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T-Mobile Park

T-Mobile Park is a retractable roof ballpark in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the home stadium of the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball and has a seating capacity of 47,368. It is in Seattle's SoDo neighborhood, near the western terminus of Interstate 90 and is owned and operated by the Washington State Major League Baseball Stadium Public Facilities District. The first game at the stadium was played on July 15, 1999.

Location and transportation
T-Mobile Park is in the SoDo district of downtown Seattle, bounded by Dave Niehaus Way (a block of 1st Avenue S.) to the west, Edgar Martínez Drive (formerly S. Atlantic Street) to the south, Royal Brougham Way to the north, and BNSF railroad tracks to the east. Parking is available at the stadium's parking garage across Edgar Martínez Drive, the Lumen Field garage to the North, and other privately operated lots in the area. Sounder commuter rail serves nearby King Street Station. T-Mobile Park is also served by the 1 Line of Sound Transit's Link light rail system and local King County Metro and Sound Transit Express bus routes at the nearby Stadium station. Events at T-Mobile Park are scheduled to avoid conflicts with Lumen Field, which is directly north of the stadium. The Mariners have priority for schedule slots per an agreement reached with the Seattle Seahawks, who play at Lumen Field. A dedicated ride-hailing lot opened in June 2023 along 3rd Avenue; it cost $2.8 million to construct and opened ahead of the 2023 MLB All-Star Game. ==History==
History
On March 30, 1994, county executive Gary Locke appointed a task force to assess the need for a new baseball stadium to replace the rapidly deteriorating Kingdome. Many feared that the Mariners would leave Seattle if a new stadium was not built. In January 1995, the 28-member task force recommended to the King County Council that the public should be involved in financing the stadium. The task force concluded that a sales tax increase of 0.1% (to 8.3%) would be sufficient to fund the stadium. King County held a special election on September 19, asking the public for this sales tax increase; the measure led early, but was narrowly defeated by one-fifth of one percent. On October 14, a special session of the state legislature authorized a different funding package for a new stadium that included a food and beverage tax in King County restaurants and bars, car rental surcharge in King County, a ballpark admissions tax, a credit against the state sales tax, and sale of a special stadium license plate. and established the Washington State Major League Baseball Stadium Public Facilities District to own the ballpark and oversee design and construction. Taxpayer suits opposing the legislative actions and the taxes failed in the courts. Initial concepts for the new stadium, developed under the working name of New Century Park, were unveiled by architecture firm HOK in March 1995. The design included a retractable roof split into four sections and a seating capacity of 45,000 seats on four levels. On September 9, 1996, the site was selected for the new stadium, just south of the Kingdome. In late fall, several members of the King County Council wrote a letter to the Seattle Mariners, requesting a postponement of the projected $384.5-million stadium project. is visible in the background. Construction officially began in 1997, with a groundbreaking ceremony on March 8 featuring Mariners star Ken Griffey Jr. The construction, overseen by chief financial officer (and former team president and minority owner) Kevin Mather, continued through the beginning of the 1999 season. Its first game was on July 15, immediately after the All-Star break; the Mariners lost 3–2 to the San Diego Padres with 44,607 in attendance. Longtime team broadcaster Dave Niehaus threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the game to Tom Foley, the former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. The naming rights were sold in June 1998 to Seattle-based Safeco Insurance, which paid $40 million for a 20-year deal. The 2018 season was the last played under this name, and the Safeco signage was removed from the ballpark beginning that November. The naming rights were awarded to T-Mobile, whose U.S. headquarters are based in nearby Bellevue on December 19, which paid $87.5 million for an agreement that will last 25 years, and the name change officially took effect on January 1, 2019. Ken Griffey Jr. returned to Safeco Field in 2007 with the Cincinnati Reds (where he had been traded after the 1999 season) to a hero's welcome. In commemoration of Griffey's achievements with the team, the Mariners unveiled a new poster that declared Safeco Field "The House That Griffey Built." The Mariners moved the fences at Safeco Field closer to home plate before the 2013 season "to create an environment that is fair for both hitters and pitchers," according to general manager Jack Zduriencik. Safeco Field had been considered one of the most pitcher-friendly ballparks in the majors since it opened. The center field scoreboard and ad panels were replaced with an board during renovations, becoming the largest among all stadium scoreboards in the major leagues at the time. After the 2017 season, the field surface, in place since the stadium opened in 1999, underwent its first full replacement. The infield and foul territory were redone in 2012, but the outfield had not been replaced before the resodding. between the Seattle Kraken and Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Park On January 1, 2024, the National Hockey League (NHL) hosted the 2024 NHL Winter Classic, where the Seattle Kraken won over the Vegas Golden Knights 3–0. ==Features==
Features
There previously was technology that allowed spectators to monitor special game-time features with Nintendo DS receivers. Layout There are five main levels to the stadium: Field (or Street), Main Concourse (100 level – 20,521 seats), Club Level (200 level – 4,123 seats), Suite Level (2.050 seats), and Upper Concourse or View Level (300 level – 15,902 seats). Two bleacher sections are above left field and below the center field scoreboard, with 3,666 seats. As the field is approximately at street level, entry into any of the main gates requires visitors to ascend a flight of stairs, escalator, or elevator to access the main concourse, with the exception of the Right Field Entry, which opens onto the main concourse. Stairs, escalators, elevators, and ramps around the park provide access to all levels. Seating capacity Food service T-Mobile Park offers greater food and beverage selection than typical ballparks. Patrons could previously order food with a Nintendo DS app called Nintendo Fan Network. Retractable roof In the open position, the roof rests over the BNSF Railway tracks that bound the stadium to the east, with part of it hanging over the stands in right field. This has the effect of echoing the whistles from passing trains into the stadium. Train horns were often heard inside the stadium throughout the 2000s, but abated significantly when an overpass was built for Royal Brougham Way, the street that bounds the stadium to the north which previously crossed the tracks. Unlike other stadiums with retractable roofs, the roof at T-Mobile Park does not fully enclose the ballpark; this allows the wind and temperatures to still impact the game with the roof closed. The roof covers approximately and weighs . It moves with 128 wheels that move along rails on the north and south side of the ballpark. The top of the roof is above field level, while the bottom is high. The roof takes 10 to 20 minutes to open and is moved 300 to 500 times per year, mostly to manage the stadium's grass. The Mariners had a 843–737 record in games with the roof open, 145–133 with it closed, and 81–76 in games where the roof moves. Scoreboards T-Mobile Park features a manual scoreboard, the second-largest HD video display scoreboard in MLB, a color LED out-of-town scoreboard, and LED ribbon boards along the terraces. The main scoreboard, which replaced the original monochrome scoreboard and separate video screen above the center field bleachers before the 2013 season, is more than in area. The board can be used either all at once, such as for live action or video replays, or split into sections for displaying information such as statistics and advertisements. Mariners Hall of Fame Co-located with the Baseball Museum of the Pacific Northwest, the Mariners Hall of Fame features bronze plaques of the 11 inducted members: Alvin Davis (1997), broadcaster Dave Niehaus (2000), Jay Buhner (2004), Edgar Martínez (2007), Randy Johnson (2012), Dan Wilson (2012), Ken Griffey Jr. (2013), Lou Pinella (2014), Jamie Moyer (2015), Ichiro Suzuki (2022), and Félix Hernández (2023). The plaques describe their contributions to the franchise, as well as murals and television screens showing highlights of their careers with the Mariners. The 'Pen The 'Pen, known for sponsorship purposes as "The T-Mobile 'Pen", is a standing-room only area adjacent to the bullpens, where spectators can watch relief pitchers warm up before entering the game. When the stadium opened during the 1999 season, the area was called the "Bullpen Market". In 2013, the Mariners' vice president of ballpark operations described the Bullpen Market as a dark and unwelcoming place that needed a remodel to be more attractive to fans. Prior to the 2011 season, the Mariners brought in three celebrity chefs to introduce special concession stands with exclusive food options. In the first season under its new branding, per-capita fan spending in The 'Pen increased by 87% from the previous season. In 2013, Edgar's Cantina, named for Hall of Fame Mariners player Edgar Martínez, opened. Sports Business Journal called The 'Pen "one of the liveliest social scenes in Major League Baseball" in 2013, when fan spending in The 'Pen had risen 42% year over year, which a team spokeswoman credited primarily to Edgar's Cantina. Poquitos sold over 900 orders of chapulines at the first three home games, at $4.00 for a cup. In 2019, the Mariners opened The 'Pen two and a half hours before the first pitch of Mariners home games, offering happy hour specials to encourage fans to arrive early. As many as 3,000 fans come to The 'Pen during each game. The 'Pen attracts large and often rowdy crowds due to its food and drink options. On April 13, 2013, a man was injured and required reconstructive surgery after a fight broke out over a table in The 'Pen. Two men turned themselves in, one of whom faced a felony assault charge. A team spokesperson said that the Mariners assign more uniformed police officers, private security guards, and alcohol enforcement officials to The 'Pen during special events, such as College Night. ==Artwork==
Artwork
T-Mobile Park and its adjoining parking garage feature extensive public art displays, including: • "The Tempest", a chandelier made of 1,000 resin baseball bats above the home plate entry. A companion 27-foot diameter compass rose mosaic at the home plate rotunda captures a number of elements in the history of baseball. It was created by Linda Beaumont, Stuart Keeler, and Michael Machnic. • "Quilts" depicting each MLB team logo, made from recycled metal including license plates from the respective teams' states (or the province of Ontario in the case of the Toronto Blue Jays, or the District of Columbia in the case of the Washington Nationals). The collection also includes references to the history of baseball in the Pacific Northwest. • The Defining Moment, a mural by Thom Ross depicting Edgar Martínez's famed "The Double". The first, of Mariners broadcaster Dave Niehaus (1935–2010), was unveiled on September 16, 2011, and installed in the main concourse near centerfield. It depicts Niehaus at his desk, where he called 5,284 Mariners games over 34 seasons from 1977 to 2010, with a scorebook filled with details from Game 5 of the 1995 American League Division Series, when Edgar Martínez hit "The Double", as written by Niehaus. After the 2017 season, the bat was broken off in an attempt to steal it, but a bystander from the office building across the street ran down the perpetrator and recovered the bat, which was subsequently reattached. A bronze statue of Edgar Martínez was installed in August 2021 on the south side of the stadium on the street that is named for the player. A statue of Ichiro Suzuki was unveiled on April 10, 2026, adjacent to the Griffey and Martínez statues. It depicts Suzuki, dressed in his rookie uniform from the 2001 season, in his signature batting stance with his upright bat in his right hand; the bat was broken during the unveiling ceremony. ==Notable events==
Notable events
Major League Baseball On April 21, 2012, Chicago White Sox pitcher Philip Humber pitched the 21st perfect game in Major League Baseball (MLB) history against the Mariners in his second start of the season. It was the third perfect game in White Sox history joining Charlie Robertson in 1922 and Mark Buehrle in 2009. Nearly 4 months later on August 15, Mariners pitcher Félix Hernández pitched the 23rd perfect game in MLB history and the first perfect game in Mariners history. This marked the second perfect game and third no-hitter at the park, all of which occurred in 2012. The stadium has hosted the MLB All-Star Game twice: in 2001 as Safeco Field and 2023 as T-Mobile Park. The 2001 edition was won by the American League—featuring eight players from the Mariners—in front of 47,364 spectators. The 2023 edition was won by the National League with 47,159 in attendance. The 2023 event used nearby Lumen Field for several events, including a fan festival and the MLB player draft. Minor league baseball The stadium has been temporarily used by local minor league teams for playoff games when their normal venues were unavailable. The Tacoma Rainiers played their 2010 Pacific Coast League playoff semifinal games at Safeco Field while Cheney Stadium underwent off-season renovations. The Rainiers won their series and advanced to the PCL Championship, which was played entirely on the road due to Safeco Field being unavailable. The Everett AquaSox of the Class A Northwest League played one game in the 2016 playoffs against the Spokane Indians at Safeco Field. The move was arranged after a rainstorm rendered the outfield at Everett Memorial Stadium unusable for several days. College baseball On May 4, 2007, a Pacific-10 Conference baseball attendance record was set when the Washington Huskies hosted defending national champion Oregon State Beavers in front of 10,421 spectators. Washington won the game, 6–2. College football The stadium hosted the 2001 Seattle Bowl, the first edition of the short-lived Seattle Bowl college football bowl game, on December 27, 2001. Georgia Tech defeated 11th-ranked Stanford, 24–14, before 30,144 fans. Soccer The stadium hosted several soccer matches before the opening of Lumen Field, which was designed for soccer. To prepare for soccer matches, the field has to be sodded to cover and replace the dirt infield. On March 2, 2002, the United States men's national soccer team played Honduras in a friendly match, winning 4–0 in front of a then-record crowd of 38,534. The stadium hosted four matches during the 2002 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup in November, including two matches featuring the U.S. women's national soccer team, as part of qualification for the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup. The first U.S. match, against Panama, had an attendance of 21,522; the second match, against Costa Rica, was attended by 10,079 fans. Seattle Sounders FC, a Major League Soccer team that plays at adjacent Lumen Field, once drafted plans to play a 2018 CONCACAF Champions League match at Safeco Field due to a potential scheduling conflict. Wrestling On March 30, 2003, the stadium hosted WrestleMania XIX, which set an all-time record attendance for the facility of 54,097. Concerts The first public concert at the stadium was for Paul McCartney on the 2013 Out There Tour. It was organized by Live Nation, who sought to open then-Safeco Field to more musical performances, and required a full week to prepare the stage in center field. Other • The stadium was the home to the Microsoft annual employee meeting until 2012, attracting over 20,000 employees. • Bernie Sanders held a rally for his 2016 presidential campaign on March 25. • The stadium hosted Nitro Circus Live on September 16, 2017. • On September 15, 2018, Russell M. Nelson, then President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, along with his wife, Wendy Watson Nelson, and Second Counselor Henry B. Eyring, held a devotional that was attended by 49,089 church members, friends, and members of the community. • Several local high schools and universities have held graduation ceremonies at the stadium. Issaquah High School's class of 2000 was the first to graduate at the stadium. ==See also==
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