Safeco Field
"Safeco" "The House That Griffey Built" "The Safe"
Location	1516 First Avenue S. Seattle, Washington 98134
Broke ground	March 8, 1997
Opened	July 15, 1999
Owner	Washington-King County Stadium Authority
Surface	Kentucky Bluegrass/Perennial Ryegrass blend
Construction cost	$517.6 million
Architect	NBBJ 360 Architecture
Tenants
Seattle Mariners (MLB) (1999-present)
Capacity
47,116
Dimensions
Left Field - 331 ft / 101 m Left-Center - 390 ft / 119 m Center Field - 405 ft / 123 m Right-Center - 386 ft / 118 m Right Field - 326 ft / 99 m

Safeco Field, sometimes simply referred to as "Safeco," is the home of the Seattle Mariners baseball club. The stadium has a retractable roof with a train line running under the roof when it is open. Trains can be heard blowing their horns during the games. The stadium seats 47,116 for baseball. It was the host for the 2001 MLB All-Star Game. Other events have been held at Safeco Field, including the 2001 college football Seattle Bowl and WWE WrestleMania XIX, which set a Safeco Field attendance record of 54,097 in 2003. Image File history File links Safeco_Field_logo. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 533 pixelsFull resolution (4368 × 2912 pixel, file size: 2. ... “Seattle” redirects here. ... is the 67th day of the year (68th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar). ... is the 196th day of the year (197th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar). ... ISO 4217 Code USD User(s) the United States, the British Indian Ocean Territory,[1] the British Virgin Islands, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, Panama, Caicos Islands, and the insular areas of the United States Inflation 2. ... NBBJ is a global architecture firm and design firm based in Seattle, Washington. ... Rendering: Oakland Athletics Cisco Field 360 Architecture is an architectural practice focused on planning, design and execution. ... Major league affiliations American League (1977–present) West Division (1977–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 42 Name Seattle Mariners (1977–present) Other nicknames The Ms Ballpark Safeco Field (1999–present) King County Domed Stadium (Kingdome) (1977-1999) Major league titles World Series titles (0) none AL Pennants (0) None... Major League Baseball (MLB) is the highest level of play in North American professional baseball. ... Year 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar). ... Major league affiliations American League (1977–present) West Division (1977–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 42 Name Seattle Mariners (1977–present) Other nicknames The Ms Ballpark Safeco Field (1999–present) King County Domed Stadium (Kingdome) (1977-1999) Major league titles World Series titles (0) none AL Pennants (0) None... Baseball on the professional, amateur, and youth levels is popular in North America, Central America, parts of South America, parts of the Caribbean, and East Asia. ... Telstra Stadium in Sydney, Australia is capable of being converted from a rectangular rugby football field to an oval for cricket and Australian rules football games This article is about the building type. ... A retractable roof is a technology used in many sports venues. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also popularly known as the Midsummer Classic, is an annual baseball game between players from the National League and the American League, currently selected by fan vote for the starting position players and by the respective managers (from the previous years World... The Seattle Bowl was a college football bowl game played in 2001 and 2002 between teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Pacific Ten Conference in Seattle, Washington. ... World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. ... WrestleMania XIX was the nineteenth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view produced by World Wrestling Entertainment. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 2003 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Safeco Field is located in the SoDo district of downtown Seattle, bounded by First Avenue S. to the west, and Edgar Martinez Drive S. (formerly S. Atlantic Street[1]) to the south, S. Royal Brougham Way to the north, and BNSF railroad tracks to the east. SoDo SoDo is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, that makes up part of the citys Industrial District. ... “Seattle” redirects here. ... Édgar Martínez (born January 2, 1963 in New York, New York, but raised in the Maguayo neighborhood of Dorado, Puerto Rico[1]) is a longtime Major League Baseball player who retired at the end of the 2004 season. ... The BNSF Railway (AAR reporting marks BNSF), headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, is one of the four remaining transcontinental railroads and one of the largest railroad networks in North America (only one competitor, the Union Pacific Railroad, is larger in size). ... Railroad or railway tracks are used on railways, which, together with railroad switches (points), guide trains without the need for steering. ...

History

On March 30, 1994, King 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 the financing of the stadium. The task force concluded that a sales tax increase of .01% would be sufficient to fund the stadium. King County held a special election in September 1995, asking the public for this sales tax increase. The measure was narrowly defeated. is the 89th day of the year (90th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar). ... King County redirects here; you may be looking for King County, Texas. ... Gary F. Locke, born January 21, 1950) was the Democratic governor of Washington (1997-2005), and the first American governor of Chinese descent in United States history. ... Telstra Stadium in Sydney, Australia is capable of being converted from a rectangular rugby football field to an oval for cricket and Australian rules football games This article is about the building type. ... The Kingdome, officially known as the King County Domed Stadium, and often referred to as simply The Dome, was owned and operated by King County, Washington. ... 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

A special session of the Washington State legislature was called, and on October 14, a new revenue package was authorized. The stadium would be funded by a credit against the state sales tax, Washington's Lottery funds, a .3% restaurant and bar tax, special license plates, and stadium admissions tax. The next week, the King County Council voted to approve this measure and created the Public Facilities District, which would own the stadium and oversee its construction. Official language(s) English Capital Olympia Largest city Seattle Area  Ranked 18th  - Total 71,342 sq mi (184,827 km²)  - Width 240 miles (385 km)  - Length 360 miles (580 km)  - % water 6. ... is the 287th day of the year (288th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Washingtons Lottery logo Washingtons Lottery is the official state lottery of Washington. ...

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, stating that they did not believe that public money should fund this project. In response, the Seattle Mariners held a news conference stating that they would either sell the team, or move the team from Seattle. After a public outcry, the King County Council voted to reaffirm their cooperation with the Mariners in building a new stadium. is the 252nd day of the year (253rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ...

Construction officially began on March 8, 1997 with a groundbreaking ceremony featuring Mariners star Ken Griffey, Jr. The naming rights to the stadium were sold to the Seattle-based insurance company Safeco. Construction continued until July 1999. The first game was played on July 15, 1999 against the San Diego Padres. The Padres won 3-2. is the 67th day of the year (68th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar). ... George Kenneth Griffey, Jr. ... Naming rights are the right to name a piece of property, either tangible property or an event, usually granted in exchange for financial considerations. ... Insurance, in law and economics, is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent loss. ... Safeco Corporation (NASDAQ: SAFC) is a major US-American national insurance company. ... 1999 is a common year starting on Friday Anno Domini (or the Current Era), and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... is the 196th day of the year (197th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar). ... Major league affiliations National League (1969–present) West Division (1969–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 6, 19, 31, 35, 42 Name San Diego Padres (1969–present) Other nicknames Pads, Friars Ballpark PETCO Park (2004–present) Qualcomm Stadium (1969-2003) a. ...

When Ken Griffey, Jr., returned to Safeco in 2007 with the Cincinnati Reds, he came to a hero's welcome, receiving gifts from the Mariners organization, and fellow former players Jay Buhner and Edgar Martinez. They unveiled a new poster that declared Safeco Field "The House That Griffey Built". The series was also noteworthy for the beginning of the Rally Fries tradition at Mariners games The following are the baseball events of the year 2007 throughout the world. ... Major league affiliations National League (1890–present) Central Division (1994–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 1, 5, 8, 10, 13, 18, 20, 24, 42 Name Cincinnati Reds (1958–present) Cincinnati Redlegs (1953-1958) Cincinnati Reds (1882-1953) Cincinnati Red Stockings (1876-1882) Other nicknames Big Red Machine, Redlegs[1] Ballpark... Jay Campbell Buhner (born August 13, 1964, in Louisville, Kentucky), nicknamed Bone, was a powerful right-handed hitter in Major League Baseball. ... Édgar Martínez (born January 2, 1963 in New York, New York, but raised in the Maguayo neighborhood of Dorado, Puerto Rico[1]) is a longtime Major League Baseball player who retired at the end of the 2004 season. ... Rally Fries are a tradition at Seattle Mariners home games wherein television commentators Dave Sims & Mike Blowers select one fan or group of fans per game to receive free French fries. ...

Features

Safeco Field has a unique retractable roof that only acts as an "umbrella" for the stands and field rather than forming a complete climate-controlled enclosure, as is the case with retractable roofs at Rogers Centre, Miller Park, Chase Field, and Minute Maid Park. “Parasol” redirects here. ... Rogers Centre, formerly known as SkyDome,[1] is a multi-purpose stadium in Toronto, Ontario, situated next to the CN Tower near the shores of Lake Ontario. ... Miller Park is a baseball stadium located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. ... Chase Field, also known as The BOB (after its original name, Bank One Ballpark), is a stadium located in Phoenix, Arizona across the street from the US Airways Center, which is used by many local teams including the NBAs Phoenix Suns. ... Minute Maid Park (formerly Enron Field and Astros Field) is a baseball stadium in Houston, Texas, that opened in 2000 to house the Houston Astros. ...

It is one of the few Major League ballparks to feature a manually operated scoreboard. A scoreboard is a large board for publicly displaying the score in a game or match. ...

The stadium adjoins a working railroad yard which can be seen from the balcony behind the center field seats. Trains traveling through the yard sound their horns, which can be heard in the stadium and during broadcasts. Before the 2001 All-Star game Major League Baseball requested that trains traveling through the yard during the game not sound their horns; the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway refused, citing safety concerns and Federal regulations. Major League Baseball (MLB) is the highest level of play in North American professional baseball. ... The BNSF Railway (AAR reporting marks BNSF), headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, is one of the four remaining transcontinental railroads and one of the largest railroad networks in North America (only one competitor, the Union Pacific Railroad, is larger in size). ...

Notable baseball events at Safeco Field

On May 4, 2007, an NCAA Pac-10 conference baseball attendance record was set at Safeco Field when the University of Washington hosted Oregon State in front of 10,421 spectators. ^[1] Washington won 6-2. is the 124th day of the year (125th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is now the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA, often said NC-Double-A) is a voluntary association of about 1200 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletics programs of many colleges and universities in the United States. ... The Pacific Ten Conference (Pac-10) is a college athletic conference which operates in the western United States. ... The University of Washington, founded in 1861, is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. ... Oregon State University (OSU) is a four-year research and degree-granting public university, located in Corvallis, Oregon in the United States. ...

Gallery

A view of Qwest Field, Safeco Field, and Mount Rainier from the top of the Space Needle Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2592x1944, 2318 KB) I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ...	Safeco Field's main entrance Image File history File links Safeco-entrance-2006-07-27. ...	A view of the left field entrance and the retractable roof Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2592x1728, 2203 KB) I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ...	Left Field Entrance Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2592x1944, 1225 KB) Safeco Field, Seattle, before a game between the Seattle Mariners and Oakland As, August 6, 2006. ...
A view of the southern stands Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 467 pixelsFull resolution (4164 × 2433 pixel, file size: 2. ...	Safeco Field during a Mariners game Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2592x1728, 2301 KB) I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Major league affiliations American League (1977–present) West Division (1977–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 42 Name Seattle Mariners (1977–present) Other nicknames The Ms Ballpark Safeco Field (1999–present) King County Domed Stadium (Kingdome) (1977-1999) Major league titles World Series titles (0) none AL Pennants (0) None...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Safeco Field

• Safeco Field home page
• ESPN Review

Coordinates: 47°35′28.38″N, 122°19′57.72″W Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... The Wikimedia Commons (also called Wikicommons) is a repository of free content images, sound and other multimedia files. ... The Kingdome, officially known as the King County Domed Stadium, and often referred to as simply The Dome, was owned and operated by King County, Washington. ... Also: 1977 (album) by Ash. ... Year 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar). ... Major league affiliations American League (1977–present) West Division (1977–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 42 Name Seattle Mariners (1977–present) Other nicknames The Ms Ballpark Safeco Field (1999–present) King County Domed Stadium (Kingdome) (1977-1999) Major league titles World Series titles (0) none AL Pennants (0) None... Year 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar). ... View from the outfield Turner Field is a baseball stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. ... The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also popularly known as the Midsummer Classic, is an annual baseball game between players from the National League and the American League, currently selected by fan vote for the starting position players and by the respective managers (from the previous years World... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... Miller Park is a baseball stadium located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. ... Rogers Centre, formerly known as SkyDome,[1] is a multi-purpose stadium in Toronto, Ontario, situated next to the CN Tower near the shores of Lake Ontario. ... WrestleMania XIX was the nineteenth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view produced by World Wrestling Entertainment. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 2003 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...