Welcome back, Griffey!

i can't believe i actually debated as to whether or not i should bring my camera.

i'm really, really glad i did.

friday night was the first time in 7 years that Ken Griffey, Jr. returned to play in seattle. we traded him in 2000, and this game against the cincinatti reds was a sort of homecoming, in a weird "you play for our opponent, but we still absolutely adore you" kind of way.

the game itself totally sucked - we didn't even stay through the 7th inning. but what made the whole thing worth it was the ceremony before the game, honoring junior's visit. so cool. seattlites might be the coolest people ever.

so, after a 3-minute+ standing ovation from a house packed with 46,000+ screaming fans, my other favs (and junior's mentors) - edgar martinez and jay buhner - stopped in to present him with the coolest giant photo of safeco field, with the words "the house that griffey built" plastered over the top.

i'm tearing up again, like i teared up that night. and i wasn't the only one.

it was the video of memories spanning griffey's career with the mariners that reminded me of my introduction to baseball and our home team. in first grade, my elementary school held a father's day fundraiser, selling tickets to a game. my dad and i went - my first game, and if my math is right, junior's first year. man, i love baseball. (just wish i had more of an attention span for it.)

i was totally ready to go home after the ceremony was over. ballgame? i don't need no stinkin' ballgame. it was worth it just to see the ceremony.

seattle was terribly kind to griffey as he played for the opposing team. we cheered for everything he did (then laughed at ourselves for cheering for the reds). and we let them win - 16-1. (heh.)

and just before we left, we hung on a few minutes longer so that we could see this:

that's our new pitcher Rowlands-Smith making his MLB debut. his very first pitch was to Ken Griffey, Jr. how cool is that?

so, that was the highlight (and the lowlight, if you consider the final score) of my weekend. allie spent the night friday, and we had a liesurely breakfast with matt saturday morning, and ran errands the rest of the day. saw my mom & stepdad off to the airport on their two week trip to italy, and tried to take the rest of the weekend easy... "tried" being the key word.

happy monday, all.