| | | SEATTLE -- Women wept. Men sighed. Girls swooned. Boys pouted.
In this town, that's how it goes when a double-tall, decaf, low-fat, no-foam latté is spilled.
|  | | The loss of Alex Rodriguez is nothing new for folks in Seattle ... |
Alex Rodriguez? Nah. Been there, said g'bye to that.
The reservoir of grief over departing sports superstars is a little shallow these days. Following the farewells of ex-Mariners teammates Randy Johnson and Ken Griffey Jr., plus Sonics forward Shawn Kemp and Seahawks wide receiver Joey Galloway, Rodriguez's decampment to the Texas Rangers for the exact price of Monaco was greeted with a resounding, "Oh, well ..."
Still, with so many celebrity jocks saying, "Talk to the hand," a town could start to feel a little self-conscious. Can we really have that much lettuce stuck to our front teeth?
Don't even start with the rain jokes. This fall and winter have been so dry that a power shortage looms -- not enough water to churn the hydroelectric dams. Besides, if weather were an issue in jockdom, neither Rodriguez nor anyone else would play baseball in the Dallas Metroplex, otherwise known as hell's exhaust pipe.
For sure, the problem isn't a facilities issue. No city in America has committed more public funds to its tricked-out playpens than Seattle. Safeco Field cost the taxpayers $417 million (plus $100 million from the ballclub to cover cost overruns), and Paul Allen's new Seahawks football stadium will cost $400 million, $300 million public.
|  | | ... the city also lost Ken Griffey Jr. in February 2000 ... |
Throw in 20 years of interest on the construction bonds, and that's a sleek $1.1 billion in public expenditures. Or as we like to say around here, about four A-Rods' worth. When it comes to egregious subsidies for matters sporting, Seattle can bury Rangers owner Tom Hicks.
No, Seattle has the facilities, and the money. Not only is the place chock-a-block with high-tech billionaires, the Mariners drew 3.14 million fans to Safeco (aka the Guilty Pleasure) who paid $20 to park near the privilege of buying $90 box seats. At the Safeco concession stands, one does not eat, one invests.
Over the last decade or so, the city has had both the wealth and the sports interest to indulge all manner of ridiculous contracts. So what's the deal?
Actually, it has less to do with Seattle and more to do with room for the egos. Johnson didn't much care for Griffey and his giant clubhouse shadow, so he moved on to Houston and then took the big money from the Diamondbacks. Griffey didn't much like Rodriguez,
so he took the big money and left for Cincinnati.
Rodriguez pretty much got along with everybody, but by this year it didn't matter. He didn't have to like or dislike anyone, because he was the lone superstar. Turned out the town wasn't big enough for any of them, much less all of them.
|  | | ... and Randy Johnson in 1998. |
In the spring, the Mariners decided to neither trade him nor extend his contract. They took a large gamble that his presence would do two things: get them to the World Series, and create enough success that he would see a consistent contender.
The gamble almost worked. The Mariners reached the sixth game of the American League Championship Series before losing to the
Yankees, and they were hugely popular. They also were among Rodriguez's final four teams, although it would have been Villanova-like upset if he had
re-upped in the Northwest.
Ultimately, though, he was the first big-name guy to leave town for nothing. At least for Johnson and Griffey, the Mariners ended up with two starting pitchers, Freddy Garcia and John Halama, two starting position players in third baseman Carlos Guillen and centerfielder Mike
Cameron, and reliever Brett Tomko.
But the Mariners were rewarded with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity -- not to spend $252 million on one player. And if the Johnson and Griffey contracts are added in, the Mariners were privileged to not spend $421 million for three players.
It is weak solace, but solace nevertheless. The money saved can go to the new stadium fund. Safeco Field is already 1½ years old. Remember,
the Kingdome received a death sentence at 20, and died four years later.
The one thing Seattle money never could buy, however, was proximity to anywhere. If there was one recurring theme among the departures, it was that each player complained Seattle was too far away from either home or hubbub -- at least a two-hour flight to the nearest pro sports town, except for NBA rivals in Portland and Vancouver.
Rodriguez couldn't have picked a more distant spot from his Miami home. And once Griffey built his home in Orlando, it was only a matter of time before he headed back East -- especially after the Mariners committed to putting a retractable roof over the ballfield instead of his favorite golf course.
As for Kemp and Galloway, they are Midwest natives who never adapted to the granola-and-grunge culture. Both also claimed they were promised money
by previous regimes that new bosses claimed no need to honor, and then pouted their way out of town.
Whatever the reasons behind the superstar exodus, the predominant response is a massive shrug.
There's still Gary Payton, and the University of Washington Huskies are going to the Rose Bowl. Folks hereabouts seem to understand that if you're going to invest $250 million to $1 billion in sports, make sure the object is anchored by pilings 60 feet deep.
Art Thiel is a columnist for the Seattle Union Record.
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