If not Sexson, who? Willie! Boom-Boom! Yes! That guy!
I said some unkind things about McLaren’s choice to start Cairo in Sexson’s stead tonight. But there really is no way to justify the decision. With Sexson lost, here’s who was available:
– WFB-R, plays a good first base, terrible hitter
– WFB Light-R, plays a bad first base, terrible hitter
– Turbo-B, plays a bad first base, terrible hitter so far but probably a good bet to do better than either of those two, offensively
– play someone out of position, either Clement, Ibanez, or someone else, like someone tall from the bullpen
Once you’ve eliminated that last one, you really only have two defensible choices: Vidro, because you want a guy who’ll take a walk and might get a hit, or Bloomquist, because as long as you’re punting offense you might as well get a good glove out there.
There is no reason to play Cairo. There’s no reason Cairo’s on the roster, frankly, but this is supposedly exactly the reason Cairo’s there — to allow them to use Bloomquist while still having a Bloomquist facsimile on the bench. Arrgghhh.
And then — to not pinch-hit for Cairo late in the game when they’re down but things are still close… why not? You in the world do you pinch hit for Clement, who can hit, with Bloomquist in the 9th and not Cairo in the 8th? Why — this is just crazy.
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61 Responses to “If not Sexson, who? Willie! Boom-Boom! Yes! That guy!”
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no, she doesn’t ask questions like that. She was off last night; I assume it was one of the big-hair gals who work for Fox
According to Baker today,
Sexson was gone for a family issue.
Vidro had back spasms.
McLaren was tossed in the 2nd.
So it doesn’t seem quite as bad a decision as all that.
I, for one, get less upset about the managerial decisions than the FO decisions. Yes, the managerial decisions tend to suck, and Mclaren simply does not have what it takes to be a MLB manager, but the FO decisions are even worse. Give days, weeks, even months, to ponder the situation, we still have Cairo and Vidro on the roster and Norton was *released*, for gawd’s sake. I don’t even know how to begin to justify the series of “decisions” that led us here. Even when I try to think like the Mariner FO (i.e. I’m running a baseball team in 1975), I can’t figure it out.
Ah, but it’s always been their mission to put together, as Howie says, a “com-pe-ti-tive team” for the fans.
Um, yeah.
This… if you aren’t going to win you might as well entertain us.
someone tall from the bullpen
How about the Moose?
Bedard clearly doesn’t suffer fools gladly. I realize that might rub some people the wrong way; after all, this country is so willing to suffer fools that it elected GW Bush. Twice.
My understanding is that Bedard doesn’t really care for baseball that much – to him, it’s a job, just like any other.
As long as he’s giving 100% in the field (and he is), why should we care if he doesn’t want to jump through the rest of the hoops? We have Miguel Batista to give cryptic and soulful quotes to the press, and Bedard to actually, you know, not suck.
I’ve been kicking this around in my head for a while and I think it’s finally time to verbalize it. Bring back Woody Woodward. There, I said it. OK, the Indians called to offer David Bell straight up for Joey Cora and he had to CALL THEM BACK rather than jumping at it before they came to their senses. But he did stockpile pitchers in the minors and he did build and keep that young core (Griffey, Buhner, Martinez, Martinez, Blowers, Rodriquez, Wilson, Nelson)instead of constantly trading them away for veterans. He did a lot of that with less notable minor leaguers but not anything like what we’ve seen lately. Maybe I’m seeing the past through rose-colored glasses but that’s how bad things have become. I’m longing for the days of Woody Woodward. ‘heavy sigh’
Who really cares, though. I don’t give two shits if the media likes the guy. I only hope that he wins games. This is the reason why I’m all for signing Bonds. Do I hate him? Yes. Will he improve the lineup by leaps and bounds? I believe so.
Actually, having the media — this media, the local sports media — hate him might be a point in his favor, considering their general contempt for USSM (as well as things for like facts, analysis, independent thinking, and intelligence).