SEATTLE — Friday's Opening Day for the Mariners also signals an economic comeback for restaurants and businesses in Seattle’s Pioneer Square and SoDo neighborhoods.
The iconic glove, just outside the gates of T-Mobile park, sat alone early Friday morning, waiting for what is to come.
"Seattle has the best sports fans ever," said Anna Saito, the senior manager of hospitality at Elysian Brewing.
Especially Mariners fans, with nearly 47,000 of them expected to fill the seats at a sold-out T-Mobile Park Friday evening for the long-awaited home opener.
It's also the first time nearby Elysian Brewing, just down the block near Lumen Field, has opened its doors on a Mariner's game day in more than two years.
"Everyone chanting whether it's the Mariners, Seahawks. It's just the energy and the more excited they are, the more amped they are, it just gets us really, really stoked to be a part of," said Saito.
Saito said the field house struggled leading into the pandemic and had to close in March of 2020. They got back up and running full-time in February 2022.
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"It's bigger than just this restaurant, it's this whole area during the gamedays, it's like a community event and you know, they succeed, we succeed, they succeed and that's how we look at it," said Saito.
According to Alliance for Pioneer Square, last spring Pioneer Square saw an 18% increase in daily visitor foot traffic. It said this year, foot traffic has already nearly doubled what they saw in 2021 and that's before the first pitch.
Meanwhile, Saito said 81 home games, should bring in big bucks to the neighborhood. With the possibility of even more, if the M's play up to their offseason expectations, finally breaking the dreaded playoff drought that's been plaguing this city for 20 years.
"I hope they make the playoffs obviously, but I can only imagine what that would do for the city as well it's bigger than us," said Saito.
The gates at T-Mobile Park will be open to fans Friday at 4:40 p.m.