Game 59, Angels at Mariners
The Interview and his personal catcher v Saunders.
Thank Ichiro, a decent starter.
I don’t know what to write here, and I’ve been starting at the Write Post box for a while, so I’ll offer this — we all know that the Angels and Athletics series are important out of proportion to the rest of the season’s games, and if you’re like me, even in the horrible start of the season you’ve been nursing some hope that the team’s not this bad, that they’re making changes, however slight, that if they can win these games they can climb back into it, and last night’s game was particularly hard to watch for putting them down another game in the divisional race.
So here’s the thing: Bedard’s a good pitcher, and there are still great reasons to watch the Mariners. I’d watch this game even if the M’s had gone into the season looking at a 90-loss year. It’s likely to be some quality baseball, worth seeing. And if giving up on frustration and my attachment to seeing a competitive team in 2008 makes it easier for me to watch and enjoy the team play, maybe that’s a good thing.
Go Bedard.
Comments
115 Responses to “Game 59, Angels at Mariners”
One of us! one of us!
Of course I’ll watch it. But I Refuse (to lose Money) to pay for it!
Amen DMZ or whatever you’re supposed to say after an inspirational post.
Congrats to Barack today
The Yankees just intentionally walked Brad Wilkerson (to load the bases for Eckstein, who doubled).
Yeah, the best thing about this team is that (when everybody’s healthy) two games out of every five you have a chance to watch some great pitching. And that’s the best thing about the Bedard trade, too: it doubled the number of opportunities to watch a great starting pitcher in an M’s uniform. That’s worth something. Even when almost everything else on the team is made of suck.
Also, I look forward to seeing Morrow come into the game in a way I haven’t felt about a relief appearance in a long time. He’s still raw and wild, but he’s harnessing it more and more. I’d love to see him get more than one inning.
I think Bedard doesn’t get enough credit in the comments here. The trade was bad but he is still a very good pitcher who is worth watching.
I gave an analogy to a co-worker today of a person trading away a house for a brand new Ford Mustang. Unless the house is about to be condemned, thats a bad trade no matter how nice the Mustang. Nonetheless, once you made the trade, you might as well enjoy driving the Mustang.
Lets just enjoy Bedard.
Yes, Bedard, la voiture chaude.
If you are trading houses for cars, pleas call me b4 u do another deal.
Please!
That’s hard to do when the guy who traded away your house is still making the decisions.
How can you relax and enjoy the Mustang? If he’ll trade your house for a Ford, what makes you think he won’t trade the Ford for a bus pass?
At this point I’d be more comfortable with a Magic 8 Ball running the team.
Bedard’s Line Prediction:
7IP/2 Earned Runs/6K’s
I’ll watch after Obama gives his speech, because some things are more important than baseball.
Like a candidate who’s been a shoe-in for 4 months now telling us what we already know? Nah, you need to be watching every minute of this game.
Juneau_fan:
When he gets in the White House I’ll pay attention. He has my vote, so back to the Mariners game for me.
The Bedard deal was bad, but not house-for-car bad. I agree; if you get snookered, you learn to live with what you have. I can love Bedard while still fearing Bavasi (and pining for Sweet Adam Jones, whose name is the first thing I look for in the boxscores every morning).
I’ve been watching every Bedard start so far, and I don’t know, I don’t know what to look for with this guy. I watched some highlights of his big games on mlb.com last year when he would strike out 10 guys a game, and his curveball was completely disgusting and he made hitters look AWFUL. I haven’t seen any of that stuff so far this season. This comment has nothing to do with the Adam Jones trade and I’m not trying to “hate” on the guy, I just haven’t seen anything remotely close to the talent I was expecting to see so far.
D – Fence! D – Fence!
Obama’s speech has been up on the net for ~3 hours now, no sitting through applause and scripted pauses required. Mind you, sitting through political speeches is less painful than watching the M’s “field.”
Amen, DMZ. There’s something liberating about being out of the race this early. I for one can simply enjoy each game on its own merits, like Saturday’s gem. It’s a more laid-back kind of fandom. It doesn’t have the intensity of a pennant race, with the scoreboard-watching and live-or-die feeling of each September game. But it’s baseball nonetheless, and still a singular pleasure.
What the hell, Lopez.
The extra at-bats we give opposing teams is just ridiculous.
That said, dammit Jose, get that ball!
and a grounder to short from Sexson ends that inning. How long was that? Did anyone put a stopwatch on it? That was under 90 seconds, surely?
you know things are bad when the sarcasm in Niehaus’s voice is palpable – “and Richie gets his two pitches”
When you’re just going through the motions, there’s no reason to take extra time. There’s a buffet waiting, and Vidro is in the dugout so he’s already got a head start.
I think they’re asking this trivia question because they fully expect an M’s foe to achieve it sometime this season.
But the answer is 25, as Blowers said, and that means a loss for that team.
Sims on the radio, talking about the season “You know McLaren was saying earlier the fans are frustrated, he’s frustrated. But these sorts of things happen. That’s just the way it is.”
Right, it’s like the weather. Out of your control. Didn’t see it coming, couldn’t have done anything if you did. That’s the party line now?
he’s got to get past Silva, first.
I just love watching this year’s team with my 6 & 8 yr old little leaguers …
“See how all the M’s swing at every pitch boys? Well, NEVER do that yourselves. Oh I forgot, you already know that.”
so, I’ve been half-listening while doing other things.
is it my imagination, or have pretty much all the balls the Ms have hit gone into an infielders’ gloves, while pretty much all the balls hit by the Angels have caused the Mariner infielders to fling themselves sideways in a futile attempt to stop them scooting past?
So apparently Bob Fontaine will be on the radio pre-game show tomorrow.
carefully not saying anything about their plans
Baker has a Fontaine quote today:
“Let me tell you something,” he said. “I don’t look at having to be justified. I’ve done this so long, if I have to feel everything we do is under a crystal ball and has to be justified — and I’m going to worry about it — I’m going to make a lot of mistakes.
“If Brandon Morrow is helping us, that’s what counts. Can he start? Of course he can start. I believe he’s a starter. Our scouts believe he’s a starter. We scouted him as a starter. When the time comes if he’s a starter here, I believe he’s going to be an outstanding starter. But in the meantime, he’s going to be and is an outstanding reliever. If that’s what’s best for this club…that’s one of the things we liked about Brandon, that he could do both things, and fill a need for you when you needed it.” “
@joser: I’m with you re: Morrow. he reminds me of Raphael Soriano when he was on fire, those arrow straight fastballs that no one could hit.
Wow, when I don’t think it can get any worse, the sequence goes:
FSN: With two strikes, Izturis is batting .132 with 3 hits and 10Ks.
Bedard: breaking ball in dirt, way out of strike zone
Bedard: breaking ball in dirt, way out of strike zone
Izturis: flair to right-field, Balentein slides in to stop (but not catch)
The baseball gods have it in for us.
Silva might decide to eat Vidro, instead.
Wow, you guys see all those empty seats.
Yay something fun to watch, I love knuckleballs!
Well…I understand others’ attitude towards this political contest–it’s seemed like the worse Washburn start ever. But what the hell, I love to listen to Obama speak–reading isn’t quite the same.
So! I flip back to the game and they’re already down 3 runs, and in the time it took to prepare my delicious dinner of turkey wieners and kale, it’s a call to the bullpen.
Maybe listening to the full McCain speech would have been worse than watching the first four innings. Just maybe.
dickey!
dickey!
at least these continual embarrassments might light a fire under the M’s to make some needed changes…..
Speaking of what’s eating Vidro, in his sadly prophetic pre-game interview, “Saunders is very hard to hit,” I swear he had those god-awful blond highlights that the team kept doing the past couple of years to get out of their funks. And it never worked.
That would be horrifying, funny, and an improvement to the ballclub, all at the same time.
Lopez! Sweet!
I just checked the box score. Why is Bedard gone already?
I didn’t listen to Obama … like the majority of Americans, I don’t have an irrational love for every word the guy utters. Glad I don’t need to worry about never having that hour back.
‘PEZ!
mediocre pitching and a mediocre D to back him up….
Mound Conference Theatre:
Mac: Gotta take the ball, son. Sorry we forgot to get you an actual defense.
Bedard: [mutters] Merde.
Dear Santa,
I’ve been so good (so far) this year.
But I don’t want too much for Christmas this year.
All I want for Christmas is:
-Chuck Armstrong, Howard Lincoln, Bill Bavasi, and John McLaren to be fired
-A new GM/president that’s smart
-A new manager and coaching staff that’s smart along with showing leadership (but Mel can stay)
-Trade Ibanez, Johjima, Silva, Bedard, Balentien, Washburn, and Batista
-Get us 2 setup men that can throw hard, a first baseman, 2 corner outfielders, and a DH who can hit for avg. and pop and are in their prime
-A World Series sometime soon.
Tom: Amen!
Derek: Do you still feel optimistic, and that Bedard is a good pitcher?
OK that pick-off was fun to watch.
Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooot so much no
What’s Fat Boy yapping about now??
God, I hate Soccia. Particularly when there’s a closeup of him peaking his sausage fingers while hanging over the dugout fence.
Soccia?
[see comment guidelines]
Seriously? ‘Fat Face’?
Cool, two out runs. I remember those.
maybe the M’s sucktitis is contageous…
I think the Angels are as bored as we are and have decided to spot us some runs to make it worth their while.
here I am, tracking the game solely by this page, and I assume the angels are putting up more spots. Look at us, attempting to rally! That’s cute.
Don’t get too excited, even if we get ahead we will blow it off…
Only chance is to get ahead in the bottom of the 9th…
maybe the M’s sucktitis is contageous…
Wouldn’t that be fantastic? You could send Vidro over to the other clubhouse before games to talk to the opposing players. Soon, they too will ground into a ton of double plays and be unable to play the field.
I think I’m going to submit a 2008 team photo to http://failblog.org/
get some better baseball players on this team
I don’t really know why but it bugs the *&%$ out of me when they give out the rally fries right before or while the other team is batting. Although as I type that it worked out pretty well this time.
Was McLaren the skipper then? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ-uG2UCZaU
Maybe it’s just because I’ve been watching the Mariners, but it certainly seems like there are more errors in the league this year.
Maybe it’s just because I’ve been watching the Mariners, but it certainly seems like there are more errors in the league this year.
I think the league DER is up this year as compared to last year. It’s not the league, it’s the M’s.
Any chance we could give Miguel’s groin a rest on Saturday and let Dickey go knuckle to knuckle with Wakefield? It would be so much fun!
Great speed and effort shown by Lopez! Not…..
Boy you dont see that kind of throw and caught stealing very often.
Is there any chance at all someone would want Batista or Washburn and we could just put Dickey in the rotation? One teams trash is another teams treasure. Right . . . .
Doh! AL Es through 58 games:
2008: 480
interpolated
2007: 491
2006: 493
2005: 514
I love knuckleballers. The only guy I’d rather watch pitch on the Ms right now is Felix. Then Morrow.
If I owned a team, my first directive would be to do what it takes to find me a solid knuckler to permanently live on the roster… always ready to start or pitch long relief.
If there weren’t any around, I’d tell them to make one.
Sorry, my hatred of Scioscia is pathological, leading to me spitting his name out of Yosemite Sam, even when typing.
I know hitting is hard but why does Beltre swing at a 2-1 pitch that far off the plate. And if he is going to swing why pull everything?
RA Dickey!!!
DICK-EY! DICK-EY! DICK-EY!
Game on the line and Cairo is pinch not hitting.
Miguel Cairo… Pinch hitter…
After watching Mac for parts of two seasons, I’d die happy if Scioscia were to manage the Mariners.
But he used to play for the Yankees…
I like K-rod’s cute pirouettes off the mound. Except they give me bad memories of Freddy.
How did we get out of this game with only 2 errors?
Good Lord, Yuny…4 pitches all in the same spot, all closer to the dirt than the zone, and you flail at the final three.
Yes, but we need to trade Bavasi and Mac first.
Cairo’s middle name is Jesus. That’s an advantage Latino players have. Maybe he’s got special access.
Robin: Holy Smoke Batman, what a mess.
Batman: Yeah. C’mon,let’s go get some nachos.
I hear McLaren talk about how Bedard didn’t have his best stuff tonight, so he removed him. He’s right….if Bedard strikes out more Angels instead of letting them hit ground balls that Lopez can’t reach, or pop flies that Balentien cant’catch, we win. Well, maybe.
I hear talk these days about how the Mariners supposed strength, starting pitching, is really a weakness. How much better would the starters look if they had a decent defense behind them? Arguably, at least 4 of the 5 runs tonight shouldn’t have scored.
jlc – What a dumbass thing to write.
speaking of defense (or the lack of it) kind of amazing how many times in games this year that the onlt Mariner runs came as a result of the other team screwing up.
91 – Yes but winning teams with great chemistry find ways to win (or in this case almost not lose)
I’ve just spent the last hour or so trying to educate my father-in-law on why errors shouldn’t be the only tool used to measure defense and why ERA and a pither’s W/L aren’t either. I got to show him USSM, THT, fangraphs and Josh Kalk’s pitch f/x work. I also recently bought him James’ Historical Abstract to read. I shall soon have a new convert. He took it all pretty well I think.
Jeez, enzario. Easily offended?
Just saw my first game at Safeco field. Beautiful ballpark. Great food. Very good sight lines.
I also enjoyed seeing Dickey jam guys with 77 mph fastballs. And Izturis give up on throwing out Ichiro as soon as the ball hopped over the third baseman’s glove.
I’ll just stop there and end on a positive note. Ahh, you can’t beat fun at the ol’ ballpark.
96 – No. Still it was a dumbass comment.
It’s kind of a running joke with my brother-in-law Jesus. Sorry to offend.
Could we maybe not call other people’s comments things like “dumbass”?
Thanks.
98-I’m guessing you’re not Catholic, or if you are, you practice differently than my family, where saints are personalized and incorporated into our names. My saint is a much lesser one, so the joke is that Jesus is tied in closer to the Big Guy (the one who’s not Putz). Cairo seems to land in strange situations, and I just looked him up in BR and saw his middle name and thought it was funny.
100 – Okay devoid of any humor or wit.
101 – I’m Catholic. And I’ll retract my comment if we stop deconstructing mine.
Aw Christ, that fucking Budweiser ad, with the “trendy microbrew” putdown is just getting under my skin tonight.
I gave up on the game after three innings thinking it was a dead loss, and only tuned in again after the M’s had scored all their runs – in time to listen to the spectacularly spineless, brainless hitting perfomances in the 8th and 9th. F-Rod stikes out the side on about 9 bloody pitches… I’m weeping in my soul… and then I have to listen to some smug, gravelly-voiced git, who wouldn’t know decent beer from sour milk, eulogizing the Jose Vidro of beers. Give me a fucking break!
Seriously, it IS the Jose Vidro of beers – not the worst beer in the world (aka the Miguel Cairo of beers) but if you had a choice you’d never pick it as your designated pint.
104 – So you don’t think its the Great American Lager? Is Coors light the Miguel Cairo of beers?
Bud could be “The Great American Lager” and still be quite mediocre.
Coors Light? I don’t think it’s there yet either. Keystone, or Busch, or Red Dog… but I think we have to look abroad…. it’s probably Tennants.
Or Skol.
102-Can’t argue with that and didn’t mean to pontificate on religion. Just wanted you to know it wasn’t bigoted, which now that I look at it, I can see that the whole thing was clumsy. My sense of humor doesn’t come across in print very well.
I disagree: Have some spine jlc – your comment at 9.50pm wasn’t devoid of wit. It was possessed of a low, unkind wit, and made a generalization about Latin baseball players.
It doesn’t rise to a level that could be considered racism, but making such a generalisation suggests a mindset that often goes along with racism – so it makes some people uncomfortable. Tonight enzario is that person.
The thing is, if you’d left out the generalization, it would still have been slightly funny.
BTW jlc – “pontificate on religion”; that’s a pretty good Catholic pun, there.
Huh. I didn’t read the hay-zeus comment as low or unkind. I don’t think it’s anything one need apologize for. Perhaps if we had a winning team such idle witticisms would scoot past without a fuss being made.
Good lord.
His post wasn’t racism-adjacent. It wasn’t even disrespectful.
Hell, it was the kind of joke any pastor I ever had would have made about members of his own congregation.
Dickey’s “game score” today was 68. Washburn’s season high is 62.
See, this is what losing does to the USSM clubhouse. Last year when we were winning none of this mattered. We need more blogosphere chemistry.
Kumbaya Kumbaya
If you think someone’s comment is inappropriate and needs attention, this isn’t the way to go about it.
Email me or one of the other mods.
That being said, I didn’t think it was the greatest comment in the world, but not particularly offensive, either.
Closing comments to prevent this from snowballing; the game’s long since over anyway.