Game 113, White Sox at Mariners
DMZ · August 11, 2009 at 6:29 pm · Filed Under Mariners
Fister! Fister! Fister!
Rios may make a late appearance — according to the Times and elsewhere, he’s supposed to be in uniform tonight.
M’s go with last night’s lineup… except…
RF-L Ichiro!
CF-R Gutierrez
2B-R Lopez
DO-0 Sweeney
3B-R Beltre
1B-L Branyan
SS-R Wilson
C-R Johjima
LF-L Saunders
Sooooo Johjima gets a chance to work with the new pitchers who weren’t around to have Washburn poison their minds, is that it?
And Sweeney… what am I going to tell you?
Comments
181 Responses to “Game 113, White Sox at Mariners”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
DH…must always hit in 4-spot…stay the course…1,000 points of light…
This had occurred to me as well when I noticed the Joh was getting the starts with the new pitchers. And we’ll see how long Felix keeps sipping out of the Dixie cup if his starts continue to be a tad laborious.
Drayer has been working overtime lately trying to explain the whole -jima/-nson issue. I get the sense that she really, really wants to get the story out on this, and I appreciate the hell out of her reporting on it, but I’m still casting a gimlet eye on the situation.
Drayer said today on Brock/Salk that last year there were definitely some hard feelings between Joh and some of the pitchers, but that those were (partially?) patched up this year. But Kenji still doesn’t do some of the “rapport” things that Johnson does, like walk out to the bullpen with the starting pitcher before the game, etc.
It’s clear from her reporting that Wak really values that sort of stuff, and Johnson is way ahead of Johjima there.
One thing that made me really happy is that the club does seem to realize that Johnson still needs a lot of work on his defensive skills. Glad to know it something he’ll be working on.
Yah, the only things that Kenji does better than Johnson are…
throw runners out on the bases
block the plate and tag runners out
fewer passed balls
Oh, right, and hit.
Other than that, why wouldn’t a pitcher rather have Johnson in the lineup so they can talk before the game?
Hah, -jima/-nson. Took me a second to get it.
Drayer also said on Brock-n-Salk today that Rob has a sore elbow. Kenji has the opportunity to get starts because Rob is hurt, just like Rob had the opportunity to get starts during Kenji’s DL stint(s). Take your job back, Kenji. Please. Because we cannot stand much more Rob…
Yeah, I’m trying to keep my personal reactions out of this because I don’t know any of these people and thus can’t properly judge…BUT. Johnson’s got that look of a brown-noser, eager-beaver ass-kisser. Not to be judgmental or anything.
I’m with Paul in being flabbergasted that a pitcher would want one catcher over another when comparing their skill sets because the guy walks out to the bullpen with you.
Anyway. At least Johnson seems to having glimmers of improvement. If we’re stuck with him, I need the glimmer to become a glow.
Just trying to save Derek some bandwidth.
When Edgar announced his retirement it spurned the M’s into giving him additional AB’s. Jr. should do likewise and plant Sweeney on the bench.
Fister! Fister! Fisssssterrrr!
You guys see this Onion article? Pretty amusing.
For what it’s worth, Kirby also said that Johnson’s a little worn, since he’s never gone this deep into a season before. I know Joh was speaking through an interpreter, but I thought it odd that he would say (I think it was to Drayer), that his being second fiddle is his own “fault” because he injured his toe earlier this season.
For those with more technical expertise, the following question: When I was in my 30s and 40s, I played a lot of adult baseball, mostly at catcher. I hadn’t done any real catching since high school, so really didn’t have technique. I found that most of the pitchers, some of whom had played into college and one a little further, hated it when I was moving around behind the plate as they started their winds. Joh seems to do that a fair amount. Johnson actually does sometimes, also.
Anybody have any thoughts about that?
Welcome to the Bigs, Fister. Meet Mr. Thome.
That was one hell of an effort there, Mr. Wilson!
The ump is not giving Fistar any low strikes. The TV is showing a lot of pitches in the strike zone that were called balls.
But hey, who recognizes Brian Tallet?
He always takes the blame on himself, he’s done it from the first day he joined the team.
hey, maybe they’ve changed the strikezone again! Tschida refused to acknowledge the bottom of the zone the other night.
Dave sounded so excited for that Sweeney foul ball. “And a BELTED foul ball.” Oh, Dave…Sweeney fly balls are meant to be outs.
Well, Tschida. I’ve been convinced he is the worst umpire in MLB for about 20 years now. He was horrible in the Kingdome, too.
I think it’s probably a toss-up between Tschida and C.V. Bucknor for that coveted award.
Anyone else having the audio volume increasing and decreasing?
That was a pretty pretty curveball to Quentin for strike three.
Poor ol’ Dave can’t even tell what kind of pitches are being thrown.
Is it me, or are our on-air crew not exactly singing the praises of Fister? Talk about how he won’t make it until the fifth inning so the bullpen should be ready, on and on about how nervous he must be, and then after striking out Quinton, then immediately, well, we’ll see how he does the second time through the lineup.
Hey, don’t be wet blankets! That’s our job!
Can’t wait until someone says Mr Fister!
Speak for yourself…just kidding.
I thought the audio on FSN sounded sort of tinny tonight.
Lead off
strikeoutwalk on a beautiful down-and-in slider that Gameday thinks is a 4-seam fastball…I saw Fister pitch in Tacoma a few weeks ago in Tacoma against Las Vegas and I was unimpressed. Actually some guys sitting behind us were making crude jokes about his last name in correlation to what was happening to the Rainiers by Fister. But, so far he’s been spectacular compared to the start I saw. Is he just a stop-gap or is he gonna be given more starts?
Our 7′ tall bunting outfielder….
Woo Saunders! What a bunt, what a hit!
Yeah, the strike zone is pretty small tonight. Do you think we’ll ever go to a system where PitchFX makes the calls? Obviously not any time soon, but ever? The more I see PitchFX the more i get frustrated with the quality of ball and strike calling.
That’s Mariner 2009 baseball.
He’s 6’4″, and we have a 5’10″ bunting outfielder, too. Who cares if our bunters are outfielders or infielders or what height they are, as long as they contribute to the offense? Power-hitting outfielders are old baseball: assumptions, stereotypes and pigeonholing about where your production should be generated from.
“Joh seems to do that a fair amount.”
It seems that’s a Japanese style catching thing. They don’t want to setup until the pitcher’s already throwing so that the hitter gets no hint as to the location. Most hitters will try to sneak peaks out of the corner of their eye to at least figure out around where the ball should be. A-rod used to make catchers mad because he wouldn’t even bother acting like he wasn’t looking. He’d just look down and check.
I saw a funny video on this with A-rod once where the catcher got pretty pissed at him.
I seem to remember last year, with Joh, an article about this and how the pitchers didn’t like it that he setup so late and Mac was trying to get Joh to frame the pitches earlier. Joh seemed resistant to this for the above stated reasons of the hitter then getting to know more or less the location of the pitch. But you can see from the pitchers perspective that this would make it harder to hit your spots if the catcher wasn’t setup until you were in your throwing motion.
Gotta say Fister’s accuracy is a refreshing departure from normal. The majority of the balls he’s thrown have been borderline rob jobs by the home plate umpire. Joh is barely moving his glove. Keep this guy up, nothing too flashy but keeps it in the strike zone and uses his stellar defense. That’s a winning formula.
I assume you’re being as facetious as I was, hark. If not, an ice cold beverage may help.
Sims showing off another hat always livens the game up.
Fister’s impressed me tonight
juneau_fan:
I honestly didn’t see anything obviously sarcastic about your comment. I actually read it as a lament on the lines of Our 7′ tall bunting out fielder… [sigh], as if it was so incredibly terrible to have a tall outfielder bunting.
I don’t care if we have a 300 foot tall outfielder. If he can get on base in front of Ichiro reliably, he can bunt all he wants.
If you want power, find a corner infielder or a DH. We’re seeing every day this season how important it is to have good outfielders who can catch a ball.
I think that the Balls-Strikes stat should have a new column called “Actual strikes, but called balls”. Fister could lead the MLB in that category if this game keeps going this way.
Saunders is going to be able to hit just fine, whether or not he bunts.
As for Fister, I’m really impressed with him. He’s locating everything and seems to have good athleticism.
I think Beltre his a home run tonight, to deep left field.
doh… Well, wrong field, but nearly the right event.
Beltre displaying power the other way! =D
How’s your shoulder, Adrian?
I have Danks on my fantasy team. This is about the inning he gets lit up…. And a double by Beltre as I write this.
Danks can be rattled.
Was Blowers praising Branyan rounding 1st so hard that he got caught in a run down when Konerko cut it off? It sounds to me like he was saying Branyan thought there was a play at the plate, and so screwed up on purpose so Konerko wouldn’t let the ball get home–so Beltre would automatically be safe. Wow.
Attention Mariners;
Just because it LOOKS like their throwing home, doesn’t mean they actually are. They’re allowed to deceive you. Just like you’re allowed to pretend to take a hard turn, and then just stop.
Look, a seven foot tall bunting outfielder! *wild crazy grin* Better?
I just find it funny looking as hell. Maybe it comes from being short myself. I could watch that footage of Randy Johnson trying to outrun Ichiro to first base at the ASG a thousand times and still find it funny.
I didn’t realize it was all code for how the Mariners need that ‘big bat’ outfielder. Since I hate all those comments from the depths of my soul, I apologize for apparently pushing the same button with other posters.
I do appreciate that it appears that the batters are being taught to get on-base down in the minors, hell or high water.
Beltre has absolutely smoked 2 balls today. One was just a little off square, and one was absolutely crushed.
He is going to tear it up the next week, I think.
And I quote: “Baseball is built on little deceptions: the curveball, the hidden-ball trick, the existence of Stan Musial. And we’re not the only team who bends the truth. The Padres played 212 games last year just to make a little extra money. Just slid by and no one noticed. Milwaukee doesn’t even have a third base.”
[coughJoeyCoracough]
2 pitches in the strike zone out of three. All 3 called balls.
I realize it will get him thrown out, but Wak needs to say something. His new kid is getting squeezed big time.
Don’t even do it when Fister’s pitching. Go out and tear the ump apart when he calls a borderline pitch for Danks. It can throw Danks off, and sometimes you’ve gotta stand up for your guy… Right?
Best quote ever! God, The Onion is always great.
Why is it that Saunders is still a silhouette on gameday and yet Fister’s got a nice smiling face there already. Is Saunders incredibly ugly or something.
According to pitchFX, Fister has thrown 6 pitches in the strike zone that were called balls. Danks has thrown 1 in the strike zone called a ball.
Man, after those inside pitches, I think Fister wants to see if Guillen will call for Sweeney to get hit.
I’m sure if Sweeney did get hit, he’d just go over and hug Ozzie. And I’d pay money to see that.
Nice Mr. Fister.
Now, let’s be a little more careful throwing Jim Thome fastballs right down the middle. Okay?
I know he doesn’t bring nearly the same heat, but Fister kind of reminds me of Morrow in his build and delivery.
Wow, where did this guy and his amazing curveball come from? “That’s Nasty!”
Dave N: “Swing and a miss!… What hath Jack Zduriencik wrought!” What indeed Mr. Niehaus. What indeed.
Okay, Fister can stay.
And can we PLEASE score some more runs so that we don’t have to see the DA face the heart of that line-up with a 1 run lead.
If there is any justice the M’s will make this stand up and get Fister the W.
Now… can we get the kid a little support?
Nice rally fry sign.
Why does an obviously skinny girl wear tight jeans but a shirt that makes her look like she has a muffin-top? Come on Lindsey. Better bring your rally fry A game on Felix day.
Sweeney makes my heart hurt.
Don’t be ridiculous!
It’s sort of nice to be on the other end of the “rookie pitcher baffling hitters” stick for a change.
Looks like Fister is done.
Batista is up. I’m going to need a bottle of 151 and all the heart medication in Florida.
Doug Fister, the fabulous pitcher with the funny name.
Texas lost and TB is down 3-0 after 6.
That’s Mister Fister if you’re nasty!
Danks through 6 innings at 69 pitches. WTF Batista, but we are ahead?
Batista…nooooo!!!
Batista and his dazzling array of balls. Go Miguel
I’d bet Wak drinks milk on a hot day.
M’mm. Batista walk. Tastes like Mariner baseball.
Miguel Batista, the white flag of surrender.
The Onion is priceless.
That quote is great. Had me laughing for half an inning. The M’s could use that line too! I mean, Toronto at least gets some spillover coverage playing in the same division as the Yanks and Bosox. Seattle gets even less national coverage out here than the Blu…
blink
blink
Someone please tell me Felix is real.
At this point there is no use having Batista on the team, right? Is there not some kid in the minors that has earned a shot in the mariners pen ?
Double Play, just what the doctor ordered.
The Mariners are playing a dangerous game with all these walks.
Watching Batista is like watching all of those people off themselves in “The Happening”.
Batista is going to send me to an early grave. Aren’t there any other options in the pen?
Walk–>DP–>Walk…
Way to go capitalize on that DP, Miguel.
Well, someone certainly wears a Hernandez jersey in the dugout. Are we sure it’s not Livan?
Pull him please.
Every time Batista pitches, I always get the “Walking the Tightrope” Stevie Ray Vaughan song stuck in my head. That should be Batista’s theme song when he comes in from the pen.
I love how Wak yanks shit off the mound for the most part. It’s still a revelation, and the season’s well over half over.
I’m feeling surprisingly confident in our chances. Then again, I just finished making smoked salmon chowder and it’s freakin’ incredible if I do say so myself. Could be affecting my frame of mind.
I hope we don’t see him for another month. He should have been watching Fister pitch earlier in the game. Get ahead in the count.
The umpire behind the plate is not doing his job. there were a number of Pitches Fister threw that should have been called strikes, and that last pitch Batista threw was a GD strike. I hate umpires sometimes.
If Saunders had plowed into Guti, I don’t know what I would have done.
Pheeeewww.
Go ahead and call me crazy, but I look at Doug Fister and think “this guy’s a big-leaguer”…some guys, they just have that “ballplayer face”..
‘Course I know darn well Fister’s ceiling is about as high as my first apartment’s (BARELY 8 feet)…but somehow he just looks the part.
What a relief to realize BOTH of our outfielders on that side could have made that play look easy.
I’m really curious what opposing batters are doing against Batista after he gets the 2nd out of an inning. It’s anecdotal, but it seems he always allows at least one or two baserunners after that 2nd out.
Who do they bring out to pitch the 8th?
well shit on a shingle.
Look at that (lack of) speed from Branyan!
It wasn’t. PitchFX shows Batista only threw 1 strike to Getz. The umpire did call one of his balls a strike.
I think that way when I see Jamie Moyer. (And Boo to the Phils for sending him to the bullpen)
“I hate umpires sometimes”
Hopefully when Selig finally retires the next commish will be a bit more progressive in terms of instant replay and not letting umps call balls and strikes anymore. The latter is no longer needed and the former, if intelligently done (unlike the way they currently do it), would not slow down the game at all.
Just add an extra ump to the crew who sits up in a booth will all the video stuff at his disposal and a couple techs to queue up anything he wants. Give him a means to communicate to the on the field umps and within 20 seconds just about every time he could have whether the right call was made on every play. Usually those close calls get argued by managers / players, so by the time the manager got out there the ump would know if the correct call was made and the manager would have no further reason to argue.
The M’s have been destroying the ball tonight but it has been right at defenders all night. gay
2009 Seattle Mariners motto:
“Whatever it takes to win. And not an ounce more.”
Its official: he is now Doug “The Iron” Fister
Out of 19 pitches, PitchFX shows Batista throwing 3 strikes and one borderline strike that was called a ball.
It’s true, the Mariners’ behavior tonight is indubitably homosexual. What with all the smooching and intercourse on the field.
I think the motto should be, “We are going to kill our manager in his first year” (and some of our fans too).
Nice Branyan, two HUGE baserunning errors. Not like you man? Play your game, leave the stretching hits to Ichiro.
I was going to say it sure doesn’t feel like the Sox should have a line of “0 1 0″, but they just got that single. Honestly, “0 2 0″ doesn’t seem right either.
ANOTHER DP. Sweet.
Mark Lowe, three outs on four pitches.
Wow Wilson and Lopey have been quite the DP combo recently!
BTW, that new SS is pretty shinny!
Whoa! I didn’t realize Tony Peña was a pitcher now.
Maybe it was Carlos Silva a couple of years ago. Then when he officially joined the team under his own name, they had to get someone else to play Felix. That would explain the sudden appearance of “in shape” Felix at ST last year.
Lowe for President! I love U man!
Lowecation. Lowecation. Lowecation.
Spectacular outings for Mark two days in a rowe.
Is it possible that Yunni was holding Lopez back? Maybe Lopez is trying harder with a real SS to his right…
Great play by Wilson. I was not sure how Lowe was going to do this inning after pitching last night. Thank God he was the good Lowe tonight. Let’s go AA!
Michael Saunder, “the Condor”?
I like the ussmariner mobile site it is nice
Don’t worry Saunders. Nobody else can hit those pitches either.
Yeah, I thought so.
Batista this year with two outs: 960 OPS against, and a ridiculous 1771 OPS against with 2 outs since the ASG.
(Those numbers are 800 and 1284 for all base/out situations.)
1.771 seems inconceivably high and d*mn near impossible. (I believe you however.)
As long as it’s been since DA gave up a run and how good he’s been in terms of end of game results, I still somehow feel very uneasy about him out there for some reason. Particularly with only 1 run to work with.
Agreed. DA scares me. One more run would have been nice.
The uneasiness is logical. Regression to the mean holds even for closers; he can’t be perfect forever…a long stretch of awesome sauce is prelude, generally, to a meltdown moment.
If I were Catholic, I would have been through 15 Hail Marys by the time that ball fell into Guti’s glove…
And regression holds off, for one batter at least.
Got a little worried there.
The crowd is quiet. We need some noise.
I love that we’re harping on how Chicago only has two infield hits to show for their efforts tonight…and
sixseven walks. That’s not a good thing.I’m glad we have the middle of the order up in the bottom of the 9th. Walk off anyone?
Man, that was a HUGE WHIF!
the obligatory Aa BB
what is that like 10 BB tonight?
Hopefully we won’t have to
Seven walks, one HBP, no runs.
Sweet mother of god. Let’s play with gasoline and fireworks, kids! Sure, you can hold that lighter and the box of matches, while I smoke over here.
The DA is not sharp tonight.
I thought so too, so I double checked. (I’m going by the 2-out splits posted on mlb.com. And this is before tonight.)
Since the ASG, Batista has faced 20 batters with two out, and given up 8 hits (2 HRs) and 6 BBs.
ok DA. you’ve given the PNW their daily elevated heart rate. now time to put this kid to bed.
4-6-3 if you will
DA? DP. ASAP. TY.
There’s that regression.
Saw that one coming…
Well that’s a shocker. In a completely predictable sort of way.
Is it just me or did Sims sound happy about that homer?
Damn it…
They cursed him by yammering about his great ERA.
Regression to the mean took two extra batters…
Repost:
I’m glad we have the middle of the order up in the bottom of the 9th. Walk off anyone?
Damn you, smoked salmon chowder! You have deceived me!
OH. Dang
Although, I must say, Michael Saunders got well up on the wall back there. Not quite Ichiro! with one foot on top of the wall, but that sort of elevation may save more than a couple home runs over the course of a full season.
Was it the angle or did The Condor almost have that one?
Inevitable.
Better re-drain that boil.
Angle.
That ball sailed over by several feet.
Well that sucked. Plus Boston won
Get DA off the mound now.
Lets not waste pitches by our closer on a loss.
They need to check that kids bat. It has to be corked. He has toothpicks for arms.
Well, Alexei Ramirez still has one of the goofiest player photos around!
My wife says, “Aargh”, because she thinks it’s funny.
Oh oh. It’s not a one run game any longer. We’re in trouble.
Well, a Junior sighting is possible. Although I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Jakabaukus has a really messed up gamecast photo
Well at least TB and Texas lost too. Would have been nice to pick up a game on them. Oh well. Maybe a miracle will happen a-la-Langerhans the other day.
YOU HAVE GOT TO BE SHITTING ME WHY IS SWEENEY HITTING HERE
Argh
Why did we not PH Griffey for Sweeney against a righty in the bottom of the ninth?
Somebody get on and give Branyan a shot.
And if not Jr. there instead of Sweeney, why not at least Langerhans?
Alright, come on Branyan. There’s a bowl of soup in it for you.
Let’s go Muscle.
NOOOO why did you go Beltre. They are not going to pitch to Branyan now…
DA Spoils Fister’s Strong Debut
Felix tomorrow at least. That makes everything better.
Fiddlesticks.
Juuuuuuuust got under that one. A shame.
This game made me sick.
And why, why, why did Sweeney have to hit?
I wonder if old Felix will show up again tomorrow?
They had on the Branyan shift. They didn’t care about Beltre as a runner. There was no one on third when he went to third.
I’m not surprised…
Aardsma has a B+ fastball and a D- breaking ball…it was bound to happen eventually.