Game 3, Athletics at Mariners
DMZ · April 4, 2007 at 6:43 pm · Filed Under Game Threads
Harden vs Batista.
Standard M’s lineup.
Oakland, it’s
C Kendall
LF Stewart
CF Bradley
DH Piazza
3B Chavez
1B Swisher
SS Crosby
RF Buck
2b Ellis
Let the good times continue a-rolling.
Dave reports: the M’s signed Betancourt to a contract extension that wipes out all his arbitration years and gives them an option for on his first free agent year.
Comments
245 Responses to “Game 3, Athletics at Mariners”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
USSM uses and recommends
Maybe Batista can be this years Kenny Rogers. That’d be sick.
Maybe they should try DAVID Crosby at short tonight. Less range, but less errors as well.
Well, it’s early, but the A’s and the Rangers seem kind of bad.
Any details on the Yuni-Bomber extension?
I like to see contracts that lock up arb years. Helps the team budget out future years better and makes the player happy, maybe leading to further extensions.
Any idea on the money or what the money should be?
Estimates had it at 12 million…u catch ur blurb on rotoworld DMZ? I posted it in the other thread, but now thats 2 down and I wasnt sure who might look down there.
#1: Nah, I have a better idea. How about Frank Menechino or Giovani Guevera gets the start at short for the A’s?
lol
I’m surprised the A’s don’t hit Swisher higher in their lineup.
I actually get to see the game tonight. In-Demand and MLB reached an immediate deal for MLB Extra Innings to be back on cable. After three days of Nationals games on MASN (which was just added in the Norfolk, Virginia area) I’m ready for some Mariners baseball. No Doyle today..that Costo kid has been taking playing time.
I’m not saying there’s a free signed copy of “The Cheater’s Guide to Baseball” in it for you if Mr. Casto has an unfortunate accident, but — okay, I am saying that.
Whatever happened to Menechino?
If you’re in Seattle with the appropriate cable package the game is on 664 in HD — this is the first HD broadcast I’ve found (although I went to the opening game in person and had some TIVO issues so maybe this is old news now).
If the Yuni deal is only 12 mil that’s a real bargain.
And now that the broadcast has started it’s beeeeeyoooootiful.
And, no, I don’t sell HD televisions for a living.
Does Dave Sims not own a mirror? That was a pretty hideous hat.
It’s on channel 95 if you have direct tv.
I have to get the better dish so I can get FSNW HD for real.
Heh. I’d pay money to watch David Crosby try to play short…
Also, I should note that after a public outcry, MLB.tv has replaced the horrible pong sound effects with crowd noise and stadium ambiance to handle the between innings sounds. Hallelujah. This is similar to the upgrade we’ll see this weekend, when Horacio Ramirez goes Saturday and then is replaced by Felix Hernandez on Sunday.
k, im pissed..Im in Oregon..and they are showing the piss-poor Trailblazer game instead of the Mariner game….I hate tv
Re: 16 You’re a cruel man.
FYI: Mariners are on INHD (Hi-Def) channel 664 on Comcast tonight.
sorry, didn’t see post 10.
Once again getting hosed in Oregon. I’m getting a friggin’ Blazers game, and of course MLB.tv isn’t an option because I’m in the blackout area. ugh..this is really starting to piss me off.
Great news on Betancourt, I think he’s an outstanding player. Tonight is what baseball is all about. Your team is going great, good vibes all around. Beautiful stadium. Play Ball.
Sveep!
Batista: The 2nd best 4th starter on the team!
Who would want to show a Trailblazer game…pointless game..even worse team…instead of the 3rd game of the year for the Mariners. Where is the common sense?
Who will suck more, Batista or Ramirez?
I’m on the Cox cable system for Hampton Roads, VA….the only games I seem to be getting are on 680 (Braves vs. Phillies) and 675 (BoSox vs Royals). Any suggestions?? I’m missing the game.
I bet Billy Beane counts the milliseconds until Jason Kendall’s untradeable, untenable contract expires.
Man, there’s just no movement on those four seam fastballs.
Heh..obviously common sense has been thrown out the window. I don’t get it, this didn’t happen AT ALL last year. And of the 2 games that have been on FSN both have been bumped for Blazers games.
Who will suck more, Batista or Ramirez?
Ramirez by a landslide. I have some hope for Batista.
Insta-poll: How many games does Milton Bradley miss this year to injury? I say 38.
Umm, Milton, you play for Oakland – bunting is strictly outlawed.
not a complaint but wtf is bradley doing bunting?
The pong sounds were astoundingly annoying.
Is anyone in the Seattle area getting the game on MLB.tv? I live on Capitol Hill and somehow got the first game of the year, but not the 2nd or this game. (I actually managed to get most of the games last year via mlb.tv. Guess institutionalized incompetence goes the fans’ way sometimes.)
Thanks Bradley, that’s what you want your power guy to do – bunt. Sheesh.
Portland pride…haha…we can watch it on gamecast but cant tell how at bats look or how well a pitcher is pitching. We are relying on you guys to tell it like it is.
And Dave, the quickest way to get from point A to B is a straight line..hence no movement on the 4-seamer…that adds like 1/2 a mph
Alright! The first Yogi-Duck AFLAC ad of 2007!
(well, at least that I’ve seen)
BTW, MLB and Cable worked out differences, and EI will be offered. No word yet on Dish network…
#9….sounds like some Tonya Harding antics. Hmm. Costo, Costco, Casto..thanks for clarifying his name. Not much to be said about the Nats broadcast team as I found myself falling asleep midgame today.
I want to see our speedy #3 hitter try and get a bunt base hit.
Crap! Vidro batting third again. this is gonna be ugly.
Really, I have some hopes for Batista, but do the Mariners have a chance against Harden?
I can think of better ways to go at Harden than swinging at every pitch Harden throws…geez guys, do we have somewhere to go after the game?
Turbo – groundout to second or groundout to short? So many choices.
Vidro isn’t even close to catching up to his fastball.
I was going to say groundout to first.
Boy, this team sure goes up there a-hacking. I hate it.
Can’t decide what’s a better nickname for Vidro: Turbo or 4-3.
If I had dial up..the time it would take to load..then buffer…then load..then buffer again..a Vidro groundout would have him running a seamless line to first. Mr. Slowsky!
How would you go about figuring out, from on line sources, just how badly the Mrainers have sucked in the first inning for the last 2-3 years?
Vidro is now 1 for 9 with 8 groundballs and a strikeout. Awesome.
Argh – Retrosheet.com has team splits, including performance by inning.
Vidro is fat. And slow.
I like 4-3 for a nickname.
Dave, that math seems a bit off to me.
WTF @ that sonics commercial…
Piazza runs like a girl.
Vidro would lose a race against James Baldwin.
How so? He has 9 at-bats. He’s made contact 8 of those times, and has hit the ball on the ground all 8 of them. One of those groundballs happened to go for a hit.
54, he said groundballs, not groundouts.
36: I’ve got the game on Comcast channel 14 here, so it is available here in Portland.
Yes, yes, I was thinking 8 groundouts… my apologies.
57: Vidro would lose a race against James Brown
Vidro-for-3 would be a good nickname.
Never thought I would say this about a Mariner’s color guy, but Blowers needs to talk lots more.
It will be a fascinating race down to the wire this year imho:
Who will hurt us more:
Batista or Vidro? Today, Batista should get the nod. He’s well on his way this inning. No telling how many they’ll get.
what the hell…
Balk…brilliant (eyes rolling)
well, at least we won the series…
Yea! Back to the incompetence of the last three years. I was afraid the M’s would actually be, you know, successful this year.
nice miggy
Seriously, Batista isn’t anywhere near the problem Vidro is. He’s a competent #4 starter who should benefit well from the M’s infield defense.
Vidro’s a waste of the 800 yards of cloth it took to knit him a jersey.
Vidro may be bad, but under no circumstances should you call a girl fat.
Are we going to spend every game thread bashing Vidro?
this might be a long night kids…
haha, maybe Batista noticed the train on that pitch.
72… not every game. Just the ones he plays in.
Is there no hope for Vidro? Wo’t he turn out to be a decent OB guy, at least? I recognize no power, no speed, no defense, but at least he’s been a patient hitter who’ll get his walks, which is a change of pace in our lineup.
I like how Batista, when we signed him, was like “Don’t look at my age as a problem…” I was like..duh!…look at his stuff..its garbage!
#76: A .249/.346/.381 line doesn’t really help.
Vidro’s a 50-60 walk guy. And that was when he had power. When pitchers realize that Turbo’s almost certainly going to roll over the ball and hit it weakly to a middle infielder, he’ll get even fewer strikes than normal.
A sub .700 OPS is easily possible.
Bonds went deep…with the needle…but seriously, he had a solo shot a minute ago
It looks like that first-pitch fastball he is tubing to these hitters is going about 85-86, not the 90-91 that the FSN gun is showing. I remember watching Batista hit the low- to mid-90s about 7 years ago … looks like those days are past. I can’t believe he got a multi-year deal.
Batista is going for the cycle! Come on, give up a triple!
That’s it, get Mateo up.
Too early to bring in Mateo?
Ugh….
Well we won the series…
game…over..haha
I’m in Portland if you have Comcast HD the game is on 788
In a way, this is good. Batista could be released by late May and the season could still be salvaged.
Oakland has been doing a lot of early in the count swining… it seems Batista expects to get an easy 1st strike.
Not the train again!!
I had to go to Enumclaw today so I decided to listen to KJR for some reason….this deficit is just giving the M’s a chance to show that never-say-die attitiude that the callers and the mid-day host were blabbing on about.
I wish, I’m in Medford and have Charter..so no such luck.
Mateo? Doesn’t he only come in when the M’s absolutely have to give up a 1 or 2 run lead?
This is like watching Loaiza or Jeff Weaver in the first half of last year.
funny thing about Mariner fans is a good group of them will still clap when we get the 3rd out…oh so kind…moronic
Dave, are you ready to retract No. 71 yet?
At a minimum, you jinxed the guy.
gah
The A is shaking his head, “how in the world did he strike me out?”
LMAO…the pitch tracker looks like if he was playing battleship
sigh. I thought they’d prob. lose tonight, but do they have to do it in the 2nd inning?
Kendall & Beane were supposed to meet this spring (at Kendall’s request) to discuss re-working his deal, as he’d be willing to defer some money in order to get an extension to stay with Oakland after his contract is up at the end of the year.
Joh sets up outside, Bautista gets a K with a generous inside corner call. Great.
Dear Mr. Batista,
You suck.
Your pal,
S.
I kind of think we’d be no worse off if Blowers was our DH.
Even though we are getting smashed, the thought of the Mariners actually extending a contract and buying out the first year of free agency for a key component of a good team makes me happy.
104–I hear David Crosby’s available.
Well, the A’s can help and make this a quick death…
How about Carl Winslow? What’s he up to?
the M’s could make up 5 runs off Harden, right? If, say, his back goes out again?
Oakland purchased a train to sit outside and blow its whistle all game
What is that, 18 pitched through 2 innings? On pace for what, 81 for the game? Stop swinging at everything!
Man, the “King of Queens” is more interesting than this right now. Hey, Carrie lost her job and is staying home watching tv all day. Sweet gig.
Well … since this game is over I’m rooting for a perfect game by Harden.
111: gameday says 17
Hey, how about Jose Vidro?
Vidro would lose a race to the batting cage.
114 the point remains the same. Same old M’s, up there hacking.
So I find the game on a channel called “MyTv” out of the Bay Area. So I tune in and we’re getting hammered..wonderful.
Whenever Travis Buck comes up, I think of Joe Buck–”No ma’am, I’m not an actual cowboy…but I am a real big stud!”
Fun with numbers: Bautista ERA = 16.88
*sigh*
As mentioned above–Comcast in Portland does not
give Fox a HD channel–like Seattle 664.
Whenever FoxNW mentions program is in HD, go to 788,
that is where they put stuff that does not have a
assigned channel number. Several Blazer games have
also been on 788.
The Casto kid for the Nats that is taking at bats from
Doyle is from a suburb of Portland (Aurora)and played
college ball at University of Portland.
Batista sucks–flat out!
Sure getting tired of Hargrove and his talking like
Bill Clinton. . .think he will last till All-Star break?
JR
What’s up with the Friday game not being on tv? that sucks. Of course, Cleveland could be butt deep in snow Friday.
Hey, how come there’s no more score graphic on MLB.tv?
It’s back to the good ol’ days! Gettin up to turn the dial! Wheeeee!
Well, at least they made him throw 12 pitches that inning…
128: I was wondering the same thing — no graphics at all. Is that the norm for MLB tv?
I also have no score graphic or any other graphic from the TV feed on MLB.TV It’s kind of annoying when there’s guys on base. Don’t have to worry about that in the bottom half of each inning though thanks to Harden.
I gotta get me ahat like that.
Rich Harden is going to throw a perfect game, a shutout. There, I said it.
Note to the announcers: Keep mentioning the perfect game, jinx him.
Hrmmm. Graphics are back for me now.
These A’s TV guys are killin’ me.
the problem is that he sucks and people are smoking his pitches.
This reminds me too much of a Meche game–long, boring innings waiting for a strike punctuated by runs scored by the opposition.
Really? You wouldn’t want to watch a perfect game? This game is already way out of reach … might as well hope to see something rare.
new anncr low:
Did anyone else hear David Sims say after the break,”David Sims is joining me…” while he read the wrong cue???
This isn’t helping our comeback
Man, this reminds me of watching Rich DeLucia ….
We’ll win the series, but the A’s will outscore us.
dude, enough
1) his hat is terrible…
2) the A’s TV guys last night couldn’t shut the hell up about the 2-2 to Richie before he went deep…
3) obviously these aren’t the same old A’s…wish they’d stop talking how they are a “patient” club…new year, new manager, new players, and they are free swinging…
4) is it me or has Batista not been the same since the line-drive in ST…was pretty good before that…a human pinata since…
And, since I live in the East, I’m going to bed. Some games are worth staying up for. Some aren’t.
Reminds me of Roberto Pena — the “Human Rain Delay.”
Rally caps, everyone!
there goes your no-hitter…booyah…
I’ve got your rare thing to watch: what’s the record for most balks by a single pitcher in one game?
YES ICH!
Well that blows … now there’s absolutely no reason to watch the rest of this game.
go Ichi!
You know what Yogi said… it ain’t over yet. That’s why they play 9.
See, there goes the no-no
Vidro Prediction: Mr. 6-4-3
Fox gun read 103 -wtf?
Adrian’s dropping his hands again, getting under hittable pitches. Argh.
Have no fear – Turbo is here.
UGH…
I’m going with a grounder to short this time.
Sims says “Vidro off to a slow start.” LOL.
RALLY caps!!! C’mon RAUUUUUUUL. Hit it out!
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A gift from God
I want to see him try to steal, just for fun.
Harden wants no part of Turbo
Ok, I missed it. But why in the hell did Yuni give up his # for Turbo?
That’ll work! Niehaus: Something germinating… That’s hilarious.
phew! Vidro made it safely to second
oh man, turbo’s gonna have to slide
Vidro’s old, Betancourt’s nice.
Turbo put the fear onto Harding.
Here comes big sexy! Time for funk blast #3!
No funk blast… funk bubble. LOL.
Or not.
Funk it!
This baseball screensaver thing on mlb.tv is the worst thing I’ve ever seen.
and how they tried to make it look like Arkanoid. Lame.
Well that’s crap.
Vidro should have at least given him something. Last year in Atlanta, 3rd Base Coach Fredi Gonzalez had #33 Brian Jordan’s #, so Brian bought him a Harley so he could wear #33…
yeah, but according to Vidro’s talent he doesn’t make the kind of money to afford a Harley…
oh. never mind.
I say leave Batista in to throw 150 pitches and blow out his arm
If you’re thinking about splurging for the All-Star Club, see if you can find a Diamond Club member looking to unload their tickets instead. One of our readers was great enough to give me a pair to take my mom to a game last year while I was in Seattle, and it was unbelievably nice.
It’s something you should do once, if you can afford it.
FWIW, Vidro didn’t ask for it, Team Leader Jose Guillen went to Yuni and suggested it. Vidro plans to reimburse Betancourt, but he wants to actually get to know Betancourt, and then give him something he would really want …
Hah..yeah. It shouldn’t be something worth talking about. But I’m one of those guys that man, I would never (unless bribed) give up my #. I’m superstitious that way.
you know, for a starting pitcher, Batista is a good novelist.
Yeah, we’re going to have a fair number of these nights with our 2-5 guys.
How about watching the game… for the biggest comback of the year? Gosh..that’s really stretching it. That’s assuming the rookie holds the A’s, and assuming we start hitting Harden…hard. C’mon rookie. Prove to us that not only are you good…but this free agent isn’t worth the money.
At this rate, maybe move him to the pen. I’m sure there’s someone that can start in his place.
#185- i actually have his new book…midway through it…decent so far…murder mystery…way more entertaining than his pitching tonight…
don’t feel bad, i bought the cheeter’s guide too…waiting for it from amazon…
Whoohoo… S T R I K E S = OUT! HOW ABOUT THAT? WOW…how come Batista couldn’t do that?
oops…”cheater’s”
Man, watching this in HD is like getting a root canal without any anesthetic. Too real.
I’m at the Bill Martin chapter right now…Good stuff.
Pretty non-fly for a White guy.
that 2-0 swing is my biggest problem with the team. get into great hitters counts then swing at offspeed pitches out of the zone. yuni takes that pitch he probably walks.
So this is what watching felix is like for opposing fans?
harden is looking as good as advertised, but he still doesn’t look like felix on monday…
It’s Fun With Math!
Q. Miguel Batista has pitched 4.2 innings, and given up 8 runs. What is his ERA, and how many innings will it take for Miguel to get his ERA back out of the stratosphere?
Yikes! The “Scrubs” episode is worse than the game. Looks like I’m stuck with the M’s for the rest of the night.
A: Bleh
Harden is bringing it. His last pitch was 100mph.
The A’s announcers are ragging on Joh’s catching now…
that was tight
“Hello? John Schuerholz?”
Just to drag out the agony, let us remember that the M’s first drafted Harden, and it is said that their scout recommended to him that he go to JuCo instead of signing. The M’s didn’t sign him as a draft-and-follow — Harden has opined it was because he was a converted outfielder and a very unpolished pitcher.
A Stark piece on Harden in 2003 said:
“The Mariners drafted him in the 38th round of the 1999 draft, but he
didn’t sign because even he thought he wasn’t ready yet to pitch in
professional baseball. So he headed for Central Arizona Junior College, was picked by the A’s in the 17th round as a draft-and-follow pick, then signed the next spring.”
the A’s announcers were terrible last night…thank god i don’t have to listen to them tonight…probably unbearable…
This game is no longer good enough to help me procrastinate. Four page research paper, here I come.
oi, thanks msb..thanks a lot.
I’m watching the A’s broadcast as well. I think they have a point about Johjima. His defensive technique is, how do you say, not too good.
joh was bad on monday too, but was great last night…he called a very good game last night…
209
Yeah, but its far better than Batista’s pitching
seems to me that Ray Fosse was all over Joh last year, too, about this time.
Man, Crosby has seriously got the yips.
I agree actually. All I ever did was catch, and he really should put his body in front of the ball more.
You better not swing ADRIAN.
This team is making me sad.
Way to go, Turbo!
GIDP. meh.
Mr. 6-4-3
Dave’s prediction is on its way to coming true … the one about Vidro blowing away the record for double plays in a season.
Sad thing is, Bavasi is probably the only one surprised to see Vidro blow along with Batista and White not being anything close to special.
I doubt any of us saw anything surprising tonight.
Dave,
You are absolutely correct about Vidro. What are the Mariners options with him? Can’t trade him b/c of the contract…..do they end up eating it if he continues to suck (small sample size alert!)?
For the person complaining about not being able to watch from Oregon….
From Espn.com:
NEW YORK — After negotiations that went into extra innings, baseball struck a deal to keep its “Extra Innings” package of out-of-market games on cable television.
——-
IN Demand began making games available to cable systems in progress starting at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday, president Robert Jacobson said. The package will be available for $159 this year through a free preview period that will extend into next week, he said, but the 2007 price for those subscribing after that has not been set.
he’ll probably end up being okay (yes, i think he will)…but to get rid of him, they’s have to release him and pay him like speizio, everet, etc…but for WAY more money…
True Grit!
That would be great if I had like Comcast.
I have Charter and they are still working on an agreement, but at this point it’s not looking too bright. According to the rep I just chatted with.
Vidro is comically overmatched against Huston Street.
Wow..didnt think you could look worse than Everett..but Vidro..you suck
I miss Doyle
Wow, I fell asleep. Then again, so did the Ms.
Frightening to think over 20,000 actually PAID for the trouble of sitting through that debacle. But then again, if you did that KNOWING it was Batista/Harden, better judgement would be well advised in the future I suppose.
After I bought the cable modem, the mosaic and everything. Oh well, at least MLBtv has a much wider selection of games.
I missed the game, but just looked at the box score.
M’s pitching gave up 49 hits? Is that some kind of major league record for most hits allowed in 1 game?
Never mind, that’s what I get for trusting Yahoo sports to have the right box score.
#230: No, not Batista/Harden, just Batista.
speaking of good pitching game scores, Harden just put an 84 up on us. There have been some very good pitching performances already this year.
Diaspora M’s fans deailing with MLB EI issues may find this post from SoSH interesting…
Game 1 – 4 runs scored, 0 runs allowed – 1-0
Game 2 – 12 runs scored, 4 runs allowed – 2-0
Game 3 – 12 runs scored, 13 runs allowed – 2-1
I hate three game serieses. Scoring 12 runs in a three game set and giving up 13… how’d we win this series?
Huh? Aren’t most regular season serieses three games long? You really hate them all?
#237 living up to his name. Nice.
I’ll go out on a limb and proclaim Ramirez as far and away the superior pitcher to Batista. I’m basing my opinion on the totally irrelevant spring training (well, maybe not so irrelevant now that we see Batista’s very unimpressive repertoire.)
The Truth about the Grounder
Exactly why Bavasi’s theory is flawed that he used in acquiring Batista and Ramirez.
#232: Gotta love the in-game boxscores. Found this gem in ESPN’s scoring summary:
#235: Harden’s game score on ESPN is incorrect–it’s not subtracting points for hits or walks allowed. It should be 76.