Deja Vu
Buried in the belly of Jayson Stark’s latest column is a stroll down amnesia lane for long-suffering Mariner fans. The Reds have recently coughed up two big leads, leads of more than four runs, late in the game.
There’s one past club that has matched this feat. Those of us who were around in the early 90s may remember them.
How hard is it to blow two games in eight days that you lead by at least four runs after the eighth inning? Well, only one other team has ever done it, according to Elias.
That would be Mike Schooler’s 1992 Mariners. On May 7, Schooler gave up a game-losing grand slam to Dave Winfield that finished off a messy five-run ninth. The next night, Schooler coughed up five more in the ninth, capped by a three-run homer by Lou Whitaker.
Mmmm. Mike Schooler.
Game 36, Red Sox at Mariners
I’ll start this one just in time for us to all say that ball might have been foul.
Also, I swear I didn’t have anything to do with Mateo making the rotation. (Evil laugh)
Pineiro to minors, Mateo to rotation
Pineiro’s been optioned to Tacoma to work on his delivery for 10 days (he’s not supposed to start). Sherill’s been called up to take his spot on the roster and help the bullpen, which is one down because Mateo’ll be making a start (see Jason’s post speculating on this)
Scalping
Huzzah-inducer alert. Word is that Seattle is soon to legalize ticket scalping.
Not that I’m boosting ticket scalpers necessarily, but there has been a distasteful double standard between the guy trying to get $50 for his $40 seats on the street and the team allowing a similar practice on the Web.
But the team selling tickets for more than face value doesn’t take place in Seattle, they say — because the servers are not in Washington.
Councilman Richard McIver cited the Mariners as a reason for reform. McIver said the baseball club maintains that it doesn’t sell tickets in Seattle for more than face value because servers that host the club’s Web site are outside the state.
I’m guessing none of these servers are over 18 years old. Can we use that “no taking minors across state lines for immoral purposes” law to bust them for this? That law applies equally well.
Far from admitting that they are exploiting a situation in order to gouge the loyal fanbase, the M’s have a flabbergasting rationale for their little shell game over the Internets.
“Our concern continues to be the protection of our fans from harassment of aggressive scalpers,” Mariners spokeswoman Rebecca Hale said. “We are going to continue to deal with that problem through existing city ordinances,” a reference to the mobile-vending law.
If a scalper harasses me, I have a foolproof way of getting him to stop: I tell him I’m not going to buy his tickets.
If he keeps harassing me for money, he’s not a scalper, he’s an aggressive panhandler or a mugger. Or possibly a team official hawking a 20-game package.
[Previous USSM posts about this issue here.]
Julio Mateo
For my first real post in ages — though yes, that was me in the game thread last night — I’d like to discuss Mr. Mateo. Anybody else think he might be a decent option in the starting rotation? He’s been pitching longer outings this season, averaging two innings per appearance and has now pitched 3+ innings twice. Obviously he’d need a bit of time to build up the arm strength to pitch 5+ innings, but he’s probably not all that far away. From a repertoire standpoint, it’s not as if he’s getting the job done with just two pitches, so he could probably hack it as a starter. For a similar pitcher who made the switch effectively, check out Carlos Silva (reliever with the Phillies, became a starter with the Twins last year). Anyway, just a thought as I see our starters have a collective 5.63 ERA.
Game 45, Mariners at Orioles
For tonight’s game thread, I would like to call your attention to awamori, the delicious distilled rice liquor from Okinawa.
Like a strong, smooth, sake, the libation is first-rate. Occasionally, though, they change it up a little. As any reasonable person might expect, this involves putting a poisonous habu snake inside the bottle, making habu awamori.
It’s like the joyous combination in a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, with booze and venom in place of chocolate and crushed goober peas. Hey, you got a deadly viper in my alcohol! Hey, you got spirits all over my poisonous, fanged friend!
As a habitual liquor enthusiast, you accept the risk that alcohol may slowly kill you. It’s kind of the price of admission. A venomous viper turning up in your libation of choice — bearing fearsome fangs and a more direct form of poison — is a bit of a shock to the system.
[The effect is even more pronounced if, when drinking with a friend, you switch a snake-free bottle with a snake-full bottle while he or she visits the restroom. Surprise!]
Similarly, we expected bad pitching could wreak havoc with the Mariners’ season. So far, it has. But the hitting hasn’t been any kind of tonic, either. Well, maybe an illness-inducing one. Two great tastes that taste brutal together. Hey, you got Aaron Sele in my rotation! Hey, you got Wilson Valdez in my lineup!
For those keeping score at home: yes, I am comparing the Mariners’ recent pitching and offensive performance to a mind-numbing, tissue-destroying elixir. Lately, it seems appropriate.
As for the snake liquor, I have an uncle who enjoys all distilled beverages, the barley pop and other brain cell-murdering delights. Have you tried that habu awamori? I asked him one night. Yes, he replied. How is it? I followed up.
I’ll never try it again, he said.
There is a lesson in there that I will try to distill while watching Jamie Moyer take on Rodrigo Lopez. 4:05 p.m. TV: FSN. Radio: KOMO.
Game 35, Red Sox at Mariners
Jeremi Gonzalez v Joel Pineiro. 7:05, FSN for TV.
I was out biking today on my lunch hour, and it was hot and muggy. This afternoon it was hot and muggy. I have no idea what’s going to happen when the sun goes down, but we may see some weird weather at Safeco Field tonight. I’m rooting for partisan hometown whirling mini-cyclones to whisk all the Red Sox fans back to the NE, except for the ones I know.
By game time, this will be sold out, and the next two games (with Franklin and Meche pitching) will also sell out day-of.
Please heed Dave’s call tonight.
The Dodgers, the Mariners
If you hung out here during the off-season (and I’m guessing you did) you probably heard Dave and I (at least) say that the Dodgers had the worst off-season of any team.
They’re 20-14, while the Mariners (who I applauded for the Beltre signing) are 13-21 and are ahead of only KC and Tampa in the overall AL standings.
So what the heck?
Read more
Week #7 in Review
Ice. Elevate. Rest.
Wednesday night while I played softball, the third base bag grabbed me by my cleats and spun me around and threw me to the ground in a move that would impress most fans of World Wrestling Entertainment.
Today my ankle and heel are colors of black and purple I don’t remember ever seeing in my 128-crayon box from 1st grade. I should be able to avoid the disabled list and be day-to-day. Will Carroll can provide the details.
And I’m choosing not to speak with my Yankee-fan sister this week. But because I am a Mariners fan, and thus choose to accept the bad with the good, I will relive the moments of the last week, though it may give me bad dreams…
Vital Signs
As of today the Mariners are 13-21, making pleasant company with those leftover cans of peaches from Y2K in the cellar of the American League West. A brutal week, but the M’s lost just a game on the division-leading Los Angeles Angels, and they are now 6 out of first place. They have been outscored by their opponents 160-141. It’s not the worst run-differential in the division, and according to adjusted standings of Baseball Prospectus, the Mariners are underperforming by a single game, and interestingly enough, the division should be a lot tighter at this point. The Mariners are 10th in the league in runs scored, tied with the Angels. They are 11th in on-base percentage, and 13th in slugging percentage. Their 102 walks rank 8th in the league, and their 23 home runs rank 13th in the league.
Some challenging offense this past week has brought the Mariners’ run prevention back under the influence of gravity. While their runs allowed is still second only to the Angels in the division, they have fallen to 8th in the league. The gloves are still outstanding, but the M’s slipped to 3rd in the league turning 71.4% of balls in play into outs.
Key pitching stastic: Starters ERA – 5.46. Bullpen ERA – 2.64.
Another week, another victory. There was a time not so long ago when roadtrips to northeastern America provided some of the best baseball games of the season. This week it was more like the scene from middle school where the acne-covered fat kid gets kicked in the junk and has his lunch money stolen. The Mariners were outscored 41-27. While they were out-homered 8-6 and out-walked 17-16, they simply surrendered more total hits to the opposition 65-49. It’s May 13 and the Mariners have won twice this month.
It’s plain not fair when you score more runs in the first inning on Wednesday than you’ve scored in 2/3’rds of your total games all season and still lose. I hate the Yankees.
Heroes
Ichiro! led the team in batting .400/.429/.600 with 15 total bases. (Kudos to a solid week from Adrian Beltre, too, .333/.385/.583, 3 doubles and a homer).
Eddie Guardado, Shigs Hasegawa, Julio Mateo and J.J. Putz combined for 14.1 innings and allowed only a single home run to Jorge Posada in the 8th inning Wednesday. They allowed just 6 hits, walked 1 and struck out 10.
Not-so-much Heroes
If Aaron Sele’s days as a Mariner aren’t already numbered, they should be. The Yankees carved him like a Thanksgiving turkey, as he recorded only 8 outs. In his 2.2 innings, he allowed 8 hits, walked 2 and surrendered 7 runs. His ERA presently stands at 6.31 through 35+ innings.
Mariner wins in May: 2. Contribution from Miguel Olivo: 0-for-21. Coincidence? Whatever.
Coming to a Stadium Near You
It’s like Groundhog Day all over again, only the M’s get to wear the white uniforms this time. Red Sox Friday-Saturday-Sunday. Yankees Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday.
And I swear, the next time I see David Ortiz take a swing, I’m making like Buster Bluth and dropping into the fetal position.
Updated Draft Board
The 2005 Draft Board has been updated. The changes aren’t dramatic, but there is some movement in the top five, and I have updated the statistics for each of those players. For those who really don’t like clicking on links, the top five are Gordon, Upton, Maybin, Hochevar, and Drew, in that order.
This is a great thread to bombard with draft questions. I’ll be around for the next hour or so, and I’ll get to the rest tomorrow.