Tracy Larsen on Baseball | The Seattle Mariners | A diamond by any other name ...

A diamond by any other name ...
By Tracy Larsen, for Seattle Insider
Originally published by Cox Interactive Media, June 1999

Just six weeks from now, on July 15, fans lucky enough to have gotten a ticket will be watching the Seattle Mariners play the San Diego Padres at the inaugural game in the Mariners' new home, Safeco Field.

Safeco Field ... ugh.

I've never been shy about arguing how much I dislike that name for our hard-fought ballpark. Not only does it smack of selling out, but more than that, it's just not very catchy. C'mon... how exciting can insurance be? At least Coors Field in Denver keeps its name within some reasonable relationship to pro baseball (and it was ostensibly named for Coors the man, not Coors the beer). The name of Tropicana Field in Florida could inspire visions of white beaches and steel drums. What do we get? Long waits on hold, filling out forms and premium payments.

It could be worse, I suppose. There is Turner Field in Atlanta, home of the Braves, named for that modern-day Rhett Butler (and Braves owner), Ted Turner. I'm sure Hank Aaron must at least get a free pass. Either that, or Billionaire Ted sent him an 8x10 glossy signed "Hugs and Kisses... Egomania Unbound" as a consolation prize. The field itself is located on Hank Aaron Drive, so I guess they figured that should be enough for the Home Run King.

Worse even than Ted's monument to mania is the newly built Bank One Ballpark for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Imagine driving up to that for a fun-filled family day. "Enjoy a game, eat a hot dog, balance your checkbook" all in one easy step.

And there's no explaining the Mariners' compulsion for writing SAFECO in caps all over their website. That's just strange.

So my baseball cap is off to the owners of the Texas Rangers for naming their ballpark, The Ballpark In Arlington, without finding it necessary to bow down to Big Business, Big Brother, or Big Fill-In-The-Blank. I have the feeling that if Steinbrenner got his way... oh no, let's not even consider that nightmare of a possibility. I'll just assume that the moniker 'The House That Ruth Built' remains safe.

But despite all of the commercialism, the out-and-out greed (yes, it's greed. Pacific Bell Park will open for the SF Giants next April. What other human quality but greed could explain that one?), I am beginning to see another side of the issue. Driving by Safeco (excuse me, SAFECO) Field the other day, I realized that we really don't need to care much what it's name is. In fact, once we're inside and enjoying a game, we won't have to look at the seven-story-tall letters out front which emblazen SAFECO FIELD for everyone from here to Tacoma to see. More important is what will happen inside, and how the players, managers and owners will conduct themselves as representatives of the National Pastime and of this city in particular.

But even more importantly than that, the one truly valuable thing, is the fact that great baseball will be played there, in a real baseball home, on real grass, facing unpredictable wind, under a (hopefully) blue sky (the retractable roof is a good thing here in Slug City). Playing ball is what it really comes down to.

Without trying to get too Casey At The Bat on this, the 111th anniversary of that immortal poem's publication, imagine what it will be like to stroll up a pathway and actually be able to smell freshly watered Kentucky Bluegrass from down below (minus the horses, thankfully). For those unlucky or young enough to have never done that, you're in for a treat. There's nothing quite like an expanse of green - real green, not turf green - venturing out in front of you.

And the sounds of a real ballpark are something special. I remember a trip to Oriole Park at Camden Yards - another decently-named, newer field - and one thing that struck me was the absence of that tinny ping which tends to echo off the walls of a domed stadium when a bat hits a ball, a sound I had become accustomed to. In an open-air ballpark, a distinct whack! is heard when wood connects with horsehide, the way the Baseball Gods intended.

No more watching a blooper roll all the way to the outfield because there's no one fast enough to stop it on astroturf. No more cringing when Alex Rodriguez bellyflops into third, wondering just how black and blue he'll be the next day from falling onto what is, after all, thinly covered concrete.

I'm actually looking forward to squinting into the sun while trying to track an Edgar Martinez blast to centerfield. May there be many days like that.

No more stale Kingdome air. No more oh-so-authentic wrinkles in a carpet that passes for grass. We'll be able to drive up to a ballpark that looks like a ballpark, not like an unfinished wart on Seattle. So as much as I still dislike the name the M's owners chose for it - yes, it is OUR ballpark, after all, 82% financed by us, the taxpayers - I'd rather they concentrate their efforts on fielding - and keeping - quality players (I'm sure Randy Johnson would find that bitterly ironic, if nothing else).

But keep ticket prices reasonable, so that families of varying incomes can enjoy a day there. Don't relegate "Our Game" and the beauty of this new field only to those who can easily fork over twenty grand for season tickets, and then only in the hope that others will see them there. Always reserve space for the rest of us who really built that field. Luckily, only six games have sold out thus far. There are box seats and relatively inexpensive seats still available.

Shakespeare once remarked, "A rose, by any other name, would smell as sweet." True. The powers that be could have named our new park "The Outrageously Expensive Steel and Brick Behemoth Next To The Kingdome" and it wouldn't affect the way the game is played inside. I'll keep that in mind every time I pass under the massive rotunda which serves as a testament to a local insurance company. I'll remind myself that, as with everything, it could be worse, and that the smell of freshly-cut grass is infinitely better than the odor of freshly-taped astroturf.

And soon enough, once Safeco (visualize CAPS) Field opens, I'm sure the dreaded vision of rising insurance premiums will be replaced with memories of grand slams, perfectly turned double plays, and families enjoying a sunny afternoon of Mariners baseball.