The Spokesman-Review from Spokane, Washington • a9

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nothing like a fresh coat The paint you choose can mean everything. Come in today and let our experts help you find the right color and supplies you need. The Western Vac- uum When I was grow- ing up in Denver, it had no major league team. So I became a Minnesota Twins fan. Why? Because I got out an atlas and a ruler and calculated (possibly erroneously) that Minneapolis was the closest major league city.

But when my wife, Car- ol, and I moved to greater Seattle in 1979, there was, for the first time in our lives, a HOME TEAM. A particularly inept home team, playing in a particularly cavernous domed stadium, but we care. We had fi- nally found a team in our actual geographic region. It was love at first sight. The Guy Trip to the Kingdome When we moved to Spokane in 1989, we had no problem keeping our Mariners addiction stoked.

Spo- kane was well within the Mariners TV and radio market, which was one of the many attrac- tions. We also came up with various stratagems for attending games, a task made easier by one quirk of the interstate highway system. If you hop onto Interstate 90 in Spokane and stay on it all the way to Milepost Zero, you are deposited more or less in the parking lot of the Kingdome, or now T-Mobile Park. The ease of navigation was the impetus for one infamous trip, known as the Guy Trip to the Kingdome, in which a bunch of us guys played hooky from work, got in a van at 8 a.m., drove to the Kingdome, watched a game, hopped back in the van, and drove back to Spokane (with a strategic stop at the Brick Tavern in Roslyn), all in the same day. This is a trip that Carol and I have repli- cated numerous times (minus the Brick Tavern) when there is a particu- larly attractive day game.

The Pregnancy Home Run In those early years in Seattle, we bought bleacher seats as often as we could, and sometimes when we When Carol was pregnant with our first child in 1980, she was two weeks overdue and miserable. How to in- duce labor? The solution was obvious to this pair of Mariners nerds: Go to a game at the Kingdome! So we sat in the outfield bleachers, alert to any incipient contractions. Nothing. But sudden- ly, the crowd roared, we looked up and saw a home run ball arcing directly toward rather impressive belly. My first reaction was to stand in front and shield her.

I even try to catch the ball but the guy behind us did. He looked at Carol, offered her the ball, and said, is for the She declined his kind offer. But later that night, her contractions began and our son Mike was born the next day. Now, that was a useful Mari- ners home run ball. The Stress-Free Na- ture of Mariners fan- dom People sometimes ask, it just stressful to be a Mariners fan? All of that They understand a crucial point.

There is no stress in rooting for a losing team. Frustra- tion, yes. Aggravation, sure. What is stressful is rooting for a contending team. Expectations are high and every game counts.

Rooting for the Mar- iners has been most seasons blissfully easy. Expectations are low, losses are no big deal and the occasional victory is a gift. Tickets are easy to get, the concessions lines are short and the re- strooms are uncrowded. There have been ex- ceptions to the rule the 1995, 2001 and 2022 sea- sons come to mind. get me wrong, those have been great, rewarding seasons.

Yet angst-free they were not. The Viking Tavern Victory Celebration A losing tradition has one other consolation. It take much win- ning to generate a sense of triumph. Case in point, our Viking Tavern Victory Celebration in 1991. I joined four of my fellow Mariners fans at this great Spokane watering hole to raise a glass to the Seattle Mariners in honor of a record-breaking feat: They had just won their 82nd game the night be- fore, clinching their first winning season.

Yes, it took the Mar- iners 15 years to finally have a winning season. Yes, the team ended up with only 83 wins that year, which put them in fifth place in their divi- sion, 12 games back of the leaders. Still, this was a moment worth celebrat- ing. We were nearly as happy at that moment as we were in 2001, when they won 116. (Well, not really).

The Cadre of Mari- ners Die-Hards Over the years, a tight cadre of our fellow enthusiasts Anne, Johnny, Leslie, Cleve, Lyle, Rick, Rick and more have formed a bond over our shared Mariner mania. We have celebrated the successes and mostly ignored the failures. When Edgar Martinez was voted into the Hall of Fame, we in- vited Anne over, raised a glass with her and fought back a tear. One summer, when I was reeling from a family crisis, Anne surprised us with an offer to join her and her husband at our happy place, a Mariners baseball game. That game was a Retro Cap Day pro- motion, so we all scored new Mariners caps.

That cap has been my go-to headwear for the past five years, and every time I slap it on my head, I think about that wonderful gesture. The Mariners have also been a great source of family bonding. Not only are my son and daughter fans, but our grandsons are becoming fans. They especially love Julio Ro- driguez, a character any 7-year-old can relate to. Mariners Fantasy Camp The pinnacle of Mariners nerd-dom is attendance at a Mariners Fantasy Camp, where middle-aged fans pretend to be major leaguers for a week.

Yes, I actually achieved that pinnacle in 2004. In my defense, I was not an actual camper, but an employee, thanks to my friend Mike Mur- phey, who ran the camp. As an employee, I got to play in all of the games two games a day, most days. I ended up with a sparkling .200 batting average. I still have my official fantasy camp baseball card to prove it.

And that, as promised, is the explanation for why I own a full Mariners baseball costume, I mean, uniform. Everybody who participated in camp received one. By the way, this seems like an op- portune time to publicly apologize to Edgar Mar- tinez for putting No. 11 on my uniform. The real Mariners have rightfully retired that number.

But this was pretend baseball, and I prefer to think of my choice as an homage, not a rip-off. (I would also like to apologize to Edgar for hitting .200 while wearing his num- ber.) Making the Playoffs Now is the time for all of us Mariners nerds to bask in the glory of finally making the playoffs. Fans have broken out their Mariners hats and jerseys all over Spokane this week, and I tip my cap to them. I am not speaking metaphorically. I have actually tipped my trident cap to a few fans while shopping for groceries at Super One.

Will the Mariners win? I sure hope so. But if they the love affair will not weaken among the Cadre of Die-Hards. just not the way this nerd-dom works. Jim Kershner is a retired Spokesman-Review columnist. He can be reached at comcast.net.

MARINERS Continued from 1 COURTESY PHOTOS Jim grandson Gus, standing, and Noah, seated on left, on the outfield berm at a Mariners spring training game in Peoria, in 2018. Jim Kershner, wearing part of his Mariners 2022. FrOM tHe FrOnt PaGe cattle to Tyson Foods and another unnamed com- pany, in an effort to cover expenses from losses sus- tained trading in commod- ity futures. His legal team requested a sentence that included three years of pro- bation, including one year of home confinement, but no jail time. Prosecutors, meanwhile, asked U.S.

District Court Judge Stanley A. Bastian to sentence Easterday to be- tween a decade and years in custody, citing the amount of the theft and that his admission of guilt came only after Tyson began in- vestigating the missing cat- tle at the end of 2020. Vanessa Waldref, U.S. At- torney for Eastern Wash- ington, called the scheme massive, brazen and long- term we really have a case where gambling with the livelihood of his employees, the entirety of his multimillion-dol- lar ranching Waldref said in an interview Tuesday, after attending the sentencing hearing in Yaki- ma. gambling is not going to the slots and hav- ing a problem at your own Bastian sided with the government, handing down the 132-month sentence and ordering Easterday to repay $244 million.

Easterday Ranches en- tered into agreements with Tyson to buy cattle and raise them to the proper weight for slaughter. Easterday would then bill Tyson for the costs incurred raising the cattle. The federal govern- ment accused Easterday of wire fraud because invoices for repayment that included the nonexistent cattle were sent by email across state lines, in a scheme that lasted from 2016 to 2020. attorney, Carl Oreskovich, said sentence frankly, took our breath family is devas- tated. We were expecting something different.

a big Oreskovich said. Two courtrooms were filled with supporters, and several community members sub- mitted letters to Bastian on behalf, calling him an altruistic member of the community who helped employees, including mi- grant workers. defense asked the judge to reduce his sen- tence because the scheme was and not used finance a lavish Prosecutors, on the other hand, argued that Easterday stole more than what he lost trading on the market and questioned whether the di- agnosis of gambling addic- tion was sound. Companies belonging to the Easterday family have been involved in bankrupt- cy proceedings prompted by the fraud investigation, and Cody sen- tencing hearing had been delayed five times to accom- modate the resolution of the complicated bankrupt- cy. Easterday agreed to a restitution amount of $244 million based on payments made to cover fraudulent invoices.

The companies have provided close to $66 million in restitution to Ty- son and other creditors, ac- cording to court documents. Waldref credited the Fraud Section of the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., for assisting on the case, and Assistant U.S. At- torney Brian Donovan for helping navigate the bank- ruptcy proceedings and pushing for restitution. The case was also handled local- ly by Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell Smoot.

is a pretty extraor- dinary example of how fraud has devastating im- pacts on our Waldref said, referencing the bankruptcy and tying the fraud to the rising cost of food at supermarkets. Oreskovich said the bank- ruptcy proceedings been finalized, though the assets have been liquidated and the courts must decide who receives what in compensation. Easterday will be allowed to report to prison on his own. The terms of the plea agreement do not permit him to appeal the sentence based on its length, Ore- skovich said. Kip Hill can be reached at (509) 459-5429 or at spokesman.com.

EASTERDAY Continued from 1.