The Front Row with JASON ELLIOTT Aug. 3, 2011

For a few hours on Sunday, I felt alone — with no friends in the world.

And that had nothing to do with the two guys with my tickets to the Seattle Mariners-Tampa Bay Rays game coming from Oregon having car trouble.

AS GATES were opening on Sunday afternoon, it seemed like wearing a Mariners jersey may have been a bad idea.

Any other time of the year, the streets along Safeco Field are filled with fans, ready to root for the Mariners.

Those fans were a little late to the party this time around.

The crowd total of 20,382 were present to watch as Jeremy Hellickson took a no-hitter into the sixth inning. Tampa Bay jumped out early on the Mariners, who committed three errors in the loss and looked more like that team that had lost 17 of 18 games entering the weekend.

In the long run, Sunday’s outcome won’t likely affect much with Tampa Bay looking up at Boston and New York in the AL East, but with a half-empty Safeco Field and fans not showing up at the end of July, believe me when I say good seats are available — even if the seating hosts don’t let you sit there.

BY THE time the first pitch had been thrown, I’d also been paying attention to the transition across the street at Qwest Field, (now called CenturyLink Field).

When it first opened in 2002 under the name Seahawks Stadium, the team hadn’t won a playoff game in a long, long time.

That changed in 2005 once Lofa Tatupu joined the Seahawks as a rookie, leading the team to four playoff appearances, including one Super Bowl appearance.

Tatupu was released on Sunday, capping a week when the team also told Matt Hasselbeck that he’d no longer be the quarterback.

As usual, driving into Seattle, I was greeted with Matt's face on the poster along the CenturyLink Field parking garage. By Monday afternoon, his image was gone, leaving only the memory of his final performance in the playoffs as the lasting image of his time in Seattle.

AS SPORTS tend to do, players leave and new players come up through the ranks and eventually replace those stars.

Monday night was a good indication the tides are turning as rookie Dustin Ackley came up big at the plate in an 8-4 Mariners win.

Monday's crowd of 23,335 was awake and full of energy, with most of them hanging around until the end of the game.

More importantly than getting the win, they showed there is still something about coming to the ballpark - people talking in center field, even if they're not watching the game, getting up to do the wave in the eight inning with a five-run lead.

Better late than not at all.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for The Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected].