Game 21, Mariners at Rangers
DMZ · April 27, 2005 at 4:28 pm · Filed Under Game Threads
Ryan “Good luck, hard luck” Franklin v Kenny Rogers.
5:05, TV: FSN
The .500 Mariners face the just-slightly-below-.500 Rangers. It’ll be interesting to see what lineup Hargrove runs out against the lefty. Do we get to see Bloomquist again?
And how many times tonight will we hear “It’s okay to give up home runs, as long as they’re solo shots” (include variants)? Or “you’ve got to keep the ball down in this ballpark.”
Comments
118 Responses to “Game 21, Mariners at Rangers”
I like Joel Pineiro’s variant the best: “I don’t mind giving up 4 home runs, so long as they’re solo home runs, that’s all I give up, and my team scores 5 runs.”
That is the bottom line. Sad part is that Joel’s given up 7 HR’s already in only 3 starts. It makes him look terrible. If you take out the 4 he gave up in one game, it’s a little more manageable. But at this point, in order for Joel to get down to respectable HR per Start averages, he’d have to not give up a long ball for quite some time.
ERA is still the most important stat. And somehow his managed to go down after giving up 4 solo shots.
Im sorry, 6. Not 7 HRs. It’s still a horrible looking ratio.
If Hargrove wants to sit a lefty, doesn’t in make as much sense to sit Ibanez as Reed? Admittedly I suffer from small sample size (I don’t have minor league stats) but Reed doesn’t seem to be as affected by lefties as Ibanez.
That said “Willie Bloomquist, DH” makes my stomach turn.
This is an interesting match up. You got a guy who can never get any run support and a guy who only wins because of run support. This doesn’t look good for the M’s.
I title this post, “The Case of the Small Sample Size.”
Fox Sports.com is speculating that Doyle could get called up next month.
Doyle [blip! --mgmt ] – #32 – Left Field – 5′10″ – 205lbs
Wed Apr 27 2005 – Doyle [blip] went 5-for-6 and hit his second home run Tuesday for Triple-A Tacoma. [blip] is batting .514/.568/.800 in nine games since returning from a knee injury. At this rate, the Mariners may have to consider adding him as a fourth outfielder and reserve DH next month. (My edits included.) [mine too -- DMZ]
If there was ever a player where a team should feel compelled to call him up and PLAY him to see if he was for real, Doyle would be that player.
Thats it, I am changing his name in MVP Baseball 2005
Kelly M, I hope your saying that in a whisper. Don’t tempt fate.
Doyle needs a couple months of play, no matter how tempting it might be.
Also, the whole purpose of Doyle is to avoid the jinx. Pairing the fake name with the real name defeats the whole purpose — more than that, it links the two. Please avoid that. I don’t want the evil spirits catching on.
We’re making Rogers work a bit.
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I’m feeling pain in my left elbow/forearm. I think I may have a strained flexor bundle.
Yeah, Doyle, Just Doyle. He needs some time in Tacoma. I’d rather see Chooie in Tacoma as well. The bench may suck, but I dont think prospects should be sitting on the bench getting rusty..
Franklin’s control’s a little wonky. Let’s hope he calms it down soon.
Here we go again… Run support won’t help this time.
#12
Not soon enough.
Beltre isn’t on third. So, is it “I don’t know” or Bloomquist?
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Too bad Frankie couldn’t put on a better performance for all his family that came down from Spiro, Oklahoma. You know…Ryan Franklin…from Spiro, Oklahoma.
I hate Texas. I can’t believe more home runs were launched out of New Comisky (or whatever corporate label is slapped on it now) last year then the Ballpark in Arlington.
Is it any wonder why nobody other then garbage throwers like pitching here? Fastballs should be extinct from Texas by now.
I’m hip to the whisper campaign. Given the Evil Spirits surrounding our pitching staff, don’t we also need another name for a certain well known pitching prospect? Can we just call him “The King.”
Since we are speaking of guys who are easy to root for, doesn’t Bucky come off the DL at the end of June? Any chance we could get a him to lob in a comment on how the knee is holding up?
Is this “reversion to the mean” by Franklin? Two walks, a double and a homer vs one out. It’s going to be a long night for the Okie at this rate.
The Texas TV crew is singing Ryan Franklins’ (From Spiro, Oklahoma) no run support blues.
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Eeeh, what a shocker of a throw by Winn.
“Also, the whole purpose of Doyle is to avoid the jinx. Pairing the fake name with the real name defeats the whole purpose  more than that, it links the two. Please avoid that. I don’t want the evil spirits catching on.”
Uh, well, despite it being a nickname, “Doyle” is actually a veiled attempt at disguising whom we’re talking about. Unless you’re saying that the spirits are too stupid to find out what Mr. Soandso’s middle name is?
Nice DP Boonie.
All right, the last time I watched an M’s starter gave up a 5 spot in the first the rest of the team did a good job of sucking as well (last Friday at home to the Indians).
I’m off for a walk around Green Lake.
Gonna take more than a average run support to bail Franklin out of this one. Maybe this is the game where he gets back those runs he is owed.
Is it my imagination, or is Olivo’s stance more closed today? He’s standing more like Beltre.
Boonie should have waited on Lasik…Performance enhancing contacts
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/3559064
26. I was wondering the same thing
anotherjeff plus those things would help hide the hangover from the night of (insert player’s drug of choice).
Actually, back when I played paintball amber lenses were great in most light (they weren’t quite as good as clear in very dark areas though. They really did help you pick up color differences.
Also, what’s with that glove that Reed had on while on first? Looked like something you’d stick on someone suffering with carpel-tunnel (sp?).
And Reese may be done. So, it looks like Valdez is going to be our short stop for quite some time.
So the Pokey era is over….
I will break something if I have to watch Wilson Valdez hit 500 more times.
What do you mean Reese may be done?
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#31
Yeah that was quick, eh?
But I dont know how watching Pokey would have been any more tolerable.
#32
From Rotoworld
‘He’ll get a second opinion, but Pokey Reese was told he should have shoulder surgery in an examination by a Mariners doctor today.
All the Mariners have indicated is that the surgery wouldn’t be season-ending. However, it looks like Wilson Valdez will be spending a lot more time at shortstop. Jose Lopez could be called up after he returns from a broken hamate bone, but it appears a defensive specialist is what the team really wants. Apr. 27 – 8:20 pm et’
Re 32.
Article on the Mariner’s website about Pokey’s options, the recommendation being surgery, which would probably put him out for the year. That, and Dave and Ron mentioned the same thing on the air.
Is it too early to promote Tui?
If it’s shoulder surgery but not season ending it sounds like they’re going to just scope it and see what they find. Which could be almost anything.
I wonder if there is any insurance on his contract?
Ah yes, the memorable Pokey Reese Era….thinks back fondly on the Hurtado/Menhart Era, which actually lasted a longer, painfully longer, time.
Longer than the Heathcliff Slocumb era?
Turns out the struggles of “Bad Frankie” aren’t really a bad thing … because Dave Valle assures us that “Ryan isn’t afraid of contact.”
I wish he’d turned out for high school football instead.
Well, exploratory surgery (scoping it out to see what they find) by definition is not season ending. But the surgery to fix whatever they find very well could be season ending. Ah Pokey, we hardly knew ya. So, what does this mean for Lopez? (Keeping in mind that he himself is getting over his own injury.)
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Pokey: even Dan Firova played more games than Pokey.
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And Dan did it with fewer fingers.
A nother wasted million by bavasai!!!!Please someone hold him accountable!I f gillick had the money they allowed Bavasai to spend we would have won a world series by now…
Insurance on Pokey’s contract?
Why would the M’s pay for that? Why would any insurance company insure him?
#43 – Not likely, since “they” didn’t really allow Bavasi to spend any money until this past off-season.
The Pokey era was just a wee bit longer than the Lou Pinella/Seattle Pilots era.
Why did Boone swing at the first pitch after watching the leadoff hitter walk?
47- because Boone is a mental midget.
My theory is that Bret Boone is dealing with back trouble. He missed some spring training games with back spasms. He’s swining at a lot of first pitches, so maybe he figures he can hit one out or go sit back down.
It’s not a great theory maybe, but it’s what I like to tell myself as a self-deluded M’s fan.
Aaron Brooks I think it would bother me more if he was actually doing that than if he just was an arrogant, overpaid, moron.
Clearly, we are going to lose this game. But I think it is worth noting that, even if Franklin had given up only one run instead of five, HE’D STILL BE LOSING BECAUSE SO FAR WE HAVE ONE $%@$$# HIT AND NO RUNS! ONE HIT! NO RUNS! ’sigh’
Don’t make excuses for Franklin.
oh my god. phillie fanatic is in the texas broadcast booth. can this game get any worse?
I love good snark attacks as much as anyone … but I don’t understand what makes Boone a “moron.” He’s old, probably not completely healthy and in a decline phase … how does that add up to lack of intelligence? Has he said anything lately that embarrasses himself?
My god, this texas broadcast is brutal.
Warning – Possible naive question to follow:
How much is Bavasi to blame for the bad deals that hurt last year, e.g. Spezio and Aurilia, as well as trading Guillen? I’m probably just being kind, but I’ve actually been putting those down to Gillick and Lincoln, even if the actual signings might have been in the first weeks of Bavasi’s tenure. It just seemed to me that:
1) The moves seemed totally consistent with what we’d seen before.
2) I didn’t hear that Bavasi came in with guns blazing. It seemed more like he was going with the existing tide.
Or have I just been hypnotized by the Big Giant Head?
Is our offense really this bad. We look horrific and have looked bad all year. The one bright spot this year is that we are still .500 with every single player having below par offensive numbers. On the flip side if this continues we will go on a long losing streak. I am talking 7-10 game losing streak. We don’t have an ace that can stop this kind of streak either. My guess is by the end of May we will be 10 games under .500 unless the offense drastically improves.
You can go look up the Gillick/Bavasi thing — it’s been discussed in great detail here before.
Nice to see those of us with the texas broadcast aren’t the only ones having to put up with the mascots.
Apology in advance for non-sequitir…
Can someone tell me if Wladimir Balentein has bulked up? He’s listed at 165 lbs. Can that be right for someone who has cranked 7 HR’s in 76 At Bats? Wait a minute… maybe it’s not that strange since Brian Roberts is listed at 178 lbs. and has 7 MLB HR’s in 87 At bats.
TOWEL!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/bremertonian/baseball/2005MarinersTowel1.jpg
Well, at least we got Franklin outta there. Let’s see, he was replaced by….Thornton? Noooooooooo……..
It’s true. Ryan Franklin is cursed. Granted, he didn’t pitch well anyway. But it’s not like he’s getting any run support when he does pitch well.
I don’t know what Ryan did to anger the baseball Gods, but their ire is brutal, cruel, unfair, and simply mercilous.
Yeah I know, TypicalIdiotFan, Franklin was an Olympian, too. Like I said, even if he had pitched well tonight, we are being one hit by that future Hall of Famer…Kenny Rogers??? (Looks kinda like Cy Young if the light hits him just right.)
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Um, you guys … if I were the proprietors of this site, I might be thinking about threatening to cancel future game threads if we’re going to insist on dragging these down into a bleak froth of incoherent blather. Can we all just … you know … talk about Mariner baseball or something in articulate, provocative, reasonably intelligent fashion? (You know … unlike me?)
I’ve had enough of Josh Lewin.
It’s Gameday Audio for me from this point on.
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It’s going to take him a while to overcome what was not a good start to his season. If he can put together more outings like tonight, that should happen. (But point well taken about the ennui of opinion towards certain players.)
Atta boy Nellie!!
If the Ms need to make a move in a couple of months to make room for Doyle my candidate for a bus ride to Tacoma is Nellie the home boy (the sooner the better we don’t need 12 pitchers).
Crap, Rizzs and Valle talking about Doyle at length and WISHING HIM LUCK AND GOOD HEALTH!! WHY DON’T YOU DRAW A MAP FOR THE JINX TO MORE EASILY FIND HIM!!!!!
Whoa, I meant what I said.
Matty has been pitching very well aside from a messy first appearence. Yet wasn’t he not the one that became the new “Throw In the Towel Boy”? I would just like some folks to acknowledge that maybe Thornton isn’t doing so bad after all?
I’d laugh if I ever saw a fan wearing a “Doyle” jersey. Thing is, I can actually see this happening.
I don’t care if you meant what you said. I will not stand for broad, stupid declarations like “You guys all hate Thornton for no reason”
a) it’s not everyone
b) no one hates Thornton
c) my skepticism about his performance has entirely valid reasons
Your towel-related beef is not with everyone.
76: The whole “towel!” deal is all in fun. It’s OK to have fun, you know. I’ll stop now, just so I don’t disrupt the flow of the this thread.
I meant 82, or TypicalIdiotFan, should the numbers change again.
This thread has flow?
Just saw the “sign-stealing” FSN commercial. I’m disappointed that the broadcast crew collaborates with these. “Hey, Rizzs, we need you to do a commercial voice-over. It’s for these generic commercials we try to make look like they’re for each team… this one will be doctored to look like it’s the Mariners.” “Sure thing.”
w/r/t changing numbers: sorry, sometimes moderation screws that up. And after all that trouble I went to to not actually delete comments to screw up numbering… sigh.
Look on the bright side, folks … it IS a beautiful night for baseball!
I am very famous. More famous than the Mariners. I just wanted to say hi during the season. YOur team has heavy artillery…somewhere.
I’ve finally figured out how to describe what irritates me about Rizzs. He’s just so damned … JAUNTY. He was downright chipper at the end of the first, saying “Ryan Franklin gets roughed up a bit, as we head to the top of the second,” (his exact words) with the last word of every sentence being punched “up” a beat to convey cheerful heartiness. I’ll have to ask Curto sometime if that style actually gets taught in broadcast school.
#33–we haven’t actually heard anything other than it is ‘a problem in the AC joint’ (“The AC joint is located at the tip of the shoulder where the shoulder blade and collarbone come together at a pointâ€â€called the acromionâ€â€on the upper surface of the shoulder blade. These two bones are held together by tough, sinewy tissuesâ€â€ligamentsâ€â€that tie the bones together. There is a pad of cartilage, known as the meniscus, in the joint between the two bones that allows them to move on each other.”) If the problem is literally IN the joint, it may be the cartilage pad… with luck it is fixable arthroscopically
But Jim, THIS TEAM NEVER QUITS!
Everybody scores! Holy smokes!
Having just started reading this thread I find it hilarious.
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I’m amazed Derek’s fuse is as long as it is tonight. I would’ve expected the hammer long before now.
#94–”I’m amazed Derek’s fuse is as long as it is tonight. I would’ve expected the hammer long before now.”
hey, that’s why we are members of the Derek Milhous Zumsteg Fan Club (“How can he be so skinny and live so fat?”)
Breaking News: There is nothing wrong with Ichiro.
Rick Rizzs, before I could reach for the remote and change to the Arizona-LA game, started in on the Franklin-has-to-keep-the-ball-down line… but I was able to escape to Scully before I had to hear Valle agree with him.
Derek, you need to get the new Retroactive Remote. That was eight seconds of your life you’ll never get back, and somebody should have to pay for it.
I am disappointed that Choo didn’t get some playing time tonight. When is a better situation to let him play than in an 8-0 game? If Grover doesn’t want to let him play at all, why not just send him down and bring up a scrub?
Jim: I’d only waste it.
Hello Friends at USS Mariner. I wondering if any of you can give a longtime lurker at bit of Ticket advice. I am coming down to Seattle from Vanc. BC for the Mariners – BoSox series. I need tickets for the Friday and Sat. games. As this is a special treat I am wondering how an out of towner might pick up some seats behind home plate in the lower sections? Do scalpers hang around outside? Does the team release tickets just before game time? Do people sell seats in the local papers? Any help or advice very much appeciated.
Pete
I think Choo’s headed for the 15-day disabled list for “loss of blood circulation in gluteal region.”
Oooooh, ooh
Behind home plate in the lower section:
check ebay
check the Mariner scalp-o-matic ticket exchange on their web site
Then–
yes, scalpers hang around outside
yes, the team does release tickets shortly before game time. Hard to time that, though.
yes, people sell tickets in the paper, but ebay’s much more common
Hmm, looks like Bad Franklin showed up tonight.
It looks like he needs to keep the ball down…
I came late to this debacle and watched a lot of it on TiVo fast forward because there seemed to be so few moments to savor after that first, painful inning. Nonetheless, I had to like Ichiro’s samurai 9th inning effort. Unfortunately, the track record for that samurai thing, aside from being brave, dashing, bold and heroic is: not so good. Ah well.
On the vaguely positive side it does seem to me that both Sexson and Olivo have not been fishing for low, outside pitches the way they did earlier in this still-young season. Perhaps it’s my imagination, but if not, even though they’re still not hitting, they’re at least causing the opposing pitcher to wear out a little earlier in the game. Sufficient unto the day I guess.
As for Franklin? Like I’ve never had an off day….
Pete: I almost always buy my tickets off the street in the last 30 minutes before game time … usually I get good tickets at a good price. But I guess if I were traveling a long distance instead of walking over on the ferry, I wouldn’t 100 percent put my faith in that. Check the Web site first.
Isn’t anybody going to mention that the Mariners have a guy playing LF who can’t throw out a runner going from second to third on a fly ball hit right to him?
Question: Two Atlanta Braves scouts attended the game tonite (one of them former Mariners GM Balderson), and they were there last night too. The question is who they were scouting – the Mariners or Rangers?
The first thought that came to mind is that they were evaluating Randy Winn. With Jones, Jordon and Mondesi all htting poorly in the Braves outfield, Winn could help the Braves. Presumably the Braves would give up pitching in return – but who?
Thanks for the info DMZ and Jim. Think I will give the Ebay a shot first to see if I can safely pick up tics for the Friday Bosox / Mariners game and check out the street scene for Saturday seats. But, if anyone on here knows someone selling, my email address is pfl4@hotmail.com.
If the site managers don’t mind perhaps I could post similar message during game threads when the Mariners are on TV here in Vancouver.
Thanks again
Red Sox tickets… you may be in trouble.
Question: Two Atlanta Braves scouts attended the game tonite (one of them former Mariners GM Balderson), and they were there last night too. The question is who they were scouting – the Mariners or Rangers?
The role of scouts is just so misunderstood among fans. Just because there are scouts in the stands does not mean that the their organization is talking trade with the Mariners. In fact, I would say that assignment scouting of that sort is rare, especially this early in the year.
Don’t read too much into it. They’re scouts. They travel around the country and evaluate talent. It’s what they do for a living.
Yes, I know the games sold out. To be perfectly honest I wouldn’t care if it was the Royals in town that weekend. Its the days my girlfriend managed to swing. She wants the Edgewater Inn and is gracious enough to make it a baseball weekend.
Those games are sold out?
Makes me glad I bought mine way early. I’m in town for exactly those two games.
Given the news about Armando Benitez tearing his hammy, and the Cubs in desperate need of a closer as well, then Proven Closer(tm) Eddie Guardado’s value has to be quite high.
If the Giants call, I’d gladly swap Proven Closer(tm) Guardado for Matt Cain. Not sure I would do that deal if I were them though. Foppert, Lowry, and Williams are also options worth consideration.
If the Cubs call, I’d swap Proven Closer(tm) Guardado and Randy Winn for Corey Patterson. Not sure this is a great deal for the Cubs, but then weirder things have happened.
I guess the real point of my post isn’t to just speculate about specific trades (that will never happen.) The point I want to make is that a Prover Closer ™ like Guardado will have great value. And a re-building team like the Ms should seriously consider what a Proven Closer ™ like Guardado will fetch as they try to build a contender in ‘06. I also think Putz could fill that role just as well.
The problem is eddie was a proven closer he no longer is and everyone knows this except baxasai and his henchmen aka boles and evans.Ihear looper and gillick are out next year like jongward and kerfeld.What else is new no more baseball guys……
My own favorite diatribe: the Ron & Dave moronic cliche show. How many times, how many games, do we have to hear this scouting report: “[insert pitcher's name] is going to have to keep it down”? Hmmmm.
Or, last night’s gem: “If the Mariners can score in the first inning, they can play add-on ball for the rest of the game.” What a great strategy? Why do you suppose no one else has ever thought of that? Genius, really. Scores runs early and keep scoring runs. If only the Mariners had tried that last night . . . and every other game.
This morning’s coverage of the game in the Oregonian (apparently an AP piece) must have been written by Franklin’s agent. The entire article is about Kenny Rogers and how he’d finally gotten run support. Not a word about the pitcher who gave up five runs in the bottom of the first.
I’m going back to bed.
Remember back when Franklin was with the Olympic team? Tommy Lasorda would’ve traded a plate of linguini for him! I wonder if Tommy Boy has any pull with DePo?
I like the idea of moving Eddie. Mostly because it would let us stamp the Proven Closer label on Putz so we can trade him for value next season.