We Always Could Spot A Friend,

Welcome Back

July 11, 2003

Pardon me while I sample some lyrics from John Sebastian's "Welcome Back", (a.k.a. the theme song to Welcome Back Kotter), for my title and let me just begin by saying that Lou Piniella has nothing on me in terms of emotional instability, so brace yourselves for my carrying on.

Artie Checks Out Lou's New 'Do

"When Lou and I got to talking about this night, coming back here, I felt the same way he did.  There was so much elation, so much joy. The team matured, we couldn't have had a better group in ownership and the front office, and then we put it all together in '95, a run second to none - that was the one profound thing the Piniella era brought.  And it felt like family. The ballpark was home, and we all wanted to be there, the groundskeepers, the guards, everybody.  I'm glad I had a chance to be part of it. This place will always be home." - Lee Elia

The Mariners' Past & Present Collide

A/P Photos

So the evening began with a lot of interviews, both from Lou and from his former players, and I have to say my favorite part of this was when they showed the t-shirts Mark McLemore had made with "Classic Louism's", the most of hilarious of which being "Moose, get me some smokes" which absolutely killed me no end.

So then the ceremony began with a really cool video tribute to Lou and then Lou gave a brief speech for the crowd and I bawled through the whole thing and they presented him with a plaque of the 1995 scorecard from the 1-game playoff between the Angels and us, and another plaque with a picture of us celebrating 116 wins and then they gave him first base signed by his former Mariners and yes, I bawled through every moment of this too.

"It was kind of interesting to see how Lou is respected here.  I had no idea it would be this big. It just showed what he's built here. You have to be crazy not to enjoy the atmosphere. The place was packed. The music was loud. To be honest with you, this is one of my favorite places to come play." - Tampa Bay Devil Ray's Aubrey Huff

So then Lou took the lineup card out and was greeted by not only Bob Melvin (who removed his hat out of respect), but all of his former players (Ichiro, Carlos Guillen, Edgar, Bret, Nellie, Olerud, Mac, etc.) which also made me bawl and I don't think Cirillo went out, since you know, Lou made him cry and stuff trying to help him GET A FUCKING HIT last year.  I have to say, on a slightly off note, that I'm kind of surprised Jay Buhner isn't there somewhere, or if he is, they aren't showing him which is just plain wrong.

So this game actually began quite horribly as Carl Crawford led off with a single and then an out later and Aubrey Huff singled and then Travis Lee hit a sac fly which scored Crawford and then Ben Grieve walked and then Damian Rolls singled which scored Huff and then Marlon Anderson hit an infield single before we FINALLY get out of it and we end up trailing 2-0 as we head to the bottom half where Tampa Bay's starting pitcher, Jeremi Gonzalez, does this weird bouncy maneuver and then with 1 down, Carlos Guillen is called out on strikes, nevermind that strike 3 was like ANKLE HIGH and we don't do much of anything except waste Bret Boone's 2-out walk.

So second inning and the Devil Rays are down in order and then John Olerud singled and an out later and Randy Winn singled and we manage not to score anybody, so moving right along to the third inning, Aubrey Huff led off with a homerun which sucked very mightily and the Rays take a 3-0 lead and an out later and Grieve singled but it was nicely erased by a double play and then with 1 out, Ichiro reached on an infield single and then stole second and THEN went to third on an error and then Carlos walked and then Bret "I'm Tying the Game!" Boone TIED THE GAME with a big hard yard shot to make it 3-all.

"You just watch them play and you can see how good they are.  I look at them losing, and they still look scary. Other than maybe the Yankees, there's nobody out there who scares you more." - Former Mariner, current Devil Ray Al Martin

So then an out later and John Olerud singled but we're all done scoring for the moment and off we go to the fourth where the Rays waste a 2 out single from Julio Lugo and then we don't fair any better as we waste 2 out singles from Willie Bloomquist and Ichiro, and off we go to the fifth where everybody's down in order.

So sixth inning, and everybody's down in order again, so moving right along to the seventh, Jamie retired the side 1-2-3 and then Bloomie led off with a walk and while there were like 500 throws to first base, they panned to the visitor's dugout and there is CHRIS BOSIO and EXCUSE ME but who said Boz could work for THEM?  WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?  HOW DID I MISS THIS?  WHAT IS HE DOING THERE?  So anyway, while I'm having a huge hissy fit about this, we end up doing nothing and off we go to the eighth where they waste a 2 out single from Travis Lee who is incidentally kind of cute, and then with 2 outs, Mike "I'M TAKING THE LEAD!" Cameron TOOK THE LEAD as he went yard to make it 4-3!

"I was talking with Edgar Martinez the other day.  We were talking about what a hell of a job Cammy's done for us this year. We sometimes take it for granted what a great defensive player he is - he's right there in the top three with Andruw (Jones of Atlanta) and Torii (Hunter of Minnesota).  Maybe he's not going to hit .320, but he's gotten lots of big, big hits. Like tonight." - Bret Boone

So then there are like 50,000 more commercials for that stupid goddamn soccer match that NOBODY CARES NOT ONE LITTLE BIT ABOUT and then they talk about how the Spice Boy won't be there, David Beckham or something and anyway, top of the ninth and enter Shiggy who retired the side in order, including Al Martin who I don't at all miss not a little tiny bit and we take game 1 of the series.

"Seattle fans showed they still appreciate all Lou Piniella did while he managed the Mariners. Then their Mariners showed they still win a lot without him."  - A/P

"Whereas A-Rod was roundly derided, Piniella was bathed with affection, receiving prolonged, warm standing ovations, all Lous and no boos during the pregame ceremony. When he changed pitchers in the seventh, he was greeted again with a vintage 'Looooooooooou'.  There was none of the resentment that accrued with Rodriguez and his $252 million contract, nor even the mixed reaction Randy Johnson received when he came back with Arizona. 

Sure, Piniella had asked out of his contract, but unlike even Ken Griffey Jr., whose route "home" curiously landed him in Ohio rather than Florida, it's hard to question the genuineness of his motivation to be with his family.  Not when it burdened him with the challenge of revitalizing a downtrodden Tampa Bay franchise, while leaving behind a team that has legitimate World Series aspirations. 

But the reason for Piniella's hero's welcome truly became crystallized when they showed a video highlight of his tenure here, and it was driven home just what a transformation he presided over.  There was the miracle of '95, the playoff runs of '97 and '00, the 116-win blitz of '01, and snippets of his legendary on-field tantrums. (He later was presented, appropriately enough, with an actual first base, signed by Mariners players, along with a photo commemorating the 2001 season and a framed box score from the 1995 one-game playoff with the Angels.)

Simply put, during his decade in charge, Seattle became a baseball town. He was fun and unpredictable and fiery and fervent, and the Mariners became all those things, too. – Larry Stone, sportswriter