…then again, it gave an awful lot of people chills. The bleacher creatures were unexpectedly showered with snow at one point during the sixth inning. Back in Ye OIde Days, the baseball season didn’t start until late April, and I think a few chilly fans wouldn’t have minded it if spring had warmed up a bit.

Ah well.

Erik Bedard proved that he’s going to be an entertaining pitcher for awhile, where “entertaining” means “giving fans ulcers.” The M’s offensive engine sputtered for most of the night, but got it going when they needed to.

But, to heck with all of that. Safeco Field is once again open for business. Cooperstown inductee-to-be Dave Niehaus got (and milked for all it was worth) a warm standing ovation before throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. A cute kid, a brain surgery survivor, got to run around the bases and yell “Play Ball!” Some of the vendors had run out of large hot dogs by the third inning. Baseball season is here.

Oh, and then there was the post-game crowd that gathered at the Royal Brougham tracks, watching a long, long southbound freight train roll slowly by. Just as the southbound train was down to its last two cars and the crowd starting to rev up, a long, long northbound train blocked the intersection from the other direction. When the second train finally ended, the crowd of a thousand people or more cheered wildly for the rear-facing locomotive. It may have been a first in recent railroading history.