Game 83, Mariners at A’s
Dave · July 6, 2007 at 6:36 pm · Filed Under Game Threads
Weaver vs Haren, 7:05 pm.
Geoff Baker jumped on the Adam Jones to left field bandwagon. Huzzah. At this point, the only people who apparently aren’t in favor of making this move immediately are the Mariners and Jose Vidro’s mother.
Also, Jason Davis DFA’d to clear a roster spot for Chris Reitsma. Good – now we’re down to one tall, skinny, right-handed reliever with no command of his only pitch.
Be nice if the M’s could steal this one tonight.
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Hopefully the Weaver pendulum is still swinging the other way to make up for his awful start.
So, does that mean we have like, 3 badass starts left before he reverts to the mean?
Reversion to the mean? I’m not buying it.
Does everyone remember when Steve Urkel became Stephon Ur-kel? It’s like that.
His ERA is still 6.75 I would say 3-4 above average starts left in him till he has reached the mean. Or I will take 1 perfect game tonight from him… it is the A’s offense.
I don’t mind Ballgame getting a start every now and then, but why rest Lopez, who sat two games with back spasms last weekend. Unless Lopez is hurting, I would like to see Yubet get a day off. He has looked simply awful at the plate.
If Weaver can beat Haren I will die a happy man.
#2:
Wag of the finger for “Reversion to the mean” instead of “Regression to the mean”.
Tip of the hat for the Family Matters reference!
So Dave,
You have an over/under on the amount of time it takes the crazys to start screaming about how the Jason Davis trade was a bad idea? (It wasn’t)
Aha #6 – I was referencing the quote from #1 – badass starts left before he reverts to the mean – ergo there is no penalty for “reversion” – and is it regression when a player returns to prior levels after a slump?
Fetish:
I stand corrected. I am currently in the process of erasing that finger-wag from your permenant record and installing a shiny gold star to put on your next report card.
Hey, hey! Turbo found a way not to ground out!
Amen to that… at least Turbo can take a walk, let’s hope it’s to a long stint on the bench in the near future.
WOW! A break!! Come through for us, Richie…
You mean Ben?
Oh wait. Lest my eyes deceive me, Broussard works tonight!
For the second night in the row “Vidro runs decently”, these A’s guys need to be fired.
Maybe Vidro’s mom supplied them with some sweet oven fresh cookies and they feel obligated to say something positive about him…
When the injured pitchers come back, considering who is in the rotation and available in AAA, who should comprise the starting rotation?
Felix, Washburn, Batista, Weaver(?), and, instead of HoRam, who?
Dave N said runs will cost a premium for either side. He must have a really short term memory, because I wouldn’t count on Good Weaver sticking around as long as Bad Weaver did.
I’d settle for mediocre Weaver.
15: If it’s the A’s broadcast team, that might figure — their guys don’t exactly burn up the basepaths themselves.
Wow. That fooled everyone, and Guillen almost paid for it.
Guillen almost overran that ball, but nice throw for the DP.
Every pitch I am afraid that Worst Ever Weaver is going to pop his ugly head back up. Makes it better when he comes back from 3-0 counts and gets your garden variety 9-3 DP.
10. It might surprise you that Vidro is third on the team in walks, two behind Sexon, one behind Ichiro.
Nice gun…. He gets the “Value Add” mark on the day…. Too bad Vidro hasn’t had one of those in a couple of months
WOW.
AB!!
Beltre!!!!
Weaver is money now!
Funk Blizzle
GET FUNKY with your bad self Beltre!
24, although, the M’s are still far and away the worst walking team in all of baseball (fewer walks than any team, including NL teams), so saying he is near the top of the team in walks is not a glowing complement by itself.
Don’t walk, don’t strike out. It’s a weird team.
Does anyone have the BABIP for the team this season…. to compare to walk and strike outs?
24. OK, but it wasn’t meant to be a “glowing compliment.” My point was that it’s not such a shock that he didn’t ground out.
Angels lost… lets slip down to 3.5 out.
Cirillo just hit a homerun!
the mariners and a’s have been very similar lately in terms of pitches per batter plate app. since june 2, m’s are 3.67, oakland is 3.77. so, does that amount to just 5 pitches per game ? or is this a case where the numbers don’t tell the real story ?
34- .306 BABIP
Since the Mariners don’t walk and don’t strike out, are they near the bottom of the league in game length? Presumably there are a lot fewer pitches in a Mariners game.
How is it possible that the A’s have the guy with the worst OBP in the AL (Kendall .262) and the 5th worst (Crosby .279) as regular starters?
The Twinkies are ahead of the White Sox 12-0 in the second game…slowpitch softball night at US Cellular Field continues!
I’m a Weaver believer!
I think Weaver sold his soul to the devil.
Pulled a ‘Kurt Warner’ if you will.
Man, think the Twins are tired? They’ve scored 32 runs so far today, and still have a couple of innings to play. I thought the White Sox got smacked in the first game, this is even worse.
41: Crosby’s slid downhill quite a bit in the last couple of years, and Kendall probably isn’t the pickup that Beane thought he’d be.
I never thought I’d say this, but ..
GO Weaver!
As long as the devil only collects from him, and not the rest of us, I’m fine with that.
I’ll bet the White Sox can’t wait ’til the Devil Rays get back to town!
Damn, Morneau sucks. 3-5 3 HR
49 – Dude, talk about a real life “Requiem for a Dream” for Ozzie Guillen. Couldn’t happen to a more deserving ass clown..
I dig this strike-throwing Weaver cat. I want some of what he’s been smoking lately.
The only thing good about Broussard dropping that ball was that it wasn’t Sexson
I’m a Weaver believer!
As long as he keeps mixing his pitches up like he’s been doing, and throws that beautiful curve for a strike, I’m a believer, too.
Felix vs Harden and “No TV” just doesn’t seem to compute.
55: Amen to that.
I wonder if we’ll get that as Fox’s Game-of-the-Week…or if they’ll jam the Dodgers down our throats like they usually do on Saturday?
Wow, after today, can you say “White Sox Fire Sale”?
I agree, no TV tomorrow is criminal!
55-
Instead, we get SD/Atlanta….yawn.
As flaky as he might have been, I can’t believe the A’s never retired Rickey’s number.
*wiping brow*
Hope that didn’t use up all of Weaver’s devil payment.
Wow, I hate to say it but I am also a Weaver Believer.
Oh, boy…Pods vs. Bravos. Have to remember to tivo that one.
58 – Yeah, you can actually tune into that game and watch an everyday starter with a worse average and general approach to the game this year than Richie in Andruw Jones…. You know Scott Boras is at church every Sunday in his Ferrari praying for a quick turnaround in his game.
Bueno Beltre!
I just noticed that Gameday shrinks the strikezone to the height of the hitter. Have they always done that?
Has Rickey admitted he’s retired? If he has, it’s pretty recently. I don’t blame them for not retiring his number when he was still trying to play in the majors.
Some agressive hitting by WFB! #&@%.
One pitch Willie, sweet. I think a rally killing instruction book is inside every Mariners locker.
Way to kill a rally, Willie
Haren had fallen behind the previous three hitters.
I just noticed that Gameday shrinks the strikezone to the height of the hitter. Have they always done that?
That’s the Pitch F/X system, which runs enhanced gameday – it’s only installed in some parks right now.
67: Now that you mention it, he IS still creeping ’round the indy leagues somewhere…
67. I thought I heard during a Mets game that they brought him into coach Reyes in base stealing? Not that you can’t be a coach and play, but it sounds more ex-player than current.
What’s wrong with Weaver? His delivery looks terrible.
He is hurt go get him!!!
Tag there, buddy.
75 – Doesn’t he change his arm angles every once in awhile? maybe that’s what makes him look wierd.
A question. Is AJ getting time in RF and LF as well as CF at Tacoma? I hope so, to make his promotion as stress free as possible.
I feel like *I’ve* made a deal with the devil, in that I’ll take whatever weirdness Weaver puts off as long as he wins. He looks like someone’s creepy uncle, he mutters to himself, he screeches, he hangs that long arm like an albino orangutan–I feel uneasy every moment. But, whatever.
AJ played right field tonight.
And yea, Weaver’s hurt. I doubt he comes out for the 5th inning.
Weaver has gone to his over the top arm angle only and his pitches look awful and are much slower on the stadium gun. Chavez needs to be fired if Weaver keeps throwing.
Weaver started using his different arm angles near the end maybe it wasn’t to serious.
74: I hadn’t heard that, but that’s very interesting — and also very possible, since last I’d heard the indy league team he was playing for was somewhere in Jersey.
BWWAHHH!! Sometimes it’s worth the out for the laugh.
Weaver is cool. Uhhuhuhu huhuhu huhu
The A’s announcers were scared that might go out for a second, they really need to watch a few M’s games to realize Vidro is slow and hits like he has leprosy.
Watching the Mariners play in Oakland is so disheartening, as, no matter what happens,you just know that the Athletics will win somehow someway. It just seems inevitable that we will take our lumps in Oaktown. I hate to say it, but we may be on the way to getting swept in 4 games. Come on, M’s, prove me wrong!
Kendall looks like he should be a character actor in ’30’s Warner Bros. movies, playing ‘Mugsy’
And no matter how shitty his numbers are, why does it always seems like he gets hits when the A’s needs them?
“Ive just closed my eyes again
Climbed aboard the dream weaver train
Driver take away my worries of today . . .
Ooh dream weaver
I believe you can get me through the night.”
#90
That’s cool. I like it. I like it a lot and Weaver even looks like he is from the 70’s.
Joe Table coming in to stop the Rockies rally at Coors Field, is that really the best option the Phillies got?
The A’s announcers are talking about how Weaver’s velocity is down from the start of the game. What’s wrong with him?
I have Tulowitzki on my fantasy team.
OK, I finally figured it out. Who does Dan Haren look like in that ESPN/MLB photo they show of him with a full beard? Drove me crazy for awhile but the answer is …. Duke Leto Atreides from the movie Dune. If I can do this properly, the Haren link is http://assets.espn.go.com/i/mlb/profiles/players/65×90/7172.jpg“> here and the best Duke Leto photo I can find is here.
Hopefully that was the end of another above average Jeff Weaver start. Atta Boy Jeff!
I am really hoping the Mariners don’t lose this game by one run on a Betancourt error.
I messed up something with the Haren link. Try this?
Dan Haren
Probably selective memory. Kendall’s WPA on the year is -0.94. He’s costing the team runs in important situations.
I thought the Phillies took Mesa out backa the shed and put him out of his misery? Or did another team dump him and they picked him up? When will the insanity end?
I think Haren looks like one of those ’70’s Hippie Jesuses, hopefully without any miracles tonight.
We go from a marginal (at best) strike two…to another effed up scoring chance
Nothing new at Oakland
agressive baserunning!!!! Too bad Jose doesn’t have ankles.
Arrrrrrrrrgggggghhh.
DUMB! It is Dan Haren, why would you put that on with Guillen and Broussard?
I think we’re seeing Good Beltre.
Guillen woulda scored from first on that.
and we mourn our fallen baserunner…
Good Beltre!
Wow…. I retract my earlier statement about Andruw Jones. 3 RBI’s, a dinger, AND he’s talking shit to Marcus Giles as he rounds the bases. Gotta love someone talking shit with a .204 BA and 87 SO
Is Kennedy the soft-tossing lefty we can’t hit, or the marginal-talent lefty we kill?
Can anybody on this team get a big hit with runners in scoring position? Johjima certainly doesn’t seem capable. This is getting tedious and ridiculous. We are just waiting to get beat.
92: The Phils must be gluttons for punishment…what other reason would they have to keep getting Mesa back to blow games?!
Your hottest hitter on deck, and you send a mediocre (at BEST) baserunner with someone who isn’t the greatest contact hitter up
Positively brilliant
I feel a Betancourt error coming.
Gosh, that’s 5-1/2 quality starts in a row from Weaver…
Jeff Weaver. Putting the Grunge back in Seattle.
O’Flaherty is perfectly set up for another vulture win. I’m all for that!
112: Gillick remembers how he sucked in 2000, so he figured “hey, I’ve already traded away one failed closer (Floyd) burned my best starter as another, so why not Jose Mesa?”
Rickey has been invited to ST with the Mets the last few years as a guest coach, much like Buhner & the Ms …
oh, and Rickey is not interested in a One Day In Uni retirement deal, apparently.
man, this game is crawling, I just got in & its still the 5th? what is taking so long, the proverbial patience of the A’s?
sorry, 6th.
and Harden? wasn’t he supposed to start tomorrow??
Weaver certainly looked pissed at the end of last inning, shaking his head.
Says its the 7th on my Tv
121 – ? Harden is starting tomorrow.
It’s Haren pitching
Go Willie!
Give Wille props when he earns them!
A’s announcer: “Swisher running around out there like Roberto Clemente, coming up throwing…”
I guess if an outfielder throws it after fielding it, it puts them in some elite company.
ok. yahoo scoreboard, who claimed Harden had come in in relief of Haren, now has Willie B batting against Eric O’Flaherty. so much for catching up on the game that way.
that was lucky.
Um … he was out but .. WE’LL TAKE IT!
Willie Bloomquist is in position to be tonight’s sabermetric anti-hero of the game.
replay shows he was safe, almost exactly a tie.
Gah, it’s obscene to compare Swisher with Clemente!
Is there any Mariner you would rather LESS see here than Vidro? (Sexson maybe)
A’s sure sloppy today.
“Tie to the runner,” by the announcer is his way of saying, “The Mariners sign my paycheck.”
SWEET VIDRO!!
How many times do we get to say that?
OK, OK – I LOVE being wrong!
128 – I was just thinking the same thing. Swisher is Clemente? Wow, that’s a little bit of a reach, next thing you’ll hear is Vidro has a great set of wheels. Oh Yeah, they’ve been there all ready.
Holy fucking shit.
TURBO!
(Munching sounds as #135 is eating words.)
WTF just happened? Vidro in on that Weaver deal?
Boy Turbo, I am going to talk trash about you more often…
Jose Vidro is a fine DH, who thinks otherwise?!
My Stockholm Syndrome like loyalty to Weaver, Vidro, and Bloomquist is really paying off tonight!
Did Vidro actually stretch that into a double? Man, that’s a sign of the apocalypse!
Yes! Jose Vidro! Need some salt for the words, Fishiam?
I’ve never seen that before: Vidro hitting the ball into the outfield and driving in runs. It’s like, uh, a DH. What’s up with that?
Hmm. I guess Turbo missed the DP sign and mistook it for the hit it into the outfield sign.
my, this game suddenly perked up
Vidro just bought himself another three weeks of suck.
It’s contagious!
Vidro scores from second!…The next sign of the apocalypse!
Vidro does that, then FSN Bay Area runs a Jack Daniels sponser ad…awesome.
the vulture got it started, let’s give credit where credit is due.
what the hell?
um, what was that?
he’s a Professional Hitter, you know.
I mean, Agressive Baserunning!!!!
Haha. What the hell was Ellison thinking? That was deep, but come on. 1st to 2nd? Oh well, it increases the chances of another JJ save.
It feels like we are watching the M;s of last year with these base running mistakes.
I admit I was completely surprised by Vidro’s clutch hit. For those mocking me – SCL, BKM – do you ever have the courage to express to an opinion before an event happens, or only afterwards in a neener-neerner metter? Are you both pro Vidro fans and have a history of support? (I doubt both strongly).
“Mark Kotsay, the best” Really?
156: And I did call the vulture win (see comment 117).
Damn it with the agressive baserunning! Why in the hell do you make the third out at second trying to tag on a flyball to center? That’s just stupid.
But then Morrow lucks into a DP, and my BP comes down by 15 points.
I have been sympathetic to Weaver, Bloomquist, and Vidro for about 2 months now.
Wow, I wonder if that was the DP we didn’t even try to get at KC last series.
I’ll tentatively defend Ellison’s decision. The out doesn’t cost much in that situation — it decreased Seattle’s chance of winning from 89% to 87% — and I think there’s a good chance the gain in win expectancy if he succeeds is more than two percent.
Holy crap! Morrow didn’t walk anyone!
Playing video games and watching at the same time, but didn’t those runs come right after they handed out some rally fries?
164. i remember, i was just too lazy to scroll back in order to properly address you. how many times did rizzs work in “walla walla” during that inning ?
Oh F, he better be ok. Or not and we will have to call up AJ.
Joe Kennedy? Or the scion as the Oakland beat writers call him (one of the best nicknames in sports, IMHO). I thought he was pitching on Sunday.
Holy freaking Beltre!
I love Joe Kennedy.
WOW! Adrian is STINGING the ball.
He’s on fire!!
HAHAHA —- Did you guys just hear that? Mike Piazza Bobble Head night at the Coliseum, and the announcers go “Man, they’ll be lined up outside the place for that one”
Classic
Good Beltre is SICK! 8 for his last 11!
BELTRE!!!!!
What a game!
That would be Good Beltre. Though I thought the difference between Good and Bad Beltre was the ability to be patient and not hack at crap. His offensive display tonight has been mostly launching at fastballs early in the count, hasn’t it? I’ll totally take it!
2nd Half Beltre! Sweet!
Way to go Beltre! Time to crack open a cold one.
Beltre’s OPS tonight: 4.000
This is the first time in a long time that Beltre looks like he knows what pitch is coming. He’s either guessing right, or has improved his pitch recognition. I desperatly hope for the latter.
Well, that was a nice catch. Too bad, but still, nice rundown.
Both his dingers were off breaking balls.
Ladies and Gents: Good Beltre.
AND HE’S RUNNING WILD!
117 & 164
A vulture win is one where the reliever gives up the tying run(s), thereby blowing a save, and subsequently goes on to get the win as the team scores the go-ahead run(s) for him.
Coming in as a reliever in a tie game and picking up a win is not “vulching”.
Oy, Scutaro. Glad you’re on the other team. Four errors?
My name is Marco Scutaro and I am awful at 3rd base.
Wow, someone picked up the bad juju from Weaver, and maybe Yuni dissed his fielding issues off on Scutaro.
Yahoo shows 3E for Scutaro, one for Johnson (failed pick of a Scutaro throw?)
It’s safe to say that nobody will EVER mistake Scutaro for Mike Schmidt!
Welcome back Reitsma! Make us proud!
But they share the same initials, and their last names both start with Sc…
Very easy to confuse.
Nice to have Reitsma back, it helps me forget Rafael Soriano.
One thing I wonder about Ichiro, is how much difference there is in his hitting when it appears he’s slumping (like that .255 ‘04 April) and when he’s hitting .500 another month. Does he actually hit more line drives? In this series, he’s hit a few scorchers right at fielders…But does he hit more line drives than the average hitter, or is it mostly in his ability not to strike out, combined with his speed. It must be more than this, or Juan Pierre wouldn’t suck so much…
2004-2006 Beltre post-All-Star OPS: .910! Hopefully this a sign of good things to come…
Didn’t know that four errors in a game was an AL record. Maybe Scutaro can shoot for a new one!
#189. for example, Mateo was a classic vulture.
paisley . . . i didn’t know the baseball rule book had such a strict definition for being a “vulture”. i think i will disagree with your rulebook, for me a vulture comes in the game when his team does NOT have the lead, completes his work without his team having the lead, then gets the win because the team scores AFTER he pitches. but really, you can define it anyway you want. and myself and fish will do the same.
This just in – Broussard freaking rocks.
Has there been a game in the last two weeks that they haven’t said Mark Lowe is coming back soon? We get it.
Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet’s mock entry for the Calgary Olympics theme song was to be sung to the theme from Bonanza:
friendly town, friendly town Calgary!
friendly town, friendly town,
friendly Calgary!
I find myself singing this when Reitsma comes in to pitch.
202 – Agreed. Also, Weaver had 99 pitches and should have probably never stepped onto the mound to begin that inning anyway.
what can I say, we are really really happy.
189: you are speaking as if there is a formal definition of a “vulture win” and, of course there is not. The point, as I’m sure you know, is that Eric O’Flaherty has been well positioned (vultured, even) to add a “W” to his record when entering the game in a tie situation, and pitching at most an inning. He departs – M’s score runs, he gets a “W”. That’s a vulture win by MY definition, and I’m not alone.
Sounds like a vulturistic way to get a win so I can live with that definition.
At first I thought we were watching humans playing baseball, and then I found out its actually just computer generated numbers, and now you all are suggesting vultures play baseball? When will this craziness end?
202
You can think what you like, but coming into a tie game and earning a win is nowhere near as dishonorable (in fact not dishonorable at all) as giving up a lead and going on to get the win – thereby STEALING a win from the starter, which you wouldn’t have got if you didn’t suck.
As msb points out, Mateo, the King of Suck, was also the King of Vulching.
By your “rules”, if the M’s had taken the lead in the top of the 6th, after Weaver was done pitching, he would have vulched his own win.
They said O’Flaherty is the SECOND Mariner to start his career 5-0.
Who was the first? Matt Young maybe?
LOL, Blowers.
212
Ooops. Looked up ol’ Matt on “Baseball ref” and its definitely not him
211: who says vultures are dishonorable? They take what is offered. I’ve witnessed their behavior on African savanas and it is completely logical. No stealing involved … just damn luck.
Beltre’s going to hurt himself trying to hit it out again.
Adrian!!!
Beltre is on fire tonight.
“Vultures seldom attack healthy animals, but may kill the wounded or sick.”
Sure sounds like Mateo to me.
Great game Beltre!!
The Amazing Beltre!
Aw,come on….there’s a BIG difference between a Mateo and an Eric O. Eric does his job…and there’s nothing honorable about what Mateo does.
Haha, looks like Blowers suffers from Madden disease:
Sims: “Beltre fouls it off his foot..”
Blowers: “..what’s that? Did he foul it?”
By the way, if you want to feel optimistic, look up Beltre and Sexson’s 2nd half stats the last 6 or 7 years. It just might matter this year…
219 – Why did you say that name? You might jinx him back to the big club.
Sherrill Time!
Despite Beltre’s great game tonight’s sabermetric anti-hero of the game is………
JOSE VIDRO
Why are we wasting Sherill here?
Now you see, if he makes contact with the baseball and it goes over the fence, that’s gonna-that’s gonna-that’s gonna-that’s gonna, that’s gonna be a home run.
Raul could have made that catch… right?
O’Flaherty gets a vulture win tonight and I huzzah him for it. NO negative connotation. Nice catch Jason!
Had a scary moment when I forgot Raul wasn’t still out there…
227 – Sherrill threw like one pitch yesterday. And that’s not too far away from an average outing for him. I say keep him fresh and use him in a situation like this.
Raul, like yesterday, would’ve played that on the hop, lulled them into trying for a double with his crappy arm, and lobbed them down at second!
Think they teach that at the Jack Cust School of Hitting?
What a drama queen Cust was right there…
Let’s see, this is the easy way to see if Sherrill can handle a whole inning.
Remember Geoff Baker’s comments about McLaren being willing to stretch Sherrill out, but there are arm issues to worry about.
227- Either a) we want to wrap this freakin’ game up already or b) we want to kick them in the sack.
235: Really — if he were in the NHL, he’d have gotten two minutes for diving on that move!
Yay, nice game guys, GG Weaver.
Ballgame! No, not Willie! The end of the game!
I live in SoCal, so I’m going to miss Felix vs. Harden. Fuck Fox, and MLB for their complicity.
It’s quite enjoyable to watch GS actually piych a whole inning – and a nice “vulture” win for O’Flaherty – first to start his M’s career 6-0.
Great game guys!
LOL 234
Maybe its a scared straight thing…sort of a “how NOT to” exercise?
I just realized something. Why in God’s name is ANY Saturday game not on TV? Let alone Felix vs. Harden? Do I not understand some crappy FOX rule or something?
Let me leave you with this definition:
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Save_(sport)
A save is credited to a pitcher who fulfills the following three conditions:
“2: The pitcher is not the winning pitcher, for example, there is no save if the starting pitcher throws a complete game win or if a relief pitcher gives up the lead and his team then scores a winning run while he is the pitcher of record (sometimes known as a “vulture win”);”
Vultures are scavengers. There is no honor in scavenging. There is honor in doing your job and being in the right place at the right time. Pitchers have no control over how and when their own team scores. They do have control over how the other team scores, therefore it only makes sense to blame them for things that are within their control.
I just realized something. Why in God’s name is ANY Saturday game not on TV? Let alone Felix vs. Harden? Do I not understand some crappy FOX rule or something?
Fox has exclusive broadcast rights for any game played from something like 1-4 eastern time on Saturdays. It’s really a travesty. Basically has killed Saturday day games.
247 – So, what you’re saying is, Bud Selig is a no good rat bastard?
I think Fox has a mandatory rule that all Saturday West Coast games must include one of the following teams:
Dodgers
Giants (but only until BB retires)
Angels
Yankees
Red Sox (last two aren’t WC, but they’re the EC teams that EVERYBODY likes!)
Actually, that’s a bit of a stretch, I know…it just seems like on MOST Saturdays, you will see either at least one of those teams or two of them playing each other.
It sucks…that Fox bias can be SOOOO freakin’ annoying!
Watching post game: “I guess Vidro dispelled that chirping that he’s not a good DH,” (wonder who they’re talking about?) “with his performance tonight.”
Er? One double for two RBIs? After slapping single and into DPs all season? Thanks, Jose, now do that every game.
247: I agree…guess I’m a little old school, but I miss those Saturday afternoon games as well.
So, what you’re saying is, Bud Selig is a no good rat bastard?
That may be a little harsh but MLB is definitely taking the short term cash at the expense of the long-term fanbase. The DirecTV deal was along the same lines – getting a ton of dough for an exclusivity deal that ultimately meant fewer people were watching the games. Can’t be good for developing the fan base but hard to argue with all the $$
From the game recap: “Seattle’s Edgar Martinez was the last AL third baseman to make four errors in a game, on May 6, 1990.”
253. blowers did it 3 days earlier (with the yankees)
249-
At least that’s more teams than ESPN mandates: Red Sox, Yankees, Mets.
Beltre had a monster game today. 5 for 5, two doubles and two homers, with both homers directly into a very stiff breeze (making both homers very impressive). Definitely on tonight. I thought it was kind of strange to see most of the players taking batting practice against a left handed pitcher, when Haren, the starter, is right handed. I guess someone knew that Kennedy would be coming into the game. Poor Scutaro had 4 errors. (I think that one was a tough call and maybe should have been charged to Dan Johnson instead). 3B at Oakland must be tough since I can remember a 3 error game by Beltre here not too long ago. The gusty breeze didn’t help matters.
BTW – Chaves has a copy of Dave’s open letter. It’ll be interesting to see what effect it may have tomorrow.
I love that Chaves has a copy of the letter.
256 – how do you know? If true, and he’s actually read it, that’s awesome news.
I think that it should be left in the dark, for the moment, how Chaves has a copy of the letter. But if you want to know, the answer IS out there in the blog-o-sphere.
Well to me, Vidro just proved that he can pull his own weight, as a pinch hitter. If I recall correctly, after his double, he came up with two on and abruptly tapped a ball with “DP” wiritten all over it to Scutaro. If Scutaro hadn’t have pulled his best Matt Kata impression last night you could tack on another in the Jose Vidro dp soap opera
So Haren now has three losses, and two of them came at the hands of the M’s (the other one was the first, fantastic Felix Day). It’s a nice change from past years, when even schlubs could shutout the M’s if they were wearing an A’s uniform. And if Haren is going to have a team that acts like Kryptonite for him, I’m happy for it to be the Mariners.
258 – Okay, if you must know, I printed a copy of the letter and handed it to Ryan Rowland-Smith while he was in the bullpen yesterday and told him to give it to Chaves. So he called Chaves over and gave it to him. I told him what was in it, and told him that he might be interested if he hadn’t seen it yet. Chaves thanked me for it as batting practice ended. BTW – I did attach an attribution to USSMariner.com so he can tell where it came from.
Some other notes from yesterday: Ryan Rowland-Smith was working a lot on a split fingered fastball in his bullpen session. I don’t know if he’s known for that pitch yet but it’ll be interesting to see how it comes along.
Vidro had a hit yesterday that I thought was going to go out but died at the warning track when the wind got it. There was a pretty strong breeze in from left field yesterday that really makes Beltre’s two homers to that field very impressive.
Weaver looked like he may have hurt himself again. He was really laboring in the 5th and his velocity was way down. He came out to warm up in the 6th but was pulled before the first batter. Let’s hope that he’s okay.
Felix v. Harden today. Can’t wait.