by | June 3, 2010 · 10:53 am

Best Griffey Story Yet

Leave it to Jeff Sullivan to write the best Griffey piece, enjoy.

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by | June 3, 2010 · 12:10 am

Wrapping up the Day

I’m exhausted.  At 4 o’clock today I was headed back from a movie with my brother and it was just a normal day.  Now, it’s close to midnight and one of the most mentally draining baseball days I can remember.  I know, getting wrapped up in sports to the point where it makes you tired could be considered dumb.  I’m sure that’s what my mother, and countless other humans, would say but sports do that to me.  The day Locker decided to stay and Lee rumors started to fly was tiring.  The Huskies basketball team was exhausting for many reasons all year.  And it’s hard for me to come away from a home Husky football game without being a little drained.  This day may have trumped all of those experiences though.  Lets take a look at what all happened:

  • At 4:22 UW recruit, Cody Kessler, committed to USC.  He is a highly rated quarterback and it wasn’t very surprising to see him pick the Trojans.  He was a USC guy all the way and it’s nice to see kids go with the school they’ve always dreamed of going to.  It would have been nice to have him but, oh well.
  • At 4:36 I received a text from Joe that read, “Just read that Griffey is retiring today.”  Confirmation came a few minutes later. 
  • Around 5:30 I watched Armando Galarraga get screwed.
  • At 6 I watched the Top 10 Griffey Moments on FSN.  I’d seen this several times but, needless to say, this time was different.  This time I knew there wouldn’t be any moments to add to this list.
  • At 6:30 I watched That 70’s Show.  It’s the greatest show ever and was needed to take the edge off.
  • At 7:00 I turned on the Mariners and watched them win their first extra-inning game of the season. 

That’s a busy schedule and I think a justifiable reason for the exhaustion (along with still being tired from Sasquatch! Music Festival). 

Thoughts on these events after the jump. Continue reading →

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by | June 2, 2010 · 4:57 pm

Wait ‘Til Next Year- Infield

Yes, Griffey just retired.  See Andrew’s post below, and I’m sure we’ll have more coming later.  I’ve had this almost finished for about a week and finally have a chance to finish it, so here you go.  There’s a good chance Carp or one of the other first base guys gets called up replace him, so pay attention there.  Or it could be Hannahan or a reliever, I guess. 

And poor Armando Gallaraga.  That was absolutely terrible.

The Seattle Mariners infield is a mess.  There’s really no way around it.  I’m going to spare everyone any preamble here and jump right into analysis.  Again, current 25-man roster guys signed for next year in bold, minor league depth below that.

2011 Catcher

Rob Johnson

Adam Moore

Josh Bard and Eliezer Alfonzo are the only other catchers currently on the 40-man roster.  Despite their recent power outbursts, these types of guys are a dime a dozen.  You call them up when your regular catchers are hurt, and they can probably do fine for a bit.  If you’re lucky you get a hot streak.  I’ll take Bard over Alfonzo, if anyone’s asking. The closest thing to a prospect in the minors is probably Travis Scott, but he’s not much of one and is still at High-A ball.  No help is on the way, in other words.

Potential Losses

Josh Bard:  Unless he has some monster year the rest of the way and there are a lot of teams interested in him after the season, I’m sure the Mariners could resign him for a major league minimum deal or close to it if they wanted.  All of the same goes for Alfonzo.

Analysis

This position is in bad shape, as any Mariner fan could tell you.  Bard looks like the best of the bunch right now (assuming his injury doesn’t keep him out long), but he’s nothing incredible.  I’ve pretty well written off Johnson at this point, and I get the feeling that the Mariners aren’t too far behind, judging by their comments before Moore got injured.  If only he could learn to catch the ball, he’d probably be a fine back-up/half-time starter.  Moore is still the big hope here.  He’s looked terrible until the two games before he got hurt, but I wouldn’t rule out some progress over the second half of the season.  Within the organization, he’s really the Mariners only chance at finding a catcher better than Bard anytime soon.  A lack of progress from Moore and a bad showing from Bard could very well lead to a new starting catcher in the system, whether a free-agent veteran or a younger guy coming in a trade.

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by | June 2, 2010 · 4:10 pm

Ken Griffey Jr. Retires

Well… I was working on another post but then this came up.  Maybe I’ll get back to that post sometime but this seems a little more important. 

I’m not going to write a lot, there’s not much to say.  I know this makes the team better but I can’t help but feel a little sad right now.  Griffey is my favorite baseball player of all time.  He was the player I tried to mirror while growing up.  It’s not a stretch for me to say that he was the reason I became a baseball fan. 

He left quietly and without all the fanfare.  He didn’t want to take away from what his teammates are doing.  He is a class act and will be viewed as that despite the stupid Sleepgate story that wasn’t true.  We can discuss how this makes the team better another day but for now there’s not much else to say but this.

Thank you Griffey.  Thank you for saving the franchise.  Thank you for being one of the biggest reasons why Safeco was built.  Thank you for that smile and showing all baseball fans that this is just a game.  So long Griff, and thank you.

Andrew

We might have some more thoughts on this later.  Just wanted to get a quick post up.

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by | June 1, 2010 · 3:12 pm

31 Years Ago Today…

1979 NBA World Champions

…The Seattle Supersonics won their first and only world championship. It’s the only pro sports title this city has ever seen. Thanks to Howard Schultz, Clay Clay, Nickels & Dimer, David Stern and the rest the lame politicians in this state that let them go to that dump in okc. Am I still bitter? Yeah. I LOVE basketball, it’s my favorite sport, and my all time fav team no longer exists. Go Supes, I’ll always love you guys! –Joe

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by | May 31, 2010 · 12:26 pm

Mariners Weekend Recap — 5/29-5/30

Some games feel bigger than the one W or L that they represent on the schedule. When the M’s win in dramatic fashion on a Saturday night in front of 40,000 at Safeco, it seems odd that that win means just as much as a 10 am weekday win against Kansas City, in front of 11,000 fans. Likewise, a loss like yesterday kind of feels like 10 losses, rather than just one. The fashion in which the Mariners blew a 7-2 lead in the 5th inning yesterday, although not surprising based on how this year has gone, left me feeling frustration that should be reserved for only the most painful, playoff losses; not a regular season game in May.

I should be talking about a Mariners team that is miraculously just 5 games out of first place today. The M’s should have won yesterday, and should have won Saturday. The streak of horrible weekend games should have come to a halt, but alas, the M’s lost on Saturday and Sunday, providing further proof that while good teams find ways to win games, Seattle finds ways to lose them. Thus, they are not a good team. I have so many thoughts, opinions and observations from this weekend series because I saw every inning, and both games had so many layers. Rather than recap both games in typical style, I think I will just bullet point the good and bad that stood out.

The Depressing Stuff:

  • Ian Snell pitched well through 3 innings, but then I jinxed him by noticing this, and his control went haywire. I’m sure Snell will be gone at the end of the season, if not before then, and with Jack Wilson on the shelf and probably never returning to his old form, it’s probably accurate to say we lost that trade with the Pirates. I would have done it myself, and the trade won’t set the organization back much, but Jeff Clement at least has some potential, whereas Snell and Wilson don’t appear to.
  • Felix pitched well enough to win on Saturday, 8+ innings of 1 run ball, but the M’s offense was MIA and Brandon League showed again an inability to keep the ball in the park when it matters most.
  • On Sunday, Jesus Colome and Kanekoa Texeira pitched the 5th and 6th innings, and despite yielding just 2 hits, neither pitcher had much control. Of the 40 pitches they threw, 25 were balls. 4 walks were issued, plus a catcher’s interference, and suddenly the Angels had scratched out 3 runs off 2 singles, and the score was 7-5 heading into the 7th. This felt like the turning point in the game.
  • Yesterday, David Aardsma entered the 9th with a 1 run lead. The odds of winning may have been 75%, but in reality, it felt like a 50/50 game at this point. Aardsma had Matsui struck out on a full count, but the ump called it a ball, which was a horrible call. Once Matsui walked, I felt things slipping away. Rivera proceeded to crush a ball that somehow stayed in the yard, but it felt like a foreshadow of things to come. A fluke infield hit followed, and the wheels were coming off. Kendrick then blasted a fastball (of course) the other way and the game was over. But back to why things never feel safe when David Aardsma enters the game…

    The fact is, Aardsma usually has decent control, but everyone knows he will throw a 93-96 mph fastball about 90% of the time. If that pitch is not located perfectly, it’s a meatball. There really isn’t any deception to Aardsma’s pitching. The hitters just have to sit dead red, make a nice swing, and hope the ball lands in a good spot. Effective closers need not have 3 great pitches, but if he chooses to throw 1 pitch 90% of the time, it had better be a great pitch. Aardsma’s fast ball is not a great pitch, especially if it is not properly located. Aardsma will continue to get hit well for this reason, and sometimes the ball stays in the park or he gets lucky with a ball hit right at someone, but a lot of time the outcome is what we witnessed yesterday. It’s just really frustrating, but really, who didn’t expect him to regress this year? His true colors are showing. Aardsma depends on location and luck, and often one or the other fails him. He seems like a really cool guy though, for what it’s worth.

  • Our 3rd base coach is awful. I talk to Andrew about this often, and yesterday’s send of Wilson was his worst of the year. Base coaches are like referees in that if no one is talking about him, he is probably doing a good job. We have talked about Mike Brumley way too much this year, thus, he is doing a bad job.
  • Saturday and Sunday has not been kind to the Mariners this year. Seattle is 3-13 in weekend games, including 6 straight Saturday losses, and currently the team has won just once in its past 13 weekend games. In their 13 losses, 6 have been walk-offs, and 9 have been the crushing loss type, whereby the M’s were either tied or leading in the 8th inning.
  • 9 times the M’s have given up a walk-off hit. Conversely, Seattle has just 1 walk-off hit this season.
  • The Mariners are 0-6 in extra inning games this year.
  • Only 3 teams in baseball have a worst record than the M’s.

    Do I enjoy digging up these stats? Actually, no. I don’t drink alcohol, but this team brings me closer each weekend!

    Positive notes, plus hero and goat after the jump Continue reading →

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    by | May 29, 2010 · 10:10 am

    Mariners Recap – 5-28-10

    Three in a row!

    The Amazing Cliff Lee. That sums up how I feel about him. I simply cannot, as a baseball fan, miss one of his starts. I realize there is a possibility he won’t be with the Mariners all year, so I enjoy each inning he takes the mound. Last night verses the Angels, Lee showed why is a bulldog winner and someone I really hope the Mariners can convince to stay for the long term.

    In the first inning, home plate umpire Brian Knight decided to squeeze Lee. Cliff walked only his second batter of the year, and he was visually annoyed on the mound, and I was visually annoyed from my couch. Lee was clearly throwing strikes. The small strike zone forced Lee to throw more down the middle, therefore allowing Angles hitters to get decent wood on the ball. Lee then committed an odd throwing error. Before we knew it, 2-0 Angels. That, though, is the end of the Angels success.

    Over the next 7 innings, Lee proceeded to strike out 10 batters. Mixing his fastball with a devastating change, the Angels were so off balance it was embarrassing. Lee made legit big-league hitters like Abreu, Matsui and Hunter look like fools. One thing the Angels have is a solid lineup, there really are no slouches in there, and Lee worked with a break-neck pace mowing down one after another. There were a lot of heroes, Lee is one of them. Lee’s 14:1 K/BB still leads MLB. 42 K’s, 3 BB’s. Amazing.

    At the plate, I was impressed with the Mariners hitters yet again. They stayed aggressive against Kazmir, who had control problems from the get go. They were selective, sitting on his very average fastball. Gutierrez, Bradley, and Lopez (yes, JOSE LOPEZ) all looked great at the plate. Sweeney was the only goat of the night, going 0-5 with 3LOB. Other than that, the Mariners kept the pressure on the Angels pitchers. Even Figgins and Robo Rob had good AB’s, staying patient and drawing walks or getting their pitches for RBI doubles.

    Hero(s): Cliff Lee, Franklin Gutierrez
    Goat: Mike Sweeney

    Overall, impressive victory by the Mariners! Felix on the mound today!!

    -Joe

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    by | May 27, 2010 · 10:54 pm

    First Quarter Report Cards: Starting Rotation

    As Matthew looks ahead to next year in his series, I’m going to look back at the first quarter of the season.  We’re a few games past the quarter point but this seems to be an appropriate time to look back on who has done what.  We’ll start with the starting rotation because that’s the least depressing thing.  Grades after the jump!

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