Mariners Virtual Baseball Blast to provide 2 weeks of FanFest-like experience

Each year, the entries of FanFest and Mariners Pre-Spring Training Luncheon on the calendar mean one thing: spring training is right around the corner. They mark the last hurrah for the baseball without baseball season, with actual cracks of the bats and pops of the glove on the near horizon.

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This year the entries are a little different with Mariners Virtual Baseball Blast taking their place – and instead of filling a couple of days, a full block is crossed off.

What exactly is the Mariners Virtual Baseball Blast? The Mariners are billing the extravaganza as “60 Mariners. 60 Events. One Ultimate Virtual Baseball Party.” In other words, tons of virtual access for fans with online events that are scheduled to take place the last two weeks of January and will include 60 current and former Mariners players, coaches, top front office executives and broadcasters.

“Since we aren’t able to welcome 20,000 fans to T-Mobile Park this month for FanFest, we’re bringing Mariners Baseball directly to the fans,” said Mariners Sr. Vice President of Marketing and Communications Kevin Martinez in a press release. “The Virtual Baseball Bash lets us connect in meaningful ways with fans all across the Northwest to give them an unprecedented opportunity to virtually interact with our players. Until we can all get together again for FanFest in real life, the Virtual Baseball Bash is a great way to get primed for the 2021 season.”

So no zipline or autographs but plenty of opportunity to hear from and interact with manager Scott Servais and general manager Jerry Dipoto, 2020 American League Rookie of the Year Kyle Lewis, Gold Glovers J.P. Crawford and Evan White, veterans Marco Gonzales and Kyle Seager, and future stars such as Logan Gilbert, Jarred Kelenic and Julio Rodríguez in events that will include clubhouse chats, live media sessions, social media takeovers and more.

The 20th anniversary of the 116-win 2001 team will be highlighted as well, with appearances by members of the team and a roundtable hosted by Rick Rizzs on the Mariners YouTube channel featuring Bret Boone, Mike Cameron, Tom Lampkin, Aaron Sele and Norm Charlton.

The kids will have their day too with Jan. 30 dedicated to content for the younger fans. The day will kick off with a light workout with the Mariners Moose and include a kids press conference with Jake Fraley and Shed Long Jr. All events will be hosted on YouTube.

The complete, updated Baseball Bash event schedule is available at Mariners.com/BaseballBash.

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