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 Researched by Kyle W. 2000-01 |
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Safeco Field is the stadium that the Mariners play in. The great new ballpark has a retractable roof and opened on July 15, 1999. The field is made of grass. The whole stadium cost $517 million and it was built in Seattle, Washington.
History
On March 30, 1994 Governor Gary Locke requested that a new stadium
should be built for the Mariners. After they got money from the tax payers
the P.F.D board choose the Naramore, Bain, Brady and Johanson (N.B.B.J.)
as the architecture company to design Safeco Field. After that the Hunt-Kiewet
Construction Co. was chosen by the P.F.D. board to be the builders. Next
the sight for the ballpark was chosen. They started construction on May
8, 1997. On June 4, 1998 Safeco Insurance bought the right to name
the field. They named it Safeco Field. Then on July 15, 1999 the first
game was played.
Cost
The whole park cost $517 million and $66 million of that was
spent on the roof. For the 2,000 parking spaces in the parking garage the
cost was $33.5 million. The actual playing field cost only $2 million.
For 7 scoreboards the cost was $9 million. It is a very expensive ballpark.
Design
The roof is probably the most important part of Safeco Field’s
design. It is 275 feet off the ground and weights 11,000 tons. On the 8.9
acres the roof covers there are 420,000 bolts. At the roof’s fastest speed
it can travel 360 inches or 30 feet per minute and at its slowest speed
it goes 32 inches per minute. There are 535 lights that illuminate the
field. In all these lights there are 300,000 volts of electricity. There
are also 40 miles of piping in the stadium. Safeco Field is made mostly
of steel and bricks. There are 612,500 bricks in the whole ballpark. In
the whole park there are 300 square miles of concrete that sits under the
47,116 seats. The infield is made of 600 tons of infield clay. There are
106,000 square feet of grass on the field. There are also 150 miles of
wires that give Safeco Field power. The detentions make Safeco Field "A
Pitcher’s Park." It’s called that because the hitter has a disadvantage.
They are: 327 to the Right Field Foul Pole, 387 to the Right Field Power
Alley, 406 to Center Field, 390 to the Left field power alley and 331 to
the Left Field Foul Pole. Safeco field has a very unique design.
Firsts
Jamie Moyer was the first person to throw a pitch at Safeco Field.
It was a 84-mph change-up that was called for a strike, this happened at
7:15 PM on July 15, 1999. Quilieo Veras committed the first out. He hit
a grounder to Moyer and he threw it to David Sugui at first. Eric Owens,
who was the second batter at the first game, was the first person to get
a hit. It was a line drive into right. Russ Davis got the first home run
at Safeco Field on July 17,1999. On that same date Raul Ibonez hit the
first grand slam at the new ballpark. Reggie Sanders was the first strike
out victim. Moyer sat him down at 7:19 on July 15, 1999. Jose Mesa was
the first person to blow a save. He took a 2-1 lead into the ninth of the
first game and the lead disappeared to a 3-2 loss.
People
The funding for the ballpark was from all of the taxpayers Washington
State but mostly from the taxpayers of King County and the Mariners organization.
The person that thought that the Mariners needed a new park was Governor
Gary Locke. Those are the most important people in Safeco Field history.
Did You Know?
The address for the stadium is First Ave. South and South Atlantic
Street. There are 75 restrooms, 2 public restaurants, 55 concession stands
and 18 retail shops selling sports merchandise in the ballpark. The nickname
is "The Safe." There are 9 elevators and 4 ATM’s. The most played song
at Safeco Field is "Who Let the Dogs Out."
The History of Baseball
Around the mid-1800’s baseball was invented by Abner Doubled. The first
people to play the game was the English, they called their game Rounders.
It was almost like baseball but it had a rule where you throw the ball
at the runner and if you hit him off the base he would be out. In 1900
the American and National leagues started. There were 8 teams per league.
In 1903 the first world series was played. Now there are 29 teams in baseball.
History of the Mariners
The Mariners started when the Seattle Pilots moved to Milwaukee
and were renamed the Brewers. Their first game was on April 6, 1977 against
the California Angels (now the Anaheim Angels). The Mariners lost there
first game, 7-0. The Mariners were almost ready to move to Tampa Bay if
they couldn’t build a new stadium. Then they won the AL West in 1995. If
they could do well in the playoffs they would probably be able to stay
in Seattle, but they lost their first 2 games in their series with the
Yankees. Then they came back home and won 3 games in a row, to win that
series, 3-2. Then the Mariners went to Cleveland to play the Indians. They
lost that series 4-2, but they did well enough to keep their team in Seattle.
Their request for the new stadium was approved and on July 15, 1999 they
played at their new stadium, Safeco Field.
Seattle
Seattle is an 86 square mile city that has a population of 516,259
in 1990. Seattle has many landmarks including the Space Needle and Mt Rainer.
Three professional sports teams play in Seattle: the Sonics play at the
Key Arena, the Mariners play at Safeco Field, and the Seahawks share Husky
Stadium with the Washington Huskies. In Seattle the usual amount of precipitation
is 37 inches per.
History of Seattle
Before settlers were in Seattle there were lots of Indian tribes
including the Duwanaish, Snohomish and Suwomish. In 1852 Henry Yester
built a sawmill and soon was shipping the wood of the Washington forests
to California. In 1869 Seattle received a city charter and by 1870
the population was 1,000. The population began to grow and just 20 years
later it was 43,000. In 1914 William Boeing started the Boeing Company
and before long they were the leading Aircraft Company in the world. This
was really good for Seattle’s economy. Seattle kept growing and in 1960
Seattle had a population of 57,000.
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