... So said the souvenir vendor at the Seattle Kingdome one long July evening in 1997. As I stood there expectantly with my nine-year old daughter, who was also a keen consumer, I requested to buy a Mariners' pencil.
"I'm sorry, we don't have any pencils." Hmmm. "Well, would you have a Mariners' fridge magnet?" I asked. Looking slightly embarrassed, the vendor replied that they had no fridge magnets either. I glanced over at my daughter who was grinning from ear to ear at the irony of it all.
I was disappointed that evening for another reason. Our vanload of would be baseball fans had taken so long to get going in Maple Ridge, B.C. that morning, and we had stopped for the most leisurely of lunches at Denny's somewhere in northwest Washington, and there was a screwup with our family's reservations at some cheap motel on the south side of Seattle that, by the time we arrived at the ballpark, we had missed Junior's batting practice.
Despite the shortage of pencils and magnets at the souvenir stand, my daughter and I did manage to purchase the first of what would become her daddy's treasured collection of colorful team baseballs and mini-bats, long after she lost interest. Later during the exciting inter-league game between two west coast teams, the same daughter requested a cotton candy from the mobile vendor whose display resembled Sideshow Bob's tonsorial. My wife lamented that I was, in effect, buying the kid whatever she asked for. My response was: "Yeah, but what's your point?"
However, that same child who bought a few items at the ballpark was deeply disturbed later on, at the sight of a homeless person crying as we passed by him, on the way to our van.
Why all this reminiscing about one ball game that happened so many years ago, about which I have forgotten a lot of the details? Well, some other details came back to me on this historic day. On that happy occasion in the Kingdome in 1997, I got to see A-Rod in action, before I realized who A-Rod really was, or who he would become. And, I also got to see Barry Bonds, before I realized what an amazing presence he would become in baseball. On this day 10 years later, both men lit up the sportsworld with their milestone achievements, the youngest to reach 500 home runs, and the second man to hit 755 homers.
Back in 1997, A-Rod was a beautiful (he still is) young shortstop playing in the Pacific Northwest, prior to becoming the famous 252 million dollar man. I don't remember what he did in that game, but I do recall how the Mariners fans just loved him. (Side note: I still regret not purchasing that $34 cardboard standup of A-Rod the last time I was in Times Square)
I remember watching Barry Bonds hit a few balls into the third level of the dome during batting practice. I had never really liked Bonds when he starred with Pittsburgh, mostly because I was not a Pirates fan. I have since grown to appreciate his skills as a San Francisco Giant and shared some disappointment with him as he sat alone and quiet in the dugout following his team's seventh game loss to the Angels in the 2002 World Series. However, on this 1997 day in the Kingdome, I was in total awe of him. (Side note: I have a Barry Bonds bobblehead doll in storage at my sister's apartment in Baltimore, just waiting to come home to Calgary with me next month, along with some assorted Expos memorabilia)
There were six home runs that day, three each. That means that there were three fireworks displays after the Mariners' homers. I think Griffey hit one of them. I also remember watching the Big Unit sitting in the dugout with his long legs crossed. Oh, why did the Expos trade him? But I digress...
Ten years later, on a sensational Saturday in August when Alex Rodriguez hit his 500th home run in the morning and Barry Bonds tied Hank Aaron's all time record in the evening, the words of the souvenir woman were just as apt today, as before the game 10 years ago where we saw A-Rod and Barry on the same field: "We've got everything here that you could want!"
MLB.com wrapup 
