Game 95, Mariners at Blue Jays
Hernandez vs Halladay, 10:05 am.
Happy Felix Day, as well as Happy Awesome Pitching Matchup Day. I love games like this. Felix vs Halladay is the kind of thing that makes baseball so much more awesome than any other sport.
After yesterdays shutout, John McLaren acknowledges that the line-up is struggling right now, and he’s made some changes.
1. Ichiro, CF
2. Lopez, 2B
3. Ibanez, DH
4. Beltre, 3B
5. Broussard, RF
6. Sexson, 1B
7. Johjima, C
8. Betancourt, SS
9. Ellison, LF
It’s a decent overhaul from the standard line-up. Vidro and Guillen get the day off, Lopez and Beltre get moved up in the order, but Ibanez continues to hit 3rd and kill rallies at a disturbing rate.
On one hand, I’m happy to see McLaren acknowledge the need for some changes in the batting order and the awareness that Raul Ibanez shouldn’t be playing the outfield. On the other hand, this line-up isn’t really any better than the one we’ve been running out there. Ellison can’t hit right-handed pitching and Broussard’s a pretty terrible outfielder, so the Ellison/Broussard corners isn’t really an upgrade over the Ibanez/Guillen corners. There’s an obvious answer to this problem, but whatever, Adam Jones is still in Tacoma, and it’s so ridiculous at this point that it’s not even worth talking about.
Maybe today’s line-up shuffle lays the groundwork for some moves that actually make the offense better. Hopefully.
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Dave, i can understand the saying, “if it ain’t broken, don’t try ta fix it,” but that doesn’t apply with us…the offense IS broken…they need to fix it…any real, logical reason Jones is still in Tacoma?
The M’s REAALLLY want to win the Triple A world series?
If it ain’t broke you can still improve it. Happy Felix Day and GO M’s!
Hey, I don’t mind today. (As long as the weather gets better.) I have great tickets to the Rainiers game this afternoon. Now, I’d rather see Adam Jones playing in the bigs most of the time, but today I get to see him playing up close and personal.
Which reminds me: Does anyone know a good spot to pick up news on cancellation/postponement of the Rainiers’ games? The weather doesn’t look great today, and I’d love to know in advance what the story is on today’s game.
Dave–To echo the sentiments of others. You have done a fantastic job running the site by yourself. More posts than ever. A weekly radio gig now. You must be running on power drinks.
It is much appreciated. To that. As Derek allowed us to make donation for a beer or more. Might I suggest you you put a like one for beverage or your choice. Know you suggested charity in past).
Today would be a great time to link a donation. To the one who annointed young Felix “King”.
Let’s hope he is “King” today.facing right handed Andrew Miller.
That looks like a “get ready for Adam Jones” lineup.
robbbb–The link on right to Rainers site should give update info. Enjoy the game.
“…any real, logical reason Jones is still in Tacoma?”
Bill Bavasi.
I just caught the tail end of the comments, but it sounded as though Mac said he’d been told Lowe hit 95 in his last inning pitched
robbb – the Rainiers generally don’t cancel the game until after start time. Friday night was a very weird exception in that they canceled it hours before gametime and posted that notice on their website as well as sending out an e-mail to all those folks who sign up for the notifications (which you can do on the Rainiers website).
Last night’s doubleheader was ludicrous – it was pouring the entire game; I thought they were just going to try to get 5 innings in, but then they played 7 and ended in a tie which they’ll be picking up today (the rest of the suspended 1st game from last night followed by the regularly scheduled 9 inning game). It’s hard to imagine the field drying out enough to play today, given how slick and torn up it was after last night’s action, but we’ll see.
Sadly, you’ll have to watch Tomo Ohka pitching that 9 inning game if it does happen.
Tomo Ohka? Oof. Oh, well, I get to watch Jones and Balentien crush a few pitches, and I’m interested to see how well Clement does.
I’m worried that we won’t get games in today, either. It’s been drizzling all morning here. I have my company’s Rainiers tickets, which are ludicrously good. Right behind home plate in the front. I don’t want them to go to waste, y’know?
Dave Sims’ head frightens me.
blowers says no TURBO…OH HAPPY, HAPPY, FELIX DAY!!!!!!!!!!!! GO Ms!!!!!
At this point think I would rather have no Ibanez and hit Vidro in the 8-9 spot.
I wonder if Bill Krueger thinks Halladay is an idiot for not establishing the fastball and attacking Jose Lopez with breaking balls…
Hey Dave, great job on KJR the other day. I’m really looking forward to a trade deadline post. Any ETA on that. It’s been painful watching this offense lately. Please, God, don’t let Bavasi screw this up.
say, wasn’t one of the keys to the game making Halliday work?
Jesus, the quality of this MLB.TV feed makes me long for the days of VHS. Yikes.
Was there a reason given for moving Felix up and a day and pushing Ho-Ram back?
Hey look a curve!
O yeah, this is gonna be a fun afternoon. What a K!
“His first pitch a sinker, a fastball right at the knees at 94 MPH”
Dave at his best…
The FSN gun is really slow today – they had Halladay at 87-90 in the first inning, and Felix’s first two fastballs at 91 and 90.
And yea, third pitch curve – nasty. Awesome. Huzzah for pitch selection smartness.
Hey, look, a monstrously nasty 0-2 curve that the hitter can’t do anything but walk away from.
We like five pitch innings. That was awesome.
Well that was a fun inning
Wow. 5 pitches….back to the dugout.
Touche, Halladay.
Wow, very nice!
with an off-day, it keeps Felix on his regular days of rest
nice, tre!
Nice Beltre. Come on Big Ben!
Jeez, it’s like Kremlinology trying to read future moves into lineup changes.
Good hustle, Mr. Beltre. We’re gonna need to squeeze runs today.
31- Also maybe cause there’s no way HoRam can beat Halliday?
Wait, a five pitch inning that included a strikeout? Holy Efficiency, Batman…
Sheesh, I can not get used to these early weekend game times. {shaking fist} Freaking enormous spherical planet with its freaking timezones….
Did the umpire just applaud Roy Halladay? What was he doing?
A double followed by two shallow pop-ups. Great.
Lets go Joh! Don’t let Beltre get Ichiro’d out there on 2nd.
Amazing.
wow…how deflating…
so, if we hear someone ‘has a cold’ we’ll have a better idea what is coming?
Thanks, MSB. Makes perfect sense.
Well, it is Halladay, but still, I’m pretty sick of stranding leadoff XBHs. Plus, it was less than a 10-pitch inning even with the double. Argh.
Well, it is Halladay, but I already said that.
They seem to have the radar gun adjusted. Felix is hitting 97 now.
I don’t agree with the reasoning behind the KJR bumper featuring Bill Kreuger, but I have to say that his comment that no one in this line up will take more than one pitch can be way too accurate
mlb.com has Felix at 95.
it was less than a 10-pitch inning
Sorry, my bad – 11 pitch inning for Halladay.
Was there a reason given for moving Felix up and a day and pushing Ho-Ram back?
Felix doesn’t suck?
But yeah, they had a rest day, and it’s been common practice in baseball to skip your #5 starter when that happens. But the M’s have so few rest days, it’s hard to remember how that works.
Jeez, it’s like Kremlinology trying to read future moves into lineup changes.
It was at least as bad with Hargrove. The one thing about Hargrove changing the lineup: it was an indication he was actually awake.
Weaver’s little quote there on the broadcasst is the prime argument against results-based analysis. Weaver threw a good pitch to Thomas, and it just fell in.
This is what people mean when they talk about how good Felix can be when he’s commanding his fastball. He’s just pounding the bottom half of the strikezone with two-seamers so far, getting ahead in the count, and putting them away with breaking balls. This is beyond Good Felix – this is Brilliant Felix.
And, as soon as I hit post, the fastball command goes away. Sigh.
Ichiro 8/33 since ASB – is anyone concerned?
It is Ichiro, there is no reason to ever be concerned. We all know he is streaky.
it’s okay dave…we’ve all jinxed the game one way or another…
#54– so, Dave are the two walks command? I am depending on Rizzs at the moment…
If anybody cares, the British is going into a playoff. Garcia barely missed a 10-footer or so.
Dave, stop jinxing him!
In addition to the “don’t talk about a perfect game” tradition we’re going to have to have a “don’t talk about Felix having control of his fastball” tradition.
Yea, those last three hitters, he didn’t have any command of the fastball at all. Thankfully, he missed low or outside most of the time, so the damage was minimal, but the pitch Zaun popped up was a down-the-middle meatball, the kind of pitch that usually gets crushed and makes us all rip our hair out.
“imipacted?”
No spell check at FSNW?
so, thank you Greg Zaun
61: In other words, Felix was in trouble and grooved one.
Yep. He was great for the first five hitters and lousy for the last three.
33 pitches through 3. Sweet. Last time Halladay threw 106 through 6. Way to work the count.
Both of those fastballs were up and in. Come back fastball command!
1-2 fastball right down the middle – the 7th consecutive fastball he’s thrown.
Frustrating Felix is now making an appearance.
1st pitch change, swing and a miss. Thank you.
Sure enough. A breaking ball and a weak grounder.
SQUEEZED!!
Oh so close
Is Felix getting squeezed a little bit on the zone?
Maybe the ump can make us some lemonade. He’s obviously good at squeezing.
Definitely, that 3rd ball was a strike.
The pitch was outside. Not by much, but it was the right call.
Felix shook off Jo twice until he got the fastball call on that last pitch that ended up as infield single.
Then a terrible Strike 1 call. WTF?
The strike zone today is umm…idiosyncratic
Glaus is lost up there with Felix
NICE PITCH!
Same location of the FB, but a slider = strike?
absolutely beautiful…
There you go. When ahead in the count, throw the bendy pitches.
That slider was further outside than the fastball he called a ball. So with fastballs you have to be more precise than the breaking stuff.
The slider was tailing away from Glaus – it was over the plate when it crossed. You can’t go by where Johjima catches it.
Dave Sims in the house – woohoo! Ok not.
Dave-
I wasn’t. Thanks. I realize how sliders, curves, baseball in general works.
Well I’m going by the FSN tracer which is never wrong. Ahem.
C’com Ra.
I could show you an example of a pitchout where the Pitch F/X system showed it being right down the middle. Obviously, I love the system, but it’s not infallible.
I smell another 1-0 game. Hopefully we get the one.
Ok, the reason there’s such a thing as a “fastball count” is because for most pitchers the fastball is the one thing they can throw and be sure it’s not going to be a ball — it might get hit out of the park, but it isn’t going to walk the guy. But if you’re Felix, and you’re in that situation knowing you haven’t been able to throw your fastball consistently for strikes, why not throw that curve (or one of his other “bendies” )? If it’s a fastball count and the hitter is thinking “fastball” … isn’t that the perfect opportunity to throw something other than a fastball? Especially when you can throw those other pitches for strikes pretty consistently?
I know people love slugfests but I love games where both pitchers are dealing. In baseball, unlike other sports defensive games have their own type of excitement -unlike football and basketball.
If Pitch F/X is unreliable, how much faith can you put in conclusions you draw from it where you didn’t actually see the game? How many sigmas is it?
is this a new shirt slogan?
“Felix, embrace the bendies”
Love it
I didn’t say it was unreliable. I said it wasn’t infallible.
Dave -
Being a technology guy myself I too like the tracer even if it isn’t infallible. I also like that baseball is still a quaint sport.
This is an absolute joy to watch.
I understand the reasoning behind the M’s brass not wanting to bring up Jones, Vidro is doing exactly what we signed him to do, he is our only real quality 2 spot hitter. If you want to improve the offense, the answer is at first base, bat Sexson against lefties, and give the rest of the p.t to Broussard who will hit close to .300 the rest of the way.
It seems to me that ESPN does a very good job with their K-Zone. I don’t know if they use the same technology as FSN.
Felix is really focusing on that outside corner
Maybe we can convince someone to start a ussvidro.com blog, and everyone who thinks he’s a good hitter can go post over there?
Nice play Yuni
101- you’re kidding right? vidro is by far the worst DH in the league…
I’m sure it’s available.
I think they’d be better off DFAing Sexson.
After 4, Roy at 45 pitches, Felix at 56. This could easily stay scoreless until the ninth.
You don’t need ussvidro.com when you have KJR and KOMO. People can just call in and rave about the glory of his weak singles and how unlucky he has been to hit into 100 DPs.
I’m aware there’s no chance of that.
101 -
The fact that Vidro is doing what he was supposed to do doesn’t excuse their lack of action at this point. Even if you think Vidro was a good signing at the time (a big if), circumstances have changed and they need to react accordingly. A great hitter in Tacoma with nothing else to prove down there while our offense and defense in the outfield suffers is not excusable.
and since Vidro isn’t playing today, we should do ourselves a favor and not mention his name…
How about ussvidro_gidp.com?
We signed Vidro to be a light hitting DH to slug .366? That’s doing exactly what we signed him to do?
When was the last time the M’s scored a run?
(rhetorical question, it was the 5th inning on Friday)
Say what you will about Vidro, but he’s about the third biggest problem on the offense right now. Sexy and Raul are the main concerns right now.
Do opposing defenses play the outfielders in significantly when Vidro is up? Kind of like co-ed softball when a girl comes up to hit?
It’s not like I’m a huge Vidro fan, I just dont understand bashing him, he might not be your typical D.H, but when we signed him, did you expect something more? He’s doing exactly what the M’s talked about him doing before the season started. Sexson is the real hole in the lineup.
We didn’t sign Vidro, he was the result of one of BB’s misguided trades.
118 -
The should probably play 5 infielders.
Yep, that’s our $14 million dollar man in action.
We’ve had this conversation 8,000 times. If you really want to know why Vidro’s not any good, feel free to use google and knock yourself out.
Broussard – Tries to work count to get Hallady out of game.
Sexson – Swings at first pitch because he has nothing between the ears
Ritchie is just killing me.
Man, this is a good game all around. I hope it doesn’t end up getting decided by an error.
Is this a Sunday contest to determine which M’s hitter is the suckiest?
And no, didn’t expect more, but that doesn’t mean I’m pleasantly surprised, either.
I think it might be more than 8,000 times by now.
Sexson – Swings at first pitch because desperate
Boy, didn’t see that coming, swing at first pitch GIDP by Sexson
127- My vote is Sexson, with Vidro and Ibanez close behind.
Turbo is on the bench…that’s where he belongs…let’s get off the subject…
I can’t remember the last time Sexson had a positive outcome in an at bat that wasn’t a walk.
http://www.past_a_diving_boone.com
has anyone said if Joh’s hand is still bothering him?
actually dave, it’s 8,069. i’ve been counting
Why Sexson isn’t grabbing pine right now is beyond me…
Nice, Broussard works a seven pitch walk and Sexson rolls the first pitch into a GIDP.
Its well past time to sit Sexson in favor of Broussard. Sexson brings nothing to the table other than outs and frustration. At what point do the “team leaders” go to McLaren and say enough already with the sub-.200 guy.
#138, because he ALWAYS comes alive in the 2nd half :p
good eye, joh
6 foul balls and counting … nice job by Joh to make up for Suckson
that was bullshit…
You know, if you want to give up on Sexson, fine, but that’s still no reason to keep playing Vidro.
I can’t speak for everybody, but I complain more about Vidro because he is not going to ever be any better than he is right now, and he’s lousy, and the problem is easily solved. Sexson still could be a lot better than he is right now, so there is arguably reason for patience.
No flippin way! Horrible.
Oh we got jibbed.
If hitting less than .180 in July is coming alive……
“Vidro is doing exactly what we signed him to do”
Then they had far too low expectations for the DH position. And so do you.
With the exception of Sexson, nice to see some guys work Halladay deep into the pitch count…a contributing factor to knocking him out of the game on June 30th after 6 innings.
Quick poll: Worst FSN commercial ever y/n?
oh lordie.
I finally saw the animated FSN microphones.
I’d rather be that guy on nfl special teams who is supposed to bust the wedge than to try and make a living as a righthanded hitter in today’s game…
Better than Sexson is right now is still like the next to last worst first baseman in baseball.
I’d rather play Wlad at first than Sexson right now.
Put Ellison at first at least then he could sacrifice bunt every time he came up with a RISP. Ugggh.
Maybe so #149, but he does have the second highest o.b.p on the team right now, why are we complaining so much about him is all i’m saying.
great communication…
I just puked on myself
157-
A DH’s job is to hit for power…OBP? You’re talking about OBP in regards to a position that should be killing the ball.
you don’t have to give the hosts a gift until you are actually leaving the house.
Shouldn’t that be a fielder’s choice?
157 — I agree, there’s no reason to be complaining about Vidro right now. We have him right where we need him: on the bench. Complaining will commence upon his return to the lineup.
Oh crap, sorry I brought up the error thing.
This is starting to look like the Santana game in April, when the Twins were going nowhere until they pulled a double-steal. Gardenhire just plain out-managed Hargrove that inning, and the M’s never recovered.
Seriously, if you want to know why we don’t like Vidro, go read one of the 8,000 other times we’ve had this discussion. It’s really not hard to find.
157- why are you all still talking about it at all? vidro sucks…richie is in the worst year of his career…raul got real old, real rast…JONES should be up…get over it, watch the game, and pray for runs…
Go Ms!
Time for a K here.
walk this guy?
I bitch about the sacrifice, but I think that’s a decent situation for one. Fifth inning of a pitchers’ duel, with a nasty groundballer on the mound.
Reed Johnson is like Mark Ellis… always a thorn in our side (or so it seems).
That is, the second sacrifice attempt, with runners on first and second.
You know, if Felix is going to throw the ball that slowly and that far outside on the IBB, Zaun should just steal home.
Felix vs Rios….good stuff
Felix with not the best intentional walk motion
#157, I refer you to the definition of “opportunity cost” where (among other things) you’ll find a picture of Adam Jones. And you’re right, given this trend the M’s apparently got actually what they expected. What possible reason they could’ve had for wanting that is another question.
Well, all four IBB pitches were shown more or less accurately on Gameday … maybe they fixed that glitch.
Someone will steal home on him if he keeps doing that.
Here comes the K.
I suspect Sexson is still in the lineup because management doesn’t want to admit the signing was a mistake. We’ve seen this with the M’s before. Remember Bobby Ayala? (yeah, I don’t want to either) We all kept wondering why they kept letting him blow games; I’m convinced it was because Piniella didn’t want to acknowledge a mistake in getting him. Weaver’s been another example this year, though he is pitching better lately. All of us can see that Broussard and (especially) Adam Jones are better alternatives to Sexson/Ibanez/Vidro, but we don’t have our egos invested in those acquisitions, so we can see the situation more clearly.
BTW, Felix is in a real jam here.
Felix, can we get a bendy pitch now? Please?
Who is a more high leverage arm in a situation like this….Felix of Putz?
Whoa hung one.
1-2 belt high fastball in a clear strikeout situation. Ugh.
Ohhhhh, come on.
where the eff was that?!!
ball?
WOW….. that was a good pitch.
fuck
Ballgame.
not to be negative, but with how DOC is pitching…that could be the ball game…
Snap!
Great. 2 runs will probably win this game, and the bad throw allowed the runners to move up, making Toronto scoring more runs more likely.
Ouch. Would be nice to see what A.Jones could do on a throw to the plate after Ibanez yesterday and Ellison today.
He gets the ground ball he wants, there, and it just leaked through.
And McLaren’s out there protecting his guy and keeping Felix from getting run from this game.
I don’t think it was a good pitch. why not throw a nasty hook.
big mac is awesome…a little bit of Lou in there?
F indeed
Why wasn’t Felix backing up Kenji? He just stayed around the mound until the ball got away. Not that it would have changed the play, but jeez, Felix, stay in the game. I get mad at my softball teammates for not being where they’re supposed to be.
190….That is the ball game. You know the Mariners wont score any runs today. WOW Mariner fans…2 straight shutouts. Unbelievable
meh.
Ok, that is DEFINITELY the ballgame.
wow
It’s really time for this:
SHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.
Not looking like a play-off bound team out there today.
That will prolly be game, nice meatball King Felix.
Well hung another one. Young guy mistake. He’s still 21.
Felix did his job on two straight pitches…… then it gets away with Glaus
Looked like a high flat pitch to me.
Well, off to do my household chores. Woulda, coulda, shoulda.
Well, if it wasn’t “ballgame” before…
You know, in that situation rather than going out and getting tossed and winding up Felix even more, it might’ve been better for MacLaren to try to calm Felix down.
fucking ridiculous…
Felix has to learn to keep his cool. But he got completely f’ed on that pitch to Rios.
all i know is that there better be a ticket at SEATAC to Texas for a certain young fellow…after this debacle, they HAVE to know they need more offense and a competent outfield…
So Gameday still lists Mac as the Mariners’ BENCH coach. “Seattle Mariners bench coach John McLaren ejected by HP umpire…”
210: He couldn’t. He’d already made one trip to the mound in that inning to talk strategy. If he goes back out to the mound again, he has to pull the pitcher. His only alternative was to come out and yell at the umpire, and try to give Felix a chance to calm himself down.
angels up 1-0…
yeah, i loved that ellison was ready to brawl for ichiro, but if they won’t DFA you know who, they need to DFA ellison for jones…
Fairchild continues to be very strict.
If/when they bring Jones up, they need to send a pitcher back down to the minors. That solves most of these problems. They’re carrying a seven-man bullpen that they do not need.
I’d say send Morrow back down and give him the chance to work on his pitches.
I hate to say it but the ump is consistent. Halladay didn’t get that pitch either.
This lineup stinks. Against tough righties it should be
Ichiro CF
Vidro DH
Beltre 3B
Broussard 1B
Johmima C
Ibanez LF
Guillen RF
Lopez 2B
Betancourt SS
zaun is terrible…this is now a joke…felix needs to figure it out…
This loss will be much easier to swallow if it is the impetus for a shakeup, i.e. Jones call up and a ballsy, but smart trade by Bavasi.
I’m tired of what lineups should be utilized given the current 25 man roster. Mclaren obviously has no interest in doing anything that makes statistical sense, and even if he did, it’s still not a lineup that will get to the playoffs, let alone the WS.
to start it off…it didnt help that felix walked the leadoff man (lowest average hitter in the lineup, on 4 pitches) and it did look like that pitch to rios was outside. and mac gettin ejected obviously didnt calm him down much. I understand hes 21..but this was tough to watch.
Just wondering — Did Vidro eat Willie? Only four at bats in two weeks… not that I’m complaining.
my first time on this blog, nice talking and arguing with you guys, after the last h.r by Zaun its now time for me to go and take my anger out on something constructive.
Hopefully Ellison’s throw to the plate and inability to hit will erase the memory of his protecing Ichiro which probably kept him on the roster. If your main skill is defensive replacement…you’d better play defense.
I’m excited for the AJ Train to finally stop in Seattle, but a lot of you seem to think he is the savior of the team.
I think you may be putting way to much hope in the guy. I’m all for him replacing Ibanez in the field and Vidro in the line-up. But the chances that he gets the call then just tees off on major league pitching and carries us to the pennant this season is ridiculous.
Remember, he’s still just a 21-year-old kid with minimal major league experience. Look at Alex Gordon – regarded as the #1 prospect in baseball this season – and the struggles he’s had in Kansas City.
Not trying to rain on everyones Adam Jones love affair. But with all the gushing about him on this site, it seems everyone thinks he’s going to go 2-4, get 2 RBI’s and throw out a runner at the plate every game.
Who’s this kid? He seems like the kind of arm the s would want to develop into a starter….
Angels up 2-0…
228- just catching the ball in LF will be fine for now…
#220 and #222: This loss won’t be a result of lineup construction. Halladay is a great pitcher, even an All-Star lineup would have trouble. Felix was very bad for 1 inning and that’s enough on days like this.
Hey yeah, I’d forgotten that Willie hasn’t been in the lineup at all lately. Is this a positive for McLaren?
#228: It’s not likely that Jones struggles with the glove and that’s the real benefit in left. It’s reasonable based upon his minor league numbers to hope for at elast league average offense. His bat would be mostly gravy and would allow other lineup moves (i.e. the marginalization of some other drags on production).
I’m excited for the AJ Train to finally stop in Seattle, but a lot of you seem to think he is the savior of the team.
No, we just think he’ll be an upgrade to what is currently being run out there.
Glaus sucks. If MacLaren had been more interested in getting Felix calm and refocused instead of Pyhrric Lou-esque theatrics, Felix could’ve struck him out again and the M’s might still have had a shot at catching the Jays (assuming they could get Halladay out of the game and moved on to the bullpen).
232-
it’s Dave’s fault…he mentioned control earlier…lol…
Why are we celebrating “Felix Days” again? He’s looking to join a long line of young Mariner pitchers with excellent “stuff” but lacking in any type of consistency. It’s very frustrating that we treat him like a golden child but he’s never even come close to meeting expectations.
Improving the team is a process, one that is never finished. A “savior” would be the end of the process, and that doesn’t happen. No player is a “savior”; every move is another step… hopefully in the right direction. Once Jones is a regular, we’ll move on to bitching about the next thing(s). Like Sexson, for instance.
At least Kenji chose to show up today
fuck canada…
Right on, Joser. If there is a cheap and simple move you can make to improve the team, you make it and damn what any of the players thinks. Let some guy bellyache that he’s being benched or made DH. As soon as the team starts playing better he’ll have to shut up and accept his new role.
Why worry about Felix or the ump’s questionable call?
Its not like we’ve bothered to score for over twenty innings in a row. We don’t even think to put in the best hitters in the line up…or on the 25 man roster for that matter…sigh
236
Didn’t Chaves go out to talk to him earlier in the inning? I was listening on the radio and didn’t see it, but I thought Dave N. mentioned it.
If Chaves did go out there, then obvioously McClaren couldn’t go out there to calm him down.
Besides, nothing wrong with the manager “taking one for the team” by standing up for his young, star pitcher and screaming at the ump.
Unless Felix and JJ found a way to hold Toronto to NEGATIVE ONE run, this win wasn’t gonna happen.
Obviously if you can’t hit Josh effin’ Towers the day before, what did they think they could do vs Halladay? (Especially considering teams have a tough enough time beating him once, let alone twice within a month).
Fetish, I assume you didn’t see or know anything about his first two starts? Or the one immediately after he “heard about his pitching on the internet”?
Talent-wise, Felix is the best pitcher the M’s have had since Randy Johnson. He’s also 21. And where was Randy Johnson at 21? Yes, we’re having to watch Felix put it together in major league games. That can be frustrating at times; most pitchers do their learning out of view, in AAA ball. But Felix is good enough that he’s here in front of us in games that matter, because when he does have it together (which can be most or all of many games) he’s better than every other pitcher on the team. Yes, that can be frustrating. But if you don’t have the patience for that, I don’t know what to tell you.
We need Hass to go deep to Hackett to tie it up before the two minute warning. Too bad Ibanez and Sexson can’t block for him
With a 7-0 game in the 8th, why don’t you just promote the game and call him out, blue?
And why the aggressive baserunning in this game situation?
Felix’s peripherals suggest he’s one of the top 5 starters in the AL. I’m not sure what else he’s supposed to do in order to not qualify as a bust.
Dave Simms: “Raul Ibanez, our last hope”… Now thats something that will give ya nightmares
Well, I turned the game on just in time to see an AWFUL call from Reed at first base.
That was one of the best 3rd base plays you could ever hope to see, and Beltre gets completely robbed by a numskull in blue.
If the calls were anything like that for the first 7 innings I’m surprised the score isn’t 142-0.
I know it’s not much in the bigger scheme of things, but baseball is also a game of moments, and to have such a great moment of personal excellence negated because someone sucks at their job… sucks.
Uhhh… a bust? Are you serious?
Thank God it’s over.
250
He’s hardly a bust, but to keep some of the vultures away, avoiding meltdowns like today would be a good start. Especially after how brilliant he was.
He’s only 21, so losing his focus isn’t a crime, but it sure hurts him on the mound sometimes.
This team is frustrating. The offense is actually decent, but there are stretches where they look terrible. They hack way too much, hit too many grounders (which turn into GIDPs) and lack pop, especially against RHPs. I think that accounts for so much of the inconsistency. When the ground balls find holes, we score runs. When they find leather, we go down 1-2-3 in a 7 pitch inning.
Then, whe you consider the rotation is one ace with focus problems, two #4 guys, and two pitch-to-contact-no-out-pitch arms, there will be weeks where we look hopeless. And other weeks where we look unbeatable.
Jones will help. Getting Broussard in against righties more (though he didn’t look good today) will help. Getting Ibanez out of the middle of the order against Lefties will help. But nothing this year is going to change the basic quality of this team, which is above average, but not elite.
We need a fair amount of luck to make the playoffs. If we get there, like Dave said on KJR, we’ve got really good chances (if you make the playoffs, you just have to go 7-5 to get to the World Series).
This crew has been terrible the whole series. Just terrible.
In reading the game thread, were you joking, Dave, about the ump applauding Halladay???
Also, the only bright spot to today was that since Vidro wasn’t playing, we’d be able to go a whole game thread without having the “Vidro is so much awesomer than you give him credit for” discussion, right?
*That Beltre throw from the ground didn’t even make the game recap highlights on the home teams post-game… that’s how one idiot can turn one of the best plays of the year into “never happened.”
Gooden was only 19-20 when he put his best starts together, and Felix is not a rookie anymore so these mistakes need to become few and far between. Now if Felix doesn’t do a bunch of coke and ruin his career and life I would take that also.
JMH
Can’t say there was one thing I could disagree with in your post.
I guess that underscores why we have to make the BEST use of the part we have and not continue to have McLaren try to put the square peg in the round hole.
Beltre not getting that call at first was a crime. That was one of the best plays at third I’ve ever seen. Amazing throw.
257, that’s why I lamented the blown call. If he was called out, it would almost surely make SportsCenter,
but I’ll be surprised to see it anywhere but on FSNorthwest or a Seattle TV station.
I suppose it could be worse. Yankees are currently thrashing TB 18-3 in the seventh after sweeping the doubleheader yesterday.
Nice and hot over the next few days down in Texas. Ought to be lots of fun playing baseball in the bandbox.
Blech.
Would this game possibly boost the case for us to go after a couple hitters at the deadline? Especially if Bavasi is really convinced at the moment that none of the available starting pitchers are better than what we have right now?
Dave,
Are you posting your thoughts on the trade deadline soon? I’m interested to see what your take is on the situation.
I hope that your conclusion is not that 2nd place is good enough for Bavasi to save his job and therefore he doesn’t want to shake things up too much (although everyday this seems to become more apparent).
oooh, Bill Haselman is voting for not giving away your best prospects just to make a move at the deadline. Novel to hear from a former player.
Do the Mariners need another bat to make a playoff push?
I know we need a pitcher, and are currently pursuing a ace later to be named.
But, do we need to add a decent to good bat to make that playoff push more possible?
I think it will cost to much, or the Angels would outbid us, but Texiera as a switch hitter with another year till free agency and a career .905 OPS and infinitely better than you know who, would be nice.
so, lets see.
monday is HoRam pitching in Arlington.
tuesday is the double-header in Arlington.
wednesday is Weaver pitching in Arlington.
and then back home for 7 against the A’s and Angels, with no off days.
Teixeira is good but overrated — he’s been immensely helped by his home park over his career — and I fear we’d give up more for him than he’s worth. Moving from a great hitter’s park to a great pitcher’s park would almost inevitably put a big dent in his hitting.
If we get a bat I really hope it doesn’t play the of or DH. Not unless we get rid of baggage to get it.
And baggage does not mean prospects.
If they get rid of Adam Jones to get some crappy veteran hitting or pitching, I might have to start by boycott again.
Hey… Bavasi is making sense on FSN! “Only three guys (starting pitchers) we know are available, and they aren’t difference makers… (would you look at the second tier, then?)… no, the second tier isn’t good enough.”
Uh-oh…
Did anyone hear him talking about AJ just now?
#268: Yes. This could be the best of times or the worst of times…..
All I know is that I’ve got 5 Ms jerseys neatly pressed and ready for this upcoming week.
Bavasi, talking about rumors…
“There was a story about Adam Jones coming up. And I don’t how it started, I don’t where it got started. It couldn’t have been more, more wrong. But we got some phone calls because of it. So, um, it’s not, they’re not bad things.”
Verbatim.
so, because teams thought they were calling Adam up they got calls on other players? is that what he is saying?
Holy crap…
Bavasi – “We are blessed, though, we’ve got guys that, that are either gifted defensively or take a lot of pride in it. Uh, you know, Raul Ibanez is an example of a guy that takes a lot of pride in it. He’s worked real hard to become a good outfielder.”
Do all the talking points coming out of Safeco these days seem to be specifically designed to counter USS Mariner, or what?
I mean, who the hell goes out of their way to praise Raul’s defense?
He can’t really be that &^%$%^ stupid, can he?
274 – You know, maybe it was. That’s a more positive way of looking at it.
I wasn’t thinking positively after the “they couldn’t be more wrong (about AJ coming up).
I think the phone calls about AJ coming up and ‘people calling’ might have to do with who we sit in favor of AJ? Am I reaching too far? Cause I really hope he isn’t implying AJ is available in this crappy market
Bavasi on criticism when losing and praise when winning:
“You know, this is gonna sound rude, but, but I don’t pay attention to either. It’s not, you know, the media I look at is more national. Look at what’s going on in Texas, or in New York in other cities. We are, none of the us, the managers, the gms, all 60 of us, none of us are as smart as we may be written about and none of us are as dumb. We’re somewhere in between.”
wtf? Who said anything about local vs. national, Bill? News flash, you get criticized nationally, too.
Did that whole Felix reading the internet thing really get under their skin over there?
And if you don’t want to sound stupid, stop praising Raul’s defense… it doesn’t help.
277 – Yeah, you and msb, may be right… but then I have to say… if he got any offer at all for Vidro et al, and turned it down because he didn’t want to bring AJ up, that’s even worse.
Man, I would kill to know what the people on the other end of those calls said.
Or Reitsma/Mateo’s pitching
280 – Good point. I didn’t even quote that gem.
To the people talking about Teixeira
Why wouldn’t he be bad? Sure he’ll be extremely overpriced, but the again, if we dump Sexson and his 15 MIL price tag, that will clear up room. PLUS. Safeco favors left handed power. With the majority of the league being right handed, he will get to hit left handed, where the VAST MAJORITY of his career home runs come from. Seems to me the short deck in right field would be seen a lot more often with Teixeira in our line up rather than Sexson
Bavasi has pretty much been a friend to USSM I think.
Bavasi has been a friend to USSM, but bad for the M’s as a team.
After looking at Tex’s splits over 3 years, he does seem to struggle in larger parks. His 3 yr OPS average at Safeco is almost 100pts lower than his career OPS.
But if we could dump Sexson in the process, that kind of makes it a more valuable trade.
Im gonna solve all our RH/LH issues next year..Have Wlad and AJ out there and find a LH 1B…dont re-sign Guillen, as much as I love the guy, and spend that extra money on a pitcher. I’m tired of the ‘we can’t have AJ and Wlad next year because they are both righties’….find a LH 1B!!! Problem solved.
278, 280 – On the other hand, he can’t exactly sit there and bash these guys in the press, then go sit down with another GM who he might be trying to convince/sucker into taking one these guys off our hands and then expect to make a good deal.
288-I dont think there are any blind GM’s in baseball
289, apparently there is one:)
Here’s every 1st baseman with a better RC in baseball that guy we got. Re: 287 – tell me who you think can be had, and what it would cost.
1 Prince Fielder MIL 78.6
2 Albert Pujols STL 74.1
3 Todd Helton COL 70.7
4 Justin Morneau MIN 70.2
5 Derrek Lee CHC 68.5
6 Ryan Howard PHI 67.1
7 Carlos Pena TAM 64.6
8 Kevin Youkilis BOS 64.3
9 Paul Konerko CHW 63.7
10 Adrian Gonzalez SDG 60.0
11 Dmitri Young WAS 59.9
12 Lance Berkman HOU 58.5
13 Mark Teixeira TEX 57.3
14 Ryan Garko CLE 53.0
15 Carlos Delgado NYM 51.9
16 Scott Hatteberg CIN 48.2
17 Kevin Millar BAL 46.6
18 Adam LaRoche PIT 46.2
19 Casey Kotchman LAA 43.7
20 Sean Casey DET 42.5
21 Dan Johnson OAK 41.4
22 Conor Jackson ARI 38.8
23 Richie Sexson SEA 38.0
AJ not in the Tacoma game today
290-Retarded and blind are different
Unless it’s because he’s on his way to SeaTac to catch a flight to Arlington, I won’t be getting too excited.
#287: Not really, because you still have only 2 left handed hitters outside of Ichiro. An aging Raul Ibanez and whoever this “left handed 1B is” which would either be:
A. Bryan LaHair
B. Ben Broussard
C. Jose Vidro
D. some crappy player in free agency or trade
Even with AJ and Wlad/Guillen and your “left handed sock” at first, you still have not a crappy lineup, but a very right handed heavy lineup. It’s a shame Seung-Yeop Lee decided to stay in Japan and sign a new long term deal with the Youmiri Giants, otherwise I would’ve pushed hard to get him to Seattle last winter if I were GM.
But he didn’t, and quite honestly unless there is some Japanese star that will be up for post that we don’t know about, there really won’t be anything as far as left-handed hitting 1B on the market. Sure there is Texiera, but do you honestly think Texas will give him to us in a trade?
And the problem is, who else in this lineup do you trade away besides Sexson to get a leftie in there? Next year you would have AJ, Wlad/Guillen, Ichiro, Lopez, Betancourt, and whoever Sexson’s replacement is. And then that leaves you to trade Beltre, Ibanez, or Johjima. But you really can’t trade any of those guys because:
A. There is no leftie-3B out there who could succifiently replace Beltre
B. You probably aren’t going to get much for Ibanez, plus he’s the “heart and soul” of the team. (Notice I put
that in quotes, but hey, never underestimate chemsitry).
C. Unless Jeff Clement is ready for the Majors in 2008, there is 0 point to trade Kenji for anything. Plus it’s
very obvious that most of the pitchers on this staff work very well with him.
So sadly, even if you do make a couple obvious moves such as trade Sexson and get AJ in here, you are still stuck with a right handed heavy lineup for at least next year.
294..thats all i have for the day..i need hope
296- I hear that
There are really only two moves that need to be done. First promote Adam Jones and let him play alot of leftfield. Second trade Balentien, Clement and Triunfel for Aaron Harang.
#292 They probably don’t want him to rupture a quad on the slippery OF grass….
299- I was at the game last night…it rained the whole game and he was out there
Pineiro DFA’d..lets get him! (sarcasm)
Maybe the Sox eating the $4 million they spent to sign Pineiro will make the M’s feel better about eating Vidro’s salary. Or Sexson’s. Or HoRam’s.
Will the back to back shutouts be the straw that breaks the back and finally gets Jones in a big league uniform?
I don’t know how much more can be said on this point…the longer the team waits, the more opportunities it loses to make up ground in both the division and wild card races. The team cannot afford to blow chances like this. The Angels are too dangerous a team to think they will play this poorly the rest of the way, and the M’s simply aren’t deep enough to allow a big division lead to open again.
What is it going to take to get Jones into the everyday lineup?
#303 Especially that WC race.
The Yanks are doing exactly what they’re supposed to do, beat up on the last-place teams (and some other under-.500 teams, like the Blue Jays!!!). They aren’t breathing down the M’s necks yet, but they might before they play a bunch of series against better-than-.500 teams.
And they’ve already started their patented give-a-AAnearzero-to-get-a-useful-MLBpawn trading (Kennard for Molina)… Amazing how they do that!
I already feared that the M’s slumping offense was going to be horrible going into this series with the Jays.
Happy Felix Day indeed!
So did Felix not mix his pitches today, or did all the balls hit off of him happen to find gaps, or is it because he’s only 21? Just curious what excuse we’ve decided to use for King Felix today. As pathetic as it may sound I’m beginning to get more excited for Miggy Batista Day.
Everyone would like to see Jones called up, but they weren’t going to do it whle they kept winning, so maybe the weekend has a silver lining.
301: Sad in a way…but also too funny!
Don’t give hope there, Jo-el…maybe the Nats or D-Rays need another “starter”.
Well I just got in from Toronto, what a brutal game.
Guess none of my signs or myself made it on to TV. Sitting directly one row behind the M’s dugout there were some definite stupid calls being made today. Obviously the one on Rios was the one that extended the AB and then broke the game open. I have to say that the Beltre play was one of the best I have ever witnessed, yet he gets screwed and its an “almost” amazing play.
307 – The Rays already have the most pitching in MLB
298 – Yes please and no thanks
305 — Good points.
I guess he can act like a child on the mound when a pitch doesn’t go his way because he’s 21? I thought it wasn’t good form to do that when you’re 18 or even a 12-year old little leaguer.
And, hey, he hasn’t been pitching that long (he’s only 21
) so don’t expect him to know how to mix his pitches.
But at least he carries on the tradition started by his idol Freddy Garcia of shuffling around the mound like he’s wearing a pair of pajamas.
But come on… he’s only 21, and he’ll be a hall famer based on the fact that he’s got great stuff!
Pineiro DFA’ed by the Red Sox.
Yes, I do think that 1.5 people who read this will care.
Sorry, I didn’t realize that news had been posted.
AJ to LF, Ben B to 1B, and Mark Lowe back (though I fear he isn’t the arm he used to be). Don’t trade anybody, and the team is good to go.
I nod to the comment about Boston eating Joel’s salary. We can’t even get Turbo or Sexson benched. However, I had been surprised that Billy Beane didn’t DFA Jason Kendall awhile ago.
Bless the souls
of the dim-whitted trolls,
Whose low self esteems
move them to demean
the virtues King Felix extolls.
309: Lots of legit prospects there, granted…but I wasn’t counting ones that their retarded ownership will probably trade the minute they “can’t afford them anymore.”
314: Great limerick, BTW!
Don’t be shocked if Jones gets traded at the deadline for a second-tier starting pitcher. They’ve done it before, i.e. Jose Cruz for Mike Timlin, Derek Lowe for Heathcliff Slocumb. This organization is so preternaturally dumb that nothing they do shocks me. As for Felix, I’ve been saying for almost 2 years on this site that rushing kids, no matter how talented, to the majors is a bad idea; the pressure destroys them, or at least retards their development. Someone mentioned Doc Gooden; yes, he had great years at a very young age, but then look at what happened to him. Felix should be in Tacoma, perfecting his craft.
#317: HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.
Oh ya,
HA HA.
Who is they?
BTW, the Ms destroyed the careers of Jr and AROD when they rushed them to the bigs.
317: I was thinking the same thing about AJ…and funny you should mention Woody Woodpecker’s boneheaded moves from ‘97, since I posted a huge rant about that in one of the threads from a couple of days ago (7/20).
As for Gooden, a lot of his “drama” resulted from falling in with the wrong crowd — i.e. snowbunnies like Strawberry, (Keith) Hernandez, et al. It is a damn shame, though, every time I think of how awesome he was in his early years and how he SHOULD have just about been ready for the HOF on the first ballot right now.
317: Yes that Cruz Jr. trade was so awful because he’s such an all-star….
Trades shouldn’t be evaluated based on hindsight.
317 and 318: I’m so totally not sure if you are being sarcastic or not. If you are, than wow! That’s impressive.
If you’re not, than wow that’s sad.
Cruz Jr., he’s had a decent career, but has never been big.
ARod and Jr. (and I can’t believe I’m defending AWad) had nothing left to learn or prove in the minors. Much like Adam Jones, they were ready for the promotion because the minors were no longer a challenge.
322: For the record I was being sarcastic
.
320: Actually, that was probably the least-sucky move of the bunch in retrospect, since we at least got a halfway productive year out of Timlin in ‘98. However, that Lowe AND Varitek trade for Slocumb was bloody awful…and the bottom line is, it probably wouldn’t have been necessary to “shore-up” the ‘pen in ‘97 had good ol’ Woody not blown up the set-up corps that he had (Nellie, Risley, potentially Mecir) by trading them all the year before.
planB:
Thanks for the evaluation link I read it over and I get were Dave is coming from with the at the, “time of the trade” way of looking at a trade because at the time of the Cruz trade a lot of fans were cheesed it happened (I was one of them at the time). But when people keep referencing the trade now, it’s with the feeling he’s a hall of fame player but he isn’t. As Dash from post 322 said, “Cruz Jr., he’s had a decent career, but has never been big.” So is the Cruz trade still a bad trade?
325 – Yes. Cruz had a certain value at the time of the trade. The value of the other players at the time of the trade vs. his value at the time of the trade is what matters to me. Not a comparison of their subsequent careers.
No, I wasn’t being sarcastic, and I should have made it clear I was talking about pitchers, not position players. I think Freddy Garcia would have had a better career if he’d gotten more minor league seasoning, for example. I’m worried about Felix for 3 basic reasons: his mechanics make him injury-prone, he has no clue about pitch selection, and I just don’t think he is mentally ready for being in a major league pennant race, and I think today’s meltdown reflects that. (I’d be somewhat less concerned about the pressure on him if the M’s were hopelessly out of it.) As for Cruz, yes, he flamed out, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a terrible trade at the time (particularly since better pitchers were available), and the Lowe/Varitek for Slocumb trade is only challenged by the 1991 let’s-give-away-the-bullpen for Kevin Mitchell trade as not only the 2 worst trades ever made by the M’s, but 2 of the worst trades ever.
Geez….some of you are simply amazing.
Is Halladay a crappy pitcher? Is Felix a God?
The answer is no, to both. Yet, Seattle has a whopping “2″ game losing streak, and you’re screaming like Chicken Little.
It’s great how brilliant some of you are, even though most of your baseball background comes from your Playstation.
I love it…..really. The M’s win seven in a row, and it’s all smoke and mirrors. They lose two, and the world is coming to an end and if something isn’t done this very second, all hope is gone.
What do any of you really care, anyway? It took you forever to embrace the reality that they are winning. Now, suddenly, you care?
The answer is to follow the SAME path they have followed to get here….not overreact and make a rash move. Jones won’t be here tomorrow, though Lowe probably will.
Some of you cleverly hide your love for prospects using the “we need to win now” cloak. It’s BS. You want to win NOW, you go find a lefthanded Guillen (D. Young?) who’s an experienced veteran, not risk handing the job to a rookie….especially for a whole one extra month. If you REALLY care about the M’s making the playoffs, you let Jones finish his season in Tacoma and bring him up in September, so you don’t screw yourself out of an option.
And PLEASE stop the crap about leftfield defense. It’s great to talk about, but it seldom wins games. Outfield defense is overrated, other than having arms like Ichiro and Guillen, to get the runners to think about not taking an extra base. Beyond that, there simply aren’t enough great defensive plays to sway the outcome of a game.
If anything, you should be jumping on Felix for his lack of maturity…..his TOTAL inability to deal with adversity….to the point that he sits and pouts on the mound, instead of backing up home. THAT is more concerning, than worrying about wheither or not Raul can’t make that once a week great play, that Jones could.
Boston wins with Manny in LF, and the M’s can with Raul…….provided he’s hitting. But, to somehow use Jones’ defense as a reason, by itself, to bring him up, is pathetic.
I’d love to see Jones here, but not at the risk of not making a move and banking on him being able to hit major league pitching. The BEST move is to get a veteran bat who can play LF AND keep Jones so he can start out next season as a regular. THAT accomplishes both.
BTW….comparing Jones to Griffey and A-Fraud is reaching with long arms. I love Jones, but both Griffey and A-Fraud have “BEST OF THE CENTURY” talent…..while Jones, at best, is “BEST OF THE DECADE.”
Please stop accusing other fans of not being fans.
Please stop accusing other fans of misdirection and hiding their beliefs and intentions.
Outfield defense is important. Most metrics put top defensive outfielders at 15-20 runs/year over an average one. That’s big.
Please stop saying other arguments are pathetic. It’s not helpful.
Thanks.
So we’re in a pennant race, and we need to leave “best of the decade” talent in AAA. I think I follow.
328-
I don’t think anyone was ’screaming’ like ‘Chicken little’, and to insult those who post here about their baseball backgrounds is completely out of line.
Fact, the M’s haven’t scored a run in 22 innings.
Fact, the offense has been in a funk since the all star break.
Fact, Adam Jones would help this lineup.
Fact, Vidro has been in a season long slump that he’s not going to shake.
You compared Ibanez to Manny in Boston? Are you kidding me?
I’m worried about Felix for 3 basic reasons: his mechanics make him injury-prone, he has no clue about pitch selection, and I just don’t think he is mentally ready for being in a major league pennant race, and I think today’s meltdown reflects that.
And how exactly is keeping him in Tacoma for the last three years going to fix ANY of that?
He has to grow up. And he has to grow up in the majors. There was nothing left for him to learn in AAA, and there’s still nothing for him to learn in AAA today. Now, it’s all about him learning to be a pitcher, growing up, and babying his arm.
Boston wins with Manny in LF, and the M’s can with Raul…….provided he’s hitting.
Manny’s 2007 OPS (worst of his career): .870
Ibanez’ 2006 OPS (best of his Mariners career): .869
Ibanez’ 2007 OPS is .711. In order to match Manny’s OPS this year, he’d have to have what, a 1.09 OPS the rest of the way? He’d have to hit better than A-Rod has been hitting this year (1.068) for the remainder of the season just to catch back up to Manny.
Can you honestly tell me that Ibanez could do that, and at the same time step up his mediocre at best glove work to the level Adam Jones is at now?
Hmm. When the meltdown happened it didn’t even cross my mind that it would be the only thing that seemed to draw such a reaction from the game.
Felix’ tantrum didn’t lose the game. The mariners “hitting” attack lost the game. And the one before that.
Felix was on for most of the game and like most games, a pitch or two called/hit differently decided the ballgame.
that game was not very much fun to watch
also, not sure if this is the place for it, but RIP Mike Coolbaugh, the AA 3rd base coach for the tulsa drillers was killed after being hit in the head by a foul ball.
Always thought they should wear helmets, im sure most disagree, but gosh that ball comes in quick
1st base, not 3rd base, sorry
unbelievable. well, maybe not unbelievable, but awful.