BBTF's Newsblog Discussion :: Stone: Is a “blatant money grab” the only way Prince Fielder comes to Seattle?

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Saturday, December 17, 2011

Stone: Is a “blatant money grab” the only way Prince Fielder comes to Seattle?

No…there’s also the frolicky Seattle Steampunk Exhibition Ball coming up!

Ken Rosenthal of FOX wrote something today that I found very interesting, and frankly a little irritating. But definitely worthy of discussion. I have a funny feeling this will inspire a lot of reaction.

The story, basically, is about how the Cubs make much more sense for Fielder than the Mariners because the M’s have nothing to offer Fielder. The only possible reason Fielder would choose Seattle over the Cubs is “a blatant money grab,’’ Rosenthal concludes.

...I don’t want to sound like a Mariners honk. Their organization is rife with problems, and has a recent history of extremely poor decision making. They’ve dug themselves a tremendous hole that makes luring free agents even more difficult than it inherently is by mere virtue of geography. But couldn’t Fielder envision himself being part of a turnaround that reverts Seattle back to being the vibrant baseball town it once was? If Prince was still talking to his dad, Cecil, he could ask him about how it used to be in 1995 and 1997—and that was before Safeco Field went up.

Yes, money will be a huge factor with Fielder, as with every free agent. The Mariners would have to swallow hard and pay an exorbinant amount of dough for a lot of years to land Fielder. But if he led a renaissance of the team that led to contention, a full stadium, and maybe playoffs and even championships down the road, would anyone call it a “money grab” then?

Repoz Posted: December 17, 2011 at 01:02 PM | 61 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: business, mariners, media

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1. bookbook Posted: December 17, 2011 at 01:24 PM (#4018351)

Yep. Because the Cubs have been so impeccably run over the past, what, hundred years?

(The Cubs are probably a better fit for a host of reasons, including that they can afford to waste tens of millions on an overpriced contract for far too many years.)

2. Fancy Pants Handle struck out swinging Posted: December 17, 2011 at 02:31 PM (#4018359)

But couldn’t Fielder envision himself being part of a turnaround that reverts Seattle back to being the vibrant baseball town it once was?

If Fielder cares about these sort of things, then breaking the Cubs curse would seem like a bigger deal than this. And of course, you can make a similar case for about a dozen other MLB cities (Baltimore; Washington; Toronto; KC; Cleveland; Oakland; Pittsburgh; LAD; NYM; Houston).

And I know everybody thinks their team is super special, and every player should want to sign there just for the privilege, but really, Prince has no reason other than money to sign with any team that isn't either an immediate contender, or a location he would like to live. And Seattle certainly doesn't look like the former, and PNW weather isn't exactly most peoples idea of great. Really, I just don't see what is so insulting about the money grab comment

Also WTF would Cecil recommend Seattle to Prince?

3. Misirlou cut his hair and moved to Rome Posted: December 17, 2011 at 03:13 PM (#4018374)

reverts Seattle back

God, what a horrible phrase. Revert back is bad enough, but to split it with the subject? Yikes.

4. Misirlou cut his hair and moved to Rome Posted: December 17, 2011 at 03:26 PM (#4018386)

f Prince was still talking to his dad, Cecil, he could ask him about how it used to be in 1995 and 1997

Getting a little pedantic here, but it's a slow morning.

In 1995, Cecil played in Seattle April 27-30, the first 4 games of the season. At that point, the franchises highlight was an 83-79 season 4 years before. He also played there on Jul 17 and 18. At that time, the Mariners were well out (8 games back), and on their way to their 17th losing season in 19 years of existence.

In 1997, he played only 2 games in Seattle, the first 2 games of the season. Seattle was becoming a good baseball city by then, no doubt. But on opening day, every city is a great baseball city.

I doubt Cecil gained much, if any special insight as to Seattle's baseball goodness in those 2 years.

5. vortex of dissipation Posted: December 17, 2011 at 03:43 PM (#4018396)

PNW weather isn't exactly most peoples idea of great. Really, I just don't see what is so insulting about the money grab comment

Well, there's something to be said for a climate that saddles you with neither three months of snow every winter nor three months of hot, muggy 100 degree weather every summer. I think Seattle's weather is just fine. And the natural setting is one of the most beautiful of any major city in the world. I'd rather live here than in any other city in the US, but of course I already do, so I guess I'm biased..

6. cercopithecus aethiops Posted: December 17, 2011 at 03:45 PM (#4018399)

I thought that Prince hadn't spoken to his dad in years.

7. snapper (history's 42nd greatest monster) Posted: December 17, 2011 at 04:49 PM (#4018428)

Well, there's something to be said for a climate that saddles you with neither three months of snow every winter nor three months of hot, muggy 100 degree weather every summer.

Lot's of people actually like seasons.

I find rain to be, by far, the most annoying weather condition.

If it's rainy and hot, you sweat like a dog under rain gear. If it's rainy and cold, I find the cold far more piercing than with snow. If it's rainy and windy, it's virtually impossible to stay dry.

Give me snow any day.

8. cercopithecus aethiops Posted: December 17, 2011 at 04:53 PM (#4018431)

Dogs don't sweat.

9. Boxkutter Posted: December 17, 2011 at 06:02 PM (#4018478)


I find rain to be, by far, the most annoying weather condition.

It's wind that I hate.

10. Walt Davis Posted: December 17, 2011 at 06:42 PM (#4018496)

Probably a higher proportion of vegetarians for Prince to hang with in Seattle and, if he's one of those "vegetarians" who eats fish, good seafood too.

As to weather, I'm pretty sure Prince will be able to live wherever he wants during the winter.

But, yeah, really. Somebody pointed this out the other day -- the Ms have finished last in the AL West 6 of the last 8 years. They haven't won it since 2001. Why would this be an attractive destination for an FA?

11. cercopithecus aethiops Posted: December 17, 2011 at 06:49 PM (#4018500)

Why would this be an attractive destination for an FA?

How are the schools?

12. smileyy Posted: December 17, 2011 at 06:57 PM (#4018505)

It doesn't really rain in volume in Seattle. And actually, hardly at all in the summer. That also varies by "Seattle" area, as the bay and mountains and lakes produce a lot of microclimates.

13. Greg K Posted: December 17, 2011 at 07:04 PM (#4018509)

It doesn't really rain in volume in Seattle. And actually, hardly at all in the summer. That also varies by "Seattle" area, as the bay and mountains and lakes produce a lot of microclimates.

I've actually noticed this about England. There's constant drizzle, like a fine mist, but it almost never rains hard enough that you can't walk around in it.

14. TerpNats Posted: December 17, 2011 at 07:05 PM (#4018510)

Well, there's something to be said for a climate that saddles you with neither three months of snow every winter nor three months of hot, muggy 100 degree weather every summer.

These days, virtually every MLB player can live where he wants to in the off-season, and in many cases that's not in the metro area of the team he plays for. This isn't 1951, gang. The winter in Seattle (or any other market) won't have anything to do with where Fielder signs.

15. Ivan Grushenko of Hong Kong Posted: December 17, 2011 at 07:08 PM (#4018513)

For me to move to Seattle or Chicago would be a blatant money grab. Why would anyone move anywhere unless there's the most money to be made unless they or their spouse had family there or something like that? Seattle and Chicago are both fine enough cities but neither is so fantastic that I'd give up even tens of thousands let alone tens of millions to pick one over the other.

16. vortex of dissipation Posted: December 17, 2011 at 07:09 PM (#4018514)

It doesn't really rain in volume in Seattle. And actually, hardly at all in the summer. That also varies by "Seattle" area, as the bay and mountains and lakes produce a lot of microclimates.

I've actually noticed this about England. There's constant drizzle, like a fine mist, but it almost never rains hard enough that you can't walk around in it.

I've lived my entire life in either northern England or Seattle. To me, that's the normal state of affairs, and it doesn't bother me one bit. To quote John Lennon, "Rain, I don't mind; Shine, the weather's fine".

17. vortex of dissipation Posted: December 17, 2011 at 07:14 PM (#4018516)

For me to move to Seattle or Chicago would be a blatant money grab. Why would anyone move anywhere unless there's the most money to be made unless they or their spouse had family there or something like that? Seattle and Chicago are both fine enough cities but neither is so fantastic that I'd give up even tens of thousands let alone tens of millions to pick one over the other.

People make decisions based on the weirdest things. If someone made a decision of where to live based on the number and quality of WW1 & WW2 fighter aircraft on display within easy driving distance, Seattle would beat any other city in the country, except perhaps for Dayton. Who knows what someone might find important?

18. Adam Starblind Posted: December 17, 2011 at 07:20 PM (#4018521)

Well, there's something to be said for a climate that saddles you with neither three months of snow every winter nor three months of hot, muggy 100 degree weather every summer.

Lot's of people actually like seasons.

I find rain to be, by far, the most annoying weather condition.

If it's rainy and hot, you sweat like a dog under rain gear. If it's rainy and cold, I find the cold far more piercing than with snow. If it's rainy and windy, it's virtually impossible to stay dry.

Give me snow any day.

All he said was that there is "something to be said" for the consistent weather in the PNW. And you took this as a challenge to your preference for seasons?

I think this is something we can all agree is subject to individual taste. Except maybe snapper, I guess.

19. The District Attorney Posted: December 17, 2011 at 07:21 PM (#4018523)

Since when is Seattle generally acknowledged to be a blasted hellscape?? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills. Isn't it usually listed as one of the most "livable" cities in the country?

I mean, the team stinks, but everyone here seems to be in agreement that it's an undesirable place to live unless you love rain or museum displays of aircraft. That's weird!

20. This is going to be state of the art wall Posted: December 17, 2011 at 07:26 PM (#4018527)

Having lived in the upper midwest, NYC, and Seattle, I can easily say Seattle's weather is the best. NYC has a wonderful fall and spring, but the place is literally built on a swamp. Summer in NYC is often unbearably hot and humid. Winters are sunny but quite cold.

The worst part of Seattle weather is just the constant clouds between October and May. Summer here is almost perfect. Almost every day is 74, light breeze and sunny.

And yes, the rain in england and in Seattle is similiar. Most times it's just a mist, fine to walk through. Rarely does it do anything more than drizzle.

I mean, the team stinks, but everyone here seems to be in agreement that it's an undesirable place to live unless you love rain or museum displays of aircraft. That's weird!

The landscape here is spectacular. You have a temperate rainforest, mountains, the ocean and if you go east, a desert. It doesn't get much better than that.

21. rlc Posted: December 17, 2011 at 07:26 PM (#4018528)

Multimillionaires measure quality of life differently than mere mortals. I would think a key component for pro athletes would be Local Media Asshat Size. Based on the things that get linked here, it looks like Chicago may be in the top 5. Seattle is much lower, though I have to think almost anywhere will have bigger asshats than Milwaukee. Of course huge contracts are a veritable assStetson.

And Seattle weather is awful. All of you just stay the hell away, you wouldn't like it one bit.

22. Rough Carrigan

Posted: December 17, 2011 at 07:34 PM (#4018535)

"exorbinant", Stone? Really?!

23. Srul Itza Posted: December 17, 2011 at 07:44 PM (#4018541)

I find rain to be, by far, the most annoying weather condition.

It's wind that I hate.

You're both wrong. It's sleet.

It stings when it hits, like hail.
It's cold, like snow.
It penetrates and melts quickly, leaving you as wet as if it was just rain.

Lot's of people actually like seasons.

I'll take tradewinds over seasons, mahalo nui loa.

24. Srul Itza Posted: December 17, 2011 at 07:49 PM (#4018545)

NYC has a wonderful fall and spring, but the place is literally built on a swamp.

Very, very little of NYC was built on swampland. The only reason you can build sky scrapers one right next the other for block after block, while tunneling underneath for subways in the same area, is because the bedrock comes right close to the surface in a large part of Manhattan.

25. bestergonomicgamingchair.com Posted: December 17, 2011 at 07:50 PM (#4018547)

The worst part of Seattle weather is just the constant clouds between October and May. Summer here is almost perfect. Almost every day is 74, light breeze and sunny.

This.

It doesn't rain nearly as much as people seem to believe, but the constant overcast for 60% of the is very real and frankly, wearying.

Summers, on the other hand, are sublime.

26. Adam Starblind Posted: December 17, 2011 at 08:05 PM (#4018558)

It's true, there's nothing to like about sleet.

27. snapper (history's 42nd greatest monster) Posted: December 17, 2011 at 08:11 PM (#4018561)

All he said was that there is "something to be said" for the consistent weather in the PNW. And you took this as a challenge to your preference for seasons?

I took it as an attack on places that had real summers and winters, as if that made them unlivable.

There's no accounting for taste. Some people seem to like the weather in Florida and Arizona. Go figure.

28. Adam Starblind Posted: December 17, 2011 at 08:13 PM (#4018564)

I took it as an attack on places that had real summers and winters, as if that made them unlivable.

Right, this was the way in which your response was idiotic.

29. snapper (history's 42nd greatest monster) Posted: December 17, 2011 at 08:14 PM (#4018566)

, but the constant overcast for 60% of the is very real and frankly, wearying.

This got me the year I lived in Chicago. The winter was actually quite mild, but there was no sun.

In NY, or Boston, you often get cold, but brilliantly sunny and clear. In Chicago, it seemed like I didn't see the sun from Dec to May.

Add to the gray sky, the gray lake, and the gray-stone construction of the houses, and I found it quite depressing.

30. snapper (history's 42nd greatest monster) Posted: December 17, 2011 at 08:16 PM (#4018568)

Right, this was the way in which your response was idiotic.

What bug crawled up your ass?

three months of snow every winter nor three months of hot, muggy 100 degree weather every summer

That's not a fair description of any MLB market. No MLB city has both three straight months of snow, and three months of 100 degree weather. Very few have either.

It's as accurate as saying it rains every day in Seattle.

31. valuearbitrageur Posted: December 17, 2011 at 08:17 PM (#4018569)

The worst part of Seattle weather is just the constant clouds between October and May. Summer here is almost perfect. Almost every day is 74, light breeze and sunny.

The suicide rate disagrees with you.

As someone who lived 40 years in the Pacific Northwest, I find all you people delusional.

32. Harveys Wallbangers

Posted: December 17, 2011 at 08:25 PM (#4018576)

Seattle would be great if not filled with Seattleites

33. This is going to be state of the art wall Posted: December 17, 2011 at 08:41 PM (#4018589)

Seattle would be great if not filled with Seattleites

I agree. For the most part I'm a "people are people" sort of believer, but I can say that I think your average New Yorker is friendlier than your average Seattlite. I've read some things about the insular nature of Scandinavians and there are a lot of them here, maybe that's part of it. New Yorkers might be blunt, but most of them are friendly and cheerful, otherwise they'd never get through the daily commute.

Also, this town doesn't know how to dress or walk. Way too much black and brown and tattoos, and walking is like driving, you keep to the right.

34. Fancy Pants Handle struck out swinging Posted: December 17, 2011 at 08:48 PM (#4018597)

Summer here is almost perfect. Almost every day is 74, light breeze and sunny.

74 and perfect does not compute.

35. snapper (history's 42nd greatest monster) Posted: December 17, 2011 at 08:50 PM (#4018600)

but I can say that I think your average New Yorker is friendlier than your average Seattlite.

Wow! Now I'm scared to go to Seattle.

36. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: December 17, 2011 at 08:50 PM (#4018602)

Seattle is quite lovely. It would be pretty high on my list of FA destinations.

If you were a FA, and the money was all the same, and your favorite hometown team was not offering you a contract, what would be your top five destinations? Consider the fanbase, likelihood of competing, management, teammates, stadium, and livability of the city.

Mine would probably be:

1. Giants (love the city, good young team, gorgeous ballpark, pretty competitive year in and year out)
2. Cubs (great city, good fanbase, could be icon if you help turn team around)
3. Mariners (beautiful city, great stadium, smart management and ample resources although they're in a rut now)
4. Red Sox (yea I find Red Sox Nation a bit obnoxious, but they do care a lot, ample resources, fun city, always competitive)
5. Tigers (my dad's hometown team, pretty competitive, good fans)

Blue Jays just miss because I don't think they have a great shot to be consistently competitive and the stadium is so sterile, but I love that city. I also love NYC, but I can't bring myself to play for those teams.

37. This is going to be state of the art wall Posted: December 17, 2011 at 09:29 PM (#4018631)

74 and perfect does not compute.

You like it hotter? Some people do. Hawk and Wimpy used to argue endlessly about this on old White Sox broadcasts. Hawk would start off with "it's a another beautiful day here in the gorgeous Pacific North West, 74, light breeze and not a cloud in the sky" (granted this is the Summer version of the PNW) and the Florida guy, Wimpy would say, "could be about 10 degrees warmer" And so on.

38. cercopithecus aethiops Posted: December 17, 2011 at 09:35 PM (#4018638)

Seattle would be great if not filled with Seattleites

Most places would be greatly improved if you removed most of the people.

39. Greg K Posted: December 17, 2011 at 09:41 PM (#4018641)

Most place would be greatly improved if you removed most of the people.

For me Italy is the best example of this.
Saskatchewan I found the opposite. Partly because the people are generally quite nice and partly because if you took away the people there'd be nothing there.

40. BDC

Posted: December 17, 2011 at 09:58 PM (#4018651)

This is my one purpose in life, to post in BBTF threads about how superstar ballplayers don't have to "live" in the city where they work. Wherever he signs, Fielder will have to work for about 13 weeks out of every year. He will earn eighteen kajillion dollars and can buy himself a pied-à-terre for those working weeks. A bunch of the rest of the time he'll be in hotels, no matter where he signs. In the off-season, when his kids are in school, he can go to their concerts and soccer games.

If the Internet can be trusted, Fielder and his family actually live in Orlando. That's not quite close enough to commute to St. Petersburg or Miami even if he somehow would sign there. I doubt he's fixing to move to Seattle or Chicago or Arlington or wherever, given that he doesn't seem to have lived in Milwaukee. (Honestly, correct me if I'm wrong.) If anything, if he wants another six weeks at home, he should sign with the club that trains closest to Orlando. (The Braves?) But he's not going to pick a city because of its lovely coffee shops or public schools.

I can see signing on the basis of whether you'd like to play 81 games in a given ballpark. I'm not sure Fielder has spent much time in Arlington in August. He might want to preview that by spending a couple of weeks in Hell.

41. smileyy Posted: December 17, 2011 at 10:02 PM (#4018654)

Snapper: Seattleites aren't aggressive or rude really. Just cold.

Introverted transplants at Amazon and Microsoft might contribute a lot to that. (i say as an introverted transplanted tech worker)

42. Harveys Wallbangers

Posted: December 17, 2011 at 10:29 PM (#4018668)

I have mentioned before but the only place in my travels where folks ask when you are leaving during introductions is in Seattle.

Minnesotans have a way that is termed "Minnesota Nice" which means they are polite to you but are not interested in knowing you or having you stay for very long.

Seattle folks seem to take that to a different level where they all but tell you not to take your coat off while you are visiting.

Very odd.

43. valuearbitrageur Posted: December 17, 2011 at 10:57 PM (#4018681)

Seattle would be great if not filled with Seattleites
[/quote

Yea, I forgot how awful the traffic was too.

44. The District Attorney Posted: December 17, 2011 at 11:29 PM (#4018689)

Heh... forget the traffic, how about this continuing playlet that is produced around the clock at crosswalks throughout the city:

"I'm going to start crossing the street now... Oh, here comes a car. Okay, I'll wait."
"Please go ahead, pedestrian! I'll stop right here until you do." (pause) "I'll motion with my hand that he should go. He won't ignore that."
"I'll just stand here until the driver realizes I'm waiting for him." (pause; notices hand sign) "That's really nice of him, but I'll just wait." (pause) "Oh well, guess I have to go first. Now I take a step into --"
Simultaneously: "Looks like the pedestrian wants me to go first. Here I go!"
Return to beginning of cycle, repeat.

Really, though, it's pretty silly to say that someone wouldn't like a city because you wouldn't, which I think is what Dial was getting at. (Especially one that is as generally well-regarded as Seattle, but even if it weren't.)

45. puck Posted: December 18, 2011 at 12:38 AM (#4018708)

If someone made a decision of where to live based on the number and quality of WW1 & WW2 fighter aircraft on display within easy driving distance, Seattle would beat any other city in the country

I assume people with an interest in such things know about the big museum, so here's a shout out for the Flying Heritage Museum. What a great place. Not huge like the Museum of Flight but the collection is very well-restored, with most of the planes in flying condition. It's on the edge of a small airport and they take the planes out periodically for flights in the summer. They added a couple of restored (running) tanks, a T34-85 and a Hetzer.

I guess if you need to see WWII aircraft actually fly, I would recommend moving to the area for this. They also have a decent facebook page, where they post photos and descriptions of details/quirks of the planes that you don't tend to read about in books.

46. Mellow Mouse, Benevolent Space Tyrant Posted: December 18, 2011 at 04:36 AM (#4018782)

Minnesotans have a way that is termed "Minnesota Nice" which means they are polite to you but are not interested in knowing you or having you stay for very long.

I have lived in MN 20 years (and before that went to college here), and it is true. Most of my friends (not all I admit) are transplants like I am. A nice, but distant group are the Minnesotans. Very odd.

47. Andere Richtingen

Posted: December 18, 2011 at 04:59 AM (#4018793)

It rains a lot in Seattle, folks. 155 days per year on average. Now, it is quite seasonal, but that only means that it rains more days than it doesn't from November through March. The average total rainfall isn't that impressive, but half of the year is very, very wet.

Most eastern cities have considerably fewer days with precipitation per year than Seattle.

The positive weather-wise for Seattle is the summer: pretty dry, and not hot. Not my cup of tea but it has its appeal.

48. Monty Posted: December 18, 2011 at 05:14 AM (#4018796)

It rains a lot in Seattle, folks. 155 days per year on average. Now, it is quite seasonal, but that only means that it rains more days than it doesn't from November through March. The average total rainfall isn't that impressive, but half of the year is very, very wet.

Yeah, but only a handful of those days are real rain. I've lived here for sixteen years and never owned an umbrella.

49. Kiko Sakata

Posted: December 18, 2011 at 05:19 AM (#4018797)

that only means that it rains more days than it doesn't from November through March.

The positive weather-wise for Seattle is the summer: pretty dry, and not hot.

Of course, as noted upthread, Prince Fielder - or any other Mariner - doesn't have to actually live in Seattle during the rainy season, but is only there for apparently the best time of year weather-wise.

50. McCoy Posted: December 18, 2011 at 05:27 AM (#4018798)

Perhaps it is because I grew up in the Chicagoland area but whenever I hear people ##### about the weather in some city, like summers in NYC, I just laugh because compared to Chicago weather it seems like paradise to me. I've lived in NY, Dallas, Philly, and now DC and all of their weather is about 10 million times better than the weather in Chicago. Chicago has 4 weeks of good weather. 2 weeks in the springtime and two weeks in the fall. The rest of the time the weather is shitty.

51. vortex of dissipation Posted: December 18, 2011 at 07:22 AM (#4018815)

I assume people with an interest in such things know about the big museum, so here's a shout out for the Flying Heritage Museum. What a great place. Not huge like the Museum of Flight but the collection is very well-restored, with most of the planes in flying condition. It's on the edge of a small airport and they take the planes out periodically for flights in the summer. They added a couple of restored (running) tanks, a T34-85 and a Hetzer.

I guess if you need to see WWII aircraft actually fly, I would recommend moving to the area for this. They also have a decent facebook page, where they post photos and descriptions of details/quirks of the planes that you don't tend to read about in books.

The Flying Heritage Collection is a very cool place - the aircraft are all owned by Paul Allen. They just added an Il-2 Sturmovik, which I believe is the only flying example in the world. The same airfield, Paine Field in Everett, has another small collection, the Historic Flight Foundation, which isn't as big, but has a Spitfire, Bearcat, and Tigercat, among other aircraft; the restoration facility for the Museum of Flight, which is open to the public and has several interesting aircraft (including the only De Havilland Comet, the world's first jet airliner, in the western Hemisphere); the Stormbirds project, who have built several new flyable Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighters, and are branching out into building other aircraft, notably a Mitsubishi A6M Zero; and the Future of Flight Aviation Center and Boeing Tour, where you can tour the factory where 747s and 787s are made. The Museum of Flight at Boeing Field is wonderful, and I'd recommend it to anyone, but for the true aviation buff visiting Seattle, a trip to Paine Field to see the aircraft there is an absolute must.

52. vortex of dissipation Posted: December 18, 2011 at 07:30 AM (#4018816)

three months of snow every winter nor three months of hot, muggy 100 degree weather every summer

That's not a fair description of any MLB market. No MLB city has both three straight months of snow, and three months of 100 degree weather. Very few have either.

The point I was making is that Seattle has neither, not that any other single city has both.

I don't like extremes in weather. I don't like snow, but I detest hot weather even more. From a personal standpoint, weatherwise, I doubt very much that I could handle living in a place such as Southern California, Arizona, Texas, or Florida.

53. Xander Posted: December 18, 2011 at 07:36 AM (#4018818)

I still can't remember a time when I've watched a Mariners' game and the dome has been closed. Maybe I don't watch enough, but I see at least two dozen every season.

54. CFiJ Posted: December 18, 2011 at 11:54 AM (#4018833)

reverts Seattle back

God, what a horrible phrase. Revert back is bad enough, but to split it with the subject? Yikes.

The English language has had a love affair with redundancies for at least 1,600 years. You can take them all out, and new ones will just be made to fill the gap.

55. Lassus Posted: December 18, 2011 at 01:45 PM (#4018842)

I've lived in NY, Dallas, Philly, and now DC and all of their weather is about 10 million times better than the weather in Chicago. Chicago has 4 weeks of good weather. 2 weeks in the springtime and two weeks in the fall. The rest of the time the weather is shitty.

Try living through that in a city of 60,000, says Utica.

I have mentioned before but the only place in my travels where folks ask when you are leaving during introductions is in Seattle.

And Portland is the same way, only worse. I was in the PNW for four years, both places, and this drove me out of my mind. That is what made it awful-ish, not the weather, which was fine. Someone visiting me from Argentina called the people in Seattle "clammed up and weird."

As far as meteorologically, it was anecdotally always worse, rain-wise, in Washington than Orgeon. (When I left Seattle, a life-long native told me "It was a bad year for rain" that year.) Sometimes doing delivery work I would actually cross the Columbia and it would be raining in the one state and not the other. The weather in Portland, to me, was definitely better.

56. Swoboda is freedom Posted: December 18, 2011 at 02:23 PM (#4018849)

If you were a FA, and the money was all the same, and your favorite hometown team was not offering you a contract, what would be your top five destinations?

One thing that would have to be a consideration is travel. You have to spend half your time on the road. If you played in Seattle, there are no short road trips. As someone who used to travel a lot for work, having shorter trips would be nicer.

57. vortex of dissipation Posted: December 18, 2011 at 05:50 PM (#4018931)

Is this type of behavior what people are referring to?

Beyond the smiles, the Seattle freeze is on

58. Something Other Posted: December 18, 2011 at 10:20 PM (#4019039)

Perhaps it is because I grew up in the Chicagoland area but whenever I hear people ##### about the weather in some city, like summers in NYC, I just laugh because compared to Chicago weather it seems like paradise to me. I've lived in NY, Dallas, Philly, and now DC and all of their weather is about 10 million times better than the weather in Chicago. Chicago has 4 weeks of good weather. 2 weeks in the springtime and two weeks in the fall. The rest of the time the weather is shitty.

Buffalo is similar. The wind alone makes it regularly unpleasant. It's like being shoved every which way much of the year. And those wonderful, zero degree days, with forty mile an hour winds. Woohoo!

59. Jobu is silent on the changeup Posted: December 19, 2011 at 09:09 PM (#4019548)

A nice, but distant group are the Minnesotans. Very odd.

Not many "two-hole" ice fishing shanties. I think the most common thought among Minnesotans (and I am one, by birth) is "Damn, I wish that woman would shut up."

60. The Ghost of Sox Fans Past

Posted: December 19, 2011 at 09:43 PM (#4019573)

So much to say, so hard for me on a smartphone, so succinctly-

Weather - cloudy springs and falls bother some, but I enjoy not sweating, so fine. by me. But driving in the dark rainy winter is getting to be tough as my vision degrades.

People - could be friendlier, but helpful if you ask.

Free agents - yes travel is worse than For any other MLB city. No state income tax, although Scott Boras doesn't care IMHO what his clients have to pay.

61. The Yankee Clapper Posted: December 19, 2011 at 09:58 PM (#4019586)

There are reports that Toronto will make a big play for Fielder, along with Darvish, which could make the AL East rather interesting and open up the Wildcard(s) to more than the usual suspects.

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Saturday, December 17, 2011

Stone: Is a “blatant money grab” the only way Prince Fielder comes to Seattle?

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