A thing of blue-ty
Jays fans taking over Seattle never gets old
SEATTLE — You can feel it, hear it and especially see it as you walk downtown, through Pioneer Square and past the Pyramid Brewing Beer Garden across the road from Safeco Field where the sea of blue is truly deep and impressive.
And then inside one of the best stadiums in North American pro sports, it’s something that needs to be heard to believed, a fan takeover so impressive it’s scale is unrivalled.
But if you really want to know the fullness of effect the thousands of invading Blue Jays fans have on their annual trek to this beauty of a U.S. city, just hand the mic to Mariners starting pitcher Marco Gonzalez.
Justifiably embarrassed by what the visiting Jays (and especially their travelling fans) inflicted in a 7-2 Toronto win on Friday — one of three Mariners losses in the series — Gonzalez described it as graphically as your tender ears can handle.
“We take it personally when a team comes here and brings their fans and wears their muddy shoes,” Martinez began in a post-game diatribe/homage to the Canadian invaders. “(They wear) their muddy shoes and they stomp on our carpet and they take a dump on our dining room table.”
Yea, pretty much like that. It’s a Toronto win-win-win — on the streets and barstools, in the stadium seats and on the field.
Sure, this tradition for the Western component of a truly impressive national fan base invading the city for three or four games a season isn’t news, but the story isn’t getting old either.
To live it is to realize it’s far more than just a fan base having a little bit of boozy fun, though with their presence in the city’s ample restaurants and saloons that is a clear part of it.
More significantly to the sport, the Jays fans have a notable affect on the competition, a reality not lost on the Mariners who salvaged a win on Sunday to avoid a four-game sweep.
By the time the Jays and their fans retreated, Seattle had more than just crap on its table, it’s baseball team had suffered noticeably in the standings.
“It’s way better to be on this side, I’ll tell you that much,” said Sunday’s Toronto starter Sam Gaviglio, who was with the Mariners when the Jays visited last season. “You’re at home but it feels like you’re away.”
The Jays came here wounded as well, losing three non-competitive games in Oakland, a visit to a cesspool of a stadium made even worse by the stress of the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.
Rarely this season have they been in more need of a pick-me-up and boy did they get one, from the moment the gates opened on Thursday and hundreds of Jays fans streamed down to field level to take in batting practice.
Those Blue Jays fans on the left coast? Well, they’re pretty spectacular. It’s not just the folks from B.C., who braved five-hour border crossings to make the relatively easy drive south. They come from Alberta and Saskatchewan as well and they party like they mean it.
Seattle is a willing and welcome host, one of the original birthplaces of the craft beer movement and a spectacular place to visit in the summer.
For a Jays team that has struggled so profoundly, the Pacific Northwest and its hospitality was a perfect landing spot for a team finishing off a season-long 10-game road trip.
Rookie pitcher Ryan Borucki will never forget the standing ovation he received on Friday when he left the mound in the eighth inning after holding the Mariners to four hits and one unearned run. A half hour later he would have the first win of his big-league career.
The next night it was Marco Estrada’s turn, taking a no-hitter into the seventh and receiving his own standing O as he exited.
And adding to the fun was how much Seattle management and players fumed about the whipping they took both in the stands and in the streets and bars. When the Jays arrived, the Mariners were two games up on the Athletics for the final American League wild card spot. When they left, they were 2.5 games behind.
“They’ve been loud the last couple of nights,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “I don’t like it. The players don’t like it. We’ve had enough of it. But there’s only way to make it stop.”
And winning one of four isn’t what Servais was talking about.
We take it personally when a team comes here and brings their fans and wears their muddy shoes. (They wear) their muddy shoes and they stomp on our carpet and they take a dump on our dining room table. Mariners’ Marco Gonzalez