Steve Kelley / Times staff columnist
Show-me fans hit the boos early

	MARK HARRISON / THE SEATTLE TIMES Ichiro can't get a handle on Jose Molina's double off the right-field wall in the sixth inning. The Angels scored four runs in the inning, forcing starting pitcher Jamie Moyer from the game.
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The first ground ball in his new ballpark. A room-service, first-inning-ending, 6-4-3 double play.

But as new Mariners shortstop Rich Aurilia glided toward second base, the ball took a weird wrinkle just before it hit his glove. He bobbled Vladimir Guerrero's grounder, then tried to quick-flip it to second baseman Bret Boone just as Boone stepped away from second base.

E-6. And the season's first boos.

"It's part of being a professional. You boot the first ball hit to you and you hear a few boos," former San Francisco Giant Aurilia said with a wry chuckle. "Then you get up and you hit a broken-bat blooper to the pitcher and you hear a few boos. Then you come up in the eighth and drive in a couple of runs and they love you."

There was a lot of love outside Safeco Field, just before noon yesterday. A sardined crowd of almost 1,000 counted down the final 10 seconds before the front gates opened to signal the beginning of another season.

It felt like Sodo Times Square.

The clocks struck 12. The crowd cheered. Confetti shot into the air. And teenage kids took the stairs two at a time in a race to claim the prime locations to watch batting practice or shag autographs.

Another Mariners April began with dreams of October.

Each player and coach entered the stadium from behind the right-center-field wall, under an outfield canopy of blue and white balloons. Fireworks exploded from behind the top of the left-field wall.

Maria D'Amato and Michael Todd Simpson from the Seattle Opera boomed the national anthem. Former Mariners closer Norm Charlton threw out the first pitch. Gold Glove trophies were presented to Ichiro, Boone and John Olerud.

The sun shone on this crisp April day. The roof was opened to a cerulean blue sky. Optimism bubbled like Dom Perignon.

And then David Eckstein lined Jamie Moyer's second pitch of the season for a single. And the first American League ground ball to Aurilia was bobbled.

"I missed it. That's all," Aurilia said after the 10-5 loss to Anaheim. "If that's the worst thing that can happen then it's OK with me. You know what? I get that same play tomorrow and I turn it over for a double play. It's part of the game. You just take it in stride."

Moyer got out of the first inning without allowing a run. That escape turned out to be the highlight of the day.

It was a dreadful opener. The worst since the Bill Plummer bummer in 1992. This April day in Seattle had all the drama of March in Peoria.

Moyer wasn't himself. He fell behind hitters. He gave up three long home runs, two to dead center to Troy Glaus and one over the Pepsi sign in left to Jose Molina. He allowed six runs in 5-2/3 innings.

The theme on this Opening Day was money.

The Angels went after the expensive free agents last winter, making a statement to their fans. The Mariners didn't, making an altogether different statement to theirs.

	MARK HARRISON / THE SEATTLE TIMES Ichiro can't get a handle on Jose Molina's double off the right-field wall in the sixth inning. The Angels scored four runs in the inning, forcing starting pitcher Jamie Moyer from the game.

The Angels' new payroll additions looked like bargains in their Anaheim debuts.

Through six innings, Anaheim's new $51 million ace, Bartolo Colon, threw 98 mph fastballs the Mariners couldn't hit.

Guerrero, the new right fielder the Angels spent $70 million to get, drove in the final two Angels runs with a wall-denting double to center.

Meanwhile the Mariners slumbered. Boone overswung on two Colon fastballs and popped out twice to second, then finished an 0-for-5 day with two strikeouts. Edgar Martinez took two called third strikes.

Dan Wilson was caught stealing. Reliever Kevin Jarvis didn't make it out of the eighth inning. The first two hitters Ron Villone faced — Darin Erstad and Guerrero — singled and doubled.

And Aurilia mishandled a throw from Ichiro that beat Adam Kennedy on Kennedy's second-inning double.

Aurilia is a proven commodity, but he also is one of the Mariners who will spend the summer under the harsh glare of Seattle's show-me fans.

He is the shortstop Seattle got instead of Miguel Tejada or Kazuo Matsui or Omar Vizquel. And some of the boos he heard yesterday were directed as much at the Mariners front office as they were at him.

"You have to shake this off," Aurilia said. "I'm not a rookie. I've played for eight years. ... You come back, make a few plays, get a hit, and hopefully all's forgotten.

"I'm sure it's going to take some time for me to get used to the ballpark and the background. By accident I found myself checking the National League scores on the scoreboard."

But the only score that mattered was the one on the field in front of him. The Mariners lost 10-5. On Opening Day, at least, the team that spent the big bucks made all the big plays.

Steve Kelley: 206-464-2176 or skelley@seattletimes.com

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