Willie, Marty Martinez, Thiel sets up Armstrong, Johjima’s throws
Larry Stone writes a great piece about Marty Martinez’s influence on the Mariners’ fortunes. Martinez died last week.
Geoff Baker on Bloomquist’s delayed steal of home. Some quality quotes there.
He shortened his swing this offseason, hoping it gives him a better chance of hitting the ball hard and finding the holes for more hits.
Yes, because his old swing was way too long – he was trying to drive the ball… wait, what? I thought from Pentland that Bloomquist was a fastball-only… I’m confused.
Meanwhile, over at the PI, Art Thiel punches Chuck Armstrong in the gut:
As chief executive officer, Chuck Armstrong admits to “choking a little bit” when considering the club-record $111 million payroll with which the Mariners are likely to start the season.
Fans can identify with Armstrong’s gag reflex. They felt a hurl in development when they read in the P-I recently that the club’s annual statement to the Public Facilities District reported a $23 million annual profit — despite three consecutive losing seasons.
Thiel ties in the team’s fortunes, Ichiro, and the state of fan support. But I can’t get over those first two paragraphs.
Thiel, of course, is the guy who asked Howard Lincoln a thinly-veiled question about what it was like having his clock cleaned by the A’s every year at 1/3rd the cost. Oh Art.
John Hickey writes about Johjima’s struggling to improve his run prevention skills by throwing more “over the top“
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18 Responses to “Willie, Marty Martinez, Thiel sets up Armstrong, Johjima’s throws”
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I guess that when you’re 6′ 10″, 280 lbs and head columnist for a major daily like Thiel, you get used to asking the questions you want and getting in people’s faces about the answers.
Jim Bowden loves Doyle, Manny Acta maybe not so much.
But it doesn’t look like he’s heading for the waiver wire.
I want to join Chuck in his belief that Andre Beltre is becoming a fan favorite here in Seattle. So much so that maybe Chuck will have to learn his name. Andre. Classic.
Every year at about this time I ask the question “Why does Chuck Armstrong have a job?” I have never yet gotten a satisfactory answer. I have even asked that question of Art Thiel. He can’t answer it either.
Back in the 80s, I thought of Armstrong as the stereotypical lunkhead who got promoted far beyond his abilities and was a major reason why a bad team was so bad.
Nowadays…he’s considered a grizzled baseball vet, who knows far more than the hoi polloi fans….
You just gotta love Chuck’s rationale for winning:
“It comes down to W’s and L’s — we need to win so fans can identify with the new players.”
So as soon as we all get to know “Andre[sic] Beltre” just like Chuck, the Ms can irresponsibly age their roster again.
Chuck and Howie don’t lie. Both associate winning with risk, expense and imperiled profit. Their alternative, “fan favorites”, is proven, cheaper and damn profitable.
Tell me again why the PFD puts up with this? Oh, that’s right – it’s a toothless puppet.
Surely Chuck must understand that it takes a combination of winning and identification with players to keep attendance at 2.5M (that seems to be a magic number). And Thiel is right on the money when he writes that roster churn plus the type of players that have been acquired have led to the casual fan’s lack of recognition for these guys.
It is ironic that the one guy who came up through the ranks who might have had that quality-Chris Snelling-was shipped out for someone who obviously won’t.
I will have you know that last night during my annual fantasy league draft with a bunch of guys around the country wee-Willie Bloomquist was drafted by one of the teams in the last round (10 team, 5×5, MLB, 24 Round Draft)…it was a truly shocking pick. I even asked if it was some sort of joke. He pointed out Willie’s stellar spring numbers. I can now never say that Willie hasn’t helped me out with at least something in my life.
…needless to say I usually win this league pretty easily.
Larue is still threatening us with Benitez.
Why would Larue do such a thing. We have not done anything to him. Well, I haven’t. I can’t speak for all who participate in the comment threads.
Tell me again why the PFD puts up with this?
Because it moves the M’s that much closer to having to pay the 10% surcharge on their profits. I think they only need 5 more years like 2006.
I will have you know that last night during my annual fantasy league draft with a bunch of guys around the country wee-Willie Bloomquist was drafted by one of the teams in the last round (10 team, 5×5, MLB, 24 Round Draft)…it was a truly shocking pick.
I’m in a 12 team, 6×6, AL-only league, and WFB usually only makes an appearance when a team has to fill a roster hole. His multiple positions are a plus, obviously, but when he’s just filler in a league where John Buck is someone’s starting catcher… yeah, that there is value.
I didn’t see Kenji throw much in Peoria, but almost all of the stolen bases I saw were off the pitcher. Chone Figgins had a huge jump on one of his stolen bases. Either the borderline pitching camdidates are too worried about the batters, or the coaches just said forget about the runners.
It can only get better once the season starts.
Letters! We get Letters!
“Ben Broussard seems like an adequate fielder and more consistent hitter than Richie Sexson. Why not play Broussard at first base and trade Sexson and his contract for some good young prospects?”
On RotoWillie – plus, he gets you a nice bonus of steals.
11 – Right, got to pay off those “accumulated losses”. The PFD will never collect a dime.
I choke whenever I think about Chuck Armstrong.
I do feel sorry for the guy on a personal level, but I can’t help but be thankful that it’s a division rival facing a pitching setback for a change. Yeah I know, it just seems like it’s always the M’s. Thomas Diamond is to have TJ surgery and is “expected” to be at full strength by next Spring Training.
Mailbag rulez !!!!!!1