by | May 6, 2010 · 12:38 pm

The Rights of Fans

Sports teams and players and their fans have always had a complicated relationship, and that won’t change anytime soon.  Athletes are often the most visible and popular people in a city or region, and at least in the professional ranks, fans are indirectly responsible for their salaries.  Combine that with the role sports teams and athletes play in fans’ personal lives, as entertainment and vicarious dream fulfillment, and fans tend to develop a sense of ownership over their favorite athletes and teams.

Seattle fans currently find themselves in a couple of messy situations.  One involves a high school student from Portland who happens to be one of the best basketball players in the country.  The other centers around a 32-year-old man with a big bat and seemingly even bigger personal troubles.  The stories are probably familiar to everyone by now.  Terrence Jones, maybe the top uncommitted basketball player in the country, held a press conference on Friday to announce his choice of college.  He picked the Huskies, but has yet to sign a letter of intent, which would make the choice official.  There are next to no facts about the situation, but that hasn’t prevented fans and media alike from throwing accusations and judgments, at Jones for delaying the commitment, and at Kentucky coach John Calipari for trying to change his mind, and at anyone else involved, including Jones’ family and friends.

Meanwhile, Milton Bradley, a man with a well-documented history of blow-ups and suspensions, stormed off the field Tuesday night after striking out, and upon seeing Don Wakamatsu had removed him from the game, left the stadium.  Wednesday, he met with Jack Zduriencik and Wakamatsu and later the team.  He reportedly told them he was dealing with some very difficult personal issues and asked for their help.  He’ll sit out for the forseeable future while the team tries to get him whatever help he needs.

The situations are very different, except that they both have more to do with off the field (or court) issues than anything to do with performance.  That’s not totally the case, of course.  If it were, fans would not be at all interested.  Bradley’s issues affect his play and the rest of the team; Jones is a huge talent whose presence could lift any team to the next level.  And so fans find themselves stuck between caring about their team and respecting the personal life of the athlete.

It’s a difficult place, but mainly because we as fans do not have a personal relationship with Jones or Bradley or any other athlete.  They are the athlete who entertains us, but that’s all, and we don’t give anything back.  Nearly any of us, if faced with a colleague or friend or family member who was asking for help or making a difficult decision, would try to help them any way we could.  We wouldn’t deride them or criticize them.  We might be disappointed in their choice or think occasionally about our interests in the matter, but usually we can set ourselves aside and be supportive of those we love.

I don’t see any reason why that should be different with athletes.  I want to see Jones and Bradley playing and playing well in Seattle, and if they don’t I’ll be disappointed and maybe mad.  But I won’t boo them or write insults and racial slurs on their Facebook pages.  Rivalries and “sports-hate”, as Bill Simmons terms it, have a great place in sports.  There’s nothing wrong with booing the Oregon band when they run into Husky Stadium.  They know we’re booing because they’re from University of Oregon and anyone involved with the Ducks should be booed.  They’ll boo us right back.  The difference is that we all know that if we were Mariner fans and went to a game together, we’d probably have a great time.  Or we might not, but it would be because we didn’t get along, not because they’re Ducks and I’m a Husky.  If a rivalry is full of hatred to the point where that’s no longer true, it’s gone too far in my opinion.

So keep the the affection or lack thereof based on the field.  Boo A-Rod when he comes to town, but don’t boo Milton Bradley because he’s going through some tough times, and don’t give Terrance Jones a hard time because he isn’t sure what to choose in the biggest decision of his life.

-Matthew

5 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as ,

by | May 6, 2010 · 9:45 am

A Few Thursday Morning links

Since none of us wants to write a recap after these ugly games, we’ll take a day off and I’ll just post some game summaries along with a few other things.

  • USSMariner takes a look at the short bench after half the team got injured last night.
  • Lookout Landing’s recap is pretty spot-on in my opinion.
  • Then, we have a fanpost from Lookout Landing.  Some of you will disagree with this.  If you can’t find it just go to lookout landing and click under fan shots.  It’s titled “Why I Don’t Care.” 
  • Lastly, I wanted to link this article from Jerry Brewer on Milton Bradley. 

Have a great Thursday.  Maybe we’ll win today but probably not.  The Rays are good.

Andrew

Leave a comment

Filed under Mariners

by | May 5, 2010 · 11:14 am

Bradley Blowup, Act I

I’m sure you’ve heard the story. Milton Bradley was removed from the game last night in the 6th inning, and was replaced for Ryan Langerhans. Usually that substitution would occur in the 9th inning, when the M’s are leading, and wanting to sure up the outfield defense. But that was not the case. It was the 6th inning and Seattle trailed 3-1. Hardly the time to remove your power threat from this anemic offense. The tweets began pouring in by Mariners reporters. Is Milton hurt? Is Wak sending a message? Now, it appears we have found out.

Per Mike Salk:

“The Mariners appear to have a serious problem. Milton Bradley left the team last night in the middle of the game. Bradley apparently left after striking out looking in the sixth inning with the bases loaded.

According to a source, Bradley yelled at the umpire from the bench before being told by Don Wakamatsu to cool it. Wakamatsu said that he would handle the umpire himself. Bradley responded that someone had to say something and that if Wak wouldn’t, then he would.
According to the source, a few minutes later Bradley walked back over to the skipper and said, ‘I’m packing my stuff. I’m out of here.’ And then he left.”

First of all, Milton had absolutely nothing to be arguing with the umpire about. He struck out on a pitch that was clearly a strike, right down the middle. But that’s not the issue. The issue is Milton walking out during the game. If that is true, he committed a cardinal sin, the ultimate act of selfishness in sports. He abandoned his teammates.

Seattle knew Milton’s baggage was part of the deal when he was acquired for Carlos Silva. They knew about his 8 teams in 10 years. They knew about the countless fits of rage, the turmoil he has created in clubhouse after clubhouse. But the Mariners also knew about his bat, his indisputable talent, and the numbers he put up just 2 years ago in Texas. Figuring Seattle could provide the bubble he needs to stay calm, along with Sweeney, Griffey, and Wakamatsu to counsel him through any rough spells, the M’s pulled the trigger on a deal that came with little risk, especially considering the sunk cost from Silva was all they had to give up.

But now, the crap is starting to hit the fan. The M’s are on a skid, and with losing often comes poor team chemistry and lots of frustration. But Milton’s past, and the present situation, are no excuse to walk out during the game, shortly after undermining his manager. I can’t understand a grown man, who at age 32 simply cannot get his act together. You’d think by his 3rd, 4th or 5th chance he might finally just shut up and play baseball. Instead, it appears Milton is back to his old habits, with his temper getting the best of him. I am sympathetic for Milton, despite the millions he makes and the countless chances he has had to change, because he needs help. None of us are perfect, and in fact quite the opposite. Born sinners, we all need help, but a spotlight does not shine bright on us as it does for Milton. I am pulling for him because he can really help this team. But his actions are inexcusable, no matter how much of a fiery competitor he is.

Something must be done if things played out the way Mike Salk has described. You can’t just stick Bradley in the lineup tonight and hope things get back to normal. His teammates don’t deserve that, and neither does Wak, who Milton greatly disrespected. Wak needs to step up and show that this team does not tolerate the kind of behavior he allegedly exhibited last night. Whether he does that by means of a suspension, which I think is most likely, or some other form of discipline. I suspect we have not seen the end of Milton in Seattle. The M’s would have to eat $27 million if they cut him. The first Milton blowup has occurred, to the surprise of no one, and now the M’s need to react before things get out of hand on the field, and off the field.

-Dan

6 Comments

Filed under Mariners

Tagged as , , ,

by | May 4, 2010 · 10:29 pm

Spring Game Recap (blame Dan for the delay)

Since 3/4 of the good guys were at this game we’ll each have a little (or a lot, I don’t know) to say about the spring game.  Enjoy.

Andrew’s perspective:

After the Terrances committed, although Jones is making everyone nervous by not signing his LOI, I headed over to U Village.  It was already a good day because of that news and because it was my last day of classes.  There was a buzz around the U Village and that buzz lasted throughout the night.  People were excited about football.  This was shown in the 15,000 people who showed up to the glorified scrimmage.  I took my seat right next to the band at about 5:30 and watched the place fill up.  I’ve been going to Husky games all my life; I haven’t missed a home game in six years and somehow the feeling of that stadium always seems fresh to me. 

It was a great move to put this game on a Friday night.  The way they put this game together was smart and kept the fans into it throughout the game despite the wind and rain.  This is just another move showing how Sark understands how to run a program.  The section I was in stood the entire game.  Although sitting might have been nice at times, it was nice to see that some fans are as excited as I am.

The game itself was a little bit weird, as all spring games are.  The crowd doesn’t really know when to cheer and people get frustrated by the vanilla playcalling.  The first few series’ were owned by the defense.  The starting offense went 3 and out a couple times to start the game and fans behind me kept yelling for Jake to throw it deep.  People like this crack me up.  Are your really going to be upset about the play calling in a spring game?  Really?  Jake did look a little off.  It’s funny that his worst practice of the spring was when the most people were there.  If you’re worried about Jake’s performance in this game, stop.  I went to 11 practices and he was fantastic all spring.  Anthony Boyles proved how good he could be.  He had a fumble recovery, interception return, and a couple really good hits.

Others that impressed me were Demetrius Bronson, Johri Fogerson, the linebackers and Nick Montana.  Bronson and Fogerson had their best days of the spring also.  Bronson had switched between halfback and fullback all spring and finally had a really good day.  He ran very physically and showed power.  Fogerson did the same.  The linebackers really flew around and that was led by Cort Dennison.  Montana came on strong towards the end of the day.  He was hooking up with Jordan Polk regularly.

It seems like every single practice ended with the competition coming down to the last play so, it was fitting that the game did also.  It was weird that they did the last play 3 times (the first play 1 second was added to the clock which seemed to be the right call, the second play the refs couldn’t tell if Montana got into the end zone without getting touched, and the third play was an actual touchdown).  It was fun to see the players have so much enthusiasm even during a spring game.  That was a common theme all spring.

All in all, the game was a fun experience.  Sure, it was a little sloppy at times and the team might not have looked their best but they are miles ahead of this time last year.  Sadly, we have to wait another 4 months for more football.  Go Dawgs!

Matthew’s Perspective:

After fighting through some of the worst 520 traffic I’ve ever seen, my wife and I finally got to the game right at the end of the first quarter.  Sitting in traffic for two hours just trying to go over the water from Bellevue didn’t really leave me wanting to pay close attention, so I don’t have any specific thoughts on individual players.  As Andrew said, Bronson had a really good day, and Boyles seemed to be all over the field.  The back-up QBs didn’t light up the field or anything, but they didn’t seem to be terrible.  There were a few bad passes, but they seemed capable otherwise. 

The highlight of the night was the festive atmosphere.  We were sitting with Andrew around a lot of students, close to the band, and everybody was just happy to be there enjoying some out of season football.  The little fan contests added some excitement to what otherwise can be a bit of a boring game.  The kid who made the forty yard field goal in the rain might have gotten the biggest cheers of the night, except for possibly strength coach Ivan Lewis when he stripped his shirt off during the hot dog eating contest.

Andrew said the team looked miles ahead of this time last year, and I completely agree.  They actually look like a football team.  There were hard hits and some big plays, and the collective team physique is much more football-playeresque now.  I saw nothing that made me worry about whether they could make a bowl next year.  Granted, I’m not positive they will, but they’re certainly much improved.

Dan’s Perspective:

Last Friday was my first Husky Spring Game, and I didn’t know what to expect. Would it feel like a real game? A scrimmage? Or maybe a high school game because of the whole Friday night thing. I’d say it was a combination of all three, which is a pretty good mix. Going in I felt pretty informed on the team thanks to Andrew’s husky spring practice reports, and there were a few players I was especially excited to see. Anthony Boyles, Nick Montana, and Keith Price topped this list. On Boyles, he did not disappoint, for reasons stated above. If you knew nothing about UW football, and attended the Spring Game, you would guess he was our playmaker on defense. He played that role on Friday, and If he can turn into a solid contributor, suddenly cornerback could be a position of strength with him, Trufant, Richardson, Adam Long, and Vonzell McDowell.

On the quarterback front, just seeing Jake Locker was the best part. He didn’t play much though, so Montana and Price got most the work. Montana played well, rarely threw a bad pass, and overall, I was excited by his play. He is basically a high school kid still so size and strength are understandably lacking, but when his career really gets going, I think he will be known for his accuracy and high football IQ. Maybe he has good genes or something. Keith Price took most the snaps for team purple, and for some reason I look at him and think Dennis Dixon. He is tall and lanky, and speed is his strength. Price may never end up starting at UW, but he is talented. In fact, if he were at Oregon this year, I could see him starting and flourishing in that system. Thank goodness he is not a duck, and my apologies for even bringing that up.

Lastly, I was not the least bit upset that rain poured throughout the game, and the temperature was about 45 degrees. It felt like Fall, and for a couple hours, I got a taste of how sweet it will be to watch this team, led by Jake Locker, in just a few months.

Leave a comment

Filed under Huskies Football

by | May 4, 2010 · 9:04 pm

Game Recap – 5/4

4 errors, 1 passed ball, 1 wild pitch, lots of walks, 2 strikeouts with the bases loaded and then a strikeout with the tying run at the plate to lose the game.  Rays – 5 M’s – 2.  I don’t feel like I need to say much else.

Hero:  Jason Vargas.  He wasn’t great but he was solid and got lots of swinging strikes.  As of right now, I think that Vargas is beating out RRS for the 5th starter spot once Bedard comes back.  There’s still plenty of time for this to change though.

Goat:  Milton Bradley.  2 strikeouts and one of them with the bases loaded.  There were plenty of people to pick from tonight.

This was a bad game.  I can’t wait until the Mariners score more than 3 runs in a game.  Unfortunately, that won’t happen until next year.  (Hopefully that jinx works).  At least Cliff Lee is starting tomorrow.  He’s pretty good. 

I know this recap is short but if you’ve watched this team with any regularity you know exactly how they lost this game.  At least it wasn’t very heartbreaking! 

Andrew

5 Comments

Filed under M's Game Recaps, Mariners

by | May 4, 2010 · 5:11 pm

Series Preview- M’s vs. Tampa 5/4-5/6

So, fun season so far, right?  While we wait for the Mariners to score a run, we get to watch Tampa Bay, owners of baseball’s best record and possibly most exciting team.  Most people would be worried about facing the best team in baseball, but can it really get any worse than that series against Texas?  If we get blown out, we don’t have the pain of losing in extra innings on passed balls.  If we lose in extra innings on passed balls, at least it was to a good team.  If we win, hey, we won!  I see nothing but good things coming!

Who Would You Rather Have?

(Picks in bold. Line-ups from tonight’s game.)

C:  M’s Adam Moore  vs. Ray’s Dionar Navarro.  Navarro hasn’t been anything great the last year or so, but does it matter?

1B: M’s Kotchman vs. Ray’s Carlos Pena

2B: M’s Figgins vs. Ray’s Sean Rodriguez

3B: M’s Lopez vs. Ray’s Evan Longoria.  He’s pretty good, if you haven’t heard.

SS: M’s Jack Wilson vs. Ray’s Reid Brignac.  Brignac’s a top prospect who was the object of many Seattle blog-desires last year.  We got Jack Wilson instead.

LF:  M’s Bradley vs. Ray’s Carl Crawford

CF:  M’s Gutierrez vs. Ray’s Ben Zobrist

RF:  M’s Ichiro vs. Ray’s Gabe Kapler

DH:  M’s Griffey vs. Ray’s Pat Burrell.  Is it that hard to find a good DH?  Burrell wins easily over Griffey, but he’s not too scary anymore.

That’s 6-3 Rays.  They aren’t quite as scary a line-up as I anticipated.  Longoria, Pena, and Crawford would probably put the Mariners in the World Series, but overall they’re not the Yankees.  Minus those big bats, they’re in some ways what the Mariners hoped to be: a fast team who presses the issue, with some moderately talented younger guys and older guys who they’re hoping will contribute enough.   The only problem is that the Rays are getting production and the Mariners are getting anti-production.  And they have Longoria, Crawford and Pena, anyone of whom is a thousand times scarier than our non-Ichiro hitters.  Pena’s not even as scary anymore, and I’ll still stand by that statement.

Pitching Match-ups

Tuesday:  M’s Vargas vs. Ray’s James Shields

Wednesday:  M’s Cliff Lee! vs. Ray’s Matt Garza.  Can I have Garza too, though?

Thursday:  M’s Rowland-Smith vs. Ray’s Jeff Niemann.  Neither one of these guys are too exciting, but both have a tiny bit of potential. 

Closer:  M’s Aardsma vs. Ray’s Rafael Soriano.  Hey, Rafael Soriano!  I remember you.  Kind of similar pitchers.  Aardsma’s been a touch better so far, giving up more home runs but striking out about 3 more per 9 innings. 

That’s even on the pitching.  The first two could be pretty good match-ups.  We’ll see how Vargas does against a good offense, and whether the team can score any runs off two good pitchers and one mediocre pitcher.  It’s never too late to get started!

-Matthew

Leave a comment

Filed under M's Series Previews, Mariners

by | May 3, 2010 · 12:57 pm

A Tale of Two Miserable Weekends…and some ridiculous stats!

I didn’t think things could get more painful than watching the Mariners give up 3 late game homeruns on route to being swept last weekend in Chicago. All 3 games were 1 run losses, and I remember thinking the M’s should have legitimately taken 2 of 3 in that series. Despite the frustration, those losses were a product of a few hiccups, albeit in consecutive games, by our usually solid bullpen. There wasn’t too much analysis required, and while it sucked to have them happen in a row, that’s baseball. We moved on.

This past weekend, however, had many more layers of dreadfulness. To condense this mess, I’ve bulleted 5 events that were pretty unbelievable (not in a good way), and another 5 RIDICULOUS facts that may require reading with a puke bucket by your side…

  1. Sweeney’s double play: When a walk, sac fly, base hit, or really anything past the infield would have won the game, Mike swung at the 1st pitch from Darren O’Day, a slider low and away, and ended the bases loaded threat in the bottom of the 10th on Friday. Although I must say, none of this surprised me.
  2. Byrnes whiffed bunt: This oddity captured the short Eric Byrnes era well. With the bases juiced just one inning after Sweeney failed in the same situation, Wak called on Byrnes to just make contact on a bunt attempt. I liked the call because asking Byrnes to not strike out or pop it up to an infielder is a tall task. Still, he failed…and then struck out for good measure.
  3. Bradley’s blown pop up: Many say Milton just gave up on this play, while some argue the sun got in his eyes. Regardless, this ball needed to be caught, because it allowed 2 runs to score with 2 outs after Felix had fought back from bases loaded and none out.
  4. Aardsma’s blown save: For the 2nd consecutive game following 8 dazzling innings by “Can’t buy a break Fister,” Aardsma surrendered a lead-off walk, then after a stolen base and a base hit, the game was tied, the save was blown, and Fister was given another no decision. I’m scared every time Aardsma enters the game and starts firing fastballs. This past week reminded me why I have this fear, despite his league leading 8 saves.
  5. 2 passed balls in 1 inning by Rob Johnson: Perhaps the previous events are explainable, but this one is not. Andrew touched on “Hips” and his lack of catching in his recap from yesterday’s game, so I won’t ramble. This tweet from Dave Cameron pretty well sums it up-

    “Rob Johnson had as many passed balls in 1 inning yesterday as every non-Mariner AL team has all season.”

What is especially disappointing about all this is that if ANY one of these scenarios hadn’t happened, the M’s would likely have won the game. But it all happened, and as the wheels came off, it was like watching a bad horror film that started off decent, turned frustratingly unrealistic, and ended up humorous. The snowball of unfortunate events that overcame this team could not be stopped, and this team was coming up with new ways to blow games.

And now, grab your bucket… Continue reading →

2 Comments

Filed under Mariners

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

by | May 3, 2010 · 12:43 am

Mariners Recap – 5/2

It was an interesting day in Mariner land.  Some roster moves along with a game make for a lot to cover in shorter post.  I’m going to tell the story of this game largely through my goat and hero:

Hero:  Doug Fister.  Wow, this guy is incredible right now.  He’s been legitimately better than Felix so far this season.  Think about that.  I know this high level of pitching probably won’t last all season but he’s shown that he’s a quality starter and has rightfully earned his spot in the rotation once Bedard is back.  The most amazing thing is he’s doing this with basically one pitch, his fastball.  Fister is throwing with Maddux and Moyer like control right now and is reaping the benefits.  Today he threw 8 shutout innings and didn’t give up a hit until the 6th inning.  He was helped with a beautiful catch by Ichiro that brought a home run back but that’s the benefit of pitching for this team.  For those keeping track, Fister has took no-hitters into the 6th and 7th inning this year.  I was at both games, so naturally I’m going to take the credit.  I keep waiting for Fister to flounder but it hasn’t happened yet and he’s not showing many warning signs that it will happen.  Unfortunately, he didn’t get the win today but this rotation looks crazy good.  Think about this:  Lee-Felix-Fister-Bedard.  I don’t know if it’ll be in that order but, admit it, you smiled when you read that.  After watching this game we all need to smile a little bit.  That leads me to…..

Goat:  Rob Johnson.  I don’t get very vocal during Mariner games.  I mean, I’ll cheer and clap just as much as anyone else but I don’t out many yells, and I hardly ever yell at our own players.  There will always be my sarcastic comments like, “Bases loaded, no out, Eric Byrnes up.  Time to take a nap.”  but these comments don’t usually make it out from under my own breath.  Today was different because Rob Johnson can’t catch a frickin’ ball.  In the top of the 11th, with the game tied and a guy on 1st, Elvis Andrus squared to bunt.  Mark Lowe threw a fastball a little off the plate, but not far from where Johnson set up.  Hips (I’d call him Robo Rob but a robot could catch a baseball better than he could, a dead robot could catch a ball better than he could, my sister could catch a ball better than he could) moved his glove a little bit and then the ball simply bounced off his glove and headed for the backstop.  The runner advances to second.  I yell, “Rob, you suck!” probably scaring the people I’m sitting with.  This pitch didn’t have a lot of movement.  It was a fastball just off the outside corner.  I could write about how much this play changed the game but instead I’ll get on to the next passed ball.  With a run in already and a guy on third Rob made absolutely no effort to stop a slider that broke off the outside corner.  This one was tougher to stop than the prior passed ball but, there’s a guy on third for crying out loud.  Move your feet and block a ball, don’t stab at it.  I let out another, “You suck Rob!” and buried my head in my hands.  Rob Johnson is not a good catcher.  People will argue that he called a good game today but I tend to disagree.  I guarantee you Rob didn’t put much more thinking into the game than, “Hey, people still aren’t hitting Fister’s fastball because he locates better than any pitcher I’ve ever caught.  I’ll call it over 80% of the time because that’s what’s working.”  Stop giving credit to our catchers for calling great games and start giving credit to our pitchers for hitting their spots just about every single time.  Hips did drive a ball to the centerfield warning track which is the farthest he’s ever hit a ball.  Ever.  Otherwise, he was useless at the plate again.  I can’t stand Rob Johnson.

As for the rest of the game, well, it was more of the same.  We didn’t hit very well, caught some bad breaks, and ended up losing a close one.    We did hit some balls hard but most of the time they were right at people or the cold air kept them in the ballpark.  Lopez hit a hard, line drive to the first baseman which got Figgy doubled off second.  Guti hit one to the wall in right that didn’t carry as far as I thought it would.  Rob hit one to the centerfield warning track that would be a home run in most ballparks.  Kotchman hit the ball hard several times but they were all right at someone.  This is more than we can say in the past few games.  Unfortunately, the team doesn’t hit  many balls hard and when they do it’s right at someone right now.  The Rangers’ pitchers were good this series.  Credit where credits due I guess.  The bullpen was a little shaky but not enough to worry about.  Lowe was a victim of Rob Johnson and a perfect bunt.  Aardsma was a victim of a ground ball placed in the right spot.  It happens, and it seems like it happens a lot to this team. 

Notes on the roster moves after the jump.  Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under M's Game Recaps, Mariners

Tagged as , , , , , , ,