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As I mentioned in Monday’s commentary, I spent Labor Day in the backyard building a deck out of reclaimed wood. Yesterday afternoon, I finally got the edges trimmed so that it was ready to paint.

It’s 15 feet by 8 feet, and I like to paint with a brush, but that involves a lot of kneeling and bending over.

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And I wasn’t really looking forward to it because I didn’t get my nap, and I’d been up since 4 a.m. But you don’t waste a dry day in the Pacific Northwest.

So I switched on my little transistor radio and started sweeping off the deck and heard that the Mariners were playing Cincinnati. That should be interesting.

So, I started painting. As I worked, Julio Rodriguez scored a homerun.

Then I realized there were some holes that I needed to caulk, which meant more bending over, but for some reason, I was really excited to caulk them.

And then I had to work the paint between the deck boards, which involved getting down on all fours, but somehow, despite not having a nap, I just kept working.

And then a second home run by Julio!

By the seventh inning, I had more than half of the deck painted, but for some reason, I didn’t feel like taking a break, so I just kept painting.

“It’s a pinch hit! Three-run home run by Nick Martini, and the Reds have tied the game at six to six,” the radio announces.

And now my back is starting to hurt, and I’m wondering if it’s really worth it to be painting between the individual deck boards.

“A throw to the plate but not in time, De La Cruz with a head-first slide, and the Cincinnati Reds come from behind to win it tonight,” the radio exclaimed.

And then, they lost. Very sad.

Except, not very sad. Since the Mariners stayed in it to the end, so did I, and as Rick Rizzs was recapping a frustrating loss, I noticed that my deck was completely painted!

I felt like I’d won the deck painting Olympics. The thing basically painted itself. Thanks to the Mariners.

And I got to wondering, how many decks have been painted, how many backyard play sets have been bolted together, how many garden sheds have been assembled, all because there was a Mariners game on the radio at just the right time?

Because I can tell you, had it not been for that game, my deck would still look like a pile of rotting wood.

So, here’s to the Mariners, win or lose, and to their extraordinary play-by-play team.

I tremble to think how many backyard projects would never have been built if it were not for baseball on the radio.

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5 – 9 a.m. on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.