Let’s remember when T-Mobile Park (formerly Safeco Field) opened, on this day in 1999 (July 15)
It was twenty years ago today when the building that has since given the Seattle area more misery than any other opened.
Per HistoryLink:
On July 15, 1999, Safeco Field — a long-sought, baseball-only stadium with a retractable roof — opens to critical acclaim and some public resentment. The new half-billion dollar home of the Seattle Mariners is the product of a financing plan thrashed out by the state legislature after a different public-private financing plan was narrowly defeated at the polls. Construction is rushed and made more difficult by many design changes. But when the building opens, it is a showcase for the city and a moneymaker for the Mariners.
That day, the Mariners lost to the San Diego Padres, 3–2. Though the Mariners would make the playoffs in 2000 and 2001, those would be the last years the Mariners see playoff action. After being swept in Anaheim over the weekend, the Mariners are now 39–58.
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