Game 118, Twins at Mariners
Baker vs Washburn, 1:35 pm.
Warning – if you’re tired of hearing us complain about the line-up, turn away now.
1. Ichiro, DH
2. Lopez, 2B
3. Guillen, RF
4. Ibanez, LF
5. Beltre, 3B
6. Sexson, 1B
7. Jones, CF
8. Burke, C
9. Betancourt, SS
When Adam Jones was called up, the decision was made that he would play center field three times the rest of the year – games immediately preceding an offday, so that Ichiro could get a half day off before the full day off. There was no consideration taken into scheduling Ichiro’s DH games to coincide with a groundball pitcher being on the mound (hint – Washburn, not a groundball pitcher) or when they’d be facing a left-hander (hint – Baker, not a left hander).
The Mariners decided that arbitrarily giving Ichiro consecutive rest is more important than putting a line-up out to counter the strengths of their opponents. So, today, with a flyball starter on the mound and facing a right-handed pitcher, the M’s replace Turbo’s left-handed bat with Adam Jones’ right-handed bat while simultaneously putting Jones in the outfield without improving the defense.
It takes a lot of work to be this strategically horrible. The Mariners live in oblivious world, and reality is a long, long ways away.
Comments
330 Responses to “Game 118, Twins at Mariners”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
So how long until Mac realizes that Washburn runs out of gas after about 90 pitches? How many games are going to fall apart in his final inning out there before Mac learns that fire burns?
In a bit of deja-vu, Sexson is due up first in the bottom of the 9th
McLaren deserves to be fired after this game.
At least they removed all false hope.
Like I said, no need for Nathan.
Perhaps that pitch could’ve been located better…
I’ve never seen a manager cost his team so many games… and he’s only been here two months.
Another 9th inning grand slam allowed by M’s bullpen. Swell.
Well there’s one important game dropped to managerial incompetence.
time to start the “let’s go blue jays/tigers” cheers
Well…. losing this game by one run would have been much more agonizing and frustrating.
303: Um, 400 years ago.
5-to-1 the Angels lose tonight. Isn’t treading water a great way to stay in shape?
Ugh, that was an ugly inning.
42- Education doesn’t equal intelligence.
I remember that fight song.
OKAY!
Okay!
BLUE JAYS!
Blue Jays!
LET’S Let’s
PLAY play
BALL! ball!
Wow – who’da thunk it would take a trip to Safeco to get the Twinkies bats out of their funk.
Seriously I think Mac is feeling some side effects to the medication they prescribed him to go along with that sling of his.
We are no longer in this race. Mac has single-handedly bungled this gift. We entered the season with hopes of a winning record at best. We took advantage of some early season luck and some bad luck for other teams to have a shot.
And to think…I actually rooted for McLaren to get this job? WTF was I thinking. Goes to show you don’t know what you don’t know.
CRAP! I was headed to Seattle this weekend as I really wanted to catch a game at Safeco. I have to reconsider now. Perhaps I should just go back to the lake where the radio doesn’t work, no TV and no internet.
I just saw film of B.F. Skinner’s experiments demonstrating how pigeons developed superstitious behavior, often ridiculous ones. McLaren’s management style seems to be that of a particularly timid, superstitious pigeon.
I do not miss Grover, but McLaren has so far been simply half the small negative the man he replaced was: we are losing that crucial few games due to managerial decisions whose success relies on luck, and luck is not what leaders are chosen to rely upon.
Piranhas are supposed to bite you – you’re not supposed to bite yourself. This series has been a remarkable exercise in self-destruction.
Makes you long for the days of Bob Melvin, don’t it? Amazing but true.
I just wrote a very angry e-mail about John McLaren to Ms Fancare on their website, I highly recommend everyone else do the same. Maybe if they get a couple hundred e-mails in one day about it they’ll listen a little more. I don’t seem to have the link tag from this computer so for those that don’t know go to mariners.com, scroll to the very bottom, click contact us, then click other. Can’t hurt anything, can it?
Are we seriously going to have a HoRam/Garza re-match on Monday??? That may just be the straw that broke the back of my Mariner fandom…
#292– in either scenario, it is a managerial call. Jones does not have a green light to steal.
you mean NL West-Leading Manager Bob Melvin? 🙂
I get the feeling (thinking back to the Strat-O discussion earlier) that the M’s are playing the game with the white side of the hitter cards, but the rest of the league is using the other side, the one with the splits.
I don’t miss Hargrove, or Melvin.
It shouldn’t be so much to ask to have a GOOD manager that helps his team’s chances of winning.
It is getting increasingly difficult to give passes to this team for being so poorly run, at least for me.
Figure out how to do your jobs please, kind sirs. 🙁
324
Didn’t mean to assign any blame for the CS to Jones. I’m more than willing to put the blame on Mac for the stupid hit-and-run or giving the green light.
I’m just saying that regardless of who is making the call, Jones shouldn’t steal. He’s very good at a lot of things, but stealing isn’t one of them.
I’m not worried. Out of the loop all day and couldn’t even check the score till 9 p.m. but I’m completely reassured by Mac’s quote on the Mariner website: “we played well.”
No problem then.
At least Strat-o-matic involved a certain degree of statistical fidelity, unlike, say Subbuteo.…
I think Mac is playing baseball version of Subbuteo, unfortunately. However, the historical zombie figurine does give rise to a Shaun of the Dead chuckle…