Visit From An Old Friend - Part I

When I found out that the Phillies were coming to Seattle this year during inter-league play, I knew I had to get tickets.

I also knew I had to get my buddy Joe Leister out here from PA to see the games.

Even though he had about four months notice, he waited until one week before the series to book his flights.

No worries, I was there to pick him up at the airport and whisk him down to the waterfront for lunch.

It was a gorgeous day and we sat out on the deck with beers and food and soaked up the sun and the atmosphere.

We were amazed at how many people were outfitted in Phillies gear at the restaurant. We overheard one group mention "Lansdale" and we had to jump in tell them we were from Lansdale as well.

After lunch, we strolled around the waterfront and admired the views.

And the fleet was in......

Time to go to the game - we wanted to see batting practice.

The first 20,000 fans entering the ballpark received an "Ichiro" jersey identical to the ones the team wore to the game. They were wasted on these two Phils fans.

But a family of four Mariners fans sat next to me and I could tell that they arrived too late for the two kids to get a jersey. So a deal was struck.

We gave our jerseys to the sweet little kids and the father stopped haranguing us about being Phils fans.

Win-win.

Did I mention that we had great seats?

This is one thing the Phils did not do enough of.....

...but I'm proud of the photo.

Sitting in the next section over from us was someone else with a Philly-Seattle connection.

Souderton's own Jamie Moyer. Former Mariners and Phillies pitcher. Still loved in Seattle, he and his wife Karen received a great round of applause when shown on the giant screen.

Roy Oswalt pitched pretty well, but his team couldn't hit and the Phils fell 4-2.

No problem - I had tickets for Sunday's game too!