Mariners Update

Opponent: Oakland Athletics

When: 7:05 p.m. today, 7:15 p.m. Saturday and 1:35 p.m. Sunday

Where: Safeco Field, Seattle

TV: Fox Sports Net (cable), all three games

Radio: KIRO (710 AM), all three games

Probable starters: Today – Seattle right-hander Freddy Garcia (17-6, 2.98 earned run average) vs. left-hander Mark Mulder (20-7, 3.49);

Saturday – Seattle left-hander Jamie Moyer (18-5, 3.25) vs. right-hander Erik Hiljus (4-0, 3.57)

Sunday – Seattle right-hander Aaron Sele (14-5, 3.64) vs. right-hander Tim Hudson (16-3, 3.38)

Fans’ actions draw police attention: Police are investigating alleged threats made to Seattle utility player Mark McLemore during Tuesday night’s game against the Texas Rangers at The Ballpark in Arlington.

McLemore, playing center field that night, claims several spectators in the bleachers behind him shouted that they’d “blow up” his home in the Fort Worth suburb of Southlake. McLemore

McLemore, who at one time played for Texas, said he was troubled that the spectators knew his address. He alerted umpires during the eighth inning of Seattle’s 13-2 victory over the Rangers, and two spectators were removed from the stadium.

“I don’t take that stuff lightly,” McLemore told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “I’ve played for 15 years, and I’m used to heckling. But that wasn’t about baseball. That was about my family, and they’re the most important thing to me.”

Ballpark security alerted Arlington police, who filed a terroristic threat report.

Sgt. James Hawthorne said police planned to speak with McLemore about the incident and with two fans who were involved.

“At this point, it’s going to follow the normal investigative process,” Hawthorne said Thursday. “We’ll make decisions down the road as to the legitimacy of the events as they may have occurred.”

Seattle manager Lou Piniella removed McLemore from the game after the eighth inning. Major league baseball security escorted him home and searched his property, but found nothing unusual.

Playoff ticket mania: About 50 people began camping out at Safeco Field on Thursday to try to secure playoff tickets, which go on sale at 9 a.m. today.

Postseason tickets aren’t being sold over the phone or Internet for the American League division series that begins Oct. 9 at Safeco. About 15,000 tickets are available to the general public, with a four per-person limit.

The second game is Oct. 11, and, if necessary, a fifth game would be played Oct. 15 in Seattle. Tickets for that game would go on sale later.

“These are the true fans,” Don Fernandez, a 49-year-old graphic designer who was one of the campers. “You get a lot of corporate clowns who say ‘We’ve got box seats’ and they’ve been to two games all year.”

Some fans had been lined up since early Wednesday.

“We played baseball this morning” to pass the time, said Jessy Dalay, a 49-year-old construction worker, who had been in line since noon Wednesday. “I’ve got like 15 to 18 people ahead of me.”

Ticketmaster is selling tickets at 162 centers in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia. The ticket-sales giant was handing fans wristbands which are typically used for random distribution for popular concerts.

The wristbands, which are marked with identifying numbers, do not guarantee tickets. At 8 a.m. Friday, an hour before tickets go on sale, a drawing will be held to determine the order of people in the ticket line.

Friends Joshua Hicks and Josh Melhorn, recent graduates of the University of Washington, were in a group of about 20 people with four tents. They carefully calculated their probability of watching the postseason from inside the stadium: 15,000 tickets divided by four tickets per person, divided by the number of ticket windows, and then the number of windows at Safeco Field.

They’re certain the math makes them ticket-holders. Melhorn, 23, sat on a red cooler packed with food and soda, a tired look on his face.

“No beer,” he said. “We don’t want to take the chance of getting in trouble.”

“The Pyramid Alehouse is right across the street,” added Hicks, 23.

Mariners, Boeing care: The South Kitsap Eastern Little League, which serves the Port Orchard area, has been awarded the 2001 Boeing-Mariners Care Athletic Field grant worth $75,000. The grant, awarded annually to finish or improve youth baseball fields in Washington, will be used to build a Little League regulation-sized field for players (ages 13-18) in the Junior, Senior and Big League Divisions. The Boeing Mariners Care Athletic Field Grant program is in its 17th year and has contributed nearly $1.3 million to youth baseball in the state. Last year’s grant went to Pacific Little League for extensive renovations at the Lynndale Park in Lynnwood.

Herald news services