Game 17, Mariners at A’s
Dave · April 26, 2007 at 12:24 pm · Filed Under Mariners
Batista vs Kennedy, 12:35 pm.
Standard line-up for the M’s, even with a lefty on the hill.
For all the new readers who think I hate the Mariners.
GO M’s! WIN TODAY! WOO! GO TEAM GO!
Also, Derek’s at Powell’s on Hawthorne tonight at 7, so if you’re Portland, swing by and talk Cheaters Guide, Mariners baseball, and how I’m a horrible person. He’ll also be on KFXX 1080AM at around 6:00 to 6:20 for those of you in PDX, so feel free to tune in and listen to him talk before you go see him talk. It’s all Derek, all the time for Portlanders tonight.
It’s perfectly fine to love your team, but hate how it is run.
Putnam starting in CF for the A’s. Dave, what kind of a prospect is Putnam? I see he was a sandwich pick for Oakland in 2004 out of Stanford.
speaking of Derek, his wish will come true during tomorrow’s pre-game, as Drayer talks to Jamie Burke about that wacky series vs the Rainiers in 1999 …
Putnam’s the A’s version of Snelling, with less bat and a few more healthy bones. He’s a balls to the wall guy who hits for more power than you’d think based on his frame, knows how to hit, and gets the most of his mediocre athletic ability.
He’s not the wacky character that Doyle is, but he’ll probably have a better career. He probably shouldn’t be playing center field in the majors, though.
Let’s talk about Tui.
5-5 yesterday. Kid is hitting.
Auto-pilot Hargrove strikes again. Grover must have taken his original limeup sheet from game one and made 162 copies.
Interesting about Putnam. My money says Beane doesn’t trade him for a Vidro-esque “talent” anytime soon.
Come on, Beltre, I’ve been waiting two years for you to bust out.
Sorry, “lineup.” I imagine limeup is a new soft drink from 7-up with a distinct and refreshing lime flavor.
two blistering line drives for hits so far…
Dave–For those who believe you don’t love the Mariners would you please provide a link to the moving post you authored regarding going to the game with your Mom? I did a search but couldn’t discover that gem. Plus Mother’s Day is coming soon, so a nice time to revisit such a nice story. Thankyou. I will bookmark this time.
Let it be known that Vidro is hitting .309 on the year.
ummm, I’d take a limeup right about now.
Let it also be known that he ranks 50th in the American League in OPS, right behind Casey Kotchman, Orlando Cabrera, and Royce Clayton.
Doesn’t matter when you don’t walk or hit for power.
Let it further be known that Big Sexy is hitting .145 on the year. And that Beltre’s OPS is sub-700.
Somehow I don’t think that Grover will notice the OPS,which is unfortunate but consistent with previous Groverian practice. I should have put a sarcasm or snark tag on my previous comment.
so what happened there? stuck at work…
Fun with small sample size:
.308/.341/.410, 39 AB — Jason Tyner
.299/.338/.388, 67 AB — Jose Vidro
To insinuate that anyone who runs a website called “USSMariner” and spends countless hours thinking about and writing about the team, is anything but ga-ga for the Mariners, is quite hilarious.
anyone feel like giving me an inning recap? all i’m getting at work is the scoreboard…
Single, popout, single, lineout, flyout.
thanks tek…
I think 50th in the AL in OPS is a bit better than I expected from Vidro. I’ll take it. Sigh.
Blind allegiance is for ants and termites. Actual thinking primates can be both loyal and critical (in fact, given conflicting needs and an imperfect world, it’s pretty much impossible not to be). But I guess some people reject the rigors of cognition; certainly it’s easier or more comforting to just submerge in the mob.
So yeah, you can cheer even as you’re grunting in frustration and slapping your forehead and rolling your eyes. (Though if you do that in public you may get some funny looks).
So yeah, you can cheer even as you’re grunting in frustration and slapping your forehead and rolling your eyes.
Ah, yes, you shall know Mariners fans by their faux Tourette’s…
So the A’s have the pitching the Yankees desperately need, and the Yanks have all the offense the A’s lack. Put them together they’d be a monster of a team. Fortunately Steinbrenner isn’t that smart and Beane isn’t that rich.
johjima is red hot, yuni is heating up
OK, how many “out at the plate” plays can one team accumulate in a season? Seems like the M’s are on a record-setting pace….
I want to know how many weak slides we can do in a year, can someone let them know you can run the catcher over.
With this hot a bat, perhaps Joh can be moved to the 6-spot. But I suppose he will have to prove that he is a major league hitter. Wow.
recap please?
Hmmm… if Kendall gets bounced somehow, Piazza’s their back up catcher with Melhuse gone, and they lose their DH, to add to their hitting woes.
Guillen grounded out to first baseman D.Johnson unassisted. Johjima singled to left. Y.Betancourt singled to center, Johjima to third. Jo.Lopez grounded into fielder’s choice, third baseman Er.Chavez to catcher Kendall, Y.Betancourt to second, Jo.Lopez to first, Johjima out. On passed ball by Kendall, Y.Betancourt to third, Jo.Lopez to second. Suzuki grounded out, second baseman Ellis to first baseman D.Johnson.
I think 50th in the AL in OPS is a bit better than I expected from Vidro. I’ll take it. Sigh
Carl Everett was on pace to have something like a .260/21/75 season with about a .750 OPS as of May 31, 2006.
I’m not particularly optimistic that a player with a history of second-half fades, no speed and two extra-base hits in a month is going to be maintaining his numbers for very long. Case in point: WFB had a .319/.364/.403 July, 2005. It didn’t mean he was very good.
Do catchers tend not to run over other catchers, as a matter of courtesy — especially early in the game? Has Joh ever run over anybody? Do they do that much in Japanese ball?
Was it close enough to matter? Unless you arrive at about the same time as the ball, the catcher is going to hold on to it and you’re going to be out. From Dave’s narration on the radio, it didn’t sound especially close.
thanks joser…sounds like we are having no problems with hits…that’s a good sign…how does batista look?
is there no network covering the game? MLB.TV has a broadcast with no scoreboard and no apparent network affiliation…
I’m tyring to do a programming lab on campus and i keep switching back and forth, but i cant tell how many outs there are or if theres runners on or anything.
pretty annoying
EC, I didn’t say I was optimistic. Grasping at straws, more like. Every day that Vidro doesn’t completely suck massive mounds of donkey dung is a small bonus to me. Sad, really, when a small, manageable pile of donkey dung is enough to make your day.
It’s radio only for both teams, so you’re getting the stadium’s closed circuit camera with a radio feed. No one without MLB.tv is watching the game at all, though, so you can take solace in that.
If the A’s played the M’s every game, would they score a COMBINED 700 runs on the season?
Jose Vidro: The new Juan Pierre.
Vidro is a professional hitter you know.
Raul is driving me nuts at the plate. I’m still not down on Beltre though. Probably buyist.
Is is just me, or is Beltre hitting everything on the ground to third base, or foul?
Unreal.
Pete: Yeah I noticed that too. It’s either popped up or right at the third baseman.
I definitely do, thanks for cheering me up… youre not such a bad guy after all (just got done reading the dribble that was the responses to your Washburn post)
So, howbout all these LOB?
Seemed like he made all his outs that way last night too.
C’mon Dave. You know you don’t mean that.
Batista’s got the strikeout working today!
Torii Hunter got nailed in the mouth by a Greinke fastball. Blood, hospital, stitches.
How about all those GIDPs, too!
Reminds me of the 2004 M’s with Edgar and ‘Rud…
Tough play for Yuni… got scored a single, but should have been an out regardless
There’s a total of 10 team LOBs for the Mariners, and they’ve only been up hitting for 3 innings.
I hate to extrapolate that number to an entire game, but it sure points out what USSMariner has been saying for the past month — even if the M’s get guys on base, they die, DIE, D-I-E out there!
Checking the Nats score – Is Snelling now relegated to 4th outfielder, pinch hitter?
Yunieksy’s fielding hasn’t been that great this year. And it cost us more runs.
Ugh, 4 hour block of class starts now… gotta miss the rest of the game.
enjoy
GO M’S
And, yes, I know the difference between the number of guys LOB at the end of an inning vs. the number of LOBs each batter leaves on base throughout a given inning.
I’m referring to the latter.
And it starts…
Batista sucks. Washburn = Ace extend him wooo.
Batista the mechanic, is taking the wheels off the wagon.
I’m glad I get to meet Derek tonight. Sure, Dave would be good to talk with, but Derek has that intangible grittiness.
Dave, I keep forgetting to ask you what you know about Kinsler. I’m a little behind the times with Texas’ system.
Fatboy Colon is mowing down the D-Rays. Is he back?
Maybe it’d somehow be better if Batista DID pitch with his birth certificate!
Ack!
Triple Play? I wonder when the was the last time the M’s turned 3?
Dan Johnson: He gone!
OK – Gamecast is off – it went from zero outs to 2 outs after the johnson strikeout.
Dave, I keep forgetting to ask you what you know about Kinsler. I’m a little behind the times with Texas’ system.
Nice player having the best month of his life. He’s got more power than the usual second baseman, but he’s not much with the glove. Overall, he’s average-ish.
Batista is starting to look like he might deserve to pitch in a major league rotation or is it the A’s bad batters batting badly again?
argh…what happened? was finishing sixth period…
4 Ks for Miguel “the Animal” Batista through 3.
how did they score two runs? batista? bad defense? the a’s coming to life?
Guillen has been just underneath two more jack shots today. This team can be so damn frustrating.
Two booming doubles back to back.
thanks dan…
What’s more rare? A no hitter or the M’s getting a walk AND a two out hit w/ RISP in the SAME inning?
Baker also sighs about the Ms offense
so, wierd, another Putnam/Snelling similarity– tennis families.
Why do people get so down about the offense???You know it sucks and cant score runs, so why set your self up for disapointment??
Secondly, wow, why cant we play Tampa Bay right now???? Anaheim is creaming them right now and has been for days.
because we’d play the Tampa team that just swept the Yankees?
Danny Putnam: He gone!
On a high note, we can only lose to the A’s 16 times this year so we are a better team already.
83
Exactly…except we’d only give up the double digit runs to the Rays like NY, not score 6-8 runs.
J. Lopez flied out to deep left
at least it was deep left
Good thing we got a runner on, wouldn’t want to end a inning without a LOB.
88
But now we ruined our chance for another sterling DP
Ooh! A guy got all the way around the bases! No joke.
TURBO, to the rescue!
That just happened!
Vidro picked a good moment for an extra base hit here, I was worried that he’d single and Beltre would be waived home again, with the same result as last time.
Who are these guys? working the count for walks and getting RBI’s??
There’s your 2-out hit and walk in the same inning.
An now’d be a good moment for a Sexson FB.
Does nobody on this team get that it’s OK to take a pitch after the guy in front of you just got walked? Was that pitch Sexson grounded out on as far inside as Gameday made it look? Sexson needs a week off.
95
Amen to that!
I suppose asking Richie to get his elusive single REALLY would’ve been pushing it though
97
Why does Richie NEVER EVER seem to get a day off, no matter how ghastly his swing looks?
Even Rene Rivera is probably laughing at him now
Woohoo, ERA under 8 for Miguel
The ghost of Bobby Ayala comes back to inhabit Richie Sexson. Ah, the good old days when Lou would keep sending Bobby A to the mound to get the save (where BA would give up the game).
What is the pitch count on Batista?
93 through 5 IP
It’s just a guess, but I don’t think that felt good.
It’s more like… Go M’s! Beat these Oakland misfits. They’re not only struggling, but they couldn’t hit a fly on a wall this week. Win because you can overcome your deficiencies and even with those deficiencies, you’re so much better than the A’s offense again today. Yay! Don’t mess it up guys! Or maybe lose so we can get a new manager sooner. Yeah that’s it.
At least we can’t watch the misery on tv! ROTFLOL. Sorry..had to post that, I couldn’t resist.
Is this going to be ANOTHER inning where the lead off man gets on and dies on that same base?
If Vidro goes 4 for 4 today it will be the most “empty” 4 base hit game for any player in baseball history.
In fact, the credit should not go to Vidro so much as he’s getting pitches that a AAA player could hit.
It’s nothing special people. The glass is half empty.
107
Granted, it wouldn’t seem so empty if anyone else had a clue
Damn it Jose, you’re supposed to go the other way!
106
I was about to say Yes. The Lopez jacked one for us!
What? I look away for one second…
Yesssss!
Lopez!
Thank God Mateo’s rested and ready.
106
I’ll just answer it myself: Gladly NO!
Jose can still turn on the inside pitch, can’t he? That’s a good thing.
lopez home run?
Woo! Jose! Hang on Batista, you can win this one!
living in cali at work with nothing but you guys and the scoreboard on mlb.com for my updates is KILLING me…thanks for the updates…
Ouch. GameCast just offered the handy information that Ichiro is 1 for 11 in a 2-2 count this year.
Vidro = empty 4 base hit game? A double and an RBI count for something.
Make that 1 for 12.
Hargrove is probably seething that Lopez didn’t hit the ball on the ground to the right side…
Is Grover even awake right now? Those intermittent naps make it hard to guess what, if anything, that he’s thinking.
did batista last through five to qualify for the win?
It looks like Batista didn’t have too bad a day. 5 1/3 IP, 2 BB, 6 K, 2 ER is a decent line. He certainly didn’t hurt the team’s chances of winning (Fangraphs has his WPA at 0.057.)
Are those statistics misleading?
My assumption is that 107′s disparagement of Vidro was a sarcastic comment on the previous thread re: Washburn. If it is, I’m inclined to agree.
If not, and to those still harping on Vidro, without his double, the Mariner’s wouldn’t have a lead right now.
Batista had a HORRIBLE day. If he was only average, he would have shut out the A’s.
Heh. Thanks for the clarification.
Turbo’s got ‘em so scared with his speed that they’re making mistakes now =)
TURBO! I think he would have beat it anyways, infield hit!
E5
what the hell just happened, haha
Good effort Ibanez, sure you were not taught to run plays out in little league.
grover actually out arguing a call… fair ball; safe at second, out at first
All of this discussion w/ the umps is moot, since we all know Sexson is going to get the run home w/ his hot hitting.
another extra base hit for richie… nice
Huh? Sexson?
Jim Wolf (who called that questionable last out last night) decided that Ibanez’ ball was caught fair, though apparently the 1st base ump & Raul both thought it was foul. Turbo was safe only because the throw to 2nd was high.
136
Apparently, I’d have looked a lot smarter if that wasn’t written w/ such sarcasm
Still no singles…
3-0 swing by our .218 hitting, .635 OPSing RF?
I’m thinking, Vidro reaches second on throwing error and gets driven in on a double? How is that possible with his speed?
Then I remember Oakland’s cavernous foul territory and spacious alleys.
Is it just me, or is the USSM clock set a couple minutes fast? I thought it was just my home clock, but the same thing seems to be the case here at work…
he’s previously in an 0-20 slump, its hard not to be just a little sarcastic
Which I suppose fits as he has a career 204 BB in 4293 PA. mmmm 4.75% goodness.
Is it just me, or is the USSM clock set a couple minutes fast? I thought it was just my home clock, but the same thing seems to be the case here at work…
It’s 4-5 minutes faster than my clock, and my server’s clock, but those may be off for all I know.
Can Reitsma go two innings? Or is our new setup guy, Morrow, getting ready in the pen to work the 8th?
Where the hell was Jose playing Ellis?
you mean our new prodigal son??? haha
you know, yesterday’s game had been over for almost 30 minutes by now.
alright… needed that quick out. Another run wouldnt hurt either, rally time
George’s middle name must be “money” this year. Is there a better LOOGY this year?
First pitch pop up?
Over-rated defense?
Chavez is trying out for the M’s.
So, I guess we can stop worrying about Sherrill’s rough spring training?
G. “Money” Sherrill? I bet he’d like that tag.
And a new nickname is born.
So Sherrill pitches the 8th, right? Do we have any other lefties in the pen still?
Somebody is actually looking at the timecode on the posts?
Could use a 2-ball right here.
Those of you trying to follow the action w/o the radio or gameday, you can look at cnn/si’s play-by-play. It’s not exactly real-time, but it does summarize the innings and doesn’t require flash, java, etc.
Gameday thinks Morrow got squeezed — shows everything except ball 4 inside the strike zone.
Why was gorgeous George taken out so quickly? They have some lefties coming up. Did Grover wake up too soon and start making decisions again?
settle down, morrow
Why could Sherrill stay in and pitch the 8th? It’s not like he had a high pitch count.
Interesting to see Morrow in the set-up role here
oop, couldn’t not could
I would say Morrow is about to blow the game, but since it’s Oakland’s sorry excuse for a line-up I doubt they’ll get farther than within a run.
165 Is that a serious question? You know Mike Hargrove manages the team still, right?
Hargrove trying to give Morrow the innings he should be getting as a starter in Tacoma.
Putz in to get 5 outs. Grover you grey beared idiot!
Meh, how fast does Buck run?
And trying to pull a Rivera on his closer by making him get 5 outs a game.
Anyone…what kind of damage (mental/physical) can be done to a young pitcher by pitching him 1 inning a week for a couple weeks, then 3+ in one outting and then into the set-up role? Seems like they are aimlessly pitching him.
Think Putz will throw a splitter today?
Baker:
“An interesting development here as the Mariners hold a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning. Chris Reitsma is on the mound, having been brought in by manager Mike Hargrove with two out in the sixth inning. The interesting part is that Brandon Morrow is up and throwing in the bullpen. He’ll likely be out there in the eighth inning. Funny, I thought that was Reitsma’s job. Hargrove apparently saw enough from Morrow the other night to want to use him in Reitsma’s spot — even though Reitsma hasn’t had a chance to pitch all season with a lead in the eighth inning. Looks like he’s lost his role — for this game at least — without ever getting a chance to perform in that role. Interesting.”
Is there something wrong with putting Putz in for this situation, 173? This is the kind of situation where you want your best pitcher in.
And for the second time this week, Hargrove decides to get more than three outs from J.J. Putz. I don’t mind, really. J.J. getting five outs puts about as much strain on his arm as J.J. getting three.
Man, if Gameday is at all accurate, this ump is being brutal with the strikezone. I’ve seen now four alleged strikes called balls.
I think it’s good to see JJ coming in earlier.
#169 I know blind stupid optimism that Hargrove actually looks at the lineup and says “ohh, 2 lefties coming up, and a struggling Piazza, but it’s o.k. cause the worst Piazza can do is hit a solo HR.” and ” I don’t have another lefty in the pen, and George only threw one pitch.” I’m so stupid to think that Hargrove would actually apply though to game managment. But I’m sure Morrow will bail him out and he will “make Hargrove look good” just like Wash did yesterday.
Serious question: If Putz isn’t healthy enough to throw his splitter now, how will closing every few days allow him to become so?
splitter sighting
Putz has been throwing mostly fastballs this year, and by “mostly” I mean about 90-95%. I don’t think his arm is right.
There it was!!! the splitter!!!
That was absolutely filthy.
he just got the K with the splitter, a beautiful one
Odd assertion from Dave Niehaus about Marco Scutaro:
“He’s as dangerous as you’d want with the bat”
Um, his wouldn’t be the first name to come to mind.
Did Niehaus just call Putz “the big wolverine?”
Seriously, isn’t this situation exactly where the USSM authors are always talking about bringing in the “closer”?
anyone watching the stadium’s closed circuit camera? Is Wolf having that much difficulty with the zone?
PUTZ-KEEEE!!!
God, I love this guy. He’ll prove to be a better closer than Sasaki when it’s all said and done.
188: he’s the most dangerous you’d want to face, more dangerous hitters you wouldn’t want to face.
I would like to register my fear that J.J.’s facial hair (at least in the GameCast shot) is approaching Spiezian proportions.
Wow, Hargrove has used six pitchers today. I guess he really wants to keep his job…
Im watching, hes calling a pretty decent game, i missed about 3 innings, but its been kinda tight, but fair for both teams…
I have no problem with bringing in Putz at this point.
I think the other side of the logic is the idea that, in order to save the ace reliever, you have someone else ready to go in the ninth. The workload doesn’t change, but use in high-leverage situations is the key.
189: The University of Michigan’s sports teams are called the Wolverines
Man, Batgirl is going to be upset with that whole Hunter-ball-in-the-mouth thing. Does any player who gets sent to the hospital get automatic Boyfriend of the Day status?
And if Zack Greinke is that wild right now, I’m glad the M’s won’t face him this series.
a couple of weeks back JJ was on KOMO talking about a chat he had last year with Mariano Rivera, and what an impression Mo had on him when talking about pitching in the 8th– how that can be when the save actually happens, and how a closer should welcome going in earlier than the ninth.
It’s an hour past my usual bedtime here in the UK. The M’s better not blow this in the ninth or I will be seriously pissed!
198–Ah, thanks. I thought it might have had something to do with his facial hair, or John Belushi somehow.
Ah, the pubs have closed in Blighty.
Don’t you, uh, blokes use that to mean drunk? Just make sure you have plenty of water afterwards.
Wouldn’t that be Spiezioan?
204 – We have 24 hour licenses here – the pubs never close … sometimes.
Come on JJ, lets see them splitters.
Spiezioian.
Which b/e/g/s/ raises the question: If he manages this way to save his job, why doesn’t he manage this way all the time? Could it be he actually knows he’s more likely to win this way, but doesn’t do it normally for other reasons?
just so long as he refrains from dying it.
So who comes in if Putz gets in trouble?
I posit that the creation of adjectives from proper nouns frequently involves vowel droppage. Also, it sounds a lot better in this instance.
Yeah, I want to see Putz used in high-leverage situations and (without looking at realtime LI) that would seem to be one. So, uh, yeah Hargrove. My concern is with asking Putz to make five outs. He’s probably better-suited to that much work than Rivera is, physically, especially at this point in their relative careers. But he did have that elbow thing earlier, and he doesn’t seem to be throwing his splitter at all. So….
208: I imagine the shortness of his leash might make him manage more to win each game as it comes, rather than to manage for the long haul. Burning through the bullpen when you don’t have many games left doesn’t hurt so much.
The Last Triple Play (# 68)
This may not be the last one, but it’s still fun to read about it:
http://tinyurl.com/kq4do
BTW (SEE # 36) – My recollection from Whiting’s YOU GOTTA HAVE WA is that on those infield-grounder double plays, the runner from first starts his slide early, so he won’t crash into the pivot man. Seems it would be the same way with a runner crashing into the catcher. (Some people who comment–or write for–USS MARINER are intimately familiar with Japanese baseball, and could accurately address # 36′s concern.)
“Spiezian” “Spiezioan” “Spiezioian”
I prefer “Spiezioatian,” personally.
you know, if one had a player named Marco Scutaro on one’s team, half of the stadium could call out ‘Marco’ and the other half could then reply ‘Scutaro’. I’m just saying.
Spiezioatian would sound good with Jurassic Carl, too. Excellent!
I’m thinkin’ Spieztic.
On the other hand, a win against OAK is more important than a win against KC, so if 5 outs means Putz isn’t available until Sunday it’s not a big deal. Hopefully they’ll tee off against Meche and there won’t even be a save opportunity.
Of course, seeing Morrow and Reitsma and Putz today means we’ll see way too much of Mateo this weekend…
Spiezian. It sounds like a disease, and that’s fitting.
Like, “Yeah, he’s got a bad case of the Spiez”
Spiezioid. Short, and gets in the whole name.
Spiezioianistic.
Vowel droppage is an abomination. I ain’t havin’ it.
sweet play Beltre
213: True, but Hargrove’s defense of his bullpen use on the past has had more to do with Roles than with concerns about burning through pitchers.
if only he could do those types of things with his bat these days
204 – ????
220 – it does sound like a disease; sort of like spiezism. “Looks like he’s showing signs of spiezism up there.” Or, to confine it to the facial hair, “He’s got serious cranio-facial speizism there. Not good at all.”
Yah! Back to back sweeps by the Mariners!
4 out of 5 from Oakland so far is a very welcome change.
ichiro! turns around and basket catches an easy pop directly at him for flare points to end the game… awesome …. M’S WIN!!!!!!!!!!!
Mariners will be second in the division with an 83-79 record. You heard it here first.
Ichiro – What the hell was that?
Sweep! The M’s have now beaten the A’s twice as many times as they did all last year!
I like Spiezious because it reminds me of specious, which many of his remarks are, to say the least.
Woo hoo! 4-1!! OUR turn to own the rivalry!!!
A 2 game sweep I’ll take it!
“Spiezits” — (spee’zits, n): an expensive junk food with no nutritional value, notable for its garish artificial coloring.
“I really hated myself, so I decided to fill up on Spiezits”
Let the Morrow banter begin. It appears he’s taken over the 8th inning power arm slot, and Reitsma is the new Mateo.
Wow.
That was great. It probably had something to do with the sun, but if I’m sure A’s fans were annoyed.
um, a little Felix Unger to the Oakland fans?
I hope no one ever becomes the new Mateo
Nuss, retiring one out of three batters faces is not a recommendation for set-up work.
I noticed Ichiro was getting pretty casual with some of his pop-up catches last night — just lifting his glove up to his shoulder at the last minute. Either he’s starting to feel real comfortable in CF, or he’s doing it to fcuk with the Oakland fans in the bleachers. If you’ve ever seen him shag flies during BP, you know how much of a showboat he can be with the glove when he wants to be.
Nice win but the three game streak is so illusory. We got out of Texas before their hitter could do us any more damage, then beat an extremely weak-hitting version of the A’s by two runs in each game. This means virtually nothing with respect to how good the team is…even though it is nice to beat up on division opponents. What it really accomplishes is the creation of a reality distortion field around the team, through which craptacular roster construction and on-field management look like rainbows and unicorns.
231. Wow ..what a shocking prediction… A whole 4 games over .500??? LOL
Anyway, are we in bizzaro world??? The M’s 4-1 against the A’s this year
Morrow had a WHIP of 6.000 for the game
How about “Spiezi-cali-Spiezi-istic-Spiezi-Spiezi-docious”?
214 John D
Thank you…Entertaining..I had to read a few times to figure it out.
I hope no one ever becomes the new Mateo
Well, if it means Mateo is out looking for work and somebody else is put into the bullpen, or Jones/Clement get brought up to ride the bench, I’m ok with that.
Hell, maybe they can trade Mateo to the Yankees for some wrappers or something.
It may be illusory, but wins against division opponents aren’t weighted by the offensive shortcomings of the other teams. Of course this just increases the inevitable disillusionment (while delaying it slightly).
I do worry this gives a longer leash on Hargrove and Bavasi, though.
Yea, the Mariners win another game are only 1.5 games out of first place.
The only problem, it means that the Mike Hargrove era continues one day longer.
251. Good point ..
Anyone know when the first of the 6 makeup games will be played?
Oh let’s just enjoy a soft win and accept that Hargrove and Bavasi are probably going to be here all season; let’s hope that there is just enough reason in the M’s executive offices to be sure that they are both gone come November.
At this point, NOBODY in the West looks very good. I point out the 1973 Mets, 1985 Twins and 2006 Cardinals. There’s nothing that says your championship rings are devalued if you only win 85 in the regular season.
Speaking of division rivals, that Anaheim home/away split gapes like the Grand Canyon right now — was gonna go with a more colorful metaphor involving plumbers or even Britney Spears but decided on discretion.
I think they said the Boston makeup game will be on May 3, on the way to the NY series. Texas could actually be kind of ugly, because the next opportunities are a 3-game series in July (weekday games) or a 4-game weekend series in August (they would rather schedule double-headers on weekends, but who wants to play a day game in Texas in August?) Here’s one goofy possibility: the M’s play a weekend series at Houston in June, and there’s a Monday off before coming home; Texas also has that day open (6/18).
There was a bunch of speculation about how to fit in the Indians games but I don’t recall the details and they might be still working them out.
Now that I look at it: what’s up with the Texas scheduling anyway? Other than this week’s two-game series, all the games at Texas are scheduled for July and August. I realize somebody has to go play in Texas in those months, but that seems a little extreme. How about them playing four games in Seattle in August and the M’s going there for 4 games at the start of June, instead. It would be better for everybody, including the fans. (And yeah, I know, that would mean rewriting the entire schedule because otherwise the M’s would be on the road for month from the middle of May to the middle of June).
Go Mariners. They know how to develop a young arm.
there were a just couple of articles about scheduling — the Baker and Hickey
hmm, for those of us not in Portland, looks like a Rainiers/51s game at 7:30 tonight at Cashman Field, and woohoo!! it’s Budweiser Dollar Beer Night!
Sorry, msb. Budweiser is not “beer”. It is BLS: Beer-like substance.
I don’t think anyone’s noted this bit of prescognition from the Stealing Credit thread:
First Dave, then Safeco Hobo call their shots … I’m gathering some betting money and awaiting the next USSM prediction
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Oh, piffle. Microbrew snobbery shouldn’t mean you can’t tell the difference between decent American-style beer and crap beer. Budweiser is a good thirst-quenching beer. Sure, I’d rather have Anchor Liberty, but there are a hundred beers — including dozens of microbrews — worse than Budweiser.
The beer is awful on dollar beer nite. Definite headache giver. Plus the lines are long, and the cups are small. We went to Cashman last week on Dollar Beer Night, paid 4 bucks for the good stuff. Worth it. Although tommorrow is Fireworks night, and that’s always a good time. Hope to get some autographs too.
262: It can be argued that Budweiser does not qualify as beer because it uses rice instead of barley. It depends on your definition. Is Zima beer?
Budweiser is like the nectar of the Gods compared to lactic swill like Miller MGD.
What I’m wondering is whether Bavasi and Hargrove getting the axe earlier improves the chances of Ichiro staying around.
#216 msb said:
They do that.
Give me a Honey Porter and I’m a happy fan. Sadly, its so hard to find.
267
True dat. Saw tx/oak in Az in March. They do it very half assed, kinda like they’re obligated to doso. Lame yet funny.
Not unless they win 90.
I don’t think money is (or will be) the main object for him. A championship is. And the only way he’s staying in Seattle is if he sees a substantial step step forward.
A division championship might do it…by definition–since you can’t play for a championship if you don’t get into the playoffs. And, since a championship or 90 wins means a team on the rise (AND would mean Seattle would have the resources to pay him), he sure as heck wouldn’t leave.
242: I completely, absolutely, 100 percent agree.
However, my agreement is not necessarily of how Hargrove will use him, courtesy Geoff Baker:
However, my agreement is not necessarily of how Hargrove will use him, courtesy Geoff Baker:
Wow, that was awkward. How about this:
“However, Hargrove doesn’t.”
It seems that Washburn won this game too.
That’s too funny.
270: But do you think that Ichiro’s assessment of the team’s future prospects is really tied solely to this year’s results? My mental picture of Ichiro gives him more smarts than that.
He can likely get a better chance at winning and more money somewhere else. What if Boston does throw a boatload of money at him? I’m pretty much resigned to his departure. I sure would love to be surprised. Even if we objectively overpay for him. At his best, he’s been the most fan to watch of any Mariner ever, IMO.
fun, not fan. sigh.
Oh, certainly. That’s why I said that if there was a strong upward trend (90 wins or a division championship), he’d probably stay. Strong upward trend with strongly performing rookies on the way means better chance to compete.
If the team scuffles or stays at .500, he has to ask himself if this team is going to turn around soon. He doesn’t have all the time in the world; he has to compete to win in the very near future. If the Ms can’t do it in the next year (a division championship or 90 wins would show that they can), he almost has to look elsewhere.
Some might argue that the firing of Bavasi and/or Hargrove equals a strong upward trend.