Game 123, Mariners at Twins
Washburn vs Baker, 5:10 pm.
I’m throwing the game thread up before the line-up gets announced so that I don’t have any chance to react on the off chance that Kenji’s playing center field and hitting leadoff today or something. Because, for this thread, I want to put down my analyst hat for a second.
The Mariners are hosting something called Lolla-Blue-Za on Monday – the M’s are attempting to leverage the first playoff run we’ve seen in years into some city wide fan excitement, and are asking everyone to wear blue to to the Mariners-Angels series next Monday-Wednesday.
The name is ridiculously corny, but that doesn’t matter – I’m on board. The M’s are winning, there’s a pennant race in Seattle, and some of the best memories of my life were made at the Kingdome during the summer months of 1995. There’s something legitimately exciting about being at the ballpark in a game that means something, cheering on every two strike pitch, and demanding curtain calls from the players who hit monumental home runs.
So, if you’re going to the M’s-Angels series next week, wear blue and yell a lot. It’s been a long time since games at Safeco mattered as much as those three games will. We can talk about sustainability of performances all day long, but in the end, we all just want the team to win. So go nuts next week rooting for a sweep.
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And to rain on dave’s parade… standard lineup
Ichiro!
vidro
guillen
ibanez
beltre
sexson
jo
lopez
yuni
I heard about this on KJR this morning and at first I definitely had the typical smart-fan reaction, but then I thought about it and decided that this town needs years like this and stupid fan days like next Monday. I will be strutting my authentic home-alternate “King Felix” jersey with pride because I haven’t had a team to look up to in too long. I am also going to be at all three games and have a fairly loud voice, so I plan on fully doing my part.
I’ve got tickets to the last game in the series, I’ll make sure to wear massive blue and yell at everything.
Wow – that name is horrible. Plus, it’s pathetic that they have to ask. People should *want* to wear M’s clothing/colors to the games – but, instead, Safeco Field is so quiet/casual. People shouldn’t turn around and look at you like you’re crazy if you cheer w/o a prompt from the scoreboard. So annoying…
I picked a great week to see my only Mariners games of the year. I’ll be there for all three, baby!!!
Well, the point is for people to wear their Mariners gear all over Seattle, not just to the game.
I’ll be there Monday and Wednesday and will be hoarse by Thursday.
And by the way – glad to see that Mac is keeping his word and giving the guys time off during this streak of 44 games in 45 days. Good on ya’ Mac!!
At this rate, Jones and Broussard are going to get A LOT of ABs…
I’m absolutely on board with the Ms latest promotion. In fact I’ve been advocating their participation in a September playoff race for several years now.
None of us would devote time and energy to being a part of this community if we didn’t want the team to win.
I’ll have to check the closet to see how much blue I have, though!
Go M’s!
Oh, i get it. Lolla-Buh-Loo-Za.
Where’s Bumberbluesht?
i just bought 4 tixx for the wednesday day game on the 29th (3rd of 3 angels games) I guess i will have to get some blue body paint or something
-Ti
It’s always good to see a promotion trying to build team unity. However, I gotta question the color. Why not white instead? The main point of everybody wearing the same color is so that it’ll stick out when you look in the stands. Blue simply won’t do that really because of the dark greens that are throughout the stadium. White on the other hand would create nice contrast to the color of the stands. Oh well, I guess I really can’t complain as long as the promotion brings some extra excitement to the average M’s fan…
I love the name because it IS corny. I guess this thread is the one I’ve been waiting to say publicly what I’ve been saying privately since June.
I think that THIS team is one of the top two teams we’ve ever had in Seattle and it may be the BEST team we’ve ever had. Yes, even better than the 116 win team.
Before anyone goes off on me, step back and really look at the 95 team and the 116 win team and compare them to this team. This year’s team has the best bullpen we’ve ever had in Seattle.
Our starting pitching is as good as either of those other two teams and is getting better as the race heats up.
Our offense is spread throughout the entire lineup and doesn’t depend upon two or three guys (Martinez, Griffey, Buhner, for example).
Defensively this team is solid. If they continue to play inspired baseball like they did last night…whoa, look out.
Bottom line for me is this, if they make it to the playoffs they’ll have earned it. Most of our remaining games, at least the ones over the next three weeks, are on the road. To date we’ve been a .500 team on the road, so if the M’s expect to make the post season they’ll have to become ROAD WARRIORS from here on out.
Personally I think they can do it.
I watched the game between the Angels and Yanks last night (one of the most exciting games I’ve seen in a while) and we have our work cut out for us, make no mistake about it. Both those teams are really, really good.
This is going to be a FUN six weeks!! Go M’s!!!
I thought our colors were navy…
I just had an AWSOME Flashback!!
Does anyone remember how when the 116 win year we went to the playoffs … the Tukwilla (Southcenter Mall) team store had people running accross the parking lot to get in line to buy tickets for playoff games??
that was such a rush jumping over moving cars and fallen people… only to get near the front of the line and have a massive wave of people crashing down on me almost pushing me through the department store window… i got quite the headache from that window, but it was worh it… i ended up (with some help from another fleet footed friend) going to all the playoff games that post season….
i hope to do it all over again
-Ti
What about those teal uniforms from the mid-90s? Do those count?
So they finally talked about the Mariner’s on ESPN. Basically saying they have a good shot at making the playoffs and how they cant believe we are still winning. They still think we wont do it though because of the road trip coming up. Personally I love it how ESPN doesn’t believe in are Mariners.
Our Mariners are mariners.
Woah. you’re about to get jumped on #14
Comparison:
F Garcia (18-6, 138 ERA+) v F Hernandez (107) Edge: Garcia
J Moyer (123) v J Washburn (102) Edge: Moyer
A Sele (117) v M Batista (102) Edge: Sele
P Abbott (99) v J Weaver (76) Edge: Abbott
J Halama + J Piniero v H Ramirez + C Seung Baek + R Feierabend (70?) Edge: Halama/Piniero
Every starter in every slot was better than what we have now.
Hitters
D Wilson (91 OPS+) v Johjima (106) Edge: Johjima
Olerud (137) v Sexson (doesn’t matter) Edge: Olerud
Boone (154) v Lopez (77 – YIKES! That’s worse than Sexson) Edge: Boone
Bell (93) v Beltre (116) Edge: Beltre
C Guillen (88) v Betancourt (101) Edge: Betancourt
A Martin + S Javier (~100) v Ibanez (117) Edge: Ibanez
M Cameron (124) v I Suzuki (125) Edge: Even
Ichiro (127) v J Guillen (119) Edge: Ichiro
The 2001 team had an OPS+ of 119, compared to 2007’s 107. It seems pretty clear that 2001 hit and pitched better then than now.
Let’s not forget that Ichiro + Mike Cameron is a better outfield than whatever we throw out know, even including Adam Jones. Also remember that Boone and Olerud were regarded as excellent defenders, so they probably had a fielding edge as well.
Myth Busted.
sorry
#19 — There is not an ESPN contributor who has actually watched a Mariners game this year. In fact, most national writers haven’t watched a single Mariners game. A baseball writer from USA Today was on XM earlier, and when speaking about the strength of the M’s bullpen, struggled to come up with the names of Putz and Morrow. Solid journalism.
Before anyone goes off on me, step back and really look at the 95 team and the 116 win team and compare them to this team. This year’s team has the best bullpen we’ve ever had in Seattle.
Our starting pitching is as good as either of those other two teams and is getting better as the race heats up.
Our offense is spread throughout the entire lineup and doesn’t depend upon two or three guys (Martinez, Griffey, Buhner, for example).
Defensively this team is solid. If they continue to play inspired baseball like they did last night…whoa, look out.
Uhhhh…no. Starting rotations:
The 95 Mariners had Randy at 18-2. That Randy and 4 HoRams would be a better rotation than we’ve got this year (OK, maybe not, but still…)
The 2001 Mariners rotation was:
Moyer (20-6, 3.43)
Garcia (18-6, 3.05)
Sele (15-5, 3.60)
Abbott (17-4, 4.25)
Halama (10-7, 4.73)/Pineiro (6-2, 2.03)
Love your optimism. But you can’t tell me this year’s rotation is anywhere near as good as that. No how, no way.
Sorry fetish — you beat me to it and did it better.
The 2001 rotation was greatly aided by the defense behind them, not so much with this years staff. Still, 01SP > 07SP.
In #21, fetish, you only compared eight hitters – the ninth would have really bolstered your already-strong argument.
DH – Jose Vidro (110 OPS+) vs. Edgar Martinez (161 OPS+)
That’s a pretty resounding win for the 2001 team.
How soon Edgar is forgotten.
McLaren: “Tonight was a case when we’re playing well, so [I] ran the same group out there,” he said. “But some of my thoughts coming into the series was with the [artificial] turf here, a day game here on Wednesday and the heat in Texas; put it all in a ball of wax and we’re going to have to mix some guys in there.
“You hate to break up winning combinations, but again, you hate to put it to a point where even though they are hot, they might not have the bat speed. And we have to keep our bench players sharp. There are a lot of things we are thinking about.”
Put it all in a ball of wax indeed.
so if you take the # of games already won this year and add them to the # of games left this year… you get 109… and i am pretty shure that the mariners will not win out the rest of the season.
that alone tells me that the 2001 team was maybe not better, but the had more… here it comes… CHEMISTRY!
-T1
oh yeah… and they (as a team) were on a unsustainable streak
Basically saying (the Mariners) have a good shot at making the playoffs and how they cant believe we are still winning. They still think we wont do it though because of the road trip coming up. Personally I love it how ESPN doesn’t believe in (our) Mariners.
Baseball Prospectus says the Mariners have ~40% chance to make the playoffs and the Angels are a 4:1 favorite to win the division. I happen to agree with them and ESPN — I hope this team wins but with the gaping holes in the rotation, lineup and defense and management I expect they win between 18 and 20 games the rest of the season and that’s not enough. At the same time, I’m keeping the calendar clear in October.
Does that make us non-believers? Perhaps, but I choose to call it realism. (Going to look for a blue shirt now…)
Edgar and Boone alone make 2001 the better team, even ignoring pitching.
Yeah, I still think Boone should have been the MVP over Ichiro in 2001, he just had an unbelivable offensive season, not to mention gold glove caliber ‘D’
I heard Boone worked really hard that offseason to get stronger.
The Twins announcers hoping to get drilled…
So…why can’t I figure out what’s going on with the Twin’s logo? Are they moving to Chicago?
Holy Vidro!
Vidro again.
36: TC for Twin Cities.
Turbo Power, he got a hold of that one!
I’ll be at the game on Wed. wearing blue and screaming.
Was Vidro’s hit a LD?
39 Thanks. “Twin Cities”! I feel foolish for not figuring that one out.
Is Ichiro hurt?
He has really been slumping the last week or so, and he is really has had a tough time squaring up any of the Twins pitchers….
#42
Not it was a seeing eye grounder up the middle that would only be a hit on astroturf.
SWUNG ON AND BELTRED!!!
I’m serious, trade stadiums with the Twins for September. We’d win the west easily.
FUNK BLAST!
Beltre! I bet Red is going crazy!
Best third baseman in baseball? (counting D of course)
Like I said…
Holy smokes!
Yippee!
I love me some Beltre
I would gather that this does not bode well for the Twins starter.
back to back HR. This is fun to watch
Sexson! I am confused, is he hot now too?
Back to Back Funkiness!
44 He did have a pretty good night a few games ago
Haha nice dive.
Worse. Slide. Ever.
Nice Double J-Lo.
What a painful looking slide by Lopez. >_>
That slide was hilarious
That was the best moment of the season.
Did he end up with the corner in his groin? I missed the details.
Wow, I can’t believe Ichiro’s hitting .338 in August. It seems like he hasn’t been hitting in eons.
Vidro would have brought in that run.
any sense of what hung Jose up on the ground en route to the bag? his pulchritude?
see, when I first heard it, I took it as wear your blue Mariner gear (vs the whites)
Just like he did last night!
#63
Ichiro is being overshadowed by Vidro, Ibanez, and Sexson. You almost don’t even notice the little guy anymore.
Washburn looks really good. Let’s tag on some runs.
Has any team ever had 9 players with 50+ home runs each? That’s one team with 450 home runs, at least.
I don’t even worry about Washburn anymore until Mac leaves him in too long in the 7th inning.
Now that was a good slide.
I love how Guillen tries to crush the guy at 2nd everytime there’s a possible DP
Will the Comcast housemates be wearing blue on their rock tour in Canada?
Guillen made no effort to go for the bag – that’s interference and not legal. He’s got to at least swipe the bag with his hand.
I am starting to think Vidro can hit .400 for the rest of the season.
(Expletive) — Mariners set the MLB team home run record with 264 in 1997.
the former third baseman thought it was a clean slide, I think because he could reach the bag if he’d wanted to
Kind of like the guy ‘touching’ second for the force out.
Vidro’s trade value will never be higher….hint, hint….
Vidro’s trade value will never be higher
Sure, but who will we get to carry Ichiro then?
“It’s Lutheran Night here”
Now that cracked me up — or could, possibly, I have misheard? Talk about Garrison Keillor country: covered dish basball games.
If we traded Vidro, who would do that endearing knuckle-handshake-hopping thing with Putz after each win/save?
No question about it: Vidro’s carrying a heavy load for this team.
Oh a replay of that slide. Nice.
“The Romanian judge gave him a 2.4″
Now that was funny.
Sims is really growing on me. That Romanian judge crack was awesome. Nearly as good as Valle’s “Oops, sniper got him…”
Alexi Castilla just broke up a no hitter
Thank you Mr. Smartypants.
Strike em out, throw em out!
WOOO!! Love me some Mariners baseball!
I don’t know for sure because I’m at at work, but on Gamecast it really looks like the umpire is squeezing out both pitchers.
Tsk, tsk, 3rd out at 3rd base.
So badass. Dumb move by the Twins trying to take third with two outs.
I mean one out. But then it was two. Whatever, you know what I mean.
Nice bag shot by Guillen.
I’m falling in love with Guillen. He hits, he wears the high socks, and he’s homicidally crazy.
Guillen is an animal.
that sucked a little…
Other than Raul’s (non-RBI) single the M’s are o-fer with RISP. Need more than 2 runs guys!
Why wasn’t Guillen ruled safe? It’s clearly illegal to impede a runner’s path to a base…
#96
There is no getting around it. Guillen is a badass.
so amid the confusion of who to root for in the ny/la series, who are we rooting for in the det/cle series? they’re only a half game apart in the central, who would you rather we were competing with for the Wild Card? Also, Do we want Boston to keep winning to keep their lead over the Yankees?
Personally, I’d rather see us win the division than the wild card. I really hate Anaheim and I’d like to see the Yankees beat them in this series and then have Boston take care of business in future series’ vs. NY. I hate the Yankees as much as the next guy but if they can help us win the division I’m going to root for them, if only for these next two games.
nice AB Sexson
woo time for funk slam!
ouch
A Kenji DP.. that’s new.
#102
I just want to get into the playoffs one way or another.
Johjima needs to cut that GIDP shit out now…
If I get to pick, I want the Division.
This looks like a game we lose by one or two runs due to terrible situational hitting.
I hate a DP on the first pitch with the bases loaded right after a guy walks. Can’t you just take the first pitch to see if the guy can throw a strike? Maybe he’ll throw it in the dirt.
Please school me. Why would you swing at the first pitch when the guy before you just walked? This sounds like something they should teach in little league.
may I just say argh.
the batter before you worked a walk, could you please take a pitch? please?
absolutely terrible…..how do we fail to push that 3rd run across? Gotta get the job done.
Kenji….3 groundouts to the left side tonight.
My theory is McLaren is telling them to swing at the first pitch so the use less energy and the bench players can stay on the bench the rest of the season. Sounds like McLaren to me.
#112
My boss told me the theory is the pitcher doesn’t want to walk the next guy after giving up a walk so they throw a pitch right over the plate but I am with you.
Ms have 18 LOB so far this game. The score should’ve been 7-0.
good to know all the umps are paying close attention like that.
we all know he got hit, but he went around…that’s a strike!
to someone who’s watching on TV, how does JW look? He seems to not have much control
118: 18 LOB in 5 innings? Methinks that’s impossible!
Even if he didn’t go around, don’t you have to make some attempt to get out of the way of the pitch? I don’t think a 3/4 swing is attempting to get out of the way.
Washburn has looked pretty good to me.
118 – Gameday tracks LOB as every time a hitter doesn’t drive in a run when there is a man on base. Traditionally LOB is runners left on at the end of the inning, and by that measure they’ve left 8 on. That’s still bad, but not as impossibly bad
121- To me he has looked pretty good.
Washburn is pitching solid thus far.
Like I say the only time I worry about Washburn anymore is when he starts to run into trouble in the 7th inning and Mac waits too long before he brings in relief.
123: that’s one of those things that is never implemented. I mean, technically, he moved his hips back at the last second. So he did make an attempt to get out of the way.
just can’t tell if he’s making good pitches or if the twins are just hacking and getting themselves out. He’s only thrown 43 strikes on 73 pitches, after all.
128: With a 2 run lead and we only used 1 guy last night out of the pen in Ho’s start, Mac shouldn’t leave Washburn in too long.
Another first pitch swing. Of course Lopez has the discipline of a 4 year old with an ice cream cone.
Ibanez: “I got it!!”
Betancourt: “Mine!”
(Ibanez does sommersault while Betancourt makes catch)
Ibanez: “That was totally my ball…I’m the outfielder!”
Betancourt: “sort of…”
Ibanez: “What?!”
Betancourt: …
Ibanez: “What did you say?”
Betancourt: “You yell better than you run that’s all I’m saying”
Ibanez “But I’m the veteran outfielder and I called you off. My ball!”
Betancourt: “My bad, next time I’ll let you throw the ball to second after the bloop single.”
Ibanez: *fumes*
I wonder if Ichiro feels the POWWA….
did sims just say “a one hand job”?
It’s not nice to mock the afflicted, particularly when they’re hitting home runs.
And anyone watching the MLB telecast – I present to you your average Minnesota Twins fan. DID YOU GET A LOAD OF THAT GUY !?!?!
Man, I am glad we have people like Dave on our side. Please, keep the rally fries, they are much better than being “circled”…. are you kidding me?
You can only hope to contain him.
This Vidro guy is a god. That’s all I’m sayin’.
Ha! If you can’t hit with RISP, hit doubles with runners on first!
Holy Vidro!!
Ichiro is the MAN!!!!!!!!!!
Turbo!
Turbo’s regression to the mean delayed yet another day.
137- Its Lutheran night… not sure if that is an excuse though. Loved how them cut him off from talking.
I wonder if the Presbyterians are pissed for being left out
If it takes you 12 hits to get 3 runs, that is pretty bad. It is a lot like that game in Chicago against the Cubs that began one of the losing streaks. The M’s almost won despite Weaver giving up hard hit pitches all game because somehow these guys just weren’t scoring, and having more runs than hits for much of the game.
My post was a little Vague. The Cubs just weren’t scoring, whereas the M’s had more runs than hits.
I know this goes against this month’s theme of “don’t look at the M’s sucky guys’ stats because they are sucky”, but since Sexson got benched on the 4th and 5th he’s hit in 12 of 13 games at a .314/.352/.627-clip, up to the minute. *crossing fingers*
Since on bobblehead nights you give out bobbleheads, and dollar beer nights you sell beer…does that mean Lutheran night involves thousands of crates full of fundamentalists piled up somewhere in the stadium?
HamNasty, tell me it didn’t look like it was the first time out of the cave (or off the commune) in about 20 years for that dude.
God, please take mercy on the knucklehead in the upper deck of the Metrodome, and if you have any time left over, could you toss a couple of hallelujahs to Johnny Mac and have him mix in AJ a little more?
This does have the feel of a game where missed opportunities could come back to bite us.
It says the Twins have 2 LOB, but they really had 2 runners get the last out on the base paths. So after the 3rd out of each inning they have had zero base runners. Are they really LOB or is it a game day flaw?
You can hear the cheese clogging their throats when the fans talk.
131, you were very much right on.
The 7th inning appears to have snuck in a little early for Washburn.
By what logic did McLaren conclude that bringing in Morrow with the bases loaded was a good idea? One of his really recent appearances was also entering the game with the bases loaded. Isn’t absolutely maximizing the effect of greatest, most obvious weakness of a pitcher something a manager, especially one with a deep bullpen, should try to avoid?
Holy bejeezus. That was a narrow escape. We’re still going to win, though.
I share Lauren’s sentiment. All the LOB and I knew the Twins were not going to get shut out, it still feels like a W is coming our way.
One of these days we’re gonna have to play a team that can actually play baseball and we may be in for a rude awakening.
Lopez, we need a RISP base hit! A good one cause Sexson runs like one of those trees in Lord of the Rings.
160- Like when we swept the Bosox or took two of three from the Angels earlier this year?
150: Outstanding comment. Simply, well, outstanding.
How much would a crateload of fundamentalists go for on eBay these days? Harder to store and care for than the bobbleheads, to be sure.
Yay? Brandon Morrow?
If McLaren understood situational substitution he’d have had Bloomy at second and Broussard at the plate there. Bloomy goes to 2b and Broussard to first.
OK. It’s the 7th inning and Washburn barely got out of the 6th with a lead. Time for Johnny Mac to call the bullpen before the Twinkies jump ahead.
163: I think the shipping would kill the deal. Better to raise your own.
Better to raise your own.
Pretty much grow wild around here.
“Assuming you are a woman and will be one tomorrow …”
The Twins announcers are pretty solid. I’m enjoying them.
Wow, Ichiro!
I cracked the screen on my laptop tonight; I can only post while I’m backing up my files.
Is there a site where we can track player’s averages over the season on a daily basis? I’m curious to know when Richie was last hitting over .211.
Is there a site where we can track player’s averages over the season on a daily basis? I’m curious to know when Richie was last hitting over .211.
Look at his Yahoo player page.
July 2nd on Sexson, he was hitting .212. Yahoo fantasy sports has a season log.
Wait, since when are Lutherans fundies? I thought they were known for like church buffets and general whitebreadism.
150 –Just bobblehead Martin Luthers
Guillen takin’ one for the team.
add one more to the HBP
Guillen doesn’t even feel it anymore.
173 – thanks.
And 172, of course.
173: Bah, I hate you. I just came to that conclusion by tediously looking through game logs. He then doesn’t play for two days and is at .210 on the fifth.
Where are the Fargo jokes? I am sorely disappointed.
I can only wish for an Adam Jones pinch hit. It would be hard to double him up and it would counter Gardenire’s move. The defensive sub is going to be made in an inning anyways, should be made now.
I can only wish for an Adam Jones pinch hit. It would be hard to double him up and it would counter Gardenhire’s move. The defensive sub is going to be made in an inning anyways, should be made now.
GUILLEN!!!!
Turbo hustles in from second!??!!
Way to break up the DP! I love good old-fashioned hard nosed BB!
rsrobinson: See this
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/5931/splits;_ylt=AitqNMs6D_i7VVMj3I_pi6WFCLcF?year=career&type=Batting
If I were Gardenhire, I’d be out there screaming at the ump. That’s twice that Guillen has slid illegally in this game. But I’ll take it!
Guillen is a freakin’ warrior. I’m growing to love the guy.
Lauren–I’m no expert, but I think there’s at least 2 branches of Lutheranism, maybe more, and some are more fundy than others. Me, I go to an Episcopalian church–now there’s some white bread for you. But they’re very nice people.
I love when Guillen plays dirty–for us. BTW, those two RBI should be credited to him on that.
Also, Adam Jones sighting.
What’s the rule on sliding because that was just plain dirty by Guillen. He didn’t even slide in the direction of the bag, he slid right into Punto who was off of the bag.
Finally, a hit with RISP. Beltre!!!!
And yes, I know the preceding comment had absolutely nothing to do with the M’s 5-2 lead, the impact on the pennant race, the demise of the Twins–DOUBLE OFF THE WALL!–etc. We now return you to our regularly scheduled M’s love.
ADAM JONES! Look at those wheels, even though Ibanez could have scored I think.
That heckling fan on the FSN North Broadcast is awesome.
“I don’t care if he got a hit last time. This guy is hitting two-thirteen!”
Someone has a pretty loud voice.
The Metrodome reminds me of the sad old Kingdome. Nobody there. Fake grass. Things hanging from the cieling.
2 – 1 Angels in the 2nd
191
Two major divisions.
ELCA & the Missouri Synod. The MS is more fundy than the ELCA.
Back to baseball…
Man this lineup is on fire.
Also, Lutherans tend to follow some of the biblical rules that many of the other Protestant churches have abandoned. Luther founded the church as a response to what he felt was the Roman Catholic church changing Christianity from the original form for profit, so they tend to be pretty strict about matters.
But the one Lutheran I know (that I know of) is a very nice girl, so I’m not trying to condemn the church here.
well, of course, as Lutherans they wouldn’t want to get too full of themselves, or too prideful, and really, it is better to suffer a little in this life, isn’t it.
I see Chris Guccione is endearing himself to yet another crowd & team.
201–That’s what I thought, but I wasn’t sure and didn’t want to make a fool of myself–anymore than usual anyway. And 200, where are you getting your info? The MLB website has the NYY-LAA game at 0-0.
I know Guillen was wide of th bag on that slide, but how exactly is that rule worded/interpreted? He wasn’t reaching for the base, but I think that he could have reached it with his hand if he wanted to.
Dunk hit! Dunk hit!
In a race between Richie, Raul, and Vidro, who would finish last?
Richie, he has to be one of the slowest 5 guys in MLB if you don’t count catchers.
Morrow could get a save here.
Olerud.
I’m glad I didn’t pick up Neshek for my fantasy team. He was nails earlier this year.
Morrow went out for dinner and a movie between innings.
206: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/boxscore?gid=270821103
209–Maybe the M’s could set that up. Sort of a Seattle version of the Brewers’ sausage races, with equally embarrassing results.
Even Blowers thinks Neshek has been getting squeezed.
211-How is Morrow eligible for a save? It’s a 5-run lead.
Arod homer scores the Yanks run…
218- If he works the last 3 innings.
It’s a good thing we’re winning, since that 13-4 disparity in LOB would otherwise be unbearable.
Someone needs to give that fan a job… That dude is loud, man.
“Do not walk this guy again!!!!”
Classic, drunk Lutherans. I love it.
220–I didn’t realize Morrow had been in the game that long, I wasn’t paying close attention until the last inning. Thanks for the clarification.
Does anybody here the fan in the background screaming and yelling the entire inning. Funny stuff
He doesn’t quite have the lungs of that guy in Tampa Bay, though.
We need two to reach in the 9th so AJ gets an AB.
211-How is Morrow eligible for a save? It’s a 5-run lead.
It was a one-run lead when he came in, so it’s a save opportunity.
And no, he doesn’t have to pitch three innings.
Who is louder, this guy or the guy in Oakland?
Morrow doesn’t look nearly sharp as his last outing.
Well, yes, he will have to pitch three innings to get a save in this situation, but it’s not a requirement to get the save because he came in with a one-run lead.
223 – regarding the save – Morrow came into the game with a one run lead. Even without the three innings he could get a save. The save situation is determined when the pitcher enters the game.
However, if he doesn’t finish the game, whoever replaces him will not be eligible for a save (unless there are 2 guys on base).
227- Right, but to get the save you have to be the last pitcher which would require him to pitch the 7,8,9 innings.
Like now – if a new pitcher comes in, with the potential tying run in the hole, it’s a save situation.
227–ok, ok, Morrow’s eligible for a save 2 ways. I’m sorry I asked. (I actually do know the save rules, just didn’t understand how they applied to this game.) And unfortunately the Angels are winning 2-1, but it’s early. Let’s hope for another extra inning game, the better to wear them both out and mess up their pitching staffs!
232: Yeah, I hear you. For some reason I thought it was the ninth already.
Angels 4-1
Classic “too much rest between innings” probelm
I’m seriously kind of scared about this: Where is Adam Jones going to play next year?
224 -
Yeah I really wish I could make out what he’s yelling about, he’s definitely a man with somethin’ to say to someone. My guess is it’s something really hilarious.
238-
Here, we’ve got him locked for several more years.
240: That’s not what I’m asking. How do we know the Mariners aren’t just going to decide put Raul in left again. And Guillen in right.
Would the announcers please shut up so I can hear the guy in the stands? I know he has more important stuff to say.
Dugout shot on FSN–they look relaxed, almost bored. Good attitude for a team with a lot of games still to play.
Let me just quote from the first inning:
Is Ichiro hurt?
He has really been slumping the last week or so, and he is really has had a tough time squaring up any of the Twins pitchers….
Uh, yeah.
239: He’s mainly been ragging on Twins pitchers for walking Richie Sexson, heh.
6-1 Angels now.
seeing them on the bench reminds me, there was a very entertaining AJ note in the Trib this morning
Hey, look, Turbo DP. Raise your hand if you’re shocked.
Shit, no AB for Jones, again.
204: recovering Catholic here (and native Minnesotan), we like to suffer A LOT.
serious, thanks for the laughs on this little subthread. the comment about shipping versus growing your own made me laugh out loud (with nearby pets looking at me, alarmed).
for those that didn’t know, Jeff Clement hit a grand slam in the 1st inning in the Tacoma game today. on his 24th birthday, and with both Bavasi and Pelekoudas in attendance. Baek is pitching on Thursday or Friday in Tacoma, with Sean White pitching the day before. Barring total disaster, Baek will certainly be on the Sept callup list.
Oh wait, the really important news. Nick Lachey will be taking BP with the Rainiers Sat nite, and throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. Oh, the excitement.
No save after all.
7-1 now. Mussina chased after 1 2/3.
Ok, now we’ve got the low-stress, confidence-builder appearance for Sherrill that I was asking for yesterday. Better late than never, and all that.
Nice effort there by AJ. He can definitely fly.
Why not bring in Parrish if you want a LHP? You’re up by 5 runs and he has not pitched in awhile……seems like Sherrill is in every day.
How come Mussina didn’t pitch like that against the M’s in the 1997 playoffs? Maybe because he was at the height of his career then….
I’m not going to say he should have gotten that but I believe that AJ will make those plays in the future. Metrodome is hard though -you can’t take your eyes off the ball otherwise you lose it in the gray ceiling.
254 – second that…. We haven’t seen wheels like that in months. Raul would still be watching it drop from the warning track, tying his laces.
255–That’s a point. Though I’m still trying to figure out what possessed the FO to acquire Parrish in the first place.
so, after all the Alex to LA articles this morning, is the Angel offense trying to prove they don’t really need ARod, or trying to lure him to join in their fun?
Is it wrong of me to want the twins to score 5 runs here so AJ can get an AB?
Nice going, George!
261 – Bite your f’ing tongue. No threading the needle!
Good game, at this rate let the Angels sweep the Yanks to get a bigger lead for us. We need it with this road trip and the Yankee joke called a schedule in September.
too late now….I’ll take the win instead
let’s go yanks!
crap.
here I was watching a stupid Mariner win when I could have been listening to The Steve Kelley Show on KJR!
[forehead slap]
255 & 259 Duh! They picked up Parrish so that Putz would get more save opportunities.
As much as it pains me to say it, go Yankees!
Yankees fans are gonna be tearing their hair out if they lose tonight. 2 1/2 back of us, can you believe it?
Wow, not only did every starter get a hit, they all had more then 1 besides Ral and Yuni.
Yes, he is still Ral to me. I said he needed 1 good month to get a U back and he is on his way to that.
Seems like it didn’t take long for Johjima to bond with this pitching staff. I always take pleasure in watching him smile, congratulate, and conversate with the pitchers after the final out.
Who is Mickey York, and why is he pretending he either knows or cares what has happened to the Ms the last few years?
oh. okay.
followed by Cara asking Beltre who he’d want to win the Angels/NY game, like any ballplayer is going to answer that question.
Guillen (on the aftergame show on the radio) talking about his agressive baserunning just mentioned Lopez’s slide “I hate to see a slide like that he bust his face” (I think that’s what he said, anyway)
Yankees are coming back in the third. 7-5 now. I’m rooting for the Yanks myself, even though that makes me ill. I’d rather win the division, though.
Wait, since when are Lutherans fundies? I thought they were known for like church buffets and general whitebreadism.
Fundamentalism requires passion (usually in the form of sublimated sexual terror). “Lutheran” is in the dictionary as one of the antonyms of “passion.” (Along with “Minnesotan” and “Northwesterner”)
Wait – the Yankees game isn’t on ESPN!!!!
What happened?
Rooting for the Yankees to win isn’t the same as rooting for the Angels to lose. And it’s easier on the conscience. Lose, Angels, Lose!!
Well anyone rooting for both teams to use a lot of pitching is getting what they want.
I don’t think either Guillen slide at second was illegal or dirty. It’s only interference if the runner makes contact with a fielder fielding a batted ball, or if he goes outside the three feet allowed on either side of a straight line between the runned and the base he’s going for. Rule 7.09 says nothing about “making an effort to touch the base.” I also think Punto never had control of the throw on the second attempt. Guillen should have been safe. Breaking up the DP is one of the “gritty” things that good players do. I’ll take a player who plays like that.
I bet the Yankees and their fans are getting sick of us winning. I love it.
hey, the M’s have announced that the Indians make-up doubleheader in Sept will be a traditional double-header
“The first game is scheduled to begin at 4:05 p.m., and the second game will begin approximately 30 minutes after the end of game one. A single ticket will be good for admission to both games. Gates will open at 2:05 p.m. Because the first game is actually a makeup of one of the four snowed out games at Cleveland in April, the Indians will be designated the home team and bat last.”
Ron Villone comes back to haunt us. Bases-loaded walk puts the Angels up by 3.
Been out all day so this is very late: Thank you Dave. It is indeed time to drop any and all cynicism and discord and do one thing – CHEER LIKE CRAZY.
Bitching and arguing may resume in the off season.
oh, AuburnM, if you’d seen some of the at-bats & GIDPs tonight, you’d still let us bitch occasionally this season.
Man, the Yanks are going to be running Joe Torre out to pitch by the ninth inning.
#284 (and others)
If you aren’t a happy fan now you are incapable of being happy.
GO Ms!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nice team chemistry tonight. No doubt about it.
Yeah, but team chemistry is streaky. We just can’t tell when it’ll take a nosedive.
Garrett Anderson has 10 RBIs. And it’s only the sixth inning.
If you’re a Yankee fan at that game you better be sneaking out the exits right now. Embarrassing
18-5?! TEN RBI? Good lord.
That’s right, Anderson. Use all that mojo in one game so you’ll be all spent and limp when you visit Safeco…
Hilarious note by Drayer in the postgame. The scene: late night at the hotel in the Twin Cities, M’s have just arrived and are checking in. Lot of milling around and waiting. Adam Jones has nothing better to do, so he walks up to Rick Rizzs and asks “Hey, Rizzs, why are you baffled so often?”
Now, Drayer says this was in reference to the “Baffle the Broadcaster” thing (I guess Jones knows he isn’t getting in the game so he’s watching it on TV or listening to the radio). But I’d like to think AJ was actually making a larger, more metaphorical/philosophical point.
Most of the Yankees fans are back on the east coast, and they’ve turned it off and gone to bed a while ago (they already stayed up late last night for extra innings, only to see a loss). Yeah, this is looking like that 22-whatever shellacking Cleveland put on the Yanks a couple of years ago.
Though, speaking of games against Cleveland, wouldn’t it be awesome if the Angels sat their regulars and the Yanks came roaring back and took it into extra innings, depleting the Angels bullpen as well?
Also, if you’re a fan of the sweetest form of schadenfreude, there is no better reading than the yankees blogs for the past few nights. They’re even being haunted by memories of Bloomquist (no lie!)
It looks like the Yankees pulled some peanut vendors out of the stands, put uniforms on them and pointed them to the mound. Anderson hasn’t seen this many fat pitches since he won the homerun derby.
That sets a new club record for LAA. The previous record was 9, Vladimir Guerrero vs. Boston 6/2/04
The MLB record for RBI in a game by a single player is 12, held by Jim Bottomley (STL, September 24, 1924) and Mark Whiten (STL, September 7, 1993). Only nine other players have had 10+ in a game.
The M’s record is 8, held by Alvin Davis, Mike Blowers, and Mike Cameron.
And may Anderson not get another all season.
Amen Dave….best of all worlds; the Angels bury the Yankees and the M’s swepp the Angels….
Yahoo boxscore says Chone Figgins left the game with a sprained wrist. Weren’t people just talking about wrist injuries affecting hitters in the hot streak thread…
Did anyone see what happened / how badly he might be injured? Not to wish injury on anyone, but he’s been huge for the Angels this year, so if he does happent o be injured it seems like that would hurt their offense a bit.
Holy frak the Angels are destroying the Yankees pen… If the Yanks don’t make the playoffs, it’ll be because of that bullpen.
The Yankees have had a questionable bullpen (except for Rivera, of course) all year. What has been getting them through this hot streak has been their starting pitching. When their starters don’t go at least six innings, that shakey pen gets exposed (unless their offense can bail them out against the other guy’s pen). In this case, Mussina didn’t last two, and the results speak for themselves.
I still have a lot of issues with how our club is run, and I haven’t found a hole to be poked in any of the excellent analysis found on this most excellent site, despite the fact that (almost) none of the strategic improvements Dave points out make their way to the product on the field, but I, too, am ready to put aside my inner curmudgeon as this team makes a solid charge at the playoffs. After the last few years, this situation is a great reminder of how good the life of a baseball fan can be when the bats are working and the pitching is keeping us in games. Perhaps most of all, this growing community of passionate and knowledge-hungry M’s fans is adding a dimension to my personal experience that elevates the joy of fandom to a whole new level. Thanks to Dave, Derek and the rest of the gang for providing us with an awesome place on the web to call our Mariner home. Thanks, too, to all of the excellent regulars, people I’ve never met but that I feel a growing kinship with. When this team finally brings home that first World Series trophy, we are going to have a party for the ages! Huzzah, W00T, and all that!
10 RBIs for Garrett Anderson tonight?! If he were ever going to accomplish that, I would have bet it would have come against us. Against the Yanks, it’s oh-so-sweet!
279 – I don’t think so. 7.09 (d):
d) Any batter or runner who has just been put out hinders or impedes any following play being made on a runner. Such runner shall be declared out for the interference of his teammate
Ibanez could have been called out for Guillen’s interference had it been ruled as such, and no runs would have scored.
The M’s had more hits than the Angels tonight… and Anderson increased his RBI total by 25% in one game! Hard to do in August……
Anderson had a chance to break the RBI record. He came up with 2 out and runners at the corners in the 8th and grounded out. A homerun would’ve given him 13 RBI! Had there not been 2 out, he probably would’ve gotten one more RBI…
Figgens is listed as day-to-day and will be examined on Weds. Unfortunately, Colon is throwing simulated games and is working up to getting off the DL.
Coolstandings:
M’s win expectancy is 90.9
Yankees win expectancy is 90.6
M’s playoff percentage 53.5% (14.9/38.6)
Yankees 49.8% (6.0/43.8)
Nothing like losing 18-9 to bring down your pythag.
303- I’ve been wrong before, but If you just applied part (d) a runner could NEVER break up a double play. I don’t think that’s possible. At MLB.com they add a comment to part (d):
“7.09(d) Any batter or runner who has just been put out hinders or impedes any following play being made on a runner. Such runner shall be declared out for the interference of his teammate;
Rule 7.09(d) Comment: If the batter or a runner continues to advance after he has been put out, he shall not by that act alone be considered as confusing, hindering or impeding the fielders.” I think that means a runner sliding into a fielder and whacking the ball away or getting up from the ground and chasing a fielder would be guilty of interference. I think it also means that if the runner is continuing to advance [within the 3 feet allowed on either side of the direct line] that act alone isn’t considered “confusing, hindering, or impeding.”
Baseball Almanac.com has a little more detail but they refer to the subsection as part (f)
Thanks for the respectful discussion.
OK…Lutherans can be a pretty dry bunch. However, speaking for myself only, my draw to to Luther is not the fundamentalism but rather the richness of the theology. There is a rightousness (think funk, not religion) to the whole thing Martin Luther started.
He saw a terrible thing that the church was proprogating, i.e. paying for salvation and edited discernment of scripture, so he spoke out to say we all deserve to decide for ourselves and the only way to decide was to be knowledgeable. He began to translate scripture so that everyone could read the words of the bible for themselves vs. the church’s editied education. What followed was his proclamation that the catholic church was not the only way. He felt that a person’s relationship with Jesus triumphed over any ‘organized’ church.
Woo.
The game’s been over for hours, and I just now got a chance to scroll through all the remarks; you people are FUNNY. My wife had to come check on me: I was laughing so hard she thought I was choking.
“Sexson runs like one of those trees in ‘Lord of the Rings’” was the one that really set me off.
It’s like watching the game with a hundred or so friends who all pay attention. You guys rock.
As for the starting pitching, I’m kind of mystified. Weaver has gone through an Oedipus-like fall and rise here, HoRam says he’s fixed his mechanics (and here I thought mechanics fixed things), Felix is, if not overpowering, at least pretty darn good, and Jarrod is doing okay. So is it good? Shaky? Bad? Or what?
Regardless, I don’t think I’d want to be a team with the Mariners coming into town for a series right about now.
Fark the stats. I will repeat, FARK the stats. This team is deadly right now. It is wonderful to watch. This is a great team and I will take great joy watching them in the playoffs.
Jeff,
Easy to say when we’re playing like the ‘01 team…we simply can do no wrong at the moment, and yes, it’s an absolute joy to be a fan of the M’s right now. The problem is this hot streak can disappear overnight, and we still have plenty of time to choke our way out of this race. I’d be happier if the Angels were losing, but they’re not. With the way we’re playing, it’s slightly disappointing we haven’t taken the div lead yet. I’m keeping my fingers crossed on that, and I hope you are too.
309 – He also said he wanted to pave the road to the sea with the skulls of jews
frankb – If I remember correctly from a few LL umpire clinics, I think it boils down to interference basically being a judgement call. The way that play is usually called in the majors is there’s no interference, even on a hard slide, if the umpire sees the base in reach of the runner. Guillen had no chance to reach the base on that slide.
By the way, the ‘out of the baseline’ call wouldn’t matter there, I don’t think, since that’s generally only applicable when a runner is avoiding a tag, which was not the case on that play.
Anyway, I’m certainly glad that the umpire agreed with you, and not with me. This is great stuff.
#313: Citation? (Inflammatory quotes should always be cited chapter and verse; there are too many fake ones floating around. Luther certainly was far from perfect when it came to the Jews, but that one sounds iffy.)
Oh, and the comment I meant to make on Guillen is that, imho, the interference non-call is balanced by the fact that Guillen was never actually tagged — it’s the old “phantom tag” thing on a DP where you just pretend that the fielder touched the base. If you’re going to be sticky about interference, you have to be sticky about the fact that aside from the interference, Guillen shouldn’t be out at all. As such, calling him out but letting the rest of the play go forward sounds like a reasonable compromise to me.
say, wasn’t Garret Anderson supposed to be ‘done’?
“The Mariner Moose and Navigators (Mariners Street Team) will be out on Monday and Tuesday in Seattle”
Coco Crisp recommends to watch out for the ATV!
Ancient – I agree with you on that and would not be surprised if the umpire factored that into his call. The only point I was trying to make is that there was alot of leeway for the call to go in favor of the Twins on that play.
Bloomquist @ 2nd, Broussard @ DH for today’s game.
In the aftergame MacLaren said he was going to “give the regulars some rest” so that’s not unexpected. We may even see it during the Texas games (given the way the heat and humidity can sap you, I should certainly hope so). But Joh is playing?
Broussard moved to first and Burke catching plz so we can have a killer B infield >_>
As always, I heart you guys. One Lutheran comment and a whole discussion resulting. The skull thing (nice imagery!) caused me to hunt around the web and find this:
http://www.awitness.org/books/luther/
DAMN. I had no idea Luther was such a raving anti-Semite. Not that I know that much about him… he’s a bit after my period of study.
No Burke on a day game after a night game? Even Mauer gets a few games at DH.
Even when he’s trying, McLaren can’t buy a clue.
Bloomquist @ 2nd, Broussard @ DH for today’s game
Mac playing the “hot streak” w/Sexson again.
Actually, it’s a bit simplistic to call Luther an anti-Semite; later in his career, he said some very harsh things against the Jews, but it wasn’t actually anti-Semitism that motivated him, it was other things. Which is a conversation for somewhere else, because it would take a while to explain (that period, as it happens, is my period of study) . . .
. . . and coming back on topic, Dan W, I certainly realize that the ump could have done a number of different things. I just notice that umps generally don’t call the rules as written, but according to a set of unwritten emendations, of which the “phantom tag” is usually one; but if the “phantom tag” is going to be allowed, then to call interference strictly would give the fielders an unfair advantage. As such, I suspect that in cases where the middle infielder is trying to turn a phantom DP, there’s a pretty strong tendency to let the runner go beyond the letter of the rulebook to try to break it up. As there should be, really — either hold both sides to the letter or neither, but don’t play favorites.
Uh, Lauren, before you go taking anything on that site as (ahem) gospel, you might look at what else is on there.
I’m not sure who Brent Herbert of 119 lochrie cres, Saskatoon, is (other than the owner/admin of the site) but here presumably the same guy writes “On the story page linked to above I discuss the luminescent craft I witnessed at Banff National Park when I was fifteen, and then a few months later I received my driver’s licence…. You will notice the ‘6 6 6′ on the licence number.”
I’m not saying Luther didn’t write what page claims he wrote, or wasn’t an anti-semite (which afterall was pretty much the default attitude at the time); I’m just saying I’d look for a more authoritative citation. Anybody can have a webpage, and most nutcases do.
Also, game thread is up.
Joser: Yeah, I saw the book cited in a number of places. Obviously I didn’t check to make sure that the site owner didn’t adulterate the text with alien references, but it looks like the real thing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Jews_and_their_Lies
Ancient M: Yes, those pages are quite a compendium of “harsh things.” It seems a bit like splitting hairs to say he wasn’t an anti-Semite. At least in the sense that word has come to be used today. But I’ll bow to your presumed expertise…
P.S.: The extremely comprehensive Wikipedia page discusses varying scholastic opinions on whether Luther in his later life was opposed to Jews’ religion or their race. It seems there are viable arguments for both.