Turn Back the Clock

"It's supposed to be hard.  If it weren't hard everyone would do it.  The hard is what makes it great."   - Tom Hanks as Jimmy Dugan in 'A League of Their Own'

Tonight was Turn Back the Clock night at Safeco Field.  The Mariners wore the 1939 uniforms of the Seattle Rainers.  There was an announcer introducing the players using a classic microphone and dressed very nicely wearing a straw hat.  We played a great game.  Washburn pitched very well.  Branyan hit a home run.  There were several close plays- at home and second base.  Both teams fought it out and the Athletics took it 3-2.  I am very optimistic about taking the series.  Game three starts tomorrow @ 1:10. 

After watching the game I needed something to cheer me up a bit and I was in a nostalgic mood.  I checked Ondemand free movies for any baseball movies and 'A League of Their Own' is currently available.  Tom Hanks looks alot like my dad.  They make the same faces and have similar mannerisms.  This makes scenes like 'There's no crying in baseball' especially entertaining.  I also like the throw back to the era when people dressed nicely at the ballpark.  Remember- there wasn't a whole bunch of money to be had, but people made the effort to look polished.  And nearly everyone wore a hat.

Speaking of hats, I couldn't help but notice the green blob behind the O on Oakland's hats.  I exclaimed at the dinner table:

"What the heck is that green blob on their hat supposed to be?" 

"That's an elephant of course," both my mom and dad replied, "You should know that, you were born in Oakland." 

"That's the ugliest elephant I ever saw."

"Well, elephants were different back then."

...

This went on and on for awhile until I conceded.  A few innings later:

"Are you sure that's an elephant?  I know what they look like and that isn't it."

"Yes!  It's the Oakland Athletics and their mascot is the elephant.  They were the Philadelphia Athletics, then the Kansas City Athletics, then the Oakland Athletics."

"Ok.  But that still isn't an elephant.  It looks like a leaf.  Are you sure it's not a leaf?"

Much later in the game:

"Hey- they're not wearing Athletic uniforms.  Just like the Mariners are wearing Rainers uniforms.  It's just confusing because their uniforms still say 'Oakland.'"

"Oh, that makes sense."

"Ok.  But that still doesn't explain that blob.  Yeah, they're wearing the Pacific Coast League's Oakland Oaks uniforms- but that doesn't look like a leaf."

After a quick trip online:

"Oh.  It must be an acorn.  That was their mascot."

A quick glance at the game.

"That's the ugliest acorn I ever saw."

I think it's supposed to be an oak leaf.  And we probably could have learned all this if we had spent less time talky talky and more time listeny listeny [to the game].  I did think it was funny how my parents so valiently defended the elephant.  This prompted me to find out what the Athletics official name for thier mascot is (ours is The Mariner Moose).  Meet Stomper:

btw- elephants look the same now as they did back then.

Go Mariners!

xoxo

Your Safeco Sweetheart,

Ms. Mariner Monroe

photo credit:

1.http://a.espncdn.com/media/pg2/2002/0510/photo/geena_i.jpg

2.http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/oak/images/fan_forum/2008/stomper_wave.jpg