Ichiro the slap-hitting singles machine has hit 16 doubles, 3 triples, and has 7 home runs. Meanwhile, in New York… the power hitting Matsui has 23 doubles and seven HR. Their lines:
Ichiro: .356/.398/.487
Matsui: .286/.340/.432 (side note — Matsui’s having a monster June that’s finally dragging his season stats to the not-totally-embarassing level)
Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaah. Who’s got the better Japanese player? We do, that’s right, you whiny New Yorkers.
Mariners Home Run Race 2003
—
Boone, 19
Franklin, 18 (though as Niehaus cannot stop mentioning, “15 of those have been solo shots” as if that has anything to do with anything)
Garcia, 15 (or the same number of solo shots Franklin’s given up)
Edgar, 14
Meche, 11
Cameron, 10
Moyer, 9
Ichiro/Mateo, 7
Which brings us to another edition of
Derek’s Wacky Mariner Pitching Rate Stats
Who abf h% hr% bb% k%
Franklin 409 21.0% 4.4% 6.4% 12.0%
Garcia 412 21.4% 3.6% 8.5% 14.6%
Meche 377 21.0% 2.9% 7.2% 17.8%
Moyer 396 19.7% 2.3% 8.1% 17.7%
Mateo 119 21.8% 5.9% 6.7% 19.3%
Carrara 141 28.4% 4.3% 9.9% 9.2%
Pineiro 430 20.7% 1.4% 9.3% 16.5%
Nelson 107 20.6% 2.8% 11.2% 26.2%
Hasegawa 142 19.7% 1.4% 4.2% 12.7%
Sasaki 85 22.4% 1.2% 8.2% 24.7%
White 7 28.6% 14.3% 14.3% 0.0%
Rhodes 130 14.6% 0.0% 7.7% 23.1%
Soriano 26 15.4% 0.0% 11.5% 30.8%
Apx AL averages: H 23%, HR 3%, BB 8%, K 16%
(leaving White and the demoted Carrara out of this for now)
Leaders, good sense: H, Rhodes, HR Rhodes, BB Hasegawa, K Soriano
Leaders, bad sense: H Sasaki, HR Mateo, BB Soriano, K Franklin
Soriano makes me think of Bull Durham.
“He walked 18.”
“New league record.”
“Struck out 18.”
“Another new league record.”
Here’s another thing on my mind: who cares about Safeco Field? Safeco’s another HOK park, it’s got a retractable roof. What aspect of Safeco reflects Seattle? What makes it truly distinctive from any park built in the last couple of years? View of the Seattle skyline? Blocked in large part by Seahawk Stadium, which is a huge fucking disgraceful boondoggle and I cannot believe as a city we built a ballpark and then immediately decided to wreck the ballpark’s view of the city by sticking a football stadium right in its sightlines. How can no one be fired, sued, or impeached over this? Every day the Mariners play, 35 thousand people can’t see Smith Tower because the Seahawks are playing what, ten games a season and wanted a stadium that for whatever stupid reason had to have really high sides.
But here’s my point: Safeco’s a nice place to watch a game. I have some gripes, but they’re not that serious. What it lacks is a truly distinctive spirit (I’ll be editing this post when I come up with a better word) that we’re going to love now and in 50 years. PacBell’s an amazing park, with McCovey Cove and this beautiful feel to it. Oriole Park at Camden Yards has a great look, and the warehouse — it’s distinctive and immediately recognizable. But a lot of these other HOK parks are generically nice: Great American Ballpark sucks, but it doesn’t suck distinctively compared to say Miller Park. I don’t want novelty as a salve: don’t give me a pool in centerfield, or a hot-tub, or pole dancing, or whatever. Okay, maybe the pole dancing. No! What I’m looking for is something in a park that says “You’re in Seattle.”
We used to have it in the views, but we pissed it away. We’re a short-sighted and stupid city, corrupt and lazy, and given the chance to preserve something truly distincitive, a beautiful calling card, we sold it to Paul Allen.
Minor League Highlights for Sunday, June 22
New Orleans 7, Tacoma 5 (15 innings). The two teams played an epic battle Sunday, with New Orleans scoring three runs in the top of the 15th to win it after the Rainiers had scored a run in the bottom of the 9th to force extra innings. RHP Scott Atchison (4 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 B, 5 K) took the loss for Tacoma in relief of starter Brian Falkenborg (5 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 2 HR). Offensively, the Rainiers were powered by homers from SS Mickey Lopez, DH Greg Colbrunn and C Julio Mosquera.
San Antonio was idle, as the Texas League played an extremely light schedule Sunday. The Missions have yet to announce a starter for their game with Arkansas.
High Desert 5, Inland Empire 1. The 66ers fell short on offense, managing just four singles and two doubles in the game while leaving six runners on base. LHP Glenn Bott (3 1/3 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K) left the game early and took the loss, though the bullpen kept the game close. LHP Ryan Rowland-Smith pitched a scoreless inning (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K) in his high-A debut. 3B Hunter Brown and LF Jason Van Meetren each doubled for the 66ers, with Van Meetren driving in DH John Castellano for the lone run.
Burlington 10, Wisconsin 5. Wisconsin pitchers gave up 19 hits in the game, as LHP Bobby Livingston was roughed up (5 1/3 IP, 11 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 1 K) and took the loss to fall to 9-3 on the year. RF T.J. Bohn, who scored once and drove in a run, had two of the Timber Rattlers’ seven hits, and C Christopher Phillips drove in a pair of runs.
Everett 4, Spokane 1. LF Josh Ellison had a monster game, going 4-4 at the plate with a double and a run batted in. Ellison, who also scored twice and stole two bases, is now hitting an even .500 on the young Northwest League season. Meanwhile, five Everett pitchers combined to limit Spokane to five hits in the game, with the win going to RHP Felix Hernandez (3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K). Hernandez took over for starter Elvis Perez (3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K), who is working on a rehab assignment and will likely be promoted shortly. RHP Brian Stitt worked a shaky 9th (1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K) for his first save.
In other minor league news, OF Jamal Strong made his 2003 season debut in rookie ball yesterday. He was apparently pretty rusty after the long layoff, going 3-3 with a triple, two walks and a steal. Once he gets some at-bats in, Strong should report to either San Antonio or Tacoma.