May 5

Roll call: Scott Magner, Erik Mona, Minnesota Twins, Joel Piniero’s ERA

Final Score: Twins 5, Mariners 1: Roof = open.

One of the things that I enjoy about baseball is the variety of experience it offers. There are some games that are so engrossing, that you cannot take your eyes off the action. Others are interminably long, and the 9th inning comes with a blessing of thanks.

Today’s game was a pleasant mix of the two. Not pleasant in the sense that it was a good game, for it was not. In a game where pitching power needed to be expressed, Pinero turned in a pretty standard 110 pitch outing.

Standard for him, at least. A little trouble in the first, a run plated in the second, then a big inning in the 4th that put the whole game away.

But he stayed in for 7+ innings, giving the bullpen a much needed break after Monday’s extra innings.

But the real story was my experience of the game. I haven’t really spent a lot of time with my friend Erik since we stopped working together every day, almost three years ago. We talk and correspond occasionally, but we haven’t really been in the same place since I left the company.

Neither of us has changed in any significant way (haircuts aside), and that was a comfort. We spent most of the game engaged in the easy banter we used during our frequent 18 hour workdays back with Wizards of the Coast, while t the same time enjoying overpriced beers and marveling at the spectacular defense played out before us in the nearly empty stadium.

The game flew by as a peripheral experience, and it was okay with me. It happened right in front of us, and we enjoyed it, but “hanging out” was the prime focus of the evening.

And that’s not so bad. What was bad was the complete and utter lack of offense presented by the Mariners. Piniero pitched hard, but a big inning sunk him. The bats never left the harbor, and the day’s Mariners were green sailors, not the campaign weary deck hands they needed to be.

All in all, a good night. But it was the company, not the product, that I enjoyed.

Record= Scott 4-6, Erik 0-1, Pinero 1-4 (deservedly), Bret Boone 0 for 4, with two bad swinging SO, with lots of men in scoring position. You do the math.