HARD. You have already read my feelings on this and you know everything that I know. Until there is a press release sent out by either the Braves or the Mariners I really don't care.


*Yes i realize this blog post counts as talking about it but I needed to vent and explain myself so I am not going to count it against me.