Game 12, Mariners at White Sox
Meche (maybe) v Garcia. 12:05, FSN and KOMO
The Mariners are 5-6, the White Sox 8-3. We get to see former Mariner Freddy Garcia hopefully face two of the three players the Mariners picked up for him.
There’s still some question on whether this will be a Meche start or not. According to different stories, they’ve upped his anti-inflammatory dose and will watch his bullpen session before the game closely. Upping the dosage without figuring out the problem is concerning: it’s like taking more aspirin for crippling headaches and blackouts. I think Meche needs to apply for medical asylum in another country without an extradition treaty but with baseball. Argentina or Venezuala? I forget. Do they play organized baseball in the Caymans?
If we don’t see Meche, I expect we’d see an emergency start from Ron Villone, who has been held out of games since the 13th, when he pitched to one batter in Mike Hargrove’s all-lefties-are-specialists program.
Comments
146 Responses to “Game 12, Mariners at White Sox”
Pierzynski, not Dobbs, that is.
Dobbs should have had that.
And I wish I didn’t get a panic attack when I saw our closer warming up. That ain’t a good sign.
Dave, I agree the contract wasn’t a winner, and your posts about it back in the day were most informative. But it’s hard not to look at him and think what might have been.
I have a harder time agreeing that Winn isn’t a bad baserunner.
In Meche’s last start Winn looked like a pretty bad baserunner. In general though I’d have to agree with Dave.
Man, can we just give Guardado shoulder surgery? One run ballgame…
Good thing Eddie wasn’t protecting a 1 run lead.
#105 – How long until we stop letting Eddie close games?
Olivriffic!
Phew. Nice throw by Olivo.
re #77
History and stats are important, yes…but it’s arguable to see them in game conditions and under your style to see if there’s anything that you can suggest to make them more efficient.
THAT’S how you save a game! Without relying on the pitcher!!!
That was the Ozzie-est moment of the 3-game set. Thanks for bailing out a shakey Eddie Ozzie.
RE: #106:
When his arm falls off. The over/under on that is June.
I owe Crazy Ozzie a beer.
Hah!
Did you hear the guy in the stands?
“HE’S STEALING, EDDIE! HE’S STEALING!” Couldn’t have been louder. Sure enough, he was stealing.
I say we give Olivo the save. Eddie doesn’t deserve it.
Ozzie deserves a hold if Olivo gets the save.
John in L.A. yeah, I caught that and was laughing too. I hope that guy was an M’s fan, otherwise I’ll bet he feels like a moron.
I have a harder time agreeing that Winn isn’t a bad baserunner.
2002: 27 steals in 35 attempts
2003: 23 steals in 28 attempts
2004: 21 steals in 28 attempts
That’s a 78 percent success rate, one of the best in the majors for players who attempt double digit steals every year. He’s not Carlos Beltran or Pokey Reese, but he’s way above average.
#102 – It’s been a long time since I’ve had that horrible, sinking, “Bobby Ayala” feeling when looking in the direction of our closer. It’s not really fair to say Eddie’s there yet, but hopefully he doesn’t get the chance. Nobody should be sent out as regularly as Lou sent out Ayala when they’re performing so poorly. Granted, Lou didn’t have a lotta options back then, but he gave the whole city acid reflux for a summer.
117- They breed ’em special on the South Side.
119- I’m not sure the Ayala comparison will ever be fair with Eddie, considering his track record. Maybe more of a Billy Koch.
Dave, I stand corrected on Winn’s baserunning. It may not “feel” so great right now, but that’s why we (meaning you) check the numbers. Thanks for that.
Ichiro is now 6 for 7 in stolen base attempts this year.
Winn is 1 for 4.
Reed is 0 for 1.
Valdez is 0 for 1.
Ibanez is 1 for 1.
120 – His track record was pre-Mariners. For us, it’s been shades of Ayala. Wish it were different.
M’s win, Yanks lose, and George rants. Do April Sundays get better than that?
As as for why pitchers can’t field, it has a lot to do with the fact that they’re 50 feet or so from the plate and not in a position to do so at that moment.
Last year, before he got hurt, Guardado posted a 2.78 ERA in 45 1/3 innings. He gave up 31 hits, 14 walks, and struck out 45. It was right in line with what he did in Minnesota.
For us, a healthy Eddie Guardado was a darn good reliever. We’re not sure what we have right now because he’s pitching through an injury.
If Oakland wins, the M’s are back in first.
As for Eddie, I would have left Putz in to face Rowand, and brought in Eddie to face AJ. If Ozzie brings in Gload to PH for Rowand, Eddie comes in. But I never liked the Eddie-Rowand matchup.
“Ichiro is now 6 for 7 in stolen base attempts this year.”
He should’ve been 7 for 7. The one picked-off was a terrible call from the umpire.
Got a questions for the brain trust here…
Should we be concerned that Beltre has the single home run, but has been knocking in a bunch of runs? My gut says no…the dingers will come. It’s more important that he hit and get on base….but any contrary opinions?
I am not worried about Beltre. He’s hitting hard line drives, and anyway, the sample size is very small thus far. The home runs will come.
He may do better once it gets warmer. Some players are like that.
One observation about Reed. Despite Winn’s three hits, I like Reed in the two-hole. Reed had another hit, would have scored had he not be sent to steal, and that walk he drew after Ichiro’s IBB was a great AB.
Slightly OT – is Dog Day perhaps the worst promotion ever at a major league game? (except for the obvious Death to Disco night, oddly by the same fine organization? Leashes, kids/elderly, and concrete steps make a volatile combination. Cleanup issues were already mentioned. Then there’s that exploding scoreboard – fireworks and dogs another volatile combination.
I think Dog Day is an awesome promotion, and I wish Safeco would do one just like it. I would love to take my dogs to the game.
But then, I wouldn’t have to clean up after the event, so your mileage may vary.
132: The worst promotion ever was when the Mariners brought the Baha Men to Safeco Field. I was there for that. My ears are still suffering.
125 – Message received, Dave. Logic would dictate that I give you the same response I gave when I called into question Winn’s baserunning skills and you showed me his stats. He’s really not so bad. Why, then, is it so hard for me to not knock Eddie? Obviously, the pre-injury stats from last year are what they are, that’s a matter of record. It’s not that I want to beat up on our pitchers, I actually root for our guys! Perhaps, having been an M’s fan for a lot of years, I’ve been burned by maaaaany many pitchers. I dunno. In any case, whatever injury issues he’s dealing with, here’s genuinely hoping for some goodness from Eddie. I just wish he didn’t inspire that ol’ Sinkin’ Feelin’ to which many of us have referred.
Well, I bet there was at least a “Name That Tune” snippet of “Who Let the Dogs Out” played in Chicago today. I kept thinking to myself — why couldn’t they have held it in August during the “dog days of summer?”
I also was hoping they had the fire hydrants all covered up…
132- Disco demolition was pretty successful. Lots of people came, even if they did destroy the playing surface 😉
WRT to Beltre, his HR stats for 2004 by month:
Apr: 7 (85 AB)
May: 5 (106 AB)
Jun: 7 (99 AB)
Jul: 10 (80 AB)
Aug: 13 (116 AB)
Sep: 6 (103) AB
It looks to me like he the warm weather makes a difference. If you look at totals over 3 seasons (2002-2004):
Apr: 13 (261 AB)
May: 7 (314 AB)
Jun: 12 (271 AB)
Jul: 19 (258 AB)
Aug: 24 (321 AB)
Sep: 17 (306 AB)
Divide those by 3 if you want “average” numbers and you think last year was a fluke and he’s going to revert to the mean. Anyway, clearly the warm weather agrees with him. Or it takes him a couple of months to get a groove on (35 HR before all-star break, 57 after; 22/26 in 2004). I’m not sure why May hates him so much, but if he sticks true to form we can expect the casual fan to sour on him next month, only to be astonished when he “turns it around” by mid-summer.
If a person yells at their TV while watching the game, does that make em a true fan, or just a cray person???
I am a Mariners fan married to a Yankees fan. I’m doin the happy dance here, while the hubby has got to be thinkin about cheering on the home team! again!!!
I’ve decided to make my 1st game of the year on Friday. I’m HOPING to get to Safeco in time to get one of those 25.000 ICHIRO bobbleheads!!!
It will go nicely with some of the other ICHIRO things I aquired last year. I was Lucky enough to attend that ICHIRO record breaking game…WHAT A WILD RIDE!!! I had a great seat!!! Section 126, row 29, seat 5!!! Everyine keep your fingers crossed for me, I cant get there til at least 5:30!!
OK. off to see what kind of seat I can get for fridays game 🙂
#128
I’m not a member of the brain trust, but I’ll answer anyway. I’m not worried about Beltre. New League, early in the season, and what the heck…he’s driving in runs and playing a great third base. Whaen was the last time we could say that?
so how long do you suppose it’ll stay a 3-way .500 tie at the top of the AL West?
re Beltre
Well, that’s about what I thought….(well, no, I thought a lot more in generalities than in specifics, but that’s why I’m going to the brain trust). Interesting about the HR distribution (wonder about the road/home split on that for the warm weather effect), and VERY encouraged about the line drives (haven’t seen enough of him to get that…but line drives are very good in my book).
Home runs are good, but slugging of any sort is welcome, and line drives are very conducive for slugging….
Re: (# 24) “SHARED RUN RESPONSIBILITY” – That notion has been around a while, at least a couple of years. Here’s an article on the subject:
http://tinyurl.com/3fft7
Re: (# 71) THE FREE-SWINGING CHISOX – Maybe it just looked to the viewer that they were “free-swinging.”
Good pitchers (or pitchers who are on) make balls look like strikes. (It often turns out that that apparently juicy thing is actually a foot outside.)
[“Going up the ladder”: it looked pretty good to you, but the pitcher got you to swing at something over your head.]
138, 142: Of course, LA is pretty warm year-round, while Seattle and the road trip destinations so far may be quite a bit cooler.
Still worried about Meche’s arm after reading this:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2002244608_mari18.html
To quiet down his elbow, Meche took anti-inflammatory medicine and had his start pushed back two days.
“The stuff I’ve been taking to try to cure it has definitely helped,” he said. “The first five innings were good, without feeling anything. As the game went on, the last couple of innings, it started to slowly get a little tighter. Then after the game, it gets tight. But I’ll take five innings of feeling good any time.”
The Mariners insist that Meche’s arm is structurally sound, and he said it is a relief to know he can “go out and let the ball go. Once you go through surgeries before, like I have, you know what your body is telling you. You know what pain is, you know what soreness is. I’m dealing with soreness. That’s all it is.”
Yeah, we should take the M’s at face value when they say his arm is OK, because we all know they do such a brilliant job of keeping pitchers healthy. Yeah, anti-inflammatories help, but they won’t help forever if they are masking a problem, and let’s hope Meche doesn’t end up like Kenny Easley- needing a kidney transplant after popping Advil like like a 6 year old eating Skittles.
Joe Creede, A.J. Pierzynski, Aaron Rowand and all the other White Sox are going to take the gold(even though there isn’t any)