How did you become a Mariners fan?

Jeff23 · Post #1 » by **Jeff23** » Sun Dec 18, 2011 12:55 am

I am originally from Detroit, MI. I grew up there and never really got into the Tigers and Baseball. Maybe its because i was a lot more focused on basketball and football. I got a very good offer from a company in Seattle in 1992 and accepted it. In 92 the mariners had financial trouble and there was big talk about them and after Yamauchi saved them i started to go to some games. Mainly because i was new in the city and didnt have many friends and some nights were really boring. And then of course was Ken Griffey Junior, who was so freaking amazing. He got me really into the sport itself. When he was at bat, there was always a certain feeling in the Kingdome, like something in going to happen. After some years and a great season in 95, i started to call myself a Mariners fan. I stayed in Seattle till 98 and moved then to San Francisco (new job), and i can tell you guys that Seattle is better than Frisco. Seattle is such a special place, i am so glad that i was able to live 6 years there.

your turn.

Slats · Post #2 » by **Slats** » Mon Dec 19, 2011 1:06 am

Interesting story Jeff!

Here is mine: I'm a relatively new fan of the Mariners and Baseball in general. I live in Australia and Baseball is not a big sport here! I had no real interest in Baseball until early 2008 when I read a fantastic review on MLB: The Show 08. I decided i'd purchase the game and see if all the hype was for real and sure enough it was. Playing The Show taught me everything about Baseball I didn't even know what an 'RBI' was when I first started playing The Show let alone the rules. After a while I decided I needed a team to start a season with and also to become a fan of. I picked the Mariners because I liked the name and logo and they had two superstars in Ichiro and Felix. From there i've become a daily reader of sites such as USS Mariner & Lookout Landing. I've also become an MLB TV subscriber and try to watch as many Seattle games as I can! I attended my first ever MLB game in 2011 (Angels vs White Sox twice & Dodgers vs D-Backs) Unfortunately I didn't make it to Seattle so I didn't get to see the M's play in person. My next goal is to see the Mariners play at Safeco and hopefully that will be in 2012!

That's my story.

Post #3 » by **Sweezo** » Mon Dec 19, 2011 5:51 am

I was born and raised in Eastern WA. Grew up an A's fan because we never got M's games on TV where I lived and the team had virtually no interesting players at the time anyway. I played little league every year and collected baseball cards so I followed baseball very closely. The A's had Canseco and Mcgwire so they were big amongst kids my age.

Then word spread of some young kid the M's drafted named Griffey, and a Griffey 'minor league' baseball card became incredibly popular to buy locally. So I started to pay attention to the M's; my parents took me to my first baseball game at the Kingdome to see the M's and A's play. McGwire hit a home run, and a foul ball I caught before batting that Walt Weiss hit was stolen out my hand by a jackass adult.

But as I got older my love of the A's disappeared, and the M's started to becoming interested, my allegiance changed completely. The '95 run happened while I was in high school and I'd never experienced anything quite like that in my life at that point. Since I was a teenager, the M's have been the only team I've really rooted for.

I now live over by Seattle and go to about 10 or so games a year, and watch basically every game on TV [much to the chagrin of my g/f].

Post #4 » by **Sweezo** » Mon Dec 19, 2011 5:54 am

Jeff23 wrote: I stayed in Seattle till 98 and moved then to San Francisco (new job), and i can tell you guys that Seattle is better than Frisco. Seattle is such a special place, i am so glad that i was able to live 6 years there.

San Francisco is a great city though. I like the difference between the neighborhoods, and in terms of food SF is second to none. We spent a week there this fall; I do root for the Giants as my NL team nowadays and had a great time at a Giants game this year.

TTown · Post #5 » by **TTown** » Mon Dec 19, 2011 6:44 am

I'm 26 and was born in Oregon... when Rip City started to dismantle itself after the early 90s we (as impressionable youths) started realizing there crazy cool athletes in the Northwest outside of Clyde Drexler, and Junior became all the rage. I played CF in little league through high school because of him. Went to the Kingdome every summer with the family, and baseball and little league became my life somewhere around '93. The summer of '95 sealed the deal, I would be a Mariner fan for life.

Jeff23 · Post #6 » by **Jeff23** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 6:57 pm

Sweezo wrote:
Jeff23 wrote: I stayed in Seattle till 98 and moved then to San Francisco (new job), and i can tell you guys that Seattle is better than Frisco. Seattle is such a special place, i am so glad that i was able to live 6 years there.

San Francisco is a great city though. I like the difference between the neighborhoods, and in terms of food SF is second to none. We spent a week there this fall; I do root for the Giants as my NL team nowadays and had a great time at a Giants game this year.

San Francisco is awesome indeed. But i experienced so many great things in Seattle and when i think of my time there i always kinda get emotional. Maybe its because i met my wife there and other stuff, but its kinda idyllic to me.

Its funny how an awesome season like 95 can net you as a franchise so many fans.

Post #7 » by **BlackMamba** » Fri Feb 3, 2012 7:04 pm

I'm from Mexico, but had family that lived for over 30 years in Seattle. For the first 10-12 years of my life we visited every summer. So, when baseball started to interest me (maybe around 8-9) the M's were the team that was most familiar to me, so I picked them. Plus, it was the time of Griffey Jr, Edgar Martínez, Randy Johnson, Joey Cora.

That's my story.