class="rtejustify">
TOKYO—Opening Day is still a week away for most MLB teams, but the Oakland A’s and the Seattle Mariners played their first regular season tilt in Japan this morning in order to get a jump start on their seasons and get them over as quickly as possible.
“All right boys,” hollered A’s manager Bob Melvin right before his team took the field, “Let’s get this shit over with. The sooner we start, the sooner we can all go home.”
Though the game ended up going 11 innings, much longer than the two sides had hoped, both teams were satisfied being one step closer to the off season.
“In our eyes, this is a race,” explained Mariners 3rd baseman Chone Figgins. “If other teams want to dick around in spring training for another week, be my guest, but our eyes are focused on finishing this thing quickly as possible, and by banging out these games early, we’re in first place.”
