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By John Wolfson
Seattle Times staff reporter

In all the excitement of a Mariners game, you've lost track of the count. You glance up at one of Safeco Field's 11 electronic scoreboards that ring the stadium and there it is: 2-and-2. It was nothing for you, just a casual glance up. But did you know 20 people are crammed into a room upstairs, hustling in a broadcast-quality production studio just so you'll know the count exactly when you want to? Well, they're doing a lot more than that, of course, but know this: Somebody up there updates the boards with every pitch. The Mariners consider their $7.7 million scoreboard system the finest in baseball.

	MARK J. TERRILL / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
	Kazuhiro Sasaki arrives at mound during the All-Star Game at Safeco Field, which has a $7.7 million scoreboard system.

Somebody's watchin' me: Three cameras, one on each baseline and one hand-held, do nothing but supply in-house images for the 26-feet-by-46-feet centerfield video screen. Producers relay instant replays, crowd shots and more over the screen.

Power for the people: 380 computer processors and 18 separate devices are required to run the scoreboard system.

Tell me, what's goin' on? The play-by-play boards above the first and third baselines provide running game summaries and are a first in the majors.

Catch of the day: The Mariners employ a team of two people to mix video, graphics and music, creating highlight clips for the giant video screen. You'll rarely see the same clip twice; new ones are created nearly every day.