Like my father before me, I am a fan of the game, the game being baseball (much to the dog’s chagrin; she has a very different understanding of the game, as I explained yesterday). Unfortunately, my team of choice is the mostly hapless Seattle Mariners. They started the season with two wins and then lost a million games in a row, ending up with 11 losses in the first 16 games. Manager Eric Wedge had a tizzy and the boys in teal stepped up. Since then we’ve won all but 6 of the last 17 games.

Tonight we were down one zip to the White Sox, then up 2-1, then tied 2-2. The guys, aside from Ichiro, are mostly unknowns to me, arrivals of this year or last year (when we were so damn miserable that I could barely stand to watch, even though I remain a fan of the game). But someone young, shortstop Brandon Ryan (who?), came to the plate. With two out and two strikes in the bottom of the ninth, although he was batting less than .200 — the Mendoza line — he managed to bring home the winning run with a lovely little single.

My ulcer may yet heal, if this team of newbies continues to play like they have in the last three weeks or so. For now, this was a nice early Mother’s Day present.