Something to Play About
Consecutive victories at Safeco--against the Red Sox no less--is great news for Edward McMichael, he of the plodding tuba melodies that serenade you into the the hallowed halls of sparse victories and overpriced MGD in a plastic bottle. He's easily as famous as the players among local Mariners fans and often better liked. Here he shares his thoughts on Strauss and the view from the bleachers.
Hey Ed, can I ask you a few questions?
(He stands, lips surrounded by a bright red halo from the hours of playing) Sure, anything to get me away from Tubby.
Tubby? How long have you had him... or her?
This one, (he pats his dinged but beloved instrument) since 1992.
Why so many juice bottles?
So I don't get dehydrated. Playing the tuba dehydrates you.
When you're not playing, what do you listen to?
That would be anything by Richard Strauss (composer of Also Sprach Zarathustra, which was used as the opening theme of 2001: A Space Odyssey). And on a Sunday even Franz Joseph Hayden. And anything by Paul Hindemith, he was a professional violinist, but he didn't ignore other instruments.
Speaking of classical, I saw you outside the opera last fall. Are opera patrons better for business or sports fans?
It's better to play here, or Qwest Field.
So what do you, as someone who works right across the street, think should be done with the viaduct?
Tunnel. Like, put that thing underground so everyone down here might have a view of Puget Sound.
***
A man sits down in McMichael's chair while we're chatting. "Hey, Ed!" Apparently they're neighbors. "He has a hat collection beyond belief," The neighbor tells me. Today McMichael is wearing a witch hat with frankenhands out the top.
At that moment another man walks up with a bag of Dick's burgers. "Did you use the tickets I gave you?" the fan asks. McMichael just smiles and nods--he didn't, but baseball isn't what he came for.
"It's great," McMichael says, gesturing across at all the fans streaming by on a temperate afternoon for a night with the boys of summer, however bad their season might be going.
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