Refuse to Lose 303
team play in person. But they’re on TV in Japan where Ichiro is a god. I
went to Japan and thanked him. The first thing he said, through his in-
terpreter, was ‘Oh Mr. Senator, how is our team doing?’
“Baseball is by far the greatest sport,” Gorton says. “Those six months
of the year when there is no baseball are just wasted.” His daughter Sarah
found the perfect Christmas present for a man whose best friend is a dog
named Triple Play—a device that provides play-by play updates, batting
averages and all the other statistics, as well as trades and news in the off
season.
Ken Griffey Jr. and Gorton at the groundbreaking for Safeco Field in 1997. The
Kingdome looms in the background. Seattle Mariners