I was at the game. I had a good seat where I could see Santana’s stuff (his changeup looks exactly like his fastball), but as the game wore on I moved around to the outfield bleachers so I could sit in the sun. I found myself sitting near a couple of Twins fans. When this situation came up (and let’s not overlook the fact that the situation was created by two bunts — ie smart strategy by Gardenhire) and Hargrove came out to the mound, they started discussing the situation loudly enough for me to overhear. They were surprised Hargrove was pulling Washburn at that point, because he’s a lefty and Mauer had done nothing against him all day. (I had to agree, though Washburn’s pitchcount was at 98.) So at that point one of them actually said “Well, I guess they want to bring in a groundball guy to avoid the sacrifice, or maybe load the bases and look for a double-play.” And I was just thinking “Knowing Hargrove he’ll bring in Mateo,” hoping of course I was wrong — and who should stroll out of the bullpen. We all know what happened after that. So as I sat there groaning, knowing that Hargrove actually thought Mateo was the guy to get a groundball even though we all know he’s the least likely to do that of any reliever on the statff, these guys said to the bleachers in general “Man, your manager really sucks.”

Point being that I’d love to get a double play, but if not, I’d rather have a sac fly (2-2) than a couple of doubles (6-2).

“Well, if Grover would just stop using Gas Can in high leverage situations, we’d win a lot more games before Felix gets back.”

Miguel Batista believes that the best way to safeguard the health of Seattle Mariners staff ace Felix Hernandez is to win without him.

“We have to make sure we get ourselves in a good position,” Batista said. “When Felix comes back, you don’t want him to force himself to win. He’ll pitch his heart out, because we’d be in a tight situation. The more comfortable we make it for him, the better he’ll be.”

Baseball is old. The way most of them think is old. In fact, I was over at “Mariners Insider” this morning and this is what an old beat writer had to say: “As for the lads at Big Boat Mariners, there’s a reason they manage a web site and not a major league team.”

Well, duh — they’re forward thinking individuals, not old former baseball players.

It just makes me wonder if there’s something else factoring in. For example, my impression from interviews is that relievers consider it really important to know their roles. Do they just bitch and moan too much when anyone proposes using them more flexibly?

Just curious.