Game 34, Devil Rays at Mariners
DMZ · May 8, 2006 at 5:46 pm · Filed Under Mariners
LHP Casey Fossum v RHP Gil Meche.
Offense: Devil Rays 10th, Mariners 11th
Pitching (and defense): Mariners 7th (4.49 ERA), Devil Rays 11th (5.27 ERA)
Yeah, this is going to be a well-played series. And well-attended! Tomorrow’s game has a whopping 28k tickets unsold, and the Wednesday day game has 25k.
Fun facts from the Devil Rays press notes:
– they’re 41-81 all-time on the West Coast
– Gomes/Wiggington are tied for the top home run hitting due in the majors
– Joe Maddon, the Devil Rays manager, is now 44-44 over his career
– His uniform #70 is the highest for a regular manager in major league history
Yup.
Comments
336 Responses to “Game 34, Devil Rays at Mariners”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
#299: You forgot the all-important WP.
I could care less if we had a team that won with players who couldn’t speak a lick of english.
#300: Perhaps we were all at the ballpark this weekend.
10 singles, no XBH.
Lopez’s RBI single in the 3rd probably should have stayed a double rather than “took second on throw.”
Willie scored two runs. One he manufactured with his speed. He played a great game. He deserved to be interviewed as one of the stars (after Lopez).
Krueger has been a cheerleader for Gil for years– he’s even made ‘Mussina’ claims for him
must be lonely for Ichiro, arriving at the ballpark at noon, looking around sadly for someone else to play catch….
300 perhaps we thought the M’s would win this one (It is the first bad team we’ve played, after all).
I just do not see a team that cares. Ichiro shows up six to seven hours before the start of a game to prepare to win. He has expressed his displeasure that his teammates are not that diligent in their gameday preperation. I am thankful for Jose Lopez for he is working hard to be a star in this league.
Nah, that argument doesn’t work. Different guys prepare for the game in different ways. Nobody complains about poor work ethics and poor game preparation when the team is winning. For all we know Lopez shows up 10 minutes before game time and bitches about being in the lineup all the time. The fact that he’s hitting likely has little to do with whether he does yoga with Ichiro 12 hours before the game.
ESPN’s game story title:
16,102 fans.
The comments by Ichiro shows that the team is filled by a bunch of losers. I am not suggesting that the rest of the M’s have to show up six hours before the game. But you would like to see a better approach by the young players who need the work.
For May, Beltre is hitting .312 with an OPS of .790.
The comments by Ichiro shows that the team is filled by a bunch of losers.
No, the comments by Ichiro show that Ichiro doesn’t like to play cards before a game. That’s all.
FSN Announcer: just six hits (speaking of Meche’s performance). One hit per inning does not justify “just”
305 –
For the record, Willie had a fine game, and I don’t begrudge him that, or the interview.
My problem is that when they are describing innings, no matter how big or small his role in that inning was, he always gets more praise and more mentions than anyone else. Even when their contributions overshadow his.
As for deserving…
Iciro scored two runs, too. Mech, Guardado and Putz did pretty good. Yuni had an RBI. Lopez tied the game, Sexson puts us ahead.
And “manufactured” might be a big strong with that many errors, don’t you think?
The Seattle sports fan has always a fickle bunch. The team needs to start winning again or the attendance figures will remain dismal.
314. I agreee.
The thing that impressed me most about WFB’s night was that he had a walk! Which gave him a .750 OBP
With the exception of Carl “I don’t believe in dinosaurs” Everett, how many players on this team have a World Series Ring? This team is not comprised of players who know how to win. Look, I am a diehard M’s fan but this team is critically flawed and I have no confidence in the front office and their ability to turn it around.
#318: This team is not comprised of players who know how to win.
Trust me, they know: score more runs than you allow. They learned that in high school at the latest, but probably little league.
argh. Ichiro never said he objected to cards being played in the clubnhouse. The Japanese writer doing the interview made the comment that he saw teammates playing cards instead of watching game video.
just look here and here
A fan can be a bunch? Noun agreement, man, you want noun agreement. And you want Tejada, apparently.
With the exception of Carl “I don’t believe in dinosaurs†Everett, how many players on this team have a World Series Ring?
How many players on the White Sox last year had rings going into the Series? How many Astros?
I don’t think you’ll find coorelation == causation with your “players with Series wins == regular season success for team” theory.
you mean Nellie’s handful of rings didn’t spur on his teammates?
I just got back from the game, here’s my impressions:
1. The place was empty. I mean really empty, especially in the first inning and the last few. It was sad.
2. When Bloomquist took the feild I yelled, “You SUCK Bloomquist!” and the guy in front of me turned around and said (with a straight face), “He’s better than Reed.” Wake UP Seattle!
3. MEche looked TREEIBLE. It felt like the leadoff guy was on in every inning even though I remember him striking out the first batter. I was tempted to say he looked good for a guy without his stuff, but thrn I remembered that this is his stuff.
4. Watching Bloomquist bat is a lose/lose proposition. If he gets out the team suffers in the short run, if he gets a hit we suffer in the long run. I do have to admit that was good hitting on the hit and run though.
5. The team needs bunting practice. Bad.
6. Ichiro is hitting the ball HARD lately. This is a great sigh.
7. Lopez is going to be good.
8. The fans voted WF as the player of the game according to the scoreboard post game.
9. I was freezing. I can’t wear a jacket due to a broken hand and a cast. Man it was cold.
If the M’s are getting runs late in games I think it suggests the M’s bullpen is much better than that of many of their opponents’. Despite Eddie’s problems it is one of the strengths of the team. Unfortunately, they can’t also score runs.
I agree WFB lacks major league hitting ability, but I don’t think it adds good karma to the universe to yell “You SUCK Bloomquist” at Safeco. Personal opinion, that’s all.
Smallest crowd in Safeco history watches M’s beat Rays
I was at the game! Whoo hooo! I think I’ve seen bigger crowds during a stadium tour.
Now, the question is, if I was part of the smallest crowd in Safeco history, did I contribute to the record or not?
#326. Agreed. Especially when one considers that Willie did not install himself on the roster and did not install himself in the starting lineup. Why do folks lose sight of this simple fact?
Because he does suck, and as a fan it’s my right/job/privilege to let him know that he sucks. Sure he’s doing his best and it really is Hargrove we should be yelling at, but Bloomquist does suck and I’m going to let him know. I just wish he’d suffer some sort of injury that makes it so he can still run, and ‘field’ but not hit. Maybe if he shattered both forearms or something.
Man, Seattle fans are so touchy feely. I’ve grown to accept that most of us can’t judge a flyball or grasp simple baseball concepts, but the super sensitive thing I’ll never get.
As a longtime M’s fan…and long time human being I demand for a suspension or expulsion of Smegmalicious….those comments are absolutely uncalled for and down right sickening…have some freaking class and don’t wish one of our dollar for dollar best players injury
Man, I’m not sure which I find the most offensive:
1. Hoping for injury for any player.
2. The word “smegmalicious”
3. The phrase “one of our dollar for dollar players” being used to describe Willie Bloomquist.
Maybe the best thing to do is call none of them offensive, since I like to save my offended quota for really special occasions, but instead label them “crude”, “juvenile” and “misguided.” In no particular order.
That should be “dollar for dollar BEST players”, of course. I have no problem calling Willie a dollar for dollar player, it’s the “best” part that makes it read like the third example of hypebole in the New Oxford Dictionary.
Smegmalicious, is mean.
It’s been said before, but Willie does not “suck”. What sucks is (a) the manager’s overuse of him, and (b) the local media’s fawning over him which causes casual fans to misperceive his value to the team.
Willie is a utility guy batting .311/347/333 who can steal a base and play every position on the field passably. That’s not a bad thing. He is batting 367/406/400 against LHP. That’s pretty damn good for a bench player.
Mark McLemore — who was for a lot of Seattle fans the definition of a good bench player — had a career batting line of 259/349/341.
Jose Oquendo, who was at one time considered the best utility player in baseball, had a career batting line of 256/346/317.
Luis Sojo, who had a long career as a utility man, had a career batting line of 261/297/352.
333 – since I almost totally agree with you, I don’t want to sound too much like I am disagreeing, but I do want to point out that in the years that garnered him his Seattle reputation, he was a MUCH better hitter than Willie.
No one was really going by his career line as much as they were his time in Seattle… and in our two big years, he was putting up about an .800 OPS.
Willie is usually closer to .600. A huge difference.
He was also playing as a pretty regular left fielder, so there was not as much feeling that he was taking time away from people.
I also think that Mac was a better fielder.
And rememeber, when Mac’s hitting numbers fell down into Bloomquist range… he was sent packing.
If he’d stayed around with a .600 OPS, he would get just as much criticism as Willie.
All that said, I agree nothing apart from not being a good regular baseball player is Willie’s fault – my frustration isn’t directed AT him at all.
He is batting 367/406/400 against LHP
And if that’s a real skill, that’s valuable.
But Willie hasn’t historically shown that sort of skill against lefties.
I agree with the majority here wrt Willie, but he was pretty valuable in this game. Then again, so was Eddie.