Leave the fans out of it, Mr. Palmer

I am writing this article in response to Jake Palmer's article entitled, "Tell Me The Mariners Aren't The Only Team on TV Right Now." I was not angered by his complaining about how bad my team is because frankly I'm angered, too. Palmer did not just insult the Mariners team, he insulted the Mariner fans, and in doing so insulted all Seattle sports fans.

Before I delve into why I was truly angered by Mr. Palmer's article I would like to alert the readers to a few things that were wrong in his article. The Mariners actually won 85 games in 2009. Jake Palmer is a junior, which means in 2009 Palmer could have witnessed some pretty darn good baseball. The Mariners overachieved that summer after losing 101 games the previous season. Then last summer, the summer of 2010, the Mariners again lost 101 games. Maybe that is when Palmer decided to tune into a few Mariners games and saw some depressing play. I admit it was quite depressing. In Palmer's almost three years at Gonzaga the Mariners have fielded a good team and an awful team and yet he has to suffer through another awful season? It is not "inevitable" that the Mariners are going to be awful.

Palmer's article about my favorite team didn't anger me because of what he said about the Mariners or its players. No, Palmer's article angered me because of what he insinuated about Seattle sports fans. He wrote, "[Safeco Field is] the most-depressing-place-that-isn't-a-cemetery in America." I have seen both ends of the spectrum at Safeco. I've been at games when I could literally hear the players talking from my seats 20 rows back. I've also been at games when I could not hear myself think because of the noise. I have witnessed Ken Griffey Jr. carried off the field on his teammates' shoulders and I watched from afar as tears filled the eyes of thousands, including my own, when we said goodbye to the voice of our team and our city: Dave Niehaus. I've gone to too many games at Safeco Field to count, in good seasons and bad, and not once have I left depressed. Safeco Field is always fun, regardless of the score.

It is completely acceptable for a man, woman or child to catch a foul ball with a glove at Safeco Field; it is encouraged. On my mantle at home I have a foul ball from Safeco Field that I caught, and yes, I brought my glove that day. Does it make me less of man to put on that oiled leather mitt and try to bring home a souvenir from my heroes just like I did when I was little kid? If being a real man means not bringing my glove to a game, well then, I guess I am not a real man. With that said, I've been to more games than I can remember and in all my time going, the majority of fans actually do not bring a mitt to the ballpark. If we did maybe "Rally Fries" would never have been invented.

Palmer wrote, "When you go out in Seattle, there is always stuff to do, so why waste your time with a constantly underperforming baseball team?" Well, in Seattle that is not how fandom works. We do not just give up on our teams when they are "underperforming." The last-place Mariners had more fans in attendance last season than the first-place Tampa Bay Rays and the first-place Cincinnati Reds. We are not bandwagon fans. It is not a "waste" of our time to root for our teams.

Not only did he insult Mariners fans, he insulted all Seattle sports fans across Washington. Forbes magazine just rated Seattle as the most miserable sports city ever. Yet, our attendance is still outstanding. We are not wimps for bringing our gloves to Safeco Field. On the contrary, we are tougher than most sports cities because we stick with our teams. Seattle sports fans are loyal to the end. He can attack the teams all he wants but he cannot attack my family of Seattle sports fans. Here is the solution if he, or anyone else, does not want to watch the Mariners this summer while in Spokane: Change the channel.

GO M'S!!!