Honoring Family in Seat Fleet
My big brother, Ryan, and my dog, Toby, are among the Seat Fleet flans cheering the Mariners during every home game this season.
Ryan passed away in September 2018 at the age of 45 from brain cancer. He was kind to everyone and a natural leader. He could take anything apart and put it back together. He was at home in wild land under a big sky. Whenever he came to visit me in Seattle, he liked going to Mariners games. He is still my hero.
Toby was my first dog, my soulmate. He was the perfect mutt. I adopted him when he was 11 months old, and he lived over 14 years. He liked tennis balls, dogs, running on sandy beaches, double bacon cheeseburgers, and broccoli. Toby, also, was a Mariners fan. We attended a Mariners Bark at the Park game together in 2016. The smile on his face in the photos from that game help tell his story.
When I first saw other MLB teams with photos of fans in place of real people in the stands, Ryan and Toby were the first who came to my mind. I was very excited when Seat Fleet was announced. It feels good to still be able to do something nice for Ryan and Toby from this side.
If there is a hot dog vendor who walks Ryan and Toby's section in the stadium, please give them each a hot dog, with ketchup and onions for Ry and just plain for Toby, and charge it to my card.
Go Mariners!