The name\u2019s Stan. I don\u2019t know what it says on my birth certificate, or even how long I\u2019ve been on God\u2019s Green. But people call me Stan and treat me like a guy pushing 60, so I guess that\u2019s who I am.<\/p>\n
I work in the Lost and Found at Safeco Field, home of the Mariners. Been working forever, it feels like. I got a calendar on the wall (lost but never found) that says it\u2019s been 40 years. Which is odd since Safeco was only built 16 years ago, in 1999 and the Mariners themselves have only been around since 1977.<\/p>\n
But nevermind that. Down here in Lost and Found, logic isn\u2019t really all that important. I mean, people lose things, and they come here to find them again, and sometimes they do even if it don\u2019t make sense to.<\/p>\n
Like the time this fella shows up, looking for his dad. Says his old man passed-away a week before, and he\u2019s not sure what he\u2019s supposed to do now. So I look through one of the boxes and there\u2019s this old beat up hat. Hand it to the guy and he starts tellin\u2019 me about how when he was a kid his old man would take him to ball games. They\u2019d sit there up in some sky-scratchin\u2019 upper-deck, all the players on the field small as ants. Eat boiled hot dogs and if it was rare sunny day his old man would even let him have a sip of his watered-down beer. I ask him, you got any kids, and he says yeah. And I tell him, supposed to be sunny next Wednesday, and Anaheim\u2019s in town. Then he smiles and walks off.<\/p>\n
We got all kinds of stuff down here. Hats, like I said. Lots of sweat shirts and jackets cause maybe it\u2019s a little bit cold when you get here and then King Felix gets fired up and pitches a one-hitter through seven innings and you\u2019re on your feet hollerin\u2019 the whole time. Then Seager or Ackley busts things open and the bull pen cleans things up and you\u2019re so high you don\u2019t remember your wind breaker.<\/p>\n
Gloves, necklaces, bracelets. Sunglasses. Did you know Seattle sells more sunglasses than pretty much any other city in America? Cause we don\u2019t got enough days of sun in a row to remember where you put your last pair I guess!<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a few stuffed animals down here, too. An old chewed-up Mariner\u2019s moose. That one makes me a little bit sad, I can admit. I mean, some kid probably got that when he was here, dragged it back a few times maybe. It became a good luck charm, and then one day the Ms do their usual one-run showing and the kid sets the moose down and doesn\u2019t bother to pick it up. Someone brings it to me. Sits here until, what, 2001 happens again? Probably not.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not a bad job, though. I get to come to most of the home games, get to watch sometimes if I want. Other times I\u2019m down under the concrete, sorting and arranging, taking calls, sending notes up to the box seats. Players lose things too, and I\u2019m in charge of that. \u00a0Derek Holland lost his stuff in that game a few years ago, and the Ms got 8 runs off of him. I wrapped it up and put it in the mail for him, and he got it back, eventually.<\/p>\n
But one thing they got me doin\u2019, lately, is to hunt around for the Ms mojo. It\u2019s been lost for a while now. They have me searchin\u2019 high and low for it, all over the place. Last season they kept finding it in other ball parks, which is great, but I don\u2019t workin those, I work here. And I just can\u2019t find it. Mariner\u2019s lost again last night, this time to the Twins, which isn\u2019t shameful or anything, but still. Givin\u2019 up 12 runs in two games? No wonder they got me lookin\u2019 for it.<\/p>\n
Anyway, that\u2019s what I got on my plate, most of today. The Ms are on the road for a while, Rangers, Astros, Angels. I\u2019m hopin\u2019 I can find something by the time they get back for the As in the middle of May.<\/p>\n
Cause you see, I\u2019m not what you\u2019d call jaded. I\u2019m not a cynic. I\u2019ve been around for a long time, and expect to be for a long time still. People talk about \u201cfair weather\u201d fans, and in a place like Seattle where it rains a lot, that metaphor\u2019s got some weight to it. But I don\u2019t judge. Baseball\u2019s for everybody, season ticket holders and once-a-season folks alike. Everybody deserves to find what they\u2019re lookin\u2019 for: a nice day at the ballpark. A win, now and again.<\/p>\n
So I\u2019ll keep huntin\u2019, I guess.<\/p>\n
Hey, you know what? LoSTANdfound. That\u2019s why they call me Stan! I just thought of that!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The name\u2019s Stan. I don\u2019t know what it says on my birth certificate, or even how long I\u2019ve been on God\u2019s Green. But people call me Stan and treat me like a guy pushing 60, so I guess that\u2019s who I am. I work in the Lost and Found at Safeco Field, home of the … <\/p>\n