Jarrod thinks you live in your parents’ basement
From the Times
Washburn is aware there’s a segment of Mariners faithful less than enamored with him.
“Nobody ever says it to my face,” he said. “I think most of those people who do that … they hide behind their computer and write it online and do all that and nobody ever knows who’s saying it. Lots of people can do that.”
I’ve really tried to keep my dislike for Jarrod limited to the things I don’t like: the Johjima stuff, specific comments, and so on. But this just begs for a response.
Jarrod, maybe they say it to your face but you don’t understand them because they’re speaking Japanese. Right now in Japan there might be people doing press interviews about your poor communication skills.
Or maybe they’re afraid you’re going to shoot them and have the kill scored.
And I don’t know about most people — that’s probably true, the Internet is a wonder of anonymity with all the joy and horror that entails. But I put my name on the site and every post, and so does Dave, and so do the Lookout Landing guys.
I’ll just get this over with, though. Hey, Jarrod’s face from MLB.com?
“Huh?”
You weren’t that great last year, and that business with trying to publicly blame Johjima for your poor performances was low. Whether or not you feel that way, you should have kept it out of the press.
“Huh.”
“Was I overpaid last year? Yeah, for what I did,” he said. “But somebody told me once that when you sign a contract like that, you’re not pitching for that contract. You’re getting paid now for what you did in the past — when you weren’t making any money and [were] putting up the numbers.”
This is entirely fair, and I don’t ever blame players for getting paid as much as they can. I don’t know that Washburn’s getting paid for what he did in the past, but that’s a whole other argument. Blame the guys who offered him the deal, not him for signing it.
But the way this is worded is bad. It’s really bad. You’re being paid to pitch, and even if we buy the assumption that the money is based on the past performance, this seems to let anyone off the hook for any post-signing performance. If you’re the highest paid free agent pitcher and you don’t do any conditioning work and suck all season, that’d be fine too, because you’re being paid for what you did when you cared, right….? Down that path lies madness.
I don’t think if you put the question to Washburn that way that he’d agree, either — I suspect this is just a case of not quite saying what he thinks, if you will, or not entirely seeing how it would come across.
And at least he’s being honest, and we know he hates people on the Internet now. Would we rather he said that or “Fans who come out to see a game expect a good performance, and too often I failed to deliver that. I understand their frustration and look forward to this new season when I can prove…” ? I don’t know that I would.
Comments
56 Responses to “Jarrod thinks you live in your parents’ basement”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
I’ll make sure to tell Washburn about my dislike for his past performances next time I’m at the ballpark.
It seemed like about half of my appearances at games last year involved him starting. It got old.
I’m not sure I even buy into the idea that anonymity inherently detracts from the validity of one’s criticism, as Washburn seems to. I don’t believe your criticism of Washburn for his poor pitching and poor communication skills would be any less truthful if you stopped using your real name and code named yourself Darth StatNerd. Or whatever.
Actually, Jarrod, I bet there are a lot of people that tell you in person that you suck, along with 30,000 of their friends.
But I do live in my parents basement.
He knows that the only thing separating him and blatant verbal assault is a mesh fence, right? I’m not a heckler, personally, but there are a lot of other people who can drink a lot more beer than I can…
He really went to the well on this one. Shocking, utterly shocking that he’s not facing much criticism within the hermetically sealed Washburn bio-bubble. I hope all his thoughts are drowned out by Kenji’s entrance music this year. Best case scenario, he has a nice first half and we dump him for a box of batting practice balls, no?
And so begins the ‘To My Face’ campaign. You get what you ask for, Jarrod.
If anyone here has read Moneyball, this is exactly what Micheal Lewis means when he’s talking about the inside baseball bias. Wow, I just lost a lot of respect for Washburn. He should take credit for his lack of performance, not heap it on others.
While I’ve always admired Washburn’s honesty, Lord knows why he wants to potentially generate “heel heat” with the fanbase.
How brave of Washburn to challenge the anonymous fans and bloggers to “say it to [his] face,” knowing full well that most of us don’t have any opportunity to do so. Kind of reminds me of [no]
Personally, I’m hoping this post incites him to come here and challenge someone to a fight by the monkey bars after school.
Or maybe a duel?
[meta]
Amazing post … I have been laughing since I saw the title …
This is extremely relevant to me personally as I share season tickets with 2 other guys and it seemed like every time I had the tickets Washburn was on the bump. I was forced to watch Jarrod the Bus Washburn walk every batter he faced, and every time he was on the mound he forced me into a terrible mood for the rest of the game.
I always think about what I’d say when I see him, and I think it would go something like this:
And I can never get the time back I wasted watching you STINK up the Safe.
This guy really is my least favorite player on the team … honestly if you split tickets and for some reason whenever you had the tickets wash was on the mound you’d feel the same darn way.
Even worse, we are paying him that absurd salary for when he killed us down the stretch in ’02 / ’03 … especially when faced Freddy in big games.
Jarrod is so very difficult.
So many times I watch him throw a perfect pitch to a batter, get the strike, and I think, Yes! Yes!, you researched this guy, you are in control!…and then,…and then…it all goes away. Almost every time.
I hope Washburn has a career year in ’09. Of all the ST pitchers, I want him to have the most “wins”, lowest E.R.A., and go the furthest in each game.
So we can trade him as soon as possible.
Mark Sobba
Dear Jarrod-
you stink. You’ve stunk for quite awhile now. Like Dave, I never blame a player for making as much money as they can- it’s a short career, played in a capitalist system that tells us we’re worth as much as what we can get someone to pay us.
I know you’ve won 18 in The Show before- a long while ago. But, I haven’t seen you try to improve what you can do to help this team win in a long time. And year after year, I see you go out there with stuff just a tick above slop and a mediocre gameplan…and I see you get pounded, start after start. Hitters all over the American League salivate when they see you’re starting, figuring they’ve got just about the easiest 2-for-4 in the league that day.
And I think you became a money player a long time ago….and couldn’t care less. You throwing Johjima under the bus last year didn’t shock me a bit. Neither does finding out about your attitude towards fans like us, on this site.
Is this a clear enough view of my opinion?
It’s ungodly frustrating to have a guy like you on my team, taking away starts from more talented, younger pitchers and eating crazy money doing so. You don’t do anything for this team that some average career minor-leaguer couldn’t do.
And here’s my real name, just so you know exactly who’s saying what. I’m in the phonebook. Feel free.
-Jared X. Thomas
Awww…that’s sad, section331. I had to live in a basement garage once, and it’s cold down there.
Actually, I’m not put off by ol’ Jarrod’s statements, ’cause I smell fear.
There’s been a lot written in the past couple of weeks, about people in the clubhouse that were troublemakers, and pitchers who need to shut up and watch the game, and all sorts of other things that have his fried chicken greasy fingerprints all over it.
And the message I’ve been getting is that the management isn’t going to put up with it. Oh, and the returning ‘star’ of the team is talking about how many times he’s going to go out the dinner with one of those furriners, not quail ‘huntin’ with the boys.
So what’s a red-blooded real man to do in such an situation? Strike out at those he considers pussies. Whatever, dude. Can’t wait to see you in that Royals uni by the All Star Break.
We own a ranch. I would love to live in a basement, with a pool table and the rest of the family isolated upstairs. I could have a TV, computer, and lots of soundproofing…it would be heaven. Maybe my wife would bring me steak and a potato for dinner, and life would be perfect.
Either way, Washburn is still mediocre to bad, being paid for way too much. It’s not that we live in a basement, it’s that we haven’t lived in a sensory deprivation chamber for the last 5 years.
Where is this segment of M’s faithful that *is* enamored with him? The way its worded makes it sound as if he’s beloved by the community and there’s just a small group of stragglers who dislike him.
Dear Jarrod,
First of all, I’m not going to be intimidated into signing my name to this post by you. Anonymous commentary in this country predates the First Amendment; indeed, the guy who wrote the First Amendment, James Madison, blogged anonymously as Publius. He even shared his password with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay.
Second, I have some really bad news for you. You know who thinks the people who blog about you make some really good points? The guy who fills out the lineup card on your team. You know who else does? The guy who decides whether you get traded. And though their own bosses might possibly think differently, they have staked their future on these guys who think what we do here is of value. Plus, they actually have a vested interest in promoting fan interest in the team. They recognize that blogs are part of it, even blogs that might say nasty things about them now and again.
Here’s what I want you to do: pitch well. Derek and Dave and everyone who posts comments on this blog have the exact same goal. If we can write things that might help you pitch better, we could not be happier. If you pitch better angry, get angry at us. We really don’t care how you get there, or whether we have anything to do with it, but we want you to pitch better. If your next contract doubles your current salary because you had an awesome 2009 in Seattle, we’re all for it. “Cy Young 2009, Jarrod Washburn, Seattle (unanimous selection)” would make us all happy, no exceptions. “World Series MVP 2009, Jarrod Washburn, Seattle,”, we’ll throw you a parade.
The reality is that you’re as unlikely to listen to us as we are to you. So just go out there and pitch and let us do what we do. It is our fondest hope that you pitch better than we blog.
Juneau – nah, I’m a big liar. We do have a basement, but that’s where the laundry happens – all the smacktalk about baseball goes on upstairs with the wireless. Somehow, I manage.
Come on, guys. This is pretty much a nonstory. Big league player not enamored of fans who point out his shortcomings? Big league player (or other performer) makes a big deal out of the fact that he’s out there, his face in the middle of everything, while critics have the luxury of not being in the spotlight?
Put it on page A1!
The excerpts quoted here aren’t even vitriolic.
This is up there with “player A is in the best shape of his life” as a shocking bit of spring training news.
I have had so many other things to gripe about on this team that I hadnt even mentioned Washburn especially after last year with Batista and Silva.
Or Wilkerson, Sexson, Vidro. BUT if he wants to be a horses patootie about it then Mr Washburn you have NOT earned your money. We the people of the Northwest who root for the Mariners dont see any reason to pay you for what you did with the Angels!!!! At least your next contract will reflect how WELL you did for us!!!!!! Oh yeah and my name is Gary Iverson!
So, should Jarrod expect a 1-year, league minimum deal for his next contract? You know, because he’s sucked so bad the last few years and should expect to be paid for past performance?
which is kept hermetically sealed by certain members of the media, as evidenced by his interview on KJR yesterday afternoon.
I expect Mr Washburn can see the writing on the wall: he’s an expensive and underperforming holdover from the least regime who would already have been traded for nothing — nothing — if the team hadn’t been in full decapitated-chicken mode at the time. But new management is looking at the same data the rest of us see, and isn’t blinded by his magnificent veteraness or his champion aura of ex-Angelness. They just see an expensive, below-average flyball pitcher.
He has maybe a half season to hope that some combination of reduced suckiness on his part and a magic outfield on the team’s part will bring his superficial numbers up to the point where he can hope for a trade to a contender or at least another team that might be blind enough to sign him to another overvalued contract. Otherwise he’s going to be a free agent in what could be the worst offseason for new contracts in decades, fighting to catch on with someone as a 5th starter on a one-year deal.
That puts a lot of stress on a guy. I’m not surprised he’s lashing out, even if he’s pointing the finger of blame entirely in the wrong direction.
I’m trying to envision a scenario where a fan would even have a chance to have the conversation with Washburn about why they think he might be overpaid and overvalued.
He’s got a point. Next time I’m out for beer with Washburn, I won’t hold back.
I’m still trying to figure out how, ever in my lifetime, I will actually be face to face with Washburn.
It must be really easy to do, since Washburn says so.
I guess I could just take a week off from work, buy a plane ticket to Phoenix, rent a car, drive to Peoria, rent a hotel room, and go out to the park, and then hope I get close enough to the field that I see him face to face.
Yeah, that would be worth the time and money…
But somebody told me once that when you sign a contract like that, you’re not pitching for that contract. You’re getting paid now for what you did in the past — when you weren’t making any money and [were] putting up the numbers.â€
You played for the Anaheim Angels, Jarrod. The Mariners (and their fans) don’t owe you for that.
For Wash, I’ll use one of my favorite quotes of all time:
“Don’t be bitter…be better…”
Nothing else for me to say…
This “say it to my face” thing is a ridiculous argument. So, how are you supposed to talk to him face to face? Sneak into the Mariners locker room and confront him? Accost him on the street? Run out on the field during the game when he’s on the mound? It’s a stupid argument to begin with. If he’s talking about a teammate, that’s one thing, but to call out bloggers, or the press, or fans for criticizing him any way other than “to his face,” is pure BS. This guy’s a joke, and obviously not too bright.
I also have a question for Jarrod. So, Jarrod, when you’re out hunting deer in Wisconsin, do you look the deer in the eye, face-to-face, before you pull the trigger on your expensive rifle and kill it? I didn’t think so.
The best we can hope for from Washburn this season is mediocrity. There is no way we can expect anything exceptional from him (in the good sense). Simply put, let’s hope he wins about as many games as he loses and doesn’t tax the bullpen any more than average for a number 3 or 4 starter.
It sure would be nice if he could adjust his public comments to reflect his true value.
“Nobody ever says it to my face,†he said. “I think most of those people who do that … they hide behind their computer and write it online and do all that and nobody ever knows who’s saying it. Lots of people can do that.â€
Maybe if we had your access to beat reporters, we could air it in the local media instead.
It is too bad that Bavasi signed this guy in the first place. The boys who run this site were critical from day one, and they were dead on correct in their analysis from day one.
[calling people idiots and turkeys is not okay]
One thing I learned here over the years is that ERA is not a predictive measure for the future performance of pitchers.
Washburn is the poster child for this fact, a fact that is not understood by many including a certain former Mariner GM.
Can I just say that I hate him, we all hate him, and be done with it?
Looks like I have found my Overpriced Heckling Target for the year (last year it was Richie Sexson).
I don’t know about the rest of you, but if the economy continues on its present course I think a lot more of us will once again be posting from our parents’ basements….
At least… unless/until Silva starts in on the Fatburgers again. Of course we’ll all have several more years to heckle Silva, unfortunately. So, yeah, this is Washburn’s season.
(Having said that, I hope against all rational projections that they both end up in Cy Young conversations as they pitch the M’s into the postseason)
would the loveseat in your dad’s apartment count? He hasn’t had a basement in more than a decade…
I think if he’s paid for his past Mariner performance he would end up owing us money. Is it possible to get paid negative money? Maybe he could pay us all with deer jerkey?
I’m not sure why he makes the “say it to my face” comment. I’m pretty sure he hears it yelled at him about every home game at least a few times.
Dear Jarrod,
Never got a chance to say this to your face before, but since you brought it up:
Please stop sucking.
That is all.
Dear Mr. Washburn:
My real name is Gary York and I don’t like the way you pitch or the way you bitch.
If you should meet me on the street and decide to slug me, please aim for the right side of my stomach. Last year I had a cancer operation and they had to remove my bladder. Therefore, if you hit me on the left side, you will hit my pee bag, which, in such a situation, operates as a most disgusting squirt gun.
Forewarned is forearmed.
Your pal,
Gary
I was gonna fire off something about how anonymous writing won America’s freedom and whatnot (Federalist Papers, Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, etc.), but Breadbaker already nailed it so I won’t bother. But our flaming of Washburn can certainly draw inspiration from the Revolutionary generation’s unparalleled capacity for ranting and invective. I’ll quote Alexander Hamilton’s epic rant against John Adams’ character to convey my feelings.
Mr. Washburn, you are “a man of an imagination sublimated and eccentric; propitious neither to the regular display of sound judgment, nor to steady perseverance in a systematic plan of conduct . . . and to this defect are added the unfortunate foibles of a vanity without bounds, and a jealousy capable of discoloring every object.”
And you’re a punk. The best defensive outfield in history will be the only thing stopping a stadium full of people from letting you know that every time you pitch at Safeco.
Hey, I get it. Washburn sucks as a major league pitcher. He’s overpaid. He underperforms. He doesn’t take responsibility for his actions on the field.
But I didn’t understand this sentence in the story. Did he threaten to kill someone?
Wow!;and to think this previous diatribe
is from predominantly Mariner fans.
[politics]
[makes no sense]
[misuse of semicolon]
Jarrod like to hunt deer. A lot.
There is a link in the very sentence too.
I read the story the first time. Is this anti-hunting snark? Agreed, Jarrod Washburn is a bad pitcher and he may be a bad teammate. He didn’t threaten to shoot someone and “have the kill scored”.
It was a joke.
Got it – I am dense sometimes. Should stop reading political blogs in between Mariner blogs.
joke   [johk] noun, verb, joked, jok⋅ing.
–noun
1. something said or done to provoke laughter or cause amusement, as a witticism, a short and amusing anecdote, or a prankish act: He tells very funny jokes. She played a joke on him.
2. something that is amusing or ridiculous, esp. because of being ludicrously inadequate or a sham; a thing, situation, or person laughed at rather than taken seriously; farce: Their pretense of generosity is a joke. An officer with no ability to command is a joke.
3. a matter that need not be taken very seriously; trifling matter: The loss was no joke.
4. something that does not present the expected challenge; something very easy: The test was a joke for the whole class.
5. practical joke.
–verb (used without object)
6. to speak or act in a playful or merry way: He was always joking with us.
7. to say something in fun or teasing rather than in earnest; be facetious: He didn’t really mean it, he was only joking.
–verb (used with object)
8. to subject to jokes; make fun of; tease.
9. to obtain by joking: The comedian joked coins from the audience.
EDIT; never mind, he got to it before I did…
[and that's it for you]