By Kirby Arnold
Herald Writer
SEATTLE – It’s not up there with Bret Boone, third base and left field, but there’s another pressing issue the Seattle Mariners hope to resolve soon.
They’d like to release the 2002 regular-season schedule.
A tentative major league schedule, at least a version that features 30 teams, has been in Mariners executives’ hands for some time now. However, they haven’t been able to make it official because of the chance that two teams, including the Minnesota Twins of the American League, could evaporate because of contraction.
“This is usually the time when we try to get the schedule out,” said Randy Adamack, the Mariners’ vice president of communications, who handles schedule-related issues for the team.
In a normal year, a schedule is released soon after the season ends and, after the national networks have chosen the games they want to televise, game times are set.
“About now is usually the time when the national networks have made their selections and game times are adjusted and we have an official schedule,” Adamack said. “But we’d hate to put a schedule out there until we know the answer to the whole contraction question.”
The likelihood of contraction doesn’t seem as great now as it did last month, but even the remote possibility has put many baseball functions – including the schedule – on hold.
It’s uncertain whether such a delayed release has made an impact on ticket sales.
“We normally wouldn’t put our single-game tickets on sale anyway until the FanFest (in late January),” Adamack said. “The 16-game plans won’t go on sale until the second week of January.”
The Mariners are reluctant to talk about season ticket numbers because the deadline for commitments is next month.
“We’ll try to stay as fluid as we can,” Adamack said. “We would prefer to have a schedule in place, absolutely. But we’re going to continue to do business as best we can without one.”
The Mariners announced a 30-game spring training exhibition schedule on Wednesday, beginning with their annual charity game against San Diego Padres on Feb. 28 at the complex the two teams share in Peoria, Ariz.
The Cactus League schedule begins March 1 with Anaheim at the Mariners and ends March 28 against the Padres.
The Mariners will announce spring training ticket plans in January. When available, those tickets will be sold through Ticketmaster, the Safeco Field box office in Seattle and the Peoria Stadium ticket office in Arizona.
The exhibition schedule also includes three games on March 29, 30 and 31 against opponents and at sites to be determined. The past two seasons, the Mariners have played their final two exhibition games at Safeco Field before beginning the regular season.
In its unofficial form, the regular-season schedule has the Mariners opening April 1 at home against the Chicago White Sox, then moving into a block of games against American League West Division opponents.
The interleague schedule shows the Mariners playing six different National League teams – St. Louis, Colorado and the Chicago Cubs at home and Cincinnati, San Diego and Houston on the road.
It’s all subject to change, of course, depending on contraction.
“That’s the way it is on paper,” Adamack said, ” … in pencil.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
