I was at Safeco Field in Seattle tonight to watch the Mariners take on the Twinkies. Seeing the Ms play always teaches me something. Here’s what I learned tonight.

1. If your dad works for the team and you have any problem, you have no problem. This is true even if the tickets you have in your purse were for another day. Thanks Papa!

2. Ballpark food, whether basic like a hot dog or gourmet like sushi or organic pulled pork on fresh made rolls, is ridiculously priced. A 20 oz. soda is $4.50. A decent beer is more than eight bucks.

3. There’s too much sponsorship. The This Company first pitch, the That Company second out. Get it over with and go all NASCAR on them and put sponsor patches on the players.

4. Safeco is a great looking ballpark, with stunning views of my city. I know a lot of the newer parks have fans that say their park is the best, but at Safeco you can watch the ferries to-ing and fro-ing from Bainbridge, see the sunset on the citiscap, and if it’s raining, watch the 22 million pound roof close.

5. Some people seem to attend games solely for the chance to get on the big screen. The things people will do, wear, and wave never cease to amaze me. All to get a half a second on a screen seen only by 30 or 40 thousand people at the game, and remembered by none after they get home. I guess the craving for fame runs strong in America.

6. Hot dogs taste better at the ballpark.

7. Garlic fries smell better before they are eaten by a teenage boy, who will outgas the dozen cloves of fresh chopped garlic dumped on every order for the next three days. And the slices of apple they put on as garnish? They do nothing for the breath of that teenager.

8. Baseball players have a thing for stupid facial hair. I don’t understand it at all. They opt for as intricate a goatee or as strange a set of sideburns as possible.

9. Winning is good. We won 7-0, breaking a six game losing streak. Even crappy teams get a W sometimes. It helps if they are playing a crappier team.

10. Choosing a walk out song is hard. My friend Hanks who was at the game chose Superstitionby Stevie Wonder. I spent a long time thinking of what I’d choose. My favorite band, U2, has a number of options that make sense as the song you’d want playing when you walk up to the plate. Beautiful Day would work on a nice day. Mysterious Ways, maybe? How about if I’m a home run hitter and I refer to every ball as Earl. Then I could choose Goodbye Earl by the Dixie Chicks. N suggested Start Me Up by the Rolling Stones. I remain unsure. Suggestions are welcome.

I think it’s an important thing: to have a theme song. Maybe what I’d choose as a ball player would be different from what I’d choose for my life now (Love Rescue Me by U2 — for the verse that says: I’ve conquered my past/the future is here at last/I stand at the entrance/of a new worldI can see/The ruins to the right of me/May soon have lost sight of me/Love rescue me. I always thought the last line should really be “Love rescued me”. Past tense. Since I’ve done all that conquering and witnessed the ruins. Alternative: Sweetness Follows by REM just for the title. I like the song, too, but I like the sentiment of the title.).

What about you? What would your walk out song be? And is it the same song you’d choose for the life you are living now?