Charles Gipson-related research request
Hey, this came up in my book research — I was at a game where Gipson, playing right, went into the stands after a foul ball and just missed it. The crowd, thinking amazingly fast, caught the ball and Gipson at the same time and then pushed Gipson out on the field, ball in glove as if he’d snagged it. The ump was right there, unfortunately, so he caught it, but it was a brilliant piece of quick thinking by everyone involved.
The problem is I don’t know when it happened. I believe it was 2002, but I’m not sure. Research has turned up no mention of the play in game stories.
Did anyone else see this, or have a better idea of when this happened?
Guardado for Travis Chick
The Mariners have traded Eddie Guardado and a large amount of cash to the Cincinatti Reds for RHP Travis Chick.
Chick started his career with the Marlins, was traded to the Padres for Ismael Valdes and had the best 42 innings of his life after the deal, all in low-A ball. He’s never come close to matching that form, and the Padres didn’t really mind giving him to Cincinatti this year.
Chick’s a sinker-slider guy without enough stuff to miss bats more than occassionally. He’s an arm with some potential, but less promising than a guy like Yorman Bazardo was last year. More than likely, he’s a guy who will be a Triple-A arm, maybe find a spot in the bullpen for a few years.
Basically, the M’s gave away Eddie Guardado, just like I suggested below. Well done.
What I would do
Is there anything less productive yet more fun than creating wildly unrealistic scenarios where we get to manage the rosters of our favorite teams? The enjoyment-to-usefulness ratio is off the charts. They’re generally a gigantic waste of time, but there’s something oddly interesting about creating trade proposals and reshaping the team in our own image.
So, since everyone is angry today and wants to make wholesale changes anyway, what better day for a useless diversion thread where you can put all your crazy ideas and not have them deleted for being off topic?
So, welcome to the 2006 What I Would Do thread. Bill Bavasi calls you up tomorrow, hands you the reins of the team, and tells you to knock yourself out. What do you do? My ideas after the jump.
Game 86, Angels at Mariners
RHP Colon v LHP Moyer.
Garret Anderson in left field! Woo-hoo! Hopefully we’ll get to hear that he’s also a centerfielder, and that’s why he’s so good in the outfield.
Standard no-Reed anti-RHP lineup, with Johjima still behind Everett because Everett prevents another R-R pairing in the lineup.
Calm down
Six days ago, the Mariners completed a sweep of the Diamondbacks, were over .500, and we were setting our sights on the Oakland A’s for first place in the AL West.
Five games later, everyone is apparently ready to jump overboard. Yes, it’s been an ugly homestand, but the team still leads the division in run differential are are exactly one game further out of first place than they were when everyone was excited. This team isn’t great, and not-great teams are going to have runs like this. It isn’t the end of the world.
Momentum is tomorrow’s starting pitcher. And we’ve got Jamie Moyer, in Safeco, tonight. That’s not a bad place to start ending this little skid.
Also, the collective “calm down” order apparently applies to Carl Everett too, as he went into Mike Hargrove’s office and started yelling due to his decreased playing time lately.
Seriously, the DH who is “hitting” .232/.307/.373 and has started every game at DH since interleague play ended is complaining about his playing time. He’s on pace for 516 at-bats in 157 games played, despite being completely useless to the team, and he’s complaining about playing time. Ridiculous.
But, you know what Carl, keep on yelling. Throw things. Have a fit. Maybe you’ll go and get yourself released, and then we can have an actual major league player occupy your roster spot.
The M’s continue to make public comments about improving the team for the stretch, and they’ve talked to different clubs about acquiring some more offense. If the team really wants to show they’re serious about winning, they’ll remove Carl Everett from the starting line-up permanently.
They made a serious error in judgment when they signed him, and it’s time they admitted it. Doyle could outhit Everett in his sleep, and the sooner the club just acknowledges that they can’t have a DH who can’t hit in the middle of the line-up, the better off this team will be.
So all the fans jumping off the bandwagon, calm down. Carl Everett, keep on yelling. Yell your way right out of town.
Game 85, Angels at Mariners
Jeff and I both attended today’s game and watched, in horror, as an elderly woman in front of us finished her nachos and then used her fork to eat the (substantial amount of) leftover cheese. When the fork prongs weren’t effective, she turned the fork around and used the handle to scoop the last little bits out.
So! Why the hell does Hargrove not use Soriano when the game is close and they’re in trouble, but instead chose to bring in Mateo, who’s been crap almost all year, and then bring in Soriano much later (granted, he didn’t do well, but I don’t get the logic).
Also: bleaccch.
Pineiro’s not demoted
But he should be.
From the MLB.com notebook, earlier today:
Without Green and with Putz taking a day off, the Mariners opted to have starter Joel Pineiro available in the bullpen if needed, as Monday was Pineiro’s normal bullpen session day between starts.
Jeff Weaver, 2006
3-10, 6.29 ERA, 88.7 IP, 21 BB, 62 K, 18 HR. Fancy stats: FIP 5.21, xFIP 4.61. LD 22.9%, GB 39.2%
Joel Pineiro, 2006
6-7, 5.88 ERA, 98 IP, 35 BB, 45 K, 15 HR. Fancy stats: FIP 5.33, xFIP 4.90. LD 26.1%, GB 46.5%
It’s not a huge upgrade, and a Choo-Ibanez OF makes flyballers even less attractive, but if Pineiro’s done — and he’s certainly looked like it — Jeff Weaver’s certainly an option.
Game 84, Angels at Mariners
BATTLE OF THE PHENOMS!!
Jered Weaver v Felix Hernandez!
If only we could have picked up Jeff Weaver to replace the pinata Pineiro in the rotation, we could have looked forward to all kinds of stories about the family connections. Instead, a matchup of talent v talent!
AND THE DEBUT OF CHOO!
Yup. Lineup out right now says
RF-L Ichiro!
3B-R Beltre
2B-R Lopez
LF-L Ibanez
1B-R Sexson
DH-“S” Everett
C-R Johjima
CF-L Choo
SS-R Betancourt
Also, Fruto’s up, as Green went on the DL with a bad back.
This should be a fun game to watch.
Choo Up To Replace Reed
Only link I can find right now is Rotoworld, but it’s true, I swear.
McGrath: Ichiro Crippled Reed, Cost Mariners Share of First Place
Do you know why the Mariners lost last night? Do you know why Jeremy Reed got hurt? No, you freaking don’t. But John McGrath does. It was Ichiro’s fault.
No, really.
The afternoon’s most painful mistake – it resulted in the broken right thumb of center fielder Jeremy Reed – was also its most preventable. There were two outs and one on in the top of the 11th inning when Mariners coach Mike Goff tried to persuade right fielder Ichiro Suzuki to take a few steps toward center. Colorado’s Brad Hawpe, a left-handed hitter, was at the plate, and Goff figured Hawpe would not be inclined pull the ball against the lefty Guardado.
Goff motioned from the dugout, but Ichiro either didn’t see him or didn’t care to respond. Goff motioned some more, and Ichiro finally budged, repositioning himself by maybe a half of a step.
Hawpe fulfilled Goff’s premonition, driving a liner into the right-center gap. There appeared to be a split-second of indecision between the converging outfielders, then Reed made an attempt at a diving catch, at which point three bad things happened: The ball escaped Reed’s glove, Reed fractured his thumb, and the Rockies took a 3-2 lead which they soon extended to 4-2.
Of course, if Ichiro had been positioned where Goff wanted him positioned, it’s a routine catch and the Mariners are out of the jam. But asking Ichiro to move is like ordering a cat to get off the window sill and sit.
So, McGrath not only pins the loss on Ichiro not shifting, he uses this occasion to make a larger point about a surly, inflexible outfielder who apparently maliciously ignored the bench coach.
In other news, Ichiro likes to slip out of right field between innings, getting teenage girls pregnant behind the Hit it Here Cafe and selling orphans crack-laced shiskaberries.
Fortunately for McGrath, this accusation has the ring of terrible truth. After all, the objective strains of journalism echo throughout this piece, as they might not if — say — the author had weirdly advocated trading the star, calling him a “selfish player,” among other things.
Unfortunately, McGrath actually missed the big scoop here. Reed’s thumb was actually fine, but Ichiro told the kid to go put some ice on it in the dugout.
Then, figuring the team would be better off with him in center field anyway, Machiavellian genius Ichiro hit Reed’s thumb with a steel chair, likely ending his season. Nothing personal, kid, just business.
I have it on good authority.
Now, Ichiro needs to work on his goatee. Grow it out really long, like an evil twin. Or perhaps one of those long, Rollie Fingers-esque mustaches that he can twirl the end of. Then he can take on full Republic serial villain status, and record a message revealing his nefarious plot never to move, not even if Mike Goff or John McGrath tell him to. The message will cover his vile schemes to injure Reed, to impregnate various Safeco patrons with a race of evil Super-Ichiros, and to learn every song in the Alanis Morrisette canon.
“The only thing I’ll move for you, McGrath,” he would say, “is my bowels.”
He can schedule the video to play right before the bottom of the ninth, interrupting John Belushi’s rant from Animal House. And then he can race out to right field, refusing to move, just as Paul Orndorff refused to tag Hulk Hogan. The fans, led by John McGrath, will lustily boo, and McGrath can take satisfaction in having played Jonah Jameson to Ichiro’s Spider Man. He’ll get the Pulitzer for peeling back Ichiro’s thin veneer of humanity. The fans will turn on their formerly-beloved star.
Or maybe Ichiro will finish the year at .360, play great defense and contribute to numerous wins, all the while conducting himself with dignity and grace.
Either way, the results should be moving.