I’m a Mariners Fan and these are my New Years Resolutions

1. Get to at least one game in the King’s Court.  I love Felix and I love going to Safeco Field. I’ve seen the King pitch, but never in the cozy confines of the King’s Court.  Everybody seems to be cheering their heart out, rooting for every pitch, and I think I need to partake of the experience.
2. Get my picture taken with Dave.  The statue in center field always seems overgrown with fans, but dammit I loved Dave, and I owe it to myself to just get it done. Maybe an April game during a cold, cold night.
3. Go to FanFest.  FanFest is scheduled for January 30th and 31st.  I went in 2014 and had a great time.  Grabbed a beer at Edgar’s.  Listened to Jack Zdurencik’s hallucinatory interview with Shannon Drayer and Rick Rizzs. Caught interviews with players like Brad Miller and D.J. Peterson.  Ten bucks, kids are free.  It’s a great family event, but I learned a lot about the team. Maybe the day to sit with Dave. Lunch afterwards at Henry’s.  Life is good.
4. Have more fun. Baseball is the world’s best game.  Anyone who says differently is full of crap.  I ask you, which is better: 1) watching a mid-July game from any seat in Safeco Field  2) or deciding which is worse–traveling to Green Bay or Minnesota for your January 9th playoff game.  Exhibit B  Which is better: 1) Getting stomped by the Rams on Sunday knowing you have to wait an entire week to be stomped by the Cardinals the following Sunday, 2) or getting stomped by the Royals on Tuesday, knowing you’ve got Felix pitching on Wednesday. Baseball is a fun game, 162 games worth of fun.  Enjoy every strikeout and home run, cheer the heroes and jeer the bad guys, know if the M’s don’t win today, at least they get another shot tomorrow.
5. Enjoy the big picture and be patient. For years I’ve been critical of the way this team was built, though I regularly hoped for positive results on the field. Today, after Jerry DiPoto’s rebuild it’s much different and tailored to the factors I thought it should be: more athletic outfield, built more to win at Safeco Field, with an eye toward run prevention-deeper rotation, and more bullpen talent.   The downside is it’s older, and honestly may need need better players to succeed. It will be interesting to see how these moves work out and if, strategically, his assumptions (which I share) work out. Don’t lose sight of that through all the day in, day out winning and losing, and the inevitable drama or story lines that happen through spring training and the long season. Does this team play better, more interesting baseball than the “DINGERZZ” model Jack Zdurencik built? Finally, going forward, what changes will the team need to make for 2017?

I truly cannot wait for Spring Training to begin and it really isn’t that far away.  This will be my last post of 2015.  Thanks following along with me