 |
 |
 |
|
SEATTLE, WASH. (Sportsman's Daily Wire Service) -- Martin Corson was 14 years old in 1969 when he visited Sick's Stadium in Seattle to watch major league baseball with his dad. The Seattle Pilots were one of two new American League teams to enter the majors (the other was the Kansas City Royals) as part of baseball's expansion. However, interest in the team wasn't particularly high, and attendance suffered. The team moved the very next season and became the Milwaukee Brewers, where they've remained since 1970.
But like many old-time Dodgers fans who still dream of the day their heroes will return to Brooklyn, Corson, now 52, holds vigil for his beloved Pilots to return to the Emerald City. He is often seen outside the electronics plant where Sick's Stadium once stood, aimlessly wandering around. On occasion he'll ask plant workers "is this where the ballplayers park was?"
It was explained to Corson on several occasions that Seattle has had a major league team for the past 31 seasons called the Mariners. "I'm well aware of those guys," Corson said. "But it's not the same thing. When you attach yourself to one team, you can't simply replace it with another."
It mystifies some Seattle area fans how a team that lasted just one season could possibly mean so much to one person.
Corson's father, Paul, is 78 years old. The curmudgeonly former fisherman was particularly blunt about his son's hopes. "Marty's off his rocker if he thinks the Pilots are coming back here," he said. "For cryin' out loud, this town can't support two baseball teams. The Pilots were pathetic anyway. Besides, I doubt any of those guys are still in playing shape."
The elder Corson paused a moment to collect his thoughts and gain control of his overwhelming sadness.
"The whole thing is just so depressing," he said. "I did my best to raise Marty on my own because his mom was a vicious alcoholic who left us both when the kid was six months old. It was one weird scene when my old lady split. She threw a couple of frozen TV dinners in the oven, packed her bags and told us she was leaving us forever to fulfill her lifelong dream of becoming the Pope."
When asked how many Pilots games he attended, the younger Corson told the Sportsman's Daily "two." So why the fanatical devotion and the almost fatal attraction to the Pilots? Paul Corson says it's because backup second baseman Gus Gil told his son he'd sign a ball for him. "Marty didn't have a pen," the King County retiree said. "So Gil told him to wait and he'd run into the dugout and grab one, but he never came back out to sign. Marty waited for an entire hour, and then for another hour by the players entrance. Nothing.
Most would think something like that would sour a young fan forever, but Martin Corson truly believes that Gil will still sign when the Pilots return to Seattle.
Major League Baseball confirmed that there are "no plans in the next 200 years or so to put a second team in Seattle." MLB also couldn't verify the whereabouts of the Venezuela-born Gil but did acknowledge he is still alive.
For more satirical stories like this, check out The Sportsman's Daily home page.
