Felix first, Guillen’s grudge
Felix will be the Opening Day starter. Hickey considers historical precedent and gets Felix’s reaction:
Since 1970, the only other Opening Day starting pitchers who were younger than 21 were Fernando Valenzuela (Dodgers, 1981) and Dwight Gooden (Mets, 1985).
“I never saw either of those guys pitch,” Hernandez said Friday, about an hour after manager Mike Hargrove named him to start the opener. “I don’t read much baseball history. But I’ve heard both of those guys were pretty good.”
That cracked me up.
And Felix offers this on being the starter:
“You are like a leader of the pitchers,” Hernandez said. “I want to be a leader for my team. This is one of the greatest things in my life.”
Baker’s got the same story for the Times.
Jose Guillen doesn’t like Mike Scioscia.
Greg Johns on Tui’s struggles.
But the Tuiasosopo name comes with more than just extra vowels. Things like leadership, work ethic and a stubborn pride have the youngest of Manu Tuiasosopo’s sons champing at the bit to get things turned back around this season.
Includes a rare Greg Hunter quote.
After a strong performance that may not be in his long term interests, Morrow is stunned to find Hargrove serenading him with “You Shook Me All Spring Long” in an attempt to woo him to break camp with the club.
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How can I not like a guy who is 5 months younger than me and says funny things like that. Ive just always had a bad feeling about Hernandez.
You’ve forever ruined that AC/DC classic for me with the link you posted. Come on!!! Celine Deion singing AC/DC?!?!?!
I think I’m going to be sick!
“Oh boy, a broken bat signed by a utility player! I’m gonna bring this to school on Monday and show all my friends!”
that youtube link is flat wrong.
oh, baby, everything was before you were born.
Arnold updates on Sherrill & Putz
when did Greg Johns move to the PI?
Since 1970, the only other Opening Day starting pitchers who were younger than 21 were Fernando Valenzuela (Dodgers, 1981) and Dwight Gooden (Mets, 1985).
That would suggest that Felix is about to have a year that will be talked about by the baseball elite in voiceovers while The Natural soundtrack plays in the background.
Or he’ll end up like Bobby Madristch. Damn you, Melvin.
Oh, man that link was funny!
I always thought that song needed more cowbell.
I see that the distaff Tuis, Leslie and Ashley are keeping busy, too.
as for it being something that Felix never thought about … from Drayer this morning:
Heh heh. Good times there. More cowbell. Don’t Fear the Reaper, nor the cowbell.
Honestly though, the fact that DMZ knew of that link is only superceded in horror by me now having Celine playing air guitar ala Angus ingrained in my head.
OK, maybe it was my mistake to actually click that link. But now I think I need to A. Go take a shower, I feel unclean B. I’m resisting the urge to puncture my eardrums with a sharp stick.
ANY IDEA IF THEY WILL START WITH A 4 MAN OR 5 MAN ROTATION???
#3 — really? I think Broussard was pretty cool. Everyone else blew the kids off. Broken bats are way better than bupkis.
Dear DMZ,
Please stop including links to horrifying YouTube music videos. I want to make it to Opening Day alive.
Sincerely,
A Concerned Reader
wfan99 – I hold no inside information, but I’d be stunned if our cowardly, too-conservative management made the 07 Mariners the first baseball team in a couple of generations to go into a season with a four man rotation.
Just thought of a better song for Hargrove: “Someday I will treat you good”, by Sparklehorse. No youtube links unfortunately.
Linking to Celine Dion singing AC/DC is why I stuffed the ballot box for LL. Don’t ever, ever do that again.
Randy: ” Dude, man that just wasn’t good for me…the guys just aren’t bringing it tonight….
Paula: Celine, you look great tonight! You look like a star!
Simon: Simply dreadful…. I see that performance and I think of the titanic… This is a singing competition not an air guitar competition. That was hotel bar karaoke….
#3. Yeah, really??
I remember about 20 years ago being THRILLED (at age 42) getting a fresh-used broken batting practice bat from one of my favorite players, complete with pine tar (which promptly got all over my white jeans).
Ah, the jaded youth of today, with their WIIs and 42″ flat screen HDTVs…
Forget 20 years ago….I’d love taking one of those broken bats home with Ben’s signature on it….. game used anything is just pretty cool…. what a class guy….. *HI FIVE* to Broussard…
19 and 20:
It’s cool to be negative.
The notion that he’s facing right-handed batters that much sort of takes away from him being a “left-handed specialist”, now doesn’t it?
Sigh, Hargrove.
Greg Johns was added as a P-I sports columnist after his previous paper, the King County Journal, folded. Apparently the P-I was concerned that they were running short of boring middle-aged white-guy columnists.
Little-known fact: Greg Johns is the brother of U.S. Sen. Patty Murray. Look closely … they both share that marsupial look.
I saw him take a ton of BP with Pentland and he never looked good. A bad swing with no confidence is a bad combination. I hope it works out for him, but he is a long ways away.
Hey Corco, it was your ballot stuffing that inspired me to link to that video.
I think it’s more important for a guy to get his pitches in during ST than to worry about matchups per se…
But why punish the rest of us?
Ben Broussard likes Pearl Jam guys! I hate Tree Man SO MUCH.
What is wrong with having a mediocre firstbaseman? Broussard doesn’t jack 500 foot bombs, but he also won’t be a total failure at all other aspects of baseball.
The Will Leitch Q-and-A at SXSW is finally up. USSM reference buried in there.
I say keep him. Obviously, he has good taste.
Punish? That was the most entertaining thing I’ve seen on a screen in weeks.
In all seriousness, that Dion video fascinates me for several reasons:
– it’s the worst, most soul-destroying cover I’ve ever heard
– I can’t believe that anyone, even Celine Dion, would decide to do it. This rivals Duran Duran doing “911 is a joke” in scope of conception
– I can’t believe any producer would show it rather than, say, a test pattern
– There are people in the audience who are trying to act like they think people who enjoy concerts should act
DW, are you a deadspinner? If so what is your moniker? I am the T-Dawg, coo coo ca cho!
I dunno. That one obnoxious, talentless guy tried to sing Jeremy on American Idol. It was comedic gold.
…On second thought, Celine Dion singing (in a duet with some other chick no less) about rockin’ some dude– well, it paints a mental picture like no other especially when you consider that her significant other is, like, 140 years old. So that was worse.
Strike my previous post.
If I promise to become totally 100% loyal to USSM again and never ever support LL (or other blog/medium/anything) in any competition v. USSM, would you never put up links like that again? Because I’ll make that sacrifice
Every time you watch that video, it shortens your lifespan by 7.8 minutes. Also, having the sound on causes ear cancer.
Referencing the ‘obnoxious talentless guy on American Idol’ is like referencing ‘that one tree in the forest.’
I don’t know what bugs me more about that video. The fact that it exists, or the fact she changed the lyrics from woman to man. And from she to he.
I had read about that Celine Dion performance. I don’t know who wrote it, but it said, “…her Canadian thighs pranced around in that horse-that-can-do-math kind of way.” Now I understand what the author meant.
I think DMZ would rather not have you on his side, Corcoran.
If CD had not changed the lyrics from she to he, would that make the song just weird, or hot?
#38: I keep waiting to hear that Sanjaya has been euthanized at the county animal shelter.
I was referring more towards the fact that, as a pitcher who is far more effective against righties than lefties, he faced quite a few righties last year. Really, it’s just more complaining about Hargrove’s bullpen management. Sherrill was fantastic against lefties last year, and pretty awful against righties. Yet the disparity of batters faced from each side isn’t that great. It’s disconcerting.
More effective against lefties than righties, that is. Kind of needs to be that way for my argument to make any sense!
well the mental image of Celine dressed in a schoolboys outfit is a stopper, but back to Felix– Baker had a nice digression on youthful pitching in his blog yesterday
it’s here
DW, are you a deadspinner? If so what is your moniker?
I’m a lurker. I went for the spectacle (and because I figured Bruce Sterling’s rant was going to be podcast the next day).
Leitch, when you talk to him person-to-person, doesn’t sound like he’s on coke.