Game 14, Mariners at Red Sox
8:05 AM. Radio only. I don’t think I’ll even be able to get this on MLB Extra Innings if I skipped out on work (not that I’d consider staying home from work to watch a Meche start, or anything. I’m totally happy with my job. No, really. Don’t send me job openings for program managers or anything.)
I understand that this bizarre start time is due to Patriot’s Day, which celebrates the April 19, 1775 Battle of Lexington and Concord. British Army troops were ordered to capture a strategic Dunkin’ Donuts franchise in Concord that was supplying colonial troops with delicious circular fried dough rations, hot coffee, and was a bastion of local outrageous accents.
The British were confronted by a small group of hardcore punk groups at Lexington, but their numbers were too small and they were forced to flee and nurse their anger. They were finally turned back at Concord by Minutemen and hassled by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones and other ska bands, inflicting heavy casualties and emboldening future generations to do the running man free of the tyranny of Liam and Noel Gallagher.
Also the Boston Marathon is today. Sacrifice your knees while suffering excruciating pain masked by the conflict between your body’s fevered attempts to shut you down and your brain’s manic release of endorphins to mask the torture you’re going through. If you can run a seven minute mile, you should be running, not reading this. Unless you’re reading this just before the race starts.
After the game ends, the crowd is let out to the finish line, where they tell all the runners what a great game they missed, and relate the exploits of the beleoved hometown team.
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Please tell me that Rondell… er… Adrian Beltre will break out of this Dan Johnson-like funk sooner than later? It’s vomit-inducing.
As far as I am concerend, you stopped playing games before lunch once you hit high school. This 11am gametime is odd beyond belief.
Somewhat off-topic, [deleted, off-topic]
I haven’t had the opportunity to see Bonds hit yet this year, but I’ve read and heard from some that he just looks really damn awkward at the plate so far. Would you agree with that?
DiNardo = Bastard form of Leonardo DiCaprio.
And why are we not resting Beltre instead of Reed? Career WFB > current AB.
Despite his assertion that he’s not platooning Reed, this is the third time Hargrove has sat Reed against lefties. Sounds like a platoon to me.
This game’s on EI for me, with the Boston broadcast…man I feel for you guys out on the west coast with the 8 am start. Even watching this at 11 am seems way too early for me.
Good thing: Johjima bats 5th.
Bad thing: WFB plays center field. Grover has 5 outfielders on his roster and decides to give the spot start to his reserve middle infielder.
This just in . . Jojihma is batting 5th. Beltre in the 7 slot. They’ve got a long reliever starting in place of Wells – DeNardo.
NESN’s blacked out, Extra Innings blacked out. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
And it’s been so successful, 1-for-6 as best I can tell.
And go Ichiro!
Sorry, DiNardo.
Niehaus on PbP with Rizzs on color. My cup underfloweth.
Now that’s just good ol’ fashioned baseball.
Nice slide by Ichiro, Manny almost got him with a great throw.
Well good news, Sexson doubles AND Beltre’s not up now to strike out!
So what gives with the hate on Rizzs? I get that Niehaus is starting to lose it, but Rizzs seems good whenever I get a chance to hear him.
woohoo, Jojima’s finally taken Beltre’s spot?!
Lineup batting averages after Johjima:
.154
.109
.200
.214
The pitcher’s the biggest offensive threat in the bottom of the– oh.
Rizzs-hate’s been covered many, many times before. It’s not worth rehashing.
Lineup change! oooooohhhhh!
You think Ichiro feels jealous of Johjima at this stage? I wouldn’t have put money on Jo hitting .350 and Ichiro batting . . well . . not batting .350?
I tried to search for Rizzs hate-love, but I can’t seem to find the search for the site anymore. Did it get removed for a reason?
Way to give it back.
Well, that was a really fun lead…
Rizzs short-list:
1. Lack of insight
2. Getting baseball stuff plain wrong at times
3. feel-good warm fuzzies (think “Happy totals”) ALL THE TIME
4. Team loyalty, but hardly ever a bad thing to say, even when there’s lots of bad things to say. (we know who pays you, but c’mon!)
5. Overly repetitive play calling phrases.
6. Not a very good story-teller.
I personally think he’s got a decent radio voice and is more tolerable than the current alternatives in the booth, however.
Thanks 28.
Most of those seem to be remedied by only hearing him 3-4 times a year.
Don’t forget the child molester vibe he gives off during the kid’s innings at Safeco.
Insincerity is #1-10 on my list. All those things are true, but he’s so false and contrived.
except Niehaus, of course.
Rizzs-hate summarized:
1. He’s smarmy.
2. He loves “scrappy.”
3. He plays favorites.
4. He sounds like an afternoon drive DJ on Wichita’s Home For Classic Oldies And Fun! Imagine Niehaus saying that line there, then imagine Rizzs saying it.
5. He’s a homer. Niehaus is too, but Rizzs is a fanboy.
6. He just doesn’t do a good job communicating what’s going on on the field.
Does that cover everything?
I missed the child molester vibe.
Thanks for the extensive listing, gentlemen.
That may be the only way to walk Beltre: outside of the zone down and in, outside of the zone up and out.
A BB is an improvement over an easy out. Now Thunderstick Bloomquist!
Out. Shocker.
We all know that that would have been a hit if Bloomquist had been getting regular playing time recently! Blame Hargrove!
Oops. I meant Thunderstick Yubet!
another rbi for yunieski.
So here’s the thing with Beltre’s walk – at no point did he ever look like he was even considering swinging. He was in full take mode. The 3-0 pitch was a 79 MPH meatball right down the middle, belt high. He wouldn’t have swung if the ball was put on a tee.
The result is better, but that wasn’t great pitch recognition.
Yeah Betancourt! Why isn’t bloomy bunting and moving over runners, or taking as much as he can at the plate, rather than trying to hit. He can’t hit.
Meche now has to consider how best to give this run back. 5 HBP? Another solo home run to Cora, say?
I think a Cora grand slam would be more fitting.
My biggest Rizzs issue. He never, ever shuts up. He cannot let a moment sit. He talks non stop, filling each second with brutally inane comments that neither provide insight or inform the listener.
He hogs the airtime so if there is a color guy trying to work, the color guy simply has no opportuntity to add anything of use. Rizzs must purposely keep talking as to preclude another from saying anything.
That change is lethal. Throw that more often.
So he hangs a curve. What an idiot.
Is he the idiot or did Johjima call for the curve?
He called Johjima out to the mound, so I’m pretty sure that was on Meche.
Obviously, throwing strikes > throwing balls, but is there a % that a pitcher should throw?
If you’re at or about 50%, that’s trouble. Over 75% is either total domination or batting practice.
Conversations that didn’t happen…
Johjima: Hey, when I wiggle all four fingers, that means I want you to hang a curveball. Leave it up in the zone, nice and fat, m’kay?
Meche: You’re the boss!
Thanks
It depends on the situation. 0-2, if you have a pitch with good movement that can dive out of the strike zone, there’s no real good reason for throwing a hittable pitch.
A pitcher going real well will probably throw 75 percent strikes. A solid performance will be 60-70 %. 50% or worse and you’re sucking eggs.
Another hanging curve. What a loser.
Wow, Joey Cora’s playing for the Red Sox.
Well, there is your answer, Derek.
You guys don’t give Meche enough credit. He can give back that run in a myriad of ways, as you can see.
that was so so ugly.
Good thing we have Willie in CF today. At least Dave is ripping him over his non-throw there on the radio.
Watching Gil Meche pitch is better than _________
A. Contracting Mad Cow Disease
B. Reading 100 consecutive Steve Kelly columns
C. Watching Matt Thornton pitch
D. None of the Above
The sox announcers were talking about how wfb might have hesitated because there was no one covering second
The Red Sox broadcasting crew said that Bloomquist didn’t throw it in because nobody was at second base.
That seems more like a reason wfb WOULD HAVE thrown the ball in. I’m not sure I buy it.
I need A-Rod money to read 100 Steve Kelly columns.
Any info on the “Kenji doesn’t call fastballs” report that came out his morning. On KJR Jayson Stark made the comment that a scout had mentioned that Kenji isn’t calling for the fastball with his fastball pitchers (Felix & Meche). Or is this more of the small sample sized theater?
I don’t see that. Felix was throwing plenty of fastballs last week.
Isn’t there a hotline you can call to hear the broadcasts if you’re, say, stuck on a bus w/o a portable radio?
Does anyone know that number?
He was but he had no control of it and it was coming in at very random speeds. I saw everything from 91 – 97. At one point, he went almost exclusively with his curve and change. For now, I’d say the reason for the lack of fastballs has been Felix’s complete inability to throw it consistently for strikes.
Gil Meche’s Favorite Pitch: Ball One.
He’s just such utter crap.
It’s funny because it’s true.
Watching over gamecast it almost appears like Meche is getting squeezed out of the zone…..Just about every BALL they have called has been borderline. Is this true?
Nope.
Dave said:
So he hangs a curve. What an idiot.
Dave said:
Another hanging curve. What a loser.
Dave said:
Watching Gil Meche pitch is better than _________
A. Contracting Mad Cow Disease
B. Reading 100 consecutive Steve Kelly columns
C. Watching Matt Thornton pitch
D. None of the Above
Dave said:
Gil Meche’s Favorite Pitch: Ball One.
He’s just such utter crap.
… just to recap.
3-2, to a lefty – try the changeup…
No, yet another curve. He’s so predictable.
Gamecast, for some reason, spots all the balls on the borders of the zone, unless it’s clearly out of it (e.g. pitch in the dirt).
Really annoying.
Changeup, strike three.
Seriously, how hard was that?
Wow, Niehaus totally just slagged Everett’s left-handed swing. That’s so awesome.
M’s have a pretty interesting situation here. If they can pull this game out, stay close to 1st in the AL, they next open up a 9-game homestand and can put some distance between them and Texas. Unfortunately, there’s Detroit and the ChiSox coming to town after that, but I feel ok about Detroit and know Carlysaurus Rex will even the score against Guillen and friends each game of the series against Chicago. He was the heart and soul of their clubhouse after all, and seeing him in Mariner blue will only cause Chicago to become demoralized and give up, right? I actually feel pretty good with Felix opening the first series and closing out the second.
Nicely done, C-Rex.
Thanks, Carl. Thanks a lot.
So f’n terrible… where is Petagine???
I meant first in the AL West, of course.
HIT HIT HIT!!!
It took Beltre 9 pitches to get his first swing of the day.
But I’ll take the base hit.
Beltre looked at two pitches over the plate?
Never mind.
A well hit single, too; would have been a double in any other stadium.
If Everett bats lefty against a lefty, then Grover should replace him with Petagine. And yes, it was fun listening to Niehaus insult him. Boy, Everett and Bloomquist created three outs around two base hits.
Furthermore, it sounded like a basehit off the wall, which means in a normal park, that ball might have actually gotten down for extra bases, which is definitely a positive sign for a guy still looking for his first XBH.
Yay for MR. SCRAPPY!! Clearly that would have been a homer and not a groundout if he played every day!
Where was the ball (strikezone-wise) and what kind of pitch did Beltre hit?
Fastball up and in.
1-2, throw the change!
85 MPH fastball… Ugh.
Our pitchcounts have been astronomical thus far.
Now there’s an interesting tidbit… baseball wives running marathons. And I’m not being sarcastic here. That’s kind of cool.
“Our pitchcounts have been astronomical thus far.”
Yes. It is the secret way to insert K-machine Putz into the game. He has 14, which, I believe, is tied for the team lead.
Y’know it’s still early and he hasn’t looked great but Meche hasn’t made me throw up in my mouth, not even a little bit. I thank him for that…for now.
Re: pitch counts, we *have* faced the two big Moneyball teams in a row. Still, the fact that we’re dumbly falling for their strategy doesn’t bode well.
How long until we start a “Get rid of the socks” petition for Ichiro.
Anyone see it as a possibility for YuBet to rack up 45 doubles, 12 triples and 7-8 homers? Not now, of course, but after a few years of growth…maybe at 28?
I was browsing through stat this morning and I was noticing Ichiro!’s pitches per at bat.
2001 – 3.39
2002 – 3.48
2003 – 3.50
2004 – 3.51
2005 – 3.58
2006 – 3.75
Obviously, we are still watching SSST, but is his increase this year a drastic change compared to 2005? Also, is this constant increase, (granted 02-04 appear insignificatn) typical as players age?
What in the hell??? I get up, it’s 9:26, I haven’t even had my coffee… and the games half over???
That ain’t right.
Good morning John. Hey, at least we’re tied!
Nice, quick inning for Meche.
Nice low pitch inning for Meche. I am enjoying this string of starts by M’s pitchers. It makes it less likely that Grover will get back his overstocked 7 man bullpen. Too bad he does not know what to do with a capable bench.
Would have liked to see Borchard in CF instead of WFB.
Richie, the K-King. It’s getting embarrassing.
It is kind of silly for Rizzs togive a scoreboard update. No one else is playing.
You show ‘em, Joh.
A question for those more familiar with the Japanese leagues. Did we just happen to get two players that don’t walk much, or is it indicative of most Japanese players?
Does Everett get booed everywhere, or just at the parks of his former clubs?
Rizzs just started it. Mentioning the bitter rivalry between C-Rex and the ChiSox. Let the trash talk begin. I’ve been looking forward to this match-up all year. Man it’ll be. . . um . .pretty intresting. All joking aside, I wouldn’t mind seeing Carl do something out of spite in that series. Can bitterness make you a good hitter all of a sudden?
A Jurassic blast!
YES, I mean Dammit. I mean Yes…with ver mixed feelingsy
C-REX!
Holy Dinosaurs, Batman!!
I like the fact that the M’s have the lead. I dislike the fact that the HR will keep Everett in the lineup when better options exist.
At least Beltre hit the ball hard.
I’m still undecided about whether to hope that Carl does well. The worst case scenarior is that he does badly, but just not badly enough to get himself canned.
WTF? C-Rex? At this rate any idea how much we’re paying per hit?
Ichiro gets a hit and Meche has no walks. This could be a whole new dawn.
If Dan Wilson has retired from baseball, why don’t they retire the Dan Wilson Yammy Yogurt radio ads?
Now watch Meche blow it.
What are the odds that Meche squanders the lead?
#25,28.
“now, here’s a guy who could put a team ahead in a second”
a classic Rizzs-ism, usually preceeding a strike-out by said player; and repeated game-to-game. The problem I have with Rizzs these days that it doesn’t feel as though he is actually aware he what he is saying … he could actually be calculating his taxes while doing the play-by play. Maybe that is also the reason I don’t get the vibes Dave feels when Rizzs talks to the junior broadcasters– he calls the boys buddy and half-listens to their answers, and (possibly because he is the father of a boy) he is just baffled when confronted by a girl in the booth…
#116– so far, just Boston. you might be surprised to hear that the Boston media wasn’t too complimentary towards him, and the fans got ticked off with him.
I’m still harvesting the crust from my eyes…but does AB have a hit and a walk? Amazing!
Hey. I thought Youkilis was supposed to take pitches.
Meche should not face Ortiz. I will write it now.
129 Meche hasn’t squandered a lead in a long time. Not since the second inning, anyway.
Take him Grover!! Please. Remember what Sherrill did to Ortiz yesterday.
I meant “Take him out.”
Changeup please.
Crap.
Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.
You called that one, Tek.
No changeup. Inside fastball. You f’ing moron.
well, that didn’t take long.
128 and 129…I blame you! Nice Jynx!
That’s unfortunate, it appeard the first 3 pitches were in a good location.
Tek shouldn’t post negative predictions. I will write it now.
111. I agree. When you have five outfileders, why is WFB in Center Field?
Yay, no XBH still for Manny.
Why does Grover let tired, HR-prone right-handers face lefty power hitters for a third time through the lineup.
Take the hook with you Chavez
Meche didn’t miss the glove… ’twas bad pitch selection to Ortiz
115- If there is a Japanese way of hitting, the emphasis is on working the count and trying to get on base anyway possible. So Ichiro was always a bit of an anomaly. As for Johjima he might be trying to get his stroke down in the Majors, I’ll have to check his stats.
gotta pull him now!
crap
What are you waiting for Grover??!
When Meche is done, boy is he done.
i think it’s time for the cleaner.
I have a bad feeling.
Grover is doing a very poor job of trying to win this game.
Was Grover the only person in the world who would have left Meche in to face Ortiz, THEN Meche to face Manny and Nixon.
Holy hell — I really hate this guy. I know the studies show that managers don’t really mean much to the win/loss bottom line, but with Grover I’m beginning to think that he may be the exception.
Grover, why are we waiting until the bases are cleared before pullng Meche?
Meche needs to buy a lottery ticket right now!
Whoaaaa thank you very much.
players win games, managers lose games
> I’m still undecided about whether to hope that Carl does well.
If he does well, it helps the Mariners win. That’s a bad thing? I do hope Mariner management keeps him more in a platoon role and limits his Plate Appearances so his option doesn’t vest but I can’t root for him to fail.
Speaking of other underwhelming, overpaid 3Bs…
Hey, he did it!
He clearly knew Meche would induce the DP.
Holy crap, it worked!
lucky devil
Rizzs will say he worked out of jam, doing what all great pitchers do.
I say he dodged a Howitzer and should have not been on the battlefield.
All right, Bloomquist. Show us what you got.
On second thought, don’t.
My manager walked over to talk, so I missed everything after the walk to load the bases. What happened?
Taverez vs. Everett would be battle of the Grade-A jerks in baseball. Too bad that won’t happen today.
164 its a short term long term issue. If he does well, he vests and hurts us next year. To be clear, by well, i mean upper end realistic numbers for him. Obviously if he hits 35 dingers and has OPS over .900 that’d be great, but it ain’t gonna happen.
nm … Rizzs just told me what happened
#172. Lowell hit into a DP.
That was scrappy
If Meche is done for the day, his outing was not all that bad, considering that he should have even faced Ortiz with a man on. The IBB was his only walk to go with three Ks.
When Willie hits a ball, no man can catch it. That’s the power of Willie.
How many ABs or PAs does Everett need to have his 07 option vest?
Haha! That’s as good as hit, Willie!!!
“True grit always finds a way.”
Well, if I was correct in my counting, that makes Reed platoons 1-for-9 so far.
Wait, Willie is actually good at stealing bases, so why not let Willie steal and have Yubet hit away?
Ooo Gritty Willy and OVERAGGRESSIVE BASERUNNING OF DOOM prevails!
Yeah, Willie can steal a good base.
Run Willie, run!
Grover is now obliged to let Meche continue until the game is once again tied. He and Francona have a gentleman’s agreement.
Well that’s a scrappy run…
Now that’s the Ichiro! we know and love, 3-0 count and Ichiro knocks the run in.
Say what you will, but small-ball works sometimes. We scored a run without getting a single hit. Now that’s cool.
Willie can at least turn no hit into a run.
Nice tongue bath for Willie from Rizzs there.
Rizzs is just about ready to wet himself over Willie
At least Meche can’t blow this one (I am assuming they don’t run him out there in the 7th).
What the heck is Rizzs talking about?! Willie provides extra excitement? Is hoping he can actually do something with no confidence that he will the same as excitement.
I know we just scored and all, but I find myself wondering why we even have Borchard or Lawton… not to mention Petagine.
What will happen if Snelling is healthy? Is he gonna ride the pine all year?
Woods is in to face Ortiz. Good move by Grover there. Oops, wrong inning.
If Snelling’s healthy and hitting, they’ll clear the room for him.
Has Ichiro lost a step? I don’t have the numbers, but I don’t think he’s had very many infield singles this year. The year he broke the hit record, weren’t a solid 50+ of those hits infield hits?
Nice tongue bath for Willie from Rizzs there.
Diet coke up the nose. That really, really hurt.
Diet coke up the nose. That really, really hurt.
I’m sure Rizzs practices by looking at tape of Tim McCarver going after Jeter.
Sammy – I think so. A lot of balls that would have been hits in past years seem to be 6-3’s now.
I can’t believe we’ve got 200 comments for a game that started at 8:05 our time. We’re all insane.
I think he had 62 infield hits when he broke the record.
We’re not insane, we’re just all bored with work on a Monday morning.
Here’s a couple points/questions:
career numbers:
Reed vs lefties: 80g .195/.278/.265
WFB vs lefties: 130g .272/.324/.371
Ignoring the differences in defense (Reed really is potential gold glove material if he maintains his glove work for a few more years while WFB is mostly adequate at best), why is is so shocking to see Reed sitting against a lefty? This is a serious question (maybe the glove answers it?).
Also, Dewan’s system basically ranks Ibanez very highly. Using this system Raul is considered a very solid left-fielder. Why is he generally considered a poor defensive option in left on this blog?
Also, run exprctancy tables suggest less runs are scored with a runner on second and one out than with a guy on first with no outs. I know people here hate the sac bunt except in late innings of close games but WFB just scoring notwithstanding, why isn’t it still a bad strategy in late innings if less runs are expected to score? Is there a greater chance to score the guy on second with one out than the guy on first with no outs but overall you score fewer runs by giving up the out (i.e. you take yourself out of a big inning statistically speaking)?
P. Todd — don’t know if you are listening to the game, but Rizzs’ Willie comments say all you need to know about how much of a homer he is (and how little he understands wfb’s true lack of contribution to the team).
Realistically, Hargrove can’t PH for Bloomquist. He’s gotta be in the game in case Beltre, YuBet or Lopez jam a finger.
or skiping class, its monday morning….
way to go after youk there woods
I was about to give props to Woods but this 0-3 count hurt his odds.
Frigging BB, how long do you keep Woods in there?
Insane? I actually cleared my morning schedule for this game.
They´re coming to get me again, haha
They´re coming to take me away again, hee hee, ho ho
To the looney bin
Where life was ludicrous all the time
And I´m just crazy about
WFB…….
Rizzs surmised that Woods is facing Loretta because he wants Woods to face Ortiz. Rizzs – “You don’t want any right hander facing Ortiz.” Rizzs, please see inning 6.
Any specific reason Grover is using our worst bullpen option during this critical point of the game? Nobody else available?
8am AND a Gil Meche start…
Its fine if you want to sit Reed versus lefties. In my opinion its too early to platoon him, and he should see more lefties before he is written off as needing to be in a platoon. However if you are going to platoon him, it should be with Borchard not WFB.
You answered your second question, one run is more likely in certain situations, however by giving up an out you take yourself out of the big inning.
Remember Dave’s assertion that Dewan’s system (and basically any fielding metric) overrates outfielders in Safeco.
I’ll admit, I got up early (it’s the last day of a 4 day weekend up here) to watch this game on MLB.tv.
I’ll give props to Willie on that.
good, keep Big Papi on deck. Need to get couple more runs here with our heart of the lineup coming up.
I can’t believe we’ve got 200 comments for a game that started at 8:05 our time. We’re all insane.
Or we all need better jobs.
No, good jobs are the ones that allow us to watch/listen to the M’s.
216. But the likelihood of a big inning with no hits is small.
Foulke in the 8th trailing by 1 run? Who’s their closer now?
Papelbon
> Or we all need better jobs.
We have jobs which allow us to monitor a Mariners game. We need better?
Papelbon hasn’t yet allowed a run, this year, has he?
Or as Chris Berman has decided to call him, “Snap! Crackle! Papelbon!”
I hate Chris Berman.
Do we have Soriano available today? He pitched 1 1/3 yesterday.
Someone may have made this point before, but at least Grover has Johjima hitting in the right spot now.
its a great feeling to know that after sexson hits there isnt that for sure out after him anymore
It’s a good thing that Rizzs drives me wacky – I’d ALMOST paid for the audio stream subscription. But between USSm comments and Yahoo gametracker, I can get all the entertainment I need here
Don’t let something like employment get in the way of rooting/discussion/commiserating for your team.
A run expectancy question for those that are more astute about the stat stuff than i am. The tables give you partial runs, but doesn’t it make more sense to think in terms of the percentage chance that you’ll get some discreet number of runs, especially late in games? 1 out runner on second might give you fewer runs over all than 0 outs runner on first, but does it have a greater chance of giving you at least 1 run? I’d like to see the run matrixes re-done with percentages and discreet numbers it might be more useful info for 7th inning or later.
Been done. The odds that you’ll get 1 or more run does improve with certain run-reducing strategies in late innings.
The announcers in NESN said the Sox are 4-0 in one run game. Hope it will be 4-1 after this game.
Holy mackerel.
Whew.
Shelton homered again
Crap, Ortiz almost had an Albert Pujols moment. Lucky bastard.
235: Hopefully this won’t be a one-run game.
Gamecast shows that as a really deep fly out… and no, I’m at work at a conference room table so I can’t hear any audio. The explanations of the gushing love for WFB did the job though.
Ichiro with the catch in front of the 18″ wall.
Don’t be silly. Given these teams, the odds are that if one of them scores again before the end of the game, it won’t be us.
Ignoring the warning track shot for the moment… why was Jake Woods (599/470/215/52 IP/K/BB/HR minor league numbers) at 25 years of age available to be acquired from the Angels? Giving up Matt Thornton (hard throwing lefty) to get Jake Woods (hard throwing lefty with some command) seems like a gift too good to be true.
Soriano is probably not available, but Sherrill is. He only three 11 pitches yesterday. And he should have face Ortiz. It’s amazing that Ortiz twice came to the plate with a chance to tie the game, and in neither situation did Grover use Sherrill.
Reiko Tosa of Japan is leading the Boston Marathon.
233 I think “The Book” by Lichtman, Tangotiger, and Dolphin has that, however I haven’t seen it online anywhere yet.
How hard does Woods throw?
247 – I’m sure Woolner compiled that a few years ago.
Niehause referred to Putz as a “big Michigander.” Is “Michigander” really the term for Michigan residents?
Oops, I meant “Niehaus.”
#250: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigander
Why are you pitching to Varitek here. Hello Intentional Walk!
Throw the cutter.
242 – 18 inch wall? Has anyone accidentially tripped over it? (I’m picturing dwarves dancing around a tiny Stonehenge monument…)
Crap.
That is all.
Damn…should’ve walked him.
“by a diving Lopez”
crap, crap, crap
well, not walking VTek was a big mistake.
253 Good question. Who’s hitting behind Varitek who can actually hit?
255 — You’re picturing Spinal Tap Goes to Fenway.
255. That was the humor in it. The wall is so short, it’s ridiculous.
Oh man…with 2 outs…that really stings.
18 inch wall? Has anyone accidentially tripped over it?
Yeah, Jay Buhner, but he was a giant among men.
There’s just no defending pitching to Varitek there. None.
Beltre with the gamewinner.
No, what really stings is: “Due up — C. Everett, A. Beltre, W. Bloomquist”
Well it’s a tie game so we won’t see Eddie in the 9th. While the conventional wisdom seems foolish at times, might work to our advantage. Eddie can hold a 3 run lead, but a tie game, he’s sure to give up the one run
Yea but good news is that Foulke’s still in and not Papelbon.
Don’t have easy access to the game right now… Who’s pitching the ninth for Boston? Is there a good Petagine matchup impending? It’s Everett-Beltre-WFB, right?
Manny is always laughing after he makes a grab. It’s like he knows he got lucky.
Folke in as closer? There’s some disrespect (ok, I know, Papelbon probably isn’t available).
#268: And most of Boston’s bench bats right-handed, so sticking Soriano in there will keep them from hitting for Cora.
If they don’t pinch hit for WFB, someone should go up to Hargrove and punch him in the face.
#272 It’s a tied game, 5-5. No closer needed at this point.
#272: Francona last week said he doesn’t use the word “closer.”
Nice single for Beltre, especially down 0-2…2 hits this game for him as well as a walk.
Is the the rebirth of Beltre?
On Beltre and Gamecast: The only pitch he’s had inside all day has been that long single he hit.
Alright, AB got hit in the 9th!
Yay, a Beltre Bullet Single (TM).
WHAT Bloomquist is staying in the game and hitting for himself. Ridiculous.
2 for 3 from beltre?????!?!?!?!?!
another hit for Beltre! 2-3 with a BB.
(punches Hargrove in the face)
Holy crap – AB worked the count, laid off the pitches outside the zone and got a single……
WOW…WFB AND Beltre both with singles this inning!!
Is Grover f*****in serious? He’s letting wee willie hit? WTF!?
#278: Can hitting a guy with a fastball that tops out at 89mph be a rebirth?
More tongue for Willie there from Rizzs.
DOH….right call again Hargrove…seriously, buy a lotto ticket!
Alright, Petagine PH for Betacourt facing Timlin.
Great, now we’re probably going to see WFB back in the lineup at least every other day.
Keith Foulke: The Gil Meche of the Red Sox.
Yes, and Petagine is up. 1st and 3rd with only one out, we have to get a run here.
Please tell me Petagine is hitting now.
285: Beltre got lucky in his AB as Youkalis misplayed a foul ball at the 2-2 count.
NICE!
petagine is hitting, but still does not know how to wear a hat. check out his mariners pic…
PETAGINE with a RBI hooray.
Hard hit grounder, got the run in there!
This is the very reason (ok, one in a long list of reasons) why Bloomquist shouldn’t start in center. Hargrove cannot pinch hit for both him and Betancourt without ending up with Sexson playing short for the bottom of the ninth.
Yay. An RBI. Yay Roberto.
Who intentionaly walks Ichiro! right now? Hell, I think I could get him to swing at junk.
Come on Hargrove, put the double steal on. You know you want to. It’s so… aggressive.
1 run lead going into bottom of the 9th with the bottom half of the Sox lineup coming up…let’s finish this one up!
this game is going to get over just in time for me to skip my second class of the day…sweet sweet early games
If Guardado walks one of these hitters from the thin end of the Sox’s lineup, I’ll have a frigging seizure.
$1 says Eddie has already barfed on the mound
Grit your asses, boys, it’s Guardado time.
Lets see Everyday Eddie come through!
K’d old Willy Mo, come on Eddie 2 more!
Eddie strikes out Willy Mo, gettin fired up!!! I love this guy.
WILY MO K-NA!
Phew!
I just hope he doesn’t make it exciting today.
Sounds like Eddie is on his game today…
My lord Rizz is going crazy calling Eddie’s strikes here in the 9th.
Wow, Niehaus is fired up!
Have I got ‘em confused? *Somebody’s* sure going nuts.
Arrgh. Where’d my f’in audio feed go?!
wow…sucks
Oh man…..what a let down.
Wow! What a game!
You’ve got to be effing kidding me.
Well, that was a punch in the gut.
Glad we didn’t trade him at the deadline. Thanks for picking up his option.
This is frustrating.
What the hell is happening? I was listening to Guardado go two out and two strikes on Youkilis and then the MLB site tanked.
And just like that we’re back to being 2 games below .500
Well, is it about time to make Soriano our closer? I would say by mid season, Soriano will be the closer. He’s the future. He seems to be fully recovered from his injury. Eddie G won’t be here next year. Let’s give Soriano the job about mid season.
When Guardado comes in I always have the feeling that it’s only a mtter of time until bad things happen, but he usually squeaks by. Once again, I’m thinking they hung onto an aging player a little too long………
Colm – Youk hit an infield single to Lopez, and then Loretta took a 2-0 pitch over the Monster.
Boston wins, 7-6.
327: Youkilis legged out a single in a close play, and then Loretta hit a 2-0 pitch over the Green Monster. That’s the ball game. Bo-Sox are 5-0 in one run game now.
Why again is it that Eddie doesn’t do that much in Spring Training? Is it so he can be “fresh” when the season starts?
I guess this is why you don’t want a left-handed closer in Fenway Park.
Still, what a game. Pity they didn’t let us see it on TV in Seattle. If we lived in Boston they’d televise it live in HD even if it were being played in Japan at 3:30am EDT.
What a gutwrenching game that was. I tivo’d it at home, well the first hour, I’m on the east coast. I’m at work so I used MLB Gameday and watched it teeter-totter all day.
Sigh. Well, I guess I should actually get back to my job.
It’s so painful being a Mariner’s fan
Loretta? You have to be kidding….
The really egregious decisions we thought BB made in the offseason (Everett, Washburn, Eddie’s option) aren’t looking any better.
Well, IF Eddie has truly lost it, then in typical M’s fashion they will wait..and wait…and wait…until everyone’s grandmother is calling for a change before they actually make a switch. The M’s aren’t exactly the most agile organization when it comes to removing aging, popular players.
Everyday Eddie fills me with Highly Specialised Dread. I have the same sense of doom when he enters the game that I once had with Heathcliff Slocumb and Mesa (tho not as black a doom as Bobby Ayala). You do not have a closer if in the ninth you mutter: Hold on, we’re not out of the woods yet. Ergo: WE do not have a closer.
Can Eddie be wished into the cornfield?
I’m more surprised thta Youk hit an infield single. Dude isn’t fast.
You can write Eddie’s contract off the books after this year. Wash still has a chance to be decent, and Everett didn’t cost too much and he’s gone after this year too. But the reason this club is where is at is Beltre and Ichiro not producing. And Ichiro talked about leaving this past off season? For 12M, I certainly expect someone hit better than 200.
We could always have Edwin Nunez..or better yet 1990 Edition Mike Schooler!!!
I will pray that Eddie gets himself straightened out so that he can be dealt in July, even if only for a B prospect.
If Boston can make Papelbon their closer ahead of Foulke, why can’t we make Soriano our closer? Is this pride thing that important? We need to win games period, forget about hurting someone’s feeling.
342 – You’re overreacting based on small sample sizes. I fully expect Eddie to be more valuable than Washburn over the season.
To have pride, one must excel. Soriano as closer might hurt Eddie’s feelings…but not his pride.
Soriano must be lacking in the “clubhouse prankster” department. Someone need to teach him how to make a shaving cream pie, and the best way to burn a rookie’s shoes.
345 – at the last feed, Bavasi did clearly say that Soriano wanted to either start or finish games (”just like most everybody else who’s any good”, or something along those lines).
I doubt it would hurt Soriano’s feelings to designate him the closer.
Eddie is shaky. He makes me nervous everytime he comes in to slam the door (or in his case, try to slam it shut with the other team’s foot in the doorway). And today’s denouement was a heartbreaker, and like everyone else I want it to be the beginning of the end of Eddie as Closer.
But all that said… it’s only his first blown save of the season. He was one out from slamming the door. For the M’s to even consider taking his closer role and giving it to Soriano or GS52, Eddie would need to cost us at least 4 or 5 more games this season. Think about that: in order to get the change many of us desire, Eddie would have to cost us at least 4 or 5 more wins, all in the 9th inning. Is that worth getting Soriano or Sherrill as the closer?
I’m not sure. One would say that, in the long run, yes, it’s better. But I don’t want to see this season, which still has a lot of promise, to circle the drain just for the sake of supplanting our nearly-washed-up closer.
The problem with Eddie is not Eddie. He is (supposedly) a great guy, and quite a competitor. Using a left-handed flyball closer in Fenway, when you have someone like Soriano available, is just dumb bullpen management.
No, the real problem was in not dealing Eddie at last year’s deadline. His shoulder is a medical miracle, we certainly weren’t contending, and there was supposedly strong interest in him. The dismal risk-averse decision by management not to trade him is inexcusable. Eddie’s value will never be higher than it was last July.
But, rather than leveraging that for a solid return, the M’s are now stuck with an aging, possibly injured, exposed mediocrity for whom they will likely get nothing. Nice work.
349: No, I am talking about Eddie’s feeling being hurt. And at this point, the team shouldn’t care whether Eddie’s feeling being hurt. If you want to win games, you got to have the best man available at the end of the game. Today was a perfect example: Eddie G with his 89H fastball facing 4 RH at Fenway with a one run lead. If Soriano were available to close this game, the chances that Boston can pull this one out is much smaller.
350: you are right, maybe not take his closer role entirely away, but make it a closer by committee sort of thing. Like the situation today, use Soriano to close because it’s Fenway and they have 4 RH coming up. But if you are facing the Yanks with Giambi, Matsui, Bernie coming up, then you use Eddie G.
#345: If Boston can make Papelbon their closer ahead of Foulke, why can’t we make Soriano our closer?
Two words: Mike Hargrove. (Same reason Carl Everett’s going to be stinking up the DH slot for two years.)
Alternative two words: Terry Francona. (Not afraid to think outside the box, take the ball from a seasoned World Series veteran and give it to a 25-year-old kid who’s really nothing special. Not at all.)
#344: If eddie “straightened himself out”, why would you trade him for a B level prospect in July?
He’s barely worked up a sweat this season….
#354 – Just another reason to hate the Human Rain Delay
I don’t think Eddie’s contract was totally questionable in comparison to, say, Washburn or Everett. It’s obvious he ain’t Mariano Rivera or Eric Gagne but he was very capable as the closer, and we’re still in the middle of Small Sample Size Theatre- a stretch of 5 appearances with an 11.58 ERA isn’t THAT unusual for a closer.
That being said- a 3-4 road trip doesn’t shock me. 4-6 in the last 10 games against some pretty good pitching isn’t “OH NOES!!1111″ either- I’m not expecting a lot more than a .500 team this year. Felix struggling early doesn’t worry me so much- this is still extended spring training as far as he’s concerned due to the work he lost, and power pitchers struggling a bit in April isn’t that unusual, either. What’s most distressing to me is Adrian Beltre looking totally lost, because Eddie and Everett aren’t likely to be cluttering the roster next year if they are still craptastic come May, but Beltre is a complete albatross until 2009 if he continues to be the Latin reincarnation of Cirillo and Spiezio.
Why do you need a “Closer” (since when is this a postion on the baseball diamond?) at all? Why not manage situationally in the 9th like you have the entire game? Unless you have someone who is absolutely nails, why would you not play matchups and go with your strengths in the 9th as you have the entire game. I have to agree with Dave’s recent post: (paraphrasing) “Whoever invtented the save statistic should be ashamed.”
ah well. After the 1st homestand of the season and the 1st road trip they are 1 game back in the West, with Ichiro & Beltre still not hitting, and some occasional tottering from the pitching staff. It does make that call at 1st by Reed yesterday look even worse, though.
so, in comes Texas (a 1/2 game back), and the 7-5 Tigers & White Sox.
terry, #355-
Because this is Eddie’s contract (final) year, we will be out of it in July, and we can try Soriano or someone else in the slot.
Though they say that payroll budget unspent this season isn’t used to help the team in the future, I think that saving a chunk of his $6.75 million salary is a nice idea. In any case, they won’t have to agonize over bringing him back next year if he’s dealt.
I do agree that optimism is in order with this group. But Grover’s gotta go soon, and as much as it pains me to lose games like today, these second-guessable losses are necessary in order for this to happen, I tell myself, anyway.
Totally forgot the early start time, so when I went out to pick up the mail and turned the car radio on, I heard, “Sooo, the Mariners lose 7-6…” Grrrr.
Then I come over here and find out they had every chance to win the game despite Meche, and I read that Bad Eddie showed up today. You guys who DIDN’T forget to tune in to the game forgot to chant the “Good Eddie, Good Eddie” mantra.
Well, there is a sliver of a silver lining to all this. The M’s helped the Red Sox maintain their distance from the NYYs in the Loss column…
(I’m channelling Red Sox Girl)
#354
I can understand the criticism of Papelbon in the rotation but Papelbon in the pen is worthy of a bashing? Give me a break.
I think that saving a chunk of his $6.75 million salary is a nice idea.
Why? So the ownership group can run more of a profit? If it doesn’t affect next year’s salary budget, it doesn’t affect next year’s salary budget. We’ve seen that- and we’ve also seen the M’s slide from top 5 to middle tier in salaries paid out.
In any case, they won’t have to agonize over bringing him back next year if he’s dealt.
The only way I see them “agonizing” is if the M’s do well enough so they don’t trade Eddie, and Eddie does well enough to stay in the closer job, neither of which are locks.
Face it, if this team is 12 games out in late July and Eddie has trade value, he’s gone, the same way Winn and Garcia were. Bavasi’s track record is such that we don’t have to worry about the M’s not being willing to trade veterans for chances to restock the farm system, and I don’t see Eddie having the desire to stick around that Jamie has that would block a trade- he’d probably be willing to do a 2-3 month rental on a contender.
Yes, it’s true we’ve faced some pretty good pitching. That’s because this early in the year “pretty good pitching” means “pitching that’s faced the Mariners”.
Seattle AVG/OBP/SLG/ISO: 239/308/390/151
League AVG/OBP/SLG/ISO: 274/338/452/178
I thought the “pretty good pitching” part was based on LAST YEARS’ stats.
#363: I can understand the criticism of Papelbon in the rotation but Papelbon in the pen is worthy of a bashing? Give me a break.
I’m not trying to bash Papelbon.
“Not special at all” is a little tweaking of one of our USSM hosts, who is far from hot on Papelbon. We heard here before the season started that every team has a guy like Papelbon, and on Friday night we were told, “…finding a RH reliever who can throw 95 for an inning, now that’s rare… /end sarcasm.”
Maybe I need to start using pseudo-HTML tags myself.
#358: Why do you need a “Closer†(since when is this a postion on the baseball diamond?) at all? Why not manage situationally in the 9th like you have the entire game?
Two words: Tony LaRussa.
(Alternate two words: Dennis Eckersley.)
Remember twenty years ago how “No one ever got fired for buying IBM?” The modern day baseball equivalent is: No manager ever got fired for putting his proven veteran closer in the game in the 9th inning in a save situation.
Besides, the Red Sox proved in 2003 that your idea of Closer by Committee doesn’t work [/end sarcasm].
#364: I don’t see Eddie having the desire to stick around that Jamie has that would block a trade- he’d probably be willing to do a 2-3 month rental on a contender.
I’m not so sure about that. Eddie didn’t want to go to one of the contending East Coast teams last year.
Just got home and saw the replay of the pitch Eddie threw to Loretta. Geezus!
Why does he wanna stay with us so bad anyway?
LB, I know what you are referring to. I just missed the sarcasm. Sorry.
#370: No doubt, it was a meatball. On the other hand, it was on a 2-0 count and he was looking at Señor David Ortiz standing menacingly in the on deck circle, who had already hit 2 HR’s today and was a couple feet shy of HR #3. Did you really want him to walk Loretta and face Ortiz with the tying run in scoring position? On 2-0 he had to throw a strike, and he got burned.
Looking at the reply on TiVo, the pitch was elevated about a foot over where Johjima put his glove.
Like someone said earlier, lefthanded flyball pitchers with sub-90mph fastballs are not a good combination in Fenway Park.
Last year, Eddie had the prospect of still being under contract for another year after the trade. This year, not so much an issue.
How can any of you STILL want that gas can Guardado closing games. He’s garbage. He was garbage shaky all last year. We need a guy who can blow hitters away, a guy like Soriano. If Eddie just has to pitch Grover should move him to the late relief roll, at least then we may have a shot to get back into the game after he comes in and gets shelled. 4.2 Innings pitched 6 earned runs, leading to a slim 11.57 era; now thats what you like to see in your closer. And all of you waiting for Beltre to “Pick it up,” I’ve got news for you, it’s not going to happen. The guy hit in one year of his 8 year career, this being his 9th. Take away that year, he averages about .260 and 18. One good year, a year that happened to be his contract year, then gets a fat contract from the “We don’t want to pay for Randy, Jr., or A-Rod, but we’d love to throw crazy jack at Boone, Beltre, and Eddie” M’s. Boone, Beltre… Beltre, Boone. One plays 3rd one played 2nd, but other than that, they’re the same guy. A slappy that all of the sudden, in his contract year, gets a power explotion and contends for the MVP… hmmmmm, I wonder how that happened? Did it occur to anyone else that acne on a 27 year old is strange? Anyway, we have what we have, a marginal 3rd baseman with warning track power and no clutch whatsoever. And oh yea, he costs $12 million a year. Super.
It’s funny how things have worked out almost exactly how we’ve expected it to. The optimistic still have plenty of time to hold out on Beltre, but I’m losing optimism fast, he just swings at anything, has no patience to be as good as he was in ‘04. The questionable re-signing of Guardado has looked bad in the early going, the questionable signing of Everett has looked bad in the early going, and the signing that we all loved, Johjima, has been great. The kids are playing well (Betancourt, Lopez, Reed), and once Felix gets it going, it’ll pretty much end up how we thought.
#375
I really hate it when you’re right.
but…when you are right, you are right.
# 375
I agree on all points, but why is Bentacourt playing? Sure he can pick it, but he’s got no stick. Morse bat .400 for nearly a month last year, where is he? Same with Rivera, he should be DHing if Johjima is behind the dish, but after watching routine sliders sail past him I have my doubts about him there.
Morse and Rivera need to be in the lineup every day.
Guardado and Everett need to be off the team.
Let me remind you Guardado haters: We were half a step from a 1-2-3 9th. Half. A. Step.
Today was the best outing he’s had all year, ruined by one dumb pitch.
He’ll be gone by midseason, so Soriano will be closing soon enough. But geez, you’re all set to hang the guy for the sins of the entire frikkin’ bullpen and offense.
BTW, /end is a redundancy. Get your fake HTML right, people.
Morse and Rivera need to be in the lineup every day.
For Tacoma? Absolutely.
brilliant dw, Rivera has two doubles in four at bats… lets send him down. You should go work for the M’s, you’d fit right in.
Big, you’re on the verge of joining the moderation queue. Watch the tone.
And, to cap it off, you’re wrong about pretty much everything you’ve said.
hmm, what’s that Dave? I’m wrong about everything. I just looked over my numbers and actually they are all correct. You may disagree, but I don’t think that deserves the moderation queue… Thin skin around here eh?
You’re not in the moderation queue, are you? You just need to watch the tone. We’ve let you slide on your unfounded steroid accusation and your personal shot at dw, so consider yourself lucky.
Read the guidelines if you’re not sure why you’re on the edge.
I missed the game, which looks like a good thing in retrospect, but let me add my voice to the chorus re Guardado. It was unforgivable not to trade him in July last year. He was having a good year, the team was going nowhere (and thus a closer was a luxury), there was interest in him, and his shoulder figured to go any minute. Now the shoulder is gone (yes, it’s only his first blown save, but that’s just luck, given that his ERA is about 12), and the M’s won’t get anything for him. This isn’t quite as awful as their tardiness in trading Randy Johnson, but it’s a similar kind of mistake.
Am I mistaken, or didn’t we attempt to trade Guardado last year, but he blocked the trade?
I think it’s a bit early in the year to say that he is done, but he does need to put together another good performance (like today’s, IMO), but actually come away with the save to quiet the hounds.
Also, great job on the “Patriots Day” intro DMZ!
I’m no Guardado fan, but this is starting to sound like KJR in its second guessing. When Eddie first came out, comments were all in support. He blows the save, and now he’s terrible. Is he awesome? No. He is fine as a closer, and won’t blow more than a few saves a year. If he does, I’m wrong, and that’s that. But I just don’t see it happening.
Let’s assemble this magical bullpen some people talk about. Soriano is moved to the rotation, Guardado is traded and Putz closes. Ok, who is in set-up? Remember, you want 2 good set-up guys. Sherrill seems fine, but is he ready to be one of the main set-up guys? If he is, ho else? Mateo? I’ll pass. I’m not sure our bullpen can do without Guardado right, as it is set-up.
Blown saves happen (to every closer).
Plus, Eddie has to go after Loretta. You can’t afford to fool around and end up facing Papi.. I’ll admit Eddie coming in gives me the same feeling that Sasaki used to, but he has been a proven, effective closer up until this point.
I’ll chalk it up as SSST (for now).
Morse is a horrible defensive SS, and the positions where he wouldn’t be a defensive liability are ones where his bat is not particularly impressive.
And why the hell would you bench Johjima for Rivera?
And for people who think Small Sample Size Theatre does not appply to relievers, I give you Eddie Guardado, circa 2003:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlbhist/players/splits?statsId=5051&type=pitching&year=2003
See those two months he had a 5+ ERA where he blew saves in?
Now, if it’s Memorial Day and Eddie’s something like 5/12 in save opportunities with a jetliner ERA, THEN I’ll panic. Two weeks in? Not so much.
It’s interesting how the bile level has been rising with each Guardado post. And yet, he only left one pitch up. Meche was leaving the ball up like he was trying to keep his toddler from getting into it.
Confidential the O’s radio broadcasting crew: I could have done without the vivid description of David Newhan’s injury, thankyouverymuch.
Morse should never, ever play on a major league club again. He just doesn’t have any valuable skills.
Betancourt’s not hitting, but neither would anyone else we have to man the position.
And way to draw conclusions not only from small sample sizes, but small sample sizes that are contradicted by larger samples on minor league data.
Thank goodness the series is over and it didn’t take on too ugly of a shape. The Mariner’s took one and the other three were all one-run games. It wasn’t the best series but it could have been much worse (see Fenway, Moyer’s pitching record in) Sure the management made some bad choices but that can (should?) almost be expected at this point.
We may be 2 games under .500, but we are only one game out of first. Also, if Baltimore keeps their lead over the LAAoA we will only be 1/2 a game back.
Karen- Thanks for channeling my pro-Red Sox/anti-Yankees spirit. Indeed this does push New York a little farter out of 1st in the AL East.
Next stop Safeco against 5-8 Texas.
Morse dosen’t have any valuable skills??? I assume you mean other than batting over .400 for a month in the big leagues; while batting something ungodly like .600 with risp. I consider being able to hit the ball a valuable skill, especially on the M’s. And sorry for my “UNFOUNDED” steroid allegations, Boone was clean in ‘01, everyone knows that.
And you make a great point Evan. What Morse did in the majors doesn’t matter, what matters is that he plays lousy in AAA. Right?
I actually thought this was a great series. Pitching kept the team in all of the games (and blew it today), and all 3 losses were only 1 run games.
Sure, it would have been nicer if we put up a few more runs and had a few more wins, but the fact is the games were close and competitive, against a very good team. Good sign.
Morse dosen’t have any valuable skills??? I assume you mean other than batting over .400 for a month in the big leagues;
Yes. Exactly.
That’s not valuable. Doing it over six or months of a season would be. (Um, you do remember how league leaders in batting are after a month? It’s not that uncommon to see no-names at .400 after one month).
But go ahead and focus on the small sample size…and here’s your Willie Bloomquist jersey as well…
Today’s game had the strange feel of a slug-fest that didn’t produce many runs. Since I live out East, I did get to watch the game, and I was not impressed with Meche, even though the Red Sox announcers were talking about his “solid 6 innings” quite a bit.
Watching it gave me the same feeling as the 11-9 Indians game from last week, and it was strange to keep looking at the score and seeing 2-2, 4-4, 5-5, etc. It seemed like they forgot to put runs on. The Red Sox pitcher was not very impressive, the Mariners just kept hitting lazy fly-balls or routine grounders.
My favorite moment of the game was when Beltre hit a fly ball to Man-Ram in left, who started for it, stopped and looked confused for a bit before leaning over and catching it. The Red Sox announcers claimed that “Ramirez just took a base hit away from Beltre.” Only if you count a badly played routine fly-ball as a hit. But he did catch it.
Oh, and WFB just looked plain confused in center a few times. He almost royally screwed up a particular line drive when he stopped and dove for a ball, barely catching what should have been an easy play. He should never, ever play center again.
395- That’s exactly what I was thinking. Not only was it a small sample (ONE month) but it was also his first month in the big leagues. None of the other teams knew just how to pitch him. I realize that you could turn my point around and argue that Morse hadn’t seen any of the pitchers he was facing so his average was remarkable.
For the record, I am not against Mike Morse in any way. He seems to be a decent player, but for now Tacoma is the best place for him. Down there he can play every day and improve his defensive skills. If he were in Seattle, his role would probably be as a pinch hitter with occasional starts at SS. That solution wouldn’t do anyone any good. We know that Betancourt isn’t a .400 hitter and will probably never be one, but he has a great glove. It’s similar to the situation that Beltre is in, he can’t hit worth crap, but his glove has been valuable to the team so will stick with him to see if he can turn it around. After all the errors in the past two seasons the management seems to be focusing more on defense than offense, so I doubt that we’ll see much of Morse for at least a few more months. Let him play everyday and improve his skills, he seems to have potential let him prove it and then maybe bring him up or try to trade him.
Betancourt is good and will only get better as he gains confidence. The thought of chucking him for Morse makes me feel like pounding my head into a wall.
Rivera’s swinging well (loving the green monster), and that’s fantastic, but Johjima is the catcher now. Let’s try not to be reductive here.
Beltre got on base three times today. Someone will be quick to point out that he still doesn’t have any extra-base hits or RBIs, but at this point he just needs to learn how to chew his food again.
Why is Borchard not platooning with Reed, instead of Bloomquist?
Why is Borchard not platooning with Everett, instead of Bloomquist with Reed? That’s actually TWO mistakes, platooning the wrong hitter AND the wrong platoon partner. Way to go, Hargrove.
Maybe because, as crappy as everett is hitting, it’s still better than borchard has ever done.
If everett is sitting out petagine should get his at bats. Seriously.
Look folks. 1 month is obviously a “small sample.” But guess what, its also the ONLY SAMPLE. The guy came up, tore the cover off the ball, played decent (at best) d, and hit with power and with risp. Right now the M’s need a couple of sticks, he should get a shot. Some guys can capitalize on “a shot.” And by the way, I don’t say they should play Rivera over Johjima, I said they should both be in the lineup, unless Everett’s sub .200 ba is too valuable to lose. Cmon people. Stop defending Guardado, he was weak last year, and he’s older now than he was then. It’s Soriano’s time. Mateo-Putz-Soriano isn’t exactly Nelly-Rhodes-Sazaki… but it’s a whole lot better than anything with Guardado.
An outsider’s point of view regarding Guardado. I’ve never quite understood how he gets people out. I guess he hides the ball a bit, but he clearly has no intention of throwing a ball to the inside half of the plate to a righty hitter.
I remember back around ‘93, the S.F. Giants were facing Tommy Glavine of the Braves. And the Giants, as a group, (all the righties, anyway) stood on top of the plate and closed their stances and lined hit after hit to right center field and center field. I was tremendously impressed. I don’t understand why guys don’t do that to Guardado. I mean, there’s nothing in particular that seems wrong with any one pitch, 88 mph on the black outside. But when that’s all that a guy seems to throw, it starts to seem odd that hitters don’t adjust to him more often.
Oh well. Anyway, there was no chance of Guardado being around for when the M’s are real contenders (when he could have been traded last July) was there? And he could have been traded for someone who would be, right? So . . .
everett had a month last year where he hit .350 with 6hr. i have no idea how we could ever pull him from the lineup.
Geesh, you people have a disgusting lack of appreciation for intangibles….without Everett’s leadership in the clubhouse, this series would’ve been a sweep by an average of 5 runs a game. Do you honestly think Moyer would’ve looked that good in Fenway last year-geesh didn’t anyone notice how well the chisox pitching staff did last year with everett in the clubhouse?
And for all of you Morse bashers, his .400 average during his first 20 games in the big dance is far far more important than his sub .550 OPS for the rest of the season. As for his poor defensive skills at short, the M’s have a great bunch of flyball pitchers, so truthfully, hiding him at short may be the best solution. Finally, just think how well Morse would be doing in Tacoma if only Everett was there providing leadership in the clubhouse…… The kid has a heart of a warrior. A warrior people…..
War to your #3 hitter sac bunting in the second inning. War to calling a hit and run with bases loaded and no outs with your pitcher batting. War to intentially walking the potential winning run in the bottom of the ninth….
#384-385; regarding a trade last year; remember that Guardado has a 10-team no-trade list, primarily teams on the East Coast and according to him, he was never asked to waive the no-trade last July.
Various reports at the time said that there was some interest in him, but that most teams — whether they were leery of the shoulder, the no-trade clause, the $6.25 club option for ‘06 or the fact that if they got him and he wasn’t used as a closer the team would have renegotiate an incentive clause in his contract that pays $1 million if he finishes 55 games — most teams didn’t want to give the M’s what they wanted for him, but would only offer a prospect.
Look folks. 1 month is obviously a “small sample.†But guess what, its also the ONLY SAMPLE.
Only if you don’t understand the predictive power of minor league performance.
The guy came up, tore the cover off the ball, played decent (at best) d, and hit with power and with risp.
He was actually the worst defensive shortstop in baseball. And he didn’t tear the cover off the ball after his brief two week fluke hot streak. If you think a season line of .278/.349/.370 is tearing the cover off the ball, well, you’ve got really low standards.
Some guys can capitalize on “a shot.â€
Prove it. Find me a guy who didn’t hit at all in the minors but did in the majors.
I said they should both be in the lineup, unless Everett’s sub .200 ba is too valuable to lose.
You think Rivera should play ahead of Everett, Lawton, and Petagine? Seriously?
Stop defending Guardado, he was weak last year, and he’s older now than he was then.
Guardado had a 2.72 ERA and was 36 for 41 in saves last year. The last time he posted an ERA over 3.00 was 2001.
just to be specific, re: Morse.
in Tacoma
2005 182ABS .253AVE .317OBP .407SLG .724OPS
in Seattle, 2006
June 84ABS .357AVE .423OBP .464SLG .887OPS
July 71ABS .282AVE .338OBP .380SLG .718OPS
Aug 47ABS .170AVE .264OBP .255SLG .519OPS
Sept. 24ABS .250AVE .308OBP .292SLG .599OPS
back in Tacoma
2006 35ABs .200AVE .243OBP .371SLG .614OPS
Apparently, the popular wisdom in this thread is minor league stats magically become completely irrelevant in the majors regardless of the sample size, so Morse and Rivera = greatest hitters alive, Borchard = worthless.
Oh, and what you’ve done in the last two weeks = what you will for the next 24, so Guardado = worthless.
Good to know.
[Morse] was actually the worst defensive shortstop in baseball.
Doesn’t Derek Jeter have that spot nailed down pretty well?
Knowing of the Carl Everett love here on USSM, I can’t resist copying this exchange today from the Sons of Sam Horn:
Post: Did anyone else have a problem with the amount of booing Carl Everett received? I think the guy, while obviously a little off the beaten path, is not that bad of a guy, and his outbursts occurred a few years ago.
Reply: Personally, I had a problem with it. I thought there was way too little booing of Carl Everett. If any Red Sox player in my lifetime is “that bad of a guy”, it is Carl Everett. If I had unlimited time on my hands, I would go on tour following the Mariners around to every stadium they played just to get the opportunity to boo him. That man is a disgrace to the sport.
Link
Check out Morse’s defensive ineptitude in the play-by-play metrics. It’s all small sample size theatre, of course, but he was awful awful awful. Which pretty much goes with every scouting report ever offered on the guy, and the M’s decision to move him to the outfield.
Morse’s defense would have to improve 10 fold to be in Jeter’s class of futility.
Morse’s Fielding Runs Above Replacement, 2005: -2
Jeter’s Fielding Runs Above Replacement, 2005: 38
Morse’s EqR at SS, 2005: 25
Jeter’s EqR at SS, 2005: 119
(Jeter actually had the best defensive year of his career according to the advanced fielding stats.)
Sorry, but when I refer to play-by-play metrics, I’m not talking about BP’s, which I deem mostly worthless. Check out his PMR, which can be found on David Pinto’s site. He was an abomination.
I went with the BP stuff because it was at hand. I know it’s noisy, but it was that or fielding percentage.
Aaah, here we are:
http://www.baseballmusings.com/archives/012856.php
Michael Young is below Morse, but Young hit .331/.385/.513, so you have to find room for that.
Betancourt’s far better than Morse. I’ll take Hoover-esque and .250 every day and twice on Sunday over .270 and airmails the ball over a 6′8″ first baseman.
Dave 407. “Show me a guy who didn’t hit at all in the minors but did in the majors”
How about John Olerud?
All right, I’m just being a prick here…
Touche. There actually are a few examples that I’m aware of, but I’ll see if TheBig is actually aware of any before I give them away.
Well, with Eddie, there are a several possible explanations for his suckitude:
1) Still getting his spring training licks in (or should that be Mark Loretta’s spring training licks?)
2) Still broken up over the whole Kirby Puckett thing
3) Arm has, in fact, fallen off and merely being held on by daily applications of superglue.
I’m leaning towards mostly #3, with #1 and #2 as aggravating factors.
The Eddie G career deathwatch is officially on. I’ll be shocked if he makes it to July in any fit state to be traded.
#417 – how about Rene Rivera?
#417: Dave Winfield?
[deleted, name calling]
Shorter thebig708:
I got nothing.
Thanks to whoever was wielding the magic erasor there. Reading this thread just reminded me how blessedly free this site is of the usual internet trolly-posturing-aggressive nonsense. It’s appreciated.
This is a very weird team. At least this year they are interesting-baddish instead of just bad bad.
That was me. If only we got paid by the comment deletion: we’d be on a new server and drinking only the finest sports drinks while watching over the site.
I second that John. Thank you to all you guys that make this a decent place to come talk/read/learn more about baseball. You guys do a great job of keeping major arguments from breaking out.
“interesting(ly)-baddish” – thats a cool phrase, I’m going to have to figure out a way to include that in a conversation sometime.
I think the earlier comment about Eddie being one decent pitch away from having a terrific outing, as opposed to what has mostly been termed as disasterous, is right on. He’s by no means perfect. Few closers are. Rivera let one go yesterday too. It’s one game, one pitch. Let’s see how they rebound.