Figgy is listed at 5?8?, but he was probably wearing platform shoes that day. For some reason shorter athletes seem to need some level of exaggeration wrt height (not sure if it’s them or the team’s doing, to be honest).

Never thought about it, but there might be something to that — keeping in mind both a certain unnamed current NHL player who’s 5’9″ on skates as well as David Eckstein, who claims to be “5’8″ minus an inch-and-a-half,” here.

I dunno.

Earl Weaver said he didn’t care if the players liked him or not. I’d agree, to the extent that the manager shouldn’t pal around with the players, because the manager has to make decisions that individual players won’t like.

Otherwise, the manager ends up like John McLaren in 2008.

So when a reporter says something like the manager is “going to lose the clubhouse”, I’m not sure how realistic that is, and whether that’s just to make a fuss to get people to read the article.

The manager has one big tool, the lineup card. Players want to play, and the manager decides who plays.

Figgy is listed at 5’8″, but he was probably wearing platform shoes that day. For some reason shorter athletes seem to need some level of exaggeration wrt height (not sure if it’s them or the team’s doing, to be honest). It’s like, way back in the day, when I ran into Downtown Freddy Brown – one of my childhood heroes. The Sonics listed him as 6’4″, but he was barely taller than my dad (who was 6’0″). To me it made him even cooler – here was a guy, barely taller than my dad, who still was the best 6th man in the NBA!

Anyway, whatever the reason – Figgy does seem to carry a chip on his shoulder whenever anyone refers to his performance in less than flattering terms. If it motivates him to prove everyone wrong, then I’ve got absolutely no problem with that. If it means he won’t listen to the manager, then it’s Jack Z’s problem rather than Wak’s.

Yeah — now that he’s got grill marks on his rear end courtesy of Wak!

Figgi doesn’t sound all that repentant or intimidated to me. From Shannon Drayer:

What about his relationship with manager Don Wakamatsu? I asked him if they are on the same page and Figgins said, “That’s hard to say. Same page is winning, for me.”

He did say he’d had the chance to mull over the events of the previous, but offered only his view of the way he goes about playing the game. “Nobody in this clubhouse or in this game can stop me from going out and competing everyday. No matter what the situation is. I have emotions because that’s how I play. Regardless of what situation comes up, I’m going to be out there to play and I’m going to show my emotions.”

I asked Figgins what it meant to see his name back in the line-up card, since it would indicate the benching had only lasted half a game the night before, and he acted perplexed by the question, saying “I’m always going to play.”

Seems to me that one of the two will have to go by next year.

Sorry, make that Sean White.

He can suck all he wants down in Tacoma! Just stay away from Seattle!

Shocking.

Don’t feed the troll.

What if he were to choke on some dry fact biscuits? I mean, everyone should know by now that Ichiro has earned and is still earning every penny of his salary.

How many other Mariners players are generating ticket sales? The Mariners are pull out your eyes terrible at home and #17 in attendance so far. Those figures include scattered Lee and Hernandez starts, and Dave Sims Hat Night, so make the necessary adjustments.

According to the folks at FanGraphs, Ichiro is still a pretty good bargain for $18 million on the field too.

The man is a warrior. He has played his heart out for years on a series of bad teams in the grand tradition of Ted Williams and Ernie Banks.

If you want to single out a guy who is not part of the problem right now, you can hate on Mark Lowe for sucking in Tacoma last night.