Interviewing Bobblehead McGee is as close as I got to the action. |
All we wanted was to see a Seattle Mariners game from a good seat. We requested a couple tickets, as I should be entitled to as a syndicated journalist. Little did I realize they weren't as family friendly a gang as I thought... enter the run-around.
Oh it was something alright. Instead of saying yes or no, they said we had to go through Major League Baseball (in) directly. I later found out that wasn't true, but it wasn't a problem, we did as they said. We jumped the hoops, did our paperwork and our credentials were duly granted.
Readers shared my joy and surprise across the various publications that syndicated the Perplexing article. We were giddy, but it was just the beginning of a world series of disappointments, one that went a full seven games.
We faxed, we faxed again. We emailed and did so again another dozen times. Matt gave us five names to contact but not one would reply. We got a phone number for the media relations manager in Seattle, but after three calls, three messages and weeks of politely waiting we still didn't hear a peep.
This is a joke, right? Who put you goofballs up to this? I don't know what a leper is but I'm starting to feel like I must be one with how I'm being ignored.
More than eighty games passed since our first request and we were no closer to getting an answer, it became time to take measures more grand. We sent a final request for passes, information or any kind of correspondance. It was sent to the people in Seattle who are in charge of this stuff plus a media relations guy at MLB back East. One last shot to right the wrongs, why not? Again, not one word back. As promised, we didn't say a single word about it during the season, but fair is fair and this isn't.
A four-pack of tickets would have shut us up at any point. A simple "Not Available" or even limited passes to the AA Everett Aqua Sox would have silenced us after all this running around. Even a polite letter offering some kind of excuse would have sent us packing. But, after three months and nine direct yet kindly requests we still didn't even hear a single difinitive answer? Unlike baseball, this is un-American!
You can't pretend that Mariners passes (nor tickets) were in high demand this past season, and if you do it's no more than make-believe. What's so detestable about us that we don't deserve a peep of honesty towards a reply?
After 100 losses on the season my cat should be able to get press credentials and I don't even have a cat. Call the bat boy up to pitch, the ball girl up to catch and me to do the play-by-play.
I'll put my sour grapes to bed. I don't wish the Mariners any ill will, but if the front office treats media relations like this, maybe it's a sign of how player trades and fan recognition is handled. Maybe if they spent more time playing games with Anaheim and less time playing games with us they'd actually have time for baseball.
Then again, what do I know?
Seems this is as close to a game as I'm allowed to get. Adults can be really mean sometimes.
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