Recap of the Monday content

DMZ · April 14, 2009 at 1:47 am · Filed Under Mariners 

Since we posted many thousands of words yesterday, and I’m sure you need something to distract you from Opening Day at Safeco Field, Featuring Newer, Slimmer Carlos Silva (side note: is there really no way they could have jiggered the rotation somehow to avoid this?).
– Jay Yencich wrote a Minor League Wrap that will be retold by future generations in epic verse form
– I threw in an update about construction and traffic around the games
– Dave offered thoughts from the first week
– Larry Stone got great quotes from Ichiro
– The FTA’s blaming the 2005 Congress, the M’s, and you for the regulation that ended ten years of success with shuttle buses

In non-M’s news, Harry Kalas, Phillies broadcaster, and Mark Fidrych, Tigers pitcher, died. Jayson Stark’s column on Kalas.

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14 Responses to “Recap of the Monday content”

  1. naufrago on April 14th, 2009 2:07 am

    Fidrych was a Tiger.

    Was he also an Indian?

  2. Mike Snow on April 14th, 2009 8:10 am

    Fixed.

  3. JakeSuds on April 14th, 2009 8:29 am

    I hope Silva sticks to his sinker and makes all the Griffey watchers happy. There could be a sunbreak, you just never know. At least Safeco has a roof, so there’s no chance of a rainout and a SP change.

  4. msb on April 14th, 2009 8:39 am

    (side note: is there really no way they could have jiggered the rotation somehow to avoid this?)

    tripping him in the clubhouse?

  5. joser on April 14th, 2009 8:53 am

    Maybe they could’ve sent him to help fix Fidrych’s dumptruck?

  6. 6-4-3 on April 14th, 2009 8:57 am

    Fidrych went 19-9 on a 5th place Tigers club in 1976. He also threw 24 complete games! Ralph Houk should have been shot for letting a 21 do that. Well, I guess they got one good year out of him…

  7. joser on April 14th, 2009 9:00 am

    BTW, Top Pot donuts has Mariners-themed donuts today — cake with with white frosting topped with blue and teal sprinkles and a little sugar baseball. If I get back there before they’re all gone I’ll take a picture and post.

    (They’ve never done this before AFAIK — and it speaks to something in the larger zeitgeist, I think. I’ve seen a lot more people in my usual haunts paying attention to the games too. I don’t know what — Griffey, the new management, the early winning streak, the outfield’s webgems, the lack of competing Sonics games, renewed civic spirit churned up by the Sounders, a return to something that is the sports world’s equivalent to “comfort food” in tough times — but something seems to be brewing around this team.)

  8. JakeSuds on April 14th, 2009 9:23 am

    Mmmmm brew.

  9. PaulMolitorCocktail on April 14th, 2009 9:24 am

    I had just seen one of Fidrych’s big games on MLB a few months ago – interesting guy, but a great pitcher in his glory years.

  10. Kazinski on April 14th, 2009 9:39 am

    No wonder Fidrych had such a short career:

    He pitched a complete game in 12 of his first 13 career starts. He threw consecutive 11-inning complete games in his third and fourth starts. He lost another game in the bottom of the 12th. He started 13 games on three days’ rest. He threw 24 complete games his rookie year, which is one fewer than Andy Pettitte has thrown his entire career.

    And yes they could have jiggered the rotation, yesterday was day off, so it’s Washburn’s normal day to pitch, they could just skip Silva in the rotation, or push him back to tomorrow,

  11. Breadbaker on April 14th, 2009 10:34 am

    in his glory years.

    He only had one. He was 10-10 over the rest of his short career.

    In those days, though, you could see the Detroit Tigers (who stunk) playing on a nationally-televised network game in June, which in turn meant that the whole country could turn him into a national phenomenon (the attendance at every game he pitched was simply unbelievable, home or away).

  12. 6-4-3 on April 14th, 2009 10:48 am

    More on the abuse Fidrych’s right arm took in this piece from SI:

    It’s impossible to look back at Fidrych’s remarkable 1976 — knowing what we know now about pitch counts and such things — and not cringe at the way manager Ralph Houk abused him. Of course, nobody was counting pitches in 1976, but even so it’s hard to believe a manager would allow a rookie to throw five extra-inning games. Five! Or how about this stretch: From July 29th to August 29th, The Bird threw a nine-inning game, a seven-inning game, a nine-inning game, another nine-inning game, another nine-inning game, a 10-inning game, a nine-inning game and an 11 1/3 inning game — each one on three-days rest. Imagine that: Fidrych threw 73 1/3 innings and seven complete games in a month.

    To give you a comparison, K-Rod threw 68 1/3 innings all last year.

    To give you a comparison, Johan Santana has thrown nine complete games in his career.

  13. msb on April 14th, 2009 12:41 pm

    Griffey is DH today– stiffish back.

  14. msb on April 14th, 2009 12:50 pm

    oh, and apparently Mike Salk & Huard spent part of yesterdays show talking about what Salk called Ichiro’s “bizarre”, “odd”, “quirky” comments”– today, an e-mailer to KIRO claimed that Barron misinterpreted Ichiro, and that what Ichi really said was “that he owes the Mariners” because of his injury.

    I choose to believe the joking version.

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