Game 120, Mariners at A’s
DMZ · August 16, 2006 at 5:56 pm · Filed Under Game Threads
RHP Gil Meche (good Meche or bad Meche?) vs RHP Dan Haren. 7:05.
Win! For the love of Edgar, even the Devil Rays win a game against a divisional opponent once in a while! Win! Win! ARRRGHHHH!!!
among the phrases Rizzs must stop using: “little guy”
Regardless…I’m sure we’ll face nothing but the “good” Dan Haren
Ha. I read the post as “RIP Gil Meche versus…” which might as well be what you posted.
I’m not making a guess as to whether good or bad Gil turns up today. We’re all RIP at this point.
I wish Rizzs would just go away. Can you DFA an announcer?
Rizzs is annoying, but competent. As long as he doesn’t utter any offensive epithets on air or get caught in a compromising position with any staff members or young children, he should have a job with the M’s as long as he wants it.
They have to win sometime. Tonight is as good as any other.
The last time they beat the Athletics my boys and I made a twinkie lasagna earlier that night. Did the same thing tonight. I figured why the heck not. All in the name of helping the Mariners through superstitious repetition.
I am assuming we see our newest outfield edition in Anaheim tomorrow? Any chance of him getting some actual playing time?
In Gil’s last 15 1/3 over the last four games, he’s given up 25 runs. I think I have a good feeling about what we’ll see from him tonight. More cameo than command performance.
They could have used Doyle at DH tonight, but no, they don’t get him up until tomorrow, when Sexson will be back. But who knows, maybe they’ll give Richie a day to get reacclimated and let Chris play.
Gomez, I completely disagree about Rizzs. I’ve heard him say so many stupid things over the years that I don’t even know where to start. An example: a short fly to center was caught behind second base but a runner tagged and scored from third and the runner on first base took second on the throw. Rizzs goes off on a riff about the importance of hitting the cutoff man, and Hendu of all people has to tell him that there is no cutoff man when the ball is caught just beyond the infield. On top of that, his grammer is poor and his fake enthusism is insulting.
#4: Sure. It’s called “designated for assassination.”
grammar, not grammer. Hee hee.
Friggin’ Bloomquist in center against a right-hander again.
So damned sick of Hargrove.
Nice one, Spencer. You got me (though it doesn’t change my opinion about Rizzs).
I have to agree with #9. I have listened to a lot of different play by play guys, and while they all say dumb things Rizzs by far grates on the psyche more than most.
I couldn’t tell you if its the homerisms or the mistakes or a combination of both tied in with annoying Ford commercials but he is definitely below the average broadcaster, in my opinion.
when does it stop being ‘protecting a young hitter’ and turn into ‘platooning’?
What are they protecting him from? Experience? Batteries thrown from the classy A’s fans? Straining his neck as he watches a Meche pitch sail over his head into the stands?
I’d be willing to package Hargrove, Pineiro, Rizzs and an announcer to be named later for just about anything. That would seriously improve my humor…
#16– ostensibly from the horrors of facing really good pitching.
huh. during the ‘meet Eric O’Flaherty’ segment we learn that both he & Lowe think that pitching coach Brad Holman is the man.
Sorry, Chico, that was a cheap shot, and you were one of my favorite players when you were alive. Except that stunt with Alex Johnson, who really was mentally ill.
Eric O’Flaherty just went down to the bullpen wearing the Barbie backpack and purse. Mark Lowe is cracking up that it isn’t him anymore.
If it’s a platoon, Hargrove is even dumber than I thought. Because he’s got it backward.
Bloomquist shouldn’t hit righties if there is anyone with a pulse left on the roster.
keys to the game? Gil has to get ahead of the Oakland batters, and go deep into the game.
ok, show of hands, how many here think this is something that Gil can do–
Speaking of platooning in CF, I haven’t heard anything about Jeremy Reed lately. His original forecast return date was sometime soon, wasn’t it?
I was perusing the 40-man roster to see who could be brought up Sept 1 without being added. It’s comforting to see so many younger guys than in recent past years. I didn’t realize that every pitcher on the 40 is under 30 except Washburn.
OTOH, there’s the position players, with Sexson, Raul, and Ichiro on the wrong side of 30.
This Lee Johnson Chevrolet ad jingle is ruining the word “reasonable” for me.
I cannot believe WFB is in center again. WFB = WTF
A 6-pitch save. Good, we’ll need him this weekend.
Apparently Hargrove thinks Bloomquist is a good starter, and Jones is best used as a late inning defensive replacement.
I think I should be paid $100k to sit around, watch baseball, and carp about it on the Internet. When do I get my delusional reality?
Jeremy Reed is here with the team (although he seems to spend more time with the A’s than the M’s), but I haven’t seen him take BP. He might have today, because I wasn’t paying attention. I didn’t see him taking any work in the field either. I’m guessing he’s still a ways away.
Uh, I guess this isn’t the Red Sox thread, is it (blushes). Sorry.
Willie Bloomquist versus RH pitchers this year:
.208 .304 .229
23- What happened to Moyer?
Neihaus said that O’Flaherty is starting on Sunday, not Woods…even though the graphic shows Woods as the Sunday probable starter..
Dave’s flat out confused. Hargrove says Woods. No way O’Flaherty starts.
RE: 18, “pitching coach Brad Holman?” Is that THE Brad Holman who pitched in 19 Mariner games in 1993? Posted a 3.72 ERA… with 16 BB (2 intentional) and 17 SO?
mlb.com: “Center fielder Jeremy Reed, on the disabled list since July 3 with a broken right thumb, has started swinging the bat, though it’s during soft-toss drills with him hitting balls into a net. Reed said he expected to start taking full batting practice when the Mariners open a four-game series against the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday. Reed is on the 60-day disabled list and can’t rejoin the team until Sept. 2.”
Would someone please explain to me why if your going to send down Morse anyway why not do it today instead of leaving yourself with 0 left handed bats on the bench by sending down Dobbs. It just get more and more hair brained everyday.
[Niehaus]
yup. Brad, brother of Brian “Duck!!!!!!!!” Holman. Henry Cotto is the Missions hitting coach…
nice shot of the backpack on tv. Those backpacks know no favoritism– I recall that Huston Street did his time as the bag carrier last year. Someone actually called KJR the other day worrying that Mark Lowe would be scarred by being forced to do such a childish thing.. thank goodness O’Flaherty has saved him.
So someone explain this one to me:
Why is Perez, who can’t hit RH’s hitting before Broussard, who can?
How the hell do we expect to win when we are throwing TWO backwards platoon guys up there???
Madness.
I don’t expect to win.
Ooh! Let’s take a moment to be super happy about how long it’s been since the Howie Long Chevy commercials have been on. Wow. That actually might be worth finishing fourth in the division.
hey, maybe Hargrove is trying to get them to fire him….
#40
If you asked Hargrove why Perez is hitting before Ben I think he’d mention something about lefty, righty, lefty and the match up issues that creates later in the game.
Macha will have some tough calls to make when he’s up 8 runs in the 7th inning.
Heh heh heh… there’s a whole chapter in my book about how to screw with the mound and stuff.
hey, remember that clamp that Dr Frankenstein attaches to elderly lab volunteer Mr. Hilltop– the one that restricts his nerve impulses? Think using something like that might stop Gil from thinking during his pitching?
#40
With Broussard playing 1st hence ( I love saying hence ) why send Dobbs down today. He could have DH’d tonight. In the words of Dana Carvey doing Johnny Carson…. Some weird wacky stuff.
#45– Kurkjian said just the other night that Hersheiser has been bending his ear for the last 6 months on what evils the current pitching mound height has done to the pitcher of today.
DMZ, why don’t you set up word filters? A lot of places filter swear words to show up like %$@#& etc. Here you could mix it up and anytime anyone types Bloomquist the filter changes it to WTF. Peniero, Piniero, Paynaro, Pineiro, and Joel could change to Piñata. Snelling = Doyle.
And etc. It might make the last few torturous games a little funner. Nothing like seeing my favorite post: “I didn’t type Piñata I typed Piñata.”
And David* could filter to God On Earth.
Find me a WordPress plugin that does that for comments and I’ll install it.
just don’t filter Lauren.
Come home late. When I turned on my TV, I just saw the groundball out hitting by Perez. Would someone please explain to me why Hargrove sticks Perez on No.5 spot instead of Broussard or Johjima when facing righty? I didn’t know what to tell when my niece asked.
If they are really bringing Snelling up tomorrow, it makes more sense to send Dobbs out than Morse. Remember, if you send someone out, you can’t just have them back the next day. I’ll trade three AB’s for Perez against a RH for a higher likelihood of seeing _____ get in a game or two.
49- that would help the aggravating problem of some typos getting deleted and others staying intact. :-p
Would that make my name %#@$%&*MATEO ?
#52
Hargrove is a genius
Beltre Righty, Raul Lefty, Perez Righty, Bross Lefty, Joh Righty
It’s a matchup nightmare!
52 – I just asked the same thing and the answers I think, boiled down to “Hargrove is an idiot.” Try that one.
Though ahhruff also had a good point.
msb, thanks for the Reed report. I should have remembered that they eventually put him on the 60-day DL.
Hargrove is keeping Jones down to protect him from drunken fans on Ten Cent Beer Night at the Safe.
It only makes sense to split up lefties when a) you are likely to see a good LH relief pitcher with a big platoon split, and b) when your LH batters can’t hit lefties. The A’s have Sauerbeck and Kennedy as their LH relief pitchers, so that can’t be it. Ibanez hasn’t hit LH this year, but Broussard has over his career.
Hargrove has always paid more attention to Righty-Lefty matchups than common sense. This is nothing new.
EVERYONE in the modern game pays too much attention to R/L matchups, at least in innings one through eight.
56,57- Thanks for the answer. I decided to go positive side first, so I used ahhruff point to be the answer. And then, my niece asked me ” why not puts Johjima on No.5 spot? His batting AVG is higher and He hits better than Perez.” Then, I go John in L.A’s advice because my niece is 13 years old and I find she knows baseball better than Hargrove.
True. But, obviously that’s what Gil had on his mind when pitching to Swisher. Better not throw him a strike, he’s batting from the left side.
Mark Ellis? I thought he sucked???
Well at least it took 1 2/3 innings. I had 5 outs to fantasize that tonight would be different.
The possibility of O’Flaherty becoming a starting pitcher jumps a few points.
Hendu is so smart.
What are the chances anyone in the press corps asks Meche what was wrong with the mound and how that tweaked his delivery?
Hey! Any of you press guys read the game threads? Ask, please.
I was hoping for more consistency from Joel and Meche this year. Too bad this is how it finally came to be.
At least it wasn’t John McDonald.
That’s odd. Ellis is a .223 hitter on the season…plus we had the r/r matchup.
ok, i’m done with the matchup thing now.
There has to be something going on here… maybe the A’s are stealing signs? And the batter has an earpiece so someone can relay the pitch and location?
There’s a chapter in my book about sign stealing.
I have a more insidious theory: the A’s are stealing GOODNESS from us. Just siphoning it right away. Can you prove they aren’t? I didn’t think so.
No way, Derek. I’m going to try to get in the post-game press conference where they announce Hargrove’s firing. Besides, Meche is a nice guy, I’m not going to bust his balls.
At least it wasn’t John McDonald.
There’s a chapter in DMZ’s book about him!
That matchup was definitely Bad Beltre. Ducks away from a pitch an inch too far in? Check. Swings and flails at two pitches low and away? Check.
It’s not at all about busting his balls — I’m genuinely curious if the A’s screwed with the mound to mess with him.
Really? Tell me more?
ok, I don’t know why, but the idea of Greg Kinnear playing Dick Vermeil in a movie just cracks me up.
#74– Is Cito Gaston in it? the Globe had a great piece about sign stealing & Gaston yesterday
I’ve been muting the games after the mid-game switch to Rizzs but for just this game I’m gonna have to listen for a couple innings, just to count how many times he mentions Walla Walla. I’m guessing 5+…
They don’t steal signs or goodness. They steal the souls. The A’s are the spawn of the devil and they prey on the souls of the weak.
someone tell Geoff Baker and he can work it into a column about the Moneyball soul-sucking theory.
I hate people like the A’s and Chris Truby who are the spawn of the devil and prey on the souls of the weak and everything.
The souls are sucked down through the pitchers mound. While Gil pitches. That’s your answer, DMZ.
Okay, but this posits that Meche has a soul.
He is merely the conduit.
For someone else’s soul? Why would it effect his performance either way?
Serious, Derek, if you’ve got a theory, I’d like to hear it. My travel partner is bugging me to hop on the freeway, and we probably will, unless we’ve got reason enough to stay. It’s gonna be like a fricken funeral in that locker room after the game, anyway.
Man, you are asking some tough questions. I’m thinking the mound changes height slightly as the souls are sucked in.
I may have to consult wikipedia on “soul-sucking in the mlb” pretty soon.
Just who you want at the plate with the bases loaded!
Go Gritty!
The Oakland Succubi.
Bob Finnegan is going to write an article on the impending trade for Junior’s soul. He’s coming home, at last.
who’s body will Junior’s soul reside in? and will his swing come with it?
I wonder what the price for Junior’s soul is.
is that 7 LOB so far?
Okay, here’s the thing: when two pitchers have significantly different landing spots, you can take one and make it far softer, or harder, depending on which extreme you want to go to, so that when they land, they either come down farther than they expect or they’re jarred.
Meche early in the game was spending a lot of time kicking at the mound where his front foot came down, and you could see his delivery was getting out of whack, his cleats looked like they got stuck once or twice too.
I think they might have doctored the mound to be anti-Meche
WFB! Junior’s soul and swing goes to WFB’s body, and WFB’s wife goes to Cincinnati.
So explain this to me: I’m stuck north of Gig Harbor, renting somebody’s house (like literally…there are clothes in the closet, a laptop on the desk, etc),no TV, and stuck on dial-up internet. I didn’t move to the big city for this!
Was anybody listening to the pre-game show where they interviewed Ken Macha? He was asked about the whole ‘patient A’s hitters’ thing and whether they ingrain that through the whole system. He said that they figure they want a 10% walk rate, meaning if a batter has 500 ABs, every level of the As system wants them to have at least 50 walks, and if they don’t, the coaches work with that player to get them to change approach.
I thought it was interesting.
I am jealous that the As HAVE an organizational philosophy. I think that might be a large factor in their recurring success.
Uh…
Why is Willie in the game? Help me out here folks.
Watching Ichiro strike out like that makes me almost despondent.
I’d imagine Griffey would lobby hard to stick near his parents after learning that they both have cancer. Uh, not that there’s a chance in hell that he’s coming back here, nor should he, but you know, it was a way to get that link in.
and now he gets to go stand out there in right field with those lovely Oakland fans surrounding him.
Uh…
Why is Willie in the game? Help me out here folks.
He has Junior’s soul. Didn’t you read the trade news?
Geez.
The Ms have an organizational philosophy – “aggressive baserunning.” A stupid and ineffective philosophy, but a philosophy nonetheless.
Corcoran, you’re close enough for the Kitsap USSM party, if we ever have one.
Even more interesting, the A’s won’t let a player win an organizational award if they don’t hit the mark. So if you have a week where you go 10-30 with 10 HR and 20K, you don’t get the player-of-the-week award.
Dave Henderson
Sub-Genius
nifanliu — my 13 year-old-self would have thought your niece is hot, but I was always a sucker for smart girls who ask tough questions. (Which is also probably why I’m not married
)
#107– well, we know that is Hargrove’s philosophy– anybody know what they talk to the players about in the minors?
107: no, they don’t even do aggressive baserunning organization-wide. just watch brundage stop those runners at 3b in tacoma day after day after day if you doubt me.
108: i like it.
He’s playing with the mound right now. You’re right that the landing point is quite different from where Haren is hitting. The color of the dirt is much lighter where he is, if that matters any.
You gotta get me this good stuff before the game to get any answers, though.
Is it wrong that I find it more entertaining (or at least less painful) to just sit at the computer enjoying the game thread than to actually watch the game?
The amazingly frustrating ineptitude of the Mariners–all of them, Ichiro! included–just never ends. There must be a law against them scoring against Oakland when they have the bases loaded. This is truly hard to take while sober.
Good god, Hendu’s lecture on why Moneyball sucks was unbelievable.
I will be at the Rainiers game tomorrow, though, so that’s good.
111: i think throughout the organization a lot of different messages get sent to the players. I’d always heard that was one of the problems olivo had while here, he got different messages, different focuses from several different coaches and tried to please them all.
You gotta get me this good stuff before the game to get any answers, though.
How am I supposed to watch the game and offer interesting observations before I watch it? Sorry.
117: $1 beer night you know. tomorrow. nageotte is pitching for us, tucson hasn’t announced.
Chapter 7. Cheating via the time travel machine.
I do not doubt you, 112. Hargrove is just a lone cowboy, I guess. Soon to be a lonesome cowboy.
Dobbs is the only Subgenius with the Mariners. And he’s not with the Mariners. Praise Bob!
I love that Henderson’s logic was, to boil it down from that extended rambling:
- The A’s rely on walks and home runs
- Top starters don’t give up home runs
- Even their pitching coach says he’d just throw strike against them
- therefore, the A’s would be helpless in a playoff series
May I offer a counterpoint?
If the A’s try and work walks and hit for power if they get a pitch they like, and you decide to eliminate one of those two, they get the other.
Throw strikes? They’re going to swing hard and try and get extrabases.
Nibble? They’re going to work walks.
Oh, c’mon now. I was over on the couch, watching Meche balk in a run, and raced over to the computer thinking ‘wow, I have to see what is being said about this’ only to find nothing?????
it is possible to ask to have the mound worked on mid-game, I’ve seen it happen.
Easy there, Derek. I was just saying.
Hmmm. Maybe I should go to the Rainiers game tomorrow, make it a USSM-sanctioned contest.
We must lead the league with balks with runners on third base: at least 3 times this year that has happened. Well, at least, we lead the league in some category.
Did you see Meche go at the mound after the balk? I half expected him to pull out a trowel and go at it.
That Sleep Country ad is bogus. Stores put things people buy on sale all the time. Grocery stores mark down milk and eggs, clothing stores mark down Levis… on and on.
so, Spencer, anyone work on the mound between innings?
Maybe previously sucked souls are trying to escape through the mound and that’s what is causing Gil so much grief.
In other news, Hendu on the AL Central: “The Twins and the White Sox can do beautiful if they just beat each other.”
That’s illegal in many states.
The Oakland ESPN stringer says that he hears a lot of complaints from both teams about the groundskeeping here.
“The Twins and the White Sox can do beautiful if they just beat each other.â€
??? I mean, even for Henderson. Wow. Beautiful what? I don’t even understand the premise of his statement.
Small sample theatre, I know I know, but who still thinks Broussard for Choo (plus unknown player) made sense….based upon what we’ve seen, it seems we bought high and sold low….funny how we seem to do that with regularity….
Broussard is a relatively cheap 1B who is easily capable of doing most of what Sexson does over the next two years. IF the M’s really can move Sexson and all or most of his salary, it free’s the team up to spend (blow?) it on pitching.
Of course, it’ll all go to Kerry Wood or Jason Schmidt.
DMZ: there ARE only 2 more $1 beer nights at Cheney remaining this season. Tomorrow, and on the 31st versus Salt Lake.
I don’t drink the $1 beer, for you have to be penned in that god-awful beer garden where you can’t watch the game, in order to drink it. And then, the necessity of bathroom breaks would really mess up my scorekeeping too.
—
Re: Organizational philosophy – Macha was also very careful to mention that their strategy is nothing new, it’s the same strategy Ted Williams talked about. Wait for the pitch(es) you want, don’t swing at the other ones. The As just apparently put a percentage measurement to that and attached an automatic action item for their coaches…
Oh, and Choo had no future with the M’s. He’s tweener on a system full of them.
139 – That’s why Ted Williams failed against good pitchers.
Ted Williams’ stuff didn’t work in the playoffs.
138 – Not a comment on the Choo trade, but Broussard cannot do “…most of what Sexson does…”.
His defense at first is atrocious and he can barely hit lefties.
Yeah, Ted Williams was horrible against playoff-quality pitchers: he hit only .200 in the playoffs.
I think we should go after Mientkiewicz for 1B and Grudzielanek for IF, just to drive DMZ crazy fixing spelling errors.
Look at his splits over his career. He’s been terrible in limited exposure this year, in other years, not so much. Sexson ain’t exactly Fred Astaire out there, either. I’m not saying Broussard’s the better player, just nearly as good and cheaper. If the team is contending, 1B is an easy position to upgrade.
143
True, but Sexson’s inexplicable .179 avg vs lefties this year is nothing to be too happy about either.
Ted also slugged .200 in the playoffs. That’s pitiful.
wild ninth between Texas & LA tonight
136 – I’m guessing that what he was trying to say is that in the upcoming series between the White Sox & Twins, whichever team beats the other will gain a good advantage in the division. That’s my best guess.
Maybe the fact that they run BB instead of HR on the player’s stats on the big board is what has Hendu so pissed off? That or that he’s not allowed to talk about the 14 game losing streak. If you’re watching the broadcast, are they talking about that at all now?
I think we should go after Mientkiewicz for 1B and Grudzielanek for IF, just to drive DMZ crazy fixing spelling errors.
Now THAT made me laugh.
Do you guys actually think the A’s are doing something fishy with their mound, or is this all just idle banter?
Ted Williams: Great Choker, or Greatest?
106. at least Willie is cute!
So in the game mentioned in 149, there were:
9 players HBP
Ejected were:
Kevin Gregg
Brendan Donnelly
Mike Scioscia
Adam Kennedy
Scott Feldman
Buck Showalter
Ron Roenicke (Angels’ bench coach)
Geez.
Not so much idle banter at my end, as curiosity, curious guy. I noticed Meche kicking at the hill, I hadn’t suspected foul play.
Ted Williams doesn’t choke, he freezes.
Thanks, I’m here all week, tip your servers well.
From the XM radio guy: if the Mariners had any balls, they’d drill the next guy. I wish someone would let these guys speak their mind on some network. I’d pee myself.
The soul-sucking part may have been idle banter.
ok, as he hits into the DP, here’s tonight’s Stupid Kendall Factoid.
When a sophomore shortstop/pitcher, Kendall was inserted as a mid-game replacement catcher, calling pitches for his brother Mike, the Torrence HS star pitcher. Mike didn’t agree with the pitch calling. “We’re jawing on the mound, and our head coach had to break it up,” Mike recalled. “I got my way, but I gave up a base hit up the middle and lost my no-hitter in the fifth.”
I agree with the XM guy — we need to start something. Preferably with Frank Thomas.
Oh, and we should trade for Duchscherer.
“I know how to spell Duchscherer, but I don’t know when to stop.”
Seeing that he was greatly outhit by Catfish Metkovich in the post season, I’d say, uh, I got nothin.
hey Willie hit that one pretty deep
howsabout Jarrod Saltalamacchia?
Lopez:
grounded to first
Grounded to short
grounded to third
All he needs to do is ground to second to suck for the cycle.
I still want to see a Pierzynski to Grudzielanek to Mientkiewicz double play.
Eric O’Flaherty!
I still want to see a Pierzynski to Grudzielanek to Mientkiewicz double play.
I think the All-Star Game should have an All-Star Announcer contest, and this would be the call that would decide the best announcer.
Where’s this guy from?
Saltalamacchia has the advantage of being relatively easy to pronounce without having someone show you how. (Salt-a-la-makia. Easy.)
Walla Walla
Thanks, Hendu. I’m sure he was totally unaware that location was important in the major leagues.
DMZ: Sometimes a future baseball player’s father and a future baseball player’s mother love each other verrrry much….
Walla Walla’s going to be part of the new drinking game. 1 drink per Walla.
BEAN THOMAS!
Uh oh. I sense a Hendu “I have a World Series ring” story coming on.
Hardball Times has an article about the A’s recent dominance over the M’s:
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/straight-as/
1/2 the lights in LF just went out. This is easily the most low-rent, pile-of-crap park in the majors.
Spencer, visit Tampa some day.
In the Hardball Times article, one of the stats is that in the streak of 14 wins by the A’s, the M’s starters have taken 13 of the 14 losses.
Looks like tonight will make it 14 out of 15.
Imagine how bad this streak would sound if we hadn’t won the first game.
Way to go, Morse.
and once again, the Ms are out-hitting the opposition, and losing.
maybe Hargrove is trying to get Mateo out of the pen by working him until his arm falls off….
I’ve been playing DMZ’s drinking game and that last Walla has done me in. Time to go pass out.
The Night The Lights Went Out In Oakland.
thats a kids game, isn’t it? the one where one kid hides and calls out “Marco!” and the other kid calls back “Scutaro!”
176 – I think we need to come up with a USSM “How to survive another M’s loss” drinking game.
My rule nominations:
1. What’d he throw?
Each person playing takes a different pitch (fastball, slider, etc.) when dave miscalls your pitch, take a drink.
2. Ignition
Everyone must yell ignition everytime willie bloomquist is shown or mentioned. Last person to yell must finish their beer.
3. MateOH-NO!
One person each game is designated grover. Whenever julio mateo is seen warming up, Grover must finish his beer if the game is within 4 runs. Two beers if the game is tied or within 1 run. Everyone gets to punch Grover if mateo gives up the lead.
Any other ideas?
Stop trying to bunt Willie! You hit homers now!! Remember?!
Alright, Ichiro, stay close to first.
Hopeless…
Fielder’s Indifference? Didn’t relaize that was an actual scoring term
Viewer’s indifference more like…
Just got home..checked the score. All I can say is:
YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!!
And the beat goes on…..
Good win, guys, good…wait, oh man!
In other news, even more ridiculous than the Mariners trying to beat Oakland… the Anaheim and Rangers fiasco…. how utterly retarded.
Yeah, I had missed seeing the actual scoring inning but casugt the majority of the game. When I just looked to see how the runs scored -yes, it’s yet one more way to lose that they hadn’t used before.
Someone tell me how is Adam jones going to get any better with willie freakin bloomquist starting so much?
It’s time to pull a YOU WA SHOCK on Hargrove. Three straight sweeps against divison rivals should make firing him easy on the eyes on the public.
201 – Osmosis.
I only listened to the last few innings (all that’s necessary, really) but something Niehaus said in the 8th totally cracked me up. This was on radio. He was talking about Rich Aurilia hitting 17 home runs this year–”What’s got into Rich Aurilia–he couldn’t off a TEE here last year.”
Yeah, Dave, tell it! Testify!
What’s got into Rich Aurilia? Same thing as before.
why no comments on the 10-28 against the west thread?
my post would be something benign like: why don’t the losses add up to 28?
Anyone else sense the frustration in Dave Niehaus on the tv broadcast when the A’s scored the first runs and when Mark Ellis hit the homer..sounded very monotone in a “here we go again” kind of way.
Wow, they just mentioned it on KJR on my above theory.
Does anyone know what the Mariners’ number is exactly?
And is there any way we can help them get it back from the A’s?
Why can’t SOMEONE on this team blow up and go berserk? 15 straight losse to your biggest division rival is flat out unacceptable. Yet, they all mope around like puppies that just got swatted with a newspaper. I’m not saying they don’t care, I’m saying they’re meek. It’s just pathetic.
so what exactly do you mean by go berserk? Bat throwing? Pitcher charging? ‘Shivering, chattering of the teeth, a chill in the body, the face swelling and changing its color, great rage, howling, and indiscriminate brawling’?
Because, you know, they say that ‘when the rage quelled, the berserker was exhausted and dull of mind for up to several days after’…
Perfect. And if the berserker is “exhausted and dull of mind” afterwards then he will be just the same as he is now…no damage done.
I wish #210…I’d like to see something like the Angels vs. Rangers last night. How bout Chris Bosio and brawling with the Orioles in the early 90′s.
“My love for you is like a truck, berserker. Would you like some making —-, berserker. My love for you is like ticking clock, berserker.”
How can I lose thee; let me count the ways.
210 – that’s a good point.I’d like to see Grover go postal for a change. I doubt that it would accomplish much, but nothing else works, and it would be more entertaining video or print news than anything else the team is doing. I think it would improve his chances of keeping his job, too….oh, on second thought, just sit there, Mike. No sense raising your blood pressure and all.
How bout Chris Bosio and brawling with the Orioles in the early 90’s.
yeah… nothing like teams losing pitchers– one on the DL for 3 weeks, another on the DL for six weeks with back and shoulder injuries– for fun. Good times.
MSB it was just a statement in a sarcastic manner.
Brawl
213 – Awesome Clerks reference
If you take out the Oakland games, the M’s would be 55-49. If the M’s were 8-8 against Oakland, they’d be in second place, 5 1/2 games back.
Against the other two AL divisions, the M’s are .500 — 32-32.
And while the M’s were 14-4 against a “weak” NL West, the M’s won as many games against that division as Texas and AnaLAnge County COMBINED.
All things considered, the M’s are a .500 with a bad luck streak in Athletics school, to paraphrase Mr. Zevon.
Of course, if the M’s were 8-8 against Oakland, they’d actually be leading the division by a smidge because Oakland wouldn’t be 15-1, they’d be 8-8 too. Those 7 extra losses are actually a 14 game swing in the standings.
Oh, and Sandmeyer (what a frickin idiot) just totally went off ona fire Hargrove rant – finally. If even a moron like him can see it, well…
Of course, he did at one point say that Hargrove was just a “bad fit” for this team. Bleah.
I imagine it’s fairly common to have problems with a baseball field les than a week after the raiders and their NFL friends have been running all over it.
What would really be bad is if the team is about to go into a late summer nosedive that Grover’s Baltimore teams did….
Well, Pineiro is finally BOOTED from the rotation.
According to the notes section of this story Jake Woods will be taking over Pineiro’s spot and Pineiro goes to the bullpen. About time.
hmm, the link doesn’t seem to work. I’ll try it again or you can just paste this: http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5877894
Uh huh. This was covered in the “O’Flaherty up, Dobbs back to Tacoma” post of yesterday.
At this point, I wish they’d just try someone from Tacoma in the rotation. There is little point in sticking Woods ibn there when they could give someone who might have a shot at next year’s rotation to get his feet wet in MLB. But maybe I’m answering my own question – do they not think anyone is ready?
Maybe they’ll do it when rosters expand. Or perhaps they want to give Joel a week or two to straighten himself out and get back in the rotation (I could barely type that with a straight face).
Woods was in Tacoma for a while.
Aside from handing the division to the stinkin’ A’s, we’ve made (more) enemies in Anaheim and TBIA. I wouldn’t expect the Rangers or Angels to be pleased if they finish a close 2nd.
#220– gee, and just last week it wasn’t Hargrove’s fault. huh.
#210 – they are the perfect reflection of their “leader”, Grover. They mope and whatnot because the guy has NO fire. He constantly makes bad decisions and it shows on the bench.
ok, DMZ, I just wanted to insert the pitching change in here too. For fun. For discussion. For joy.
BTW, I just heard Hargrove on KOMO saying his team was “playing hard” and “competing every night.” Yeah, okay, Mike. That and $3 will buy you a Mocha at Tully’s. But, see, you need to actually win a divisional ballgame once in a blue moon. Or get the hell out of town.
So do they mope around on the bench because he makes bad decisions, or because he has no fire? Which is it?
Personally I’d take good decisions over a lot of “fire” any day. Too bad we have had neither for the last 4 years. If fire is what you want, let’s bring back Eddie Guardado to light people’s shoes on fire.
Lack of fire. The bad decisions are a side effect as every guy in that dugout probably has an inflated self worth of themselves anyway (what athlete doesn’t?).
True, fire doesn’t win games (it didn’t help Lou in TB) but it would sure be nice if the manager showed a little of it from time to time
Oh and btw, I am not a big fan of “fire,” but I am of the belief that it helps in down times (Beltre sliding into 2B to break up a play, etc).
I am of the belief that a manager with a sense of control and a good knowledge of in game strategies is best (Buck Showalter comes best to mind).