ARLINGTON, Texas — If you listened hard enough in the stunned silence of Globe Life Field, when the earsplitting music had subsided and most of the 26,494 fans watched as a 21-year-old phenomenon they will have to endure for years to come rounded the bases, that raspy, unforgettable baritone voice of days gone by could be heard.
It could be heard in the homes of Mariners fans around the Pacific Northwest and in places far away where believers in “Sodo Mojo,” “Refuse To Lose,” “Two outs? So what” and a little of that old-time religion reside.
When Julio Rodriguez unloaded on a 3-2 fastball from Jose Leclerc in eighth inning, sending a towering flyball over the wall in center field for the Mariners’ first grand slam of the season, to turn a one-run nail-biter into what would be an easy 8-3 victory — their 12th in a row — Mariners fans of all ages and intensity, knew that somewhere Dave Niehaus was screaming in exultant jubilee, “Get out the rye bread and mustard, grandma, because it’s grand salami time!”
