Game 1, Rangers at Mariners
Let’s stay calm, okay, let’s not lose our heads. It’s-it’s-it’s-it’s a fine ID, it’ll-it’s gonna work, it’s passable, okay, this isn’t terrible. It’s up to you, Fogel. This guy’s either going to think here’s another guy with a fake ID, or here’s McLovin, the 25-year-old Hawaiian organ donor. — Superbad
My thoughts on the team, or what Dave believes about the season, don’t matter at all to what happens this season. All the team has to do is take the field and win, over and over, for us all to see the Mariners to have a chance at the postseason success we all want.
So win.
Dave adds: Watching Ryan Zimmerman hit a walk off bomb to open the Nationals new park last night, I was reminded that baseball often gives us amazing stories that sound straight out of a movie. We can talk about probability and likely scenarios all we want, but in the end, there’s always a chance that baseball writes a narrative that just doesn’t go along with expectations. Here’s to hoping the 2008 Mariners narrative blows probability out of the water. Go M’s.
3:45 Seattle time. Millwood v Bedard. FSN or another outlet, depending on where you are.
Rangers
2B-R Kinsler
SS-R Young
CF-L Hamilton
3B-L Blalock
DH-B Bradley
RF-R Byrd
LF-L Murphy
C-R Laird
1B-L Broussard
Mariners
CF-L Ichiro!
2B-R Lopez
LF-L Ibanez
1B-R Sexson
3B-R Beltre
RF-L Wilkerson
DH-B Vidro
C-R Johjima
SS-R Betancourt
Baseball today! Real baseball!
I wish I weren’t so busy so that I could have had time to get into a fantasy league. I find that it really helps offer some context.
March 31st, 2008 at 2:49 pmI am so pumped for this season, although it worries me a little bit that all (or most) of the ESPN talking heads have picked the Mariners to win the AL West. They are never right.
Oh and I need to get my money right so I can get my MLB.tv
March 31st, 2008 at 2:58 pmKinsler’s out with the flu. Advantage Mariners.
March 31st, 2008 at 2:59 pm#3 - Advantage Mariners - Disadvantage my fantasy team.
March 31st, 2008 at 3:02 pm[deleted, off-topic]
March 31st, 2008 at 3:03 pmYay for playing Texas while I’m in stuck on an Air Force base in San Antonio! I’m only down here two more days and I get them on tv for both.
Let’s do this.
March 31st, 2008 at 3:03 pmmlb.tv is completely out of whack for me. I can’t watch any games, and I’m getting error messages even on archived games (it says I’m logged in on multiple computers and/or that I have blackout restrictions on EVERY GAME, lol.) So whatever. I’m going to go do something constructive, like drink myself to sleep. Yay Opening Day
March 31st, 2008 at 3:15 pm#7 - Anyone in your family or friends know your user info and/or password? I know that happened to me a couple times when my friends were using it when I didn’t know about it.
March 31st, 2008 at 3:16 pm#8 - Negative. No one has my info. I called and they are having massive outages since 1pm today. Awesome!
March 31st, 2008 at 3:20 pmBroussard batting ninth? Wow, I’m pretty sure we never saw that during his stay with us.
March 31st, 2008 at 3:21 pm7- I downloaded their speed plugin (nextdef) and it ended up messing up all my feeds. IF you happened to install it I suggest uninstalling.
March 31st, 2008 at 3:21 pmI sure hope they put Sexson in the fifth spot eventually, and put Beltre in cleanup.
March 31st, 2008 at 3:23 pmBroussard starting?!! I had no idea.
March 31st, 2008 at 3:25 pmPrediction Mariners win 5-3
March 31st, 2008 at 3:26 pmIchiro has 2 hits
Sexson has a homerun and 3k’s
Vidro gets thrown out trying to steal
yep gonna be a good game……..
It’s here, it’s really here. Today should be a recognized national holiday… God it’s good to have Baseball again.
It’s always tough to tell by TV audio, but when Jarrod Washburn ran out on to the field, I think two people in the stands were clapping….
March 31st, 2008 at 3:30 pmI hate opera singers doing the National Anthem at baseball games. My wife, who has had extensive voice training, doesn’t like them, either.
March 31st, 2008 at 3:36 pmI don’t mind the opera singers, I don’t care for the “alternate” versions though that are sung in different melodies and keys. When it comes down to it, just play Jimi Hendrix’s version and that would be alright with me
March 31st, 2008 at 3:39 pmThank God for Slingbox. I can watch the game from work on my laptop. I’m really started to get pumped up. Go M’s!
March 31st, 2008 at 3:42 pmMLB Gameday has Kinsler leading off. Is this right, I thought he was out.
March 31st, 2008 at 3:42 pmNooooo!!
I just bout mlb.tv premium and after some mucking about with the install, it says I’m signed in with multiple computers and will not let me in. Anyone know how to get this thing fixed? I’ve restarted the computer a few times, it doesn’t help.
March 31st, 2008 at 3:48 pmMLB.tv is jacked right now. I have been watching games all day and just randomly started getting weird error messages.
March 31st, 2008 at 3:49 pm#20 according to #7 it seems that MLB.tv is having some technical issues. Probably because a ton of people are signing up for it today.
March 31st, 2008 at 3:49 pmPer Baker’s blog, Kinsler is back in the lineup despite the flu.
March 31st, 2008 at 3:49 pmKinsler was introduced as the leadoff hitter and came out with every one else as their names were called.
March 31st, 2008 at 3:52 pmDrag.
March 31st, 2008 at 3:52 pmSome of the best national anthems I’ve heard have been done by opera singers. In fact I’d rather see them done by a trained opera singer than any “pop” star or current personality simply because the national anthem is hard to sing and a trained voice does it much better than an untrained one.
March 31st, 2008 at 3:53 pmThe brawts are cooking, the beer is cold, MLB.tv is disappointing everyone, it is finally baseball season!!
March 31st, 2008 at 3:55 pmRoseanne Barr did the only anthem I ever want to hear again.
March 31st, 2008 at 3:57 pmMy MLB.tv connection is up, but no sound - generally, that would be okay, but opening day without Niehaus isn’t really opening day.
I had the multiple user login thing earlier today, by the way, and it got resolved, so hopefully the rest of you get it fixed too.
March 31st, 2008 at 3:58 pmYep, Erik Bedard is good.
March 31st, 2008 at 3:59 pmIf the rest of the season goes thois well…
March 31st, 2008 at 3:59 pmI am with Dave, no audio… or I can go radio and no visual.
I can watch that curve all year!!
March 31st, 2008 at 3:59 pmOh god a strikeout to start the season…I think I have wood…
March 31st, 2008 at 3:59 pmNice way to start. We’ll take 200 more of those, please.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:00 pmWell, that’s a good way to start.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:00 pmI’m a fan of the Krusty the Klown version.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:00 pmWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
March 31st, 2008 at 4:00 pmFirst Blowers “no question” stall: five pitches into Opening Day (”I don’t think there’s any question about it”)
March 31st, 2008 at 4:01 pmAuspicious…
BTW, nice shiny new comment buttons!
And…
Not so auspicious.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:01 pmIf the rest of the season goes this poorly…
March 31st, 2008 at 4:01 pmNot a bad pitch - Kinsler just put a good swing on it.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:01 pmUh….
March 31st, 2008 at 4:01 pmI want Jones back.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:02 pmHe must not have had a good grip on that pitch? Maybe Baker will have a better explanation this time.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:03 pmWelp…there goes that aforementioned wood…
March 31st, 2008 at 4:03 pmthe o/u on Bedard HR’s is three. I will still take the under.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:03 pmUhh, you have to make that play Jose.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:04 pmIf the rest of the season is this ugly…
March 31st, 2008 at 4:04 pmsafeco scorer strikes again.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:04 pmInteresting start…I like how ol’ Dave said owned.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:06 pmWalking Hank Blalock, who can’t hit lefties at all? Not good.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:07 pmCome on Erik
March 31st, 2008 at 4:07 pmLet’s hope this is just the nerves of pitching for a team that actually has a chance of winning…and that he shakes it off soon.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:08 pmWell, this season’s a writeoff.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:09 pmCalm down those nerves Erik, I still have faith.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:09 pmI recall Griffey saying he uses a black bat to get the benefit of the doubt in check swing calls. Clever.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:09 pmHe’s just not throwing the curve for a strike. That’s an issue.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:10 pmSims and RR are worried about Erik’s pitch count already. Goodness.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:11 pmhe’s not really looking bad. The homerun clearly shook him up a little bit and his control’s been off since, but the Rangers are showing a lot of patience at the plate. The curve looks fantastic but he has to get people behind in the count to get swings at it. And the Lopez error didn’t help.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:11 pmHe didn’t practice the curve much this spring. It may just take a couple of innings. *being positive*
March 31st, 2008 at 4:11 pmThat pitch inside looked pretty good…..
March 31st, 2008 at 4:11 pm30 pitches…not too good, glad he got out of that just giving up one though…
March 31st, 2008 at 4:12 pmWell, not his best work, but still - a strikeout and three weak groundballs; you’ll have a good year if that’s what happens when you struggle.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:12 pmNot happy with the HR, but not the worst first inning we have ever seen by a new Mariner………*be positive*.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:13 pmBedard’s line last year for his first game…
4.2 6ER 2HR 3k 2BB
First game jitters might run in his blood…
Yay MLB.tv Audio!
March 31st, 2008 at 4:14 pmI heart fangraphs.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:14 pmOk, Mariners, let’s go!
My season wish is that you win over 90 games or under 70 games… do that and I’m a happy fan.
That’s not too much to ask, is it? That means out of the 163 possible season records, I would be happy with 142 of them, if my math is correct. So I’m only asking them to avoid 13% or so of the possible outcomes.
I’m easy to please.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:14 pmHmmm, “worst first inning… by a new Mariner”; which would that be?
March 31st, 2008 at 4:15 pmApparently that pitch on the inside corner won’t be a strike tonight.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:16 pmIf anyone is still having audio troubles with MLB.TV I downloaded the Microsoft Silverlight that it suggested and now have audio.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:17 pmDid they rule the ‘error’ by Lopez a hit??
March 31st, 2008 at 4:17 pmThat’s the Lopez that sucks - chasing a pitch that he can’t possibly do anything with just for the sake of making contact. Boo crappy Lopez.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:18 pmWhen will they ever know if the RAUUUUUL turns into boos?
March 31st, 2008 at 4:19 pmUhh, Ibanez was the opposite of consistency last year, Mike. He was brutal in the first, then went bananas in August to salvage his season. But keep on praising the franchise icon…
March 31st, 2008 at 4:19 pmHe saw 7 pitches though…that good.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:20 pmAt least they were some what patient……
March 31st, 2008 at 4:20 pmwhen they were showing that side view of Bedard, it looked like Jamie Moyer for a second…
March 31st, 2008 at 4:23 pmThat thing was smoked - not a good pitch.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:24 pmI got home from work early, and my infant son and I are sitting on the couch, watching the Mariners play baseball.
Life is good.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:25 pmSilva and Vidro are sitting side by side - must be the closest part of the dugout to the buffet.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:26 pmGerald Laird’s Gameday photo looks like he’s just taken a huge hit of nitrous….
March 31st, 2008 at 4:26 pmJoyce is not giving anything on the inside portion of the plate.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:26 pmwhere’s the curveball? Bedard seems to be prescribing to the Bad Felix pitching method here in the second inning.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:26 pmWow, he’s not giving him anything on either corner.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:27 pmFinally threw the curve for a strike - needs more of those.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:29 pmI ended the season with MLB.tv, and now I am watching gameday…this is awful…
March 31st, 2008 at 4:29 pmHow was Broussard received? I’m at work, checking in on GameDay.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:29 pmNow that was a nasty curveball.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:30 pmIt seems that every count is going full…
March 31st, 2008 at 4:33 pmBatting average soul destroyer up next! Woohoo!
March 31st, 2008 at 4:33 pmWoo hoo only 1 allowed on base!
March 31st, 2008 at 4:33 pmFitty-four pitches through two. Better warm up Sherrill.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:34 pmNice to see a pitcher throwing a lot of pitches and not giving up a lot of runs. The flashbacks of HoRam and Weaver are fading already.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:34 pmI remember a few years ago you’d be watching on TV and you’d see a sharply hit groundball off your screen toward third and you closed your eyes and just listened for the error….now you just wait and watch the Beltre smoothness. good times, good times.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:34 pmWill beers in Seattle be free if Sexson goes 0 - for? That would be awesome.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:34 pmRichie gets jammed by an 86 MPH fastball? That’s a good sign…
March 31st, 2008 at 4:36 pmThis strike zone is tiny.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:36 pmnot a bad at bat by Sexson, but that last pitch sure looked like a strike….
March 31st, 2008 at 4:37 pmDidn’t think Sexson would pull that one out after the first few pitches.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:37 pmI heart Beltre.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:37 pmTurbo clutches out right here. Bank on it.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:40 pmTurbo makes his first appearance of the year…
March 31st, 2008 at 4:40 pm92- Sherrill’s gone. We need long relief from that knuckleball guy…
March 31st, 2008 at 4:41 pmNo GIDP no GIDP no GIDP
March 31st, 2008 at 4:41 pmYeah, I think Joyce needed some more time in spring training to work on his strike zone.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:41 pmTurrrrbbboooooo?
March 31st, 2008 at 4:41 pm102 - I know. Joke.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:43 pmrally needs. to . stay. alive.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:44 pmWe should have spent more time on situational hitting during SP.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:45 pm[admin hat on]
Just as a friendly reminder, please be kind to the server and limit your refreshing, especially with this being the first game thread of the year and we’re all pretty pumped.
[admin hat off]
Men on first and second with no outs, and can’t even get one of them in? Feh.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:45 pmMy son cried all through Turbo’s plate appearance. Two months old and he already has taste.
(Although you might be able to chalk that up to this morning’s vaccinations. He has been cranky all day.)
March 31st, 2008 at 4:45 pmThe fans in the stands are in no mood for anything less than awesome.
Not only are they a bit testy about the action on the field, but they actually booed a “new between innings feature: Mariner-aoke”.
(Deservedly so as it was brutal. Luckily, the actual game is merely frustrating our high expectations.).
That’s the view from 329 row 4 anyway.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:45 pm109: Obviously, they need to be bunting more. /sarc
March 31st, 2008 at 4:46 pm106-I know, me too.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:46 pmI’m sure a bunt was considered.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:49 pmHamilton is going to be a BEAST for the Rangers. Health be damned, he’s got one helluva presence to him already.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:49 pmThis warning is probably more warranted over at LL, which is running something close to 400 comments per half inning.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:52 pmman that strike zone is tight
March 31st, 2008 at 4:52 pmIs Bedard getting squeezed as badly as MLB Gameday makes it appear that he is, particularly on the low fastball?
I’ll let Graham handle that.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:52 pmJoyce is having a brutal day.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:53 pmOh, goody. MLB.tv is convinced I’m in a blackout zone despite being in -Cleveland-. Not to mention that their CS phone line automatically disconnects after 45sec. GRRR.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:53 pmMan, Bedard isn’t very hot so far.
Except that LL is run by a server-rich soulless conglomerate, while we’ve got just the one.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:54 pmi like how bedard is getting absolutely hosed and the texas players are the ones who are arguing…that makes sense.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:54 pmNothing better than a terrible umpire with a temper.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:54 pmWow… right on target Dave. Brutal.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:55 pmOh, goody. MLB.tv is convinced I’m in a blackout zone despite being in -Cleveland-.
Have you considered punching yourself in the face?
March 31st, 2008 at 4:55 pmya, that pitch count is getting pretty high. Wasn’t our bolstered staff supposed to give our relief guys some, uh, relief?
March 31st, 2008 at 4:56 pmYeah, it’s too bad Shulock retired. That guy set the gold standard for poor umpiring and low ejection threshold.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:56 pmI watch baseball for the narrative….
March 31st, 2008 at 4:56 pmJoyce would not get the Jamie Moyer nod of approval.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:57 pmThanks, Dave. Are these inside pitches as close as Rizzs is making them sound?
March 31st, 2008 at 4:57 pm#121 - I got that message for a while, but now I’m onto the one where mlb.tv continues telling me that I’m logged in on another computer. I just signed up for the product this morning, so that’s fairly interesting. I called and they said they were having failures across the board since 1pm today. Yeah, no shit. Next time try to actually prepare for MLB’s Opening Day of your product for gosh sakes!
March 31st, 2008 at 4:58 pm79 pitches through 3 innings. Without even seeing the pitches I can tell Bedard’s getting squeezed.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:59 pmThanks, Dave.
In case it wasn’t clear, I was playing off of Ichiro’s quote about Cleveland from last year.
Are these inside pitches as close as Rizzs is making them sound?
Yep - Joyce’s strikezone apparently doesn’t include the inner half of the plate.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:59 pm126/134 - That was very funny.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:01 pmWhew. Through three - not sure if I should keep listening to the radio or turn on the TV when I get home. Sounds like actually seeing these pitches, and the subsequent calls may be more frustrating then just hearing them.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:01 pm126: Seriously I LOL at that one Dave. I can’t wait for Ichiro’s next gem.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:01 pmI doubt we’ll see Bedard past the fifth. We’ll probably be getting an early look at the ‘08 bullpen.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:01 pmDave 134 :
March 31st, 2008 at 5:03 pmTrust me, I got that one
Being a student here in Cleveland who vociferously roots for the Mariners, I got ribbed plenty for that prosaic comment.
Tight strike zones definitely don’t favor the Mariners. =/
March 31st, 2008 at 5:04 pmBedard will have to improve his efficiency significantly just to see the fifth.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:05 pmWheee. The Opening Day smorgasbord, a taste of everything from the bullpen. :frown:
March 31st, 2008 at 5:06 pmThe dancing grounds crew is butchering Jacko’s “Bad”–while Joyce and Washington go at it…
Sometimes moments just happen.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:07 pmIs Millwood pitching well or are we just swinging at everything as usual?
March 31st, 2008 at 5:07 pm140… Tight strike zones aren’t the biggest of the Mariners worries. Their lack of ability to do ANYTHING offensively is the #1 problem so far.
……. Strike zone is horrible though…
March 31st, 2008 at 5:08 pmMore bad hitting than good pitching. Millwood’s made some bad pitches and the team just hasn’t done anything with them.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:08 pmWe knew the team wasn’t going to be able to hit. At least we’re not being surprised by it.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:13 pmI think it shows the state of both these clubs that the strike zone is tiny yet neither team can do anything with the bats.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:13 pmTexas is much better against RHP than LHP, and Bedard’s one of the best LHP alive. Don’t make any judgments about their offense from not scoring any runs off of him in Safeco.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:15 pmIbanez beating out the grounder. Woo!
March 31st, 2008 at 5:16 pmThat wasn’t a bad at bat by Sexson until he chased that ball way low and outside…
March 31st, 2008 at 5:19 pmRichie Sexson with the Funk Strikeout!
March 31st, 2008 at 5:20 pmSexson probably herniated a disc diving for that outside diving pitch.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:20 pmBeltre just hit a low and away slider! Hard!
March 31st, 2008 at 5:21 pmSmall ball. Incredibly small ball.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:22 pm154: and then gets nailed at 2nd…
March 31st, 2008 at 5:23 pmAfter a first look, I don’t think Beltre was out there.
Close call, though. I understand what the ump was seeing on the first look.
But dang, it looked like he had a good pitch to run on, and Laird was slow getting it out and down there.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:23 pmIf the ball beats you by that much on the bounce, you need to just walk away.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:24 pmGotta look at the bright side.
The Mariner’s offensive juggernaut *almost* got a runner in scoring position.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:25 pmWow I’m surprised by the impatience by the crowd today. The early Safeco crowd is usually quite forgiving and just happy to see their guys.
I for one am glad that the people there are expecting to see a good game instead of just guys that they can attach an “ie” to the end of their names. It’s about time fans expect more than mediocrity.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:25 pmError #! for Yuni
March 31st, 2008 at 5:26 pmGee, if we had a tall first baseman, maybe he could have knocked that one down.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:26 pm…and that will be it for Bedard…100+ pitches through five in the 1st game, you have to think he is done.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:28 pmMany ill omens in this game…
March 31st, 2008 at 5:30 pmLopez looking lost; Bedard getting squeezed; Yuni making errors; the Mariners getting themselves out of inning after inning despite a home plate umpire with a strike zone the size of a paperback book.
Got to love baseball in the snow…
March 31st, 2008 at 5:30 pmThanks to ESPN.com’s GameCast for giving me Wilkerson’s 2007 home splits! Those are super-helpful since he doesn’t play home games in the same ballpark this season.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:32 pmRizzs thinks Vidro has a chance for a bunt base hit…riiiiiiight.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:33 pmThat is how a SS is supposed to dodge the slide and turn the DP.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:34 pmkiller double play brought to you by, Turbo!
March 31st, 2008 at 5:34 pmI don’t think I’m ready for baseball yet. And Mother Nature seems to agree.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:34 pmVidro with the double play. Shocking!
March 31st, 2008 at 5:34 pmVidro GIDP. Whouda thunk?
March 31st, 2008 at 5:34 pmDo my eyes deceive me or did we just draw a walk?
March 31st, 2008 at 5:34 pmre: Yuni’s error - if you can’t assume the double play why is it he gets an error there? I get he threw it away but still but the result is the same…
March 31st, 2008 at 5:34 pmOMG it’s Lauren! Yayyy!
March 31st, 2008 at 5:35 pmDave Sims on the DP: “we’ve seen that before…” So true Dave so true.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:35 pmAll the bad signs from last year are still here:
Poor hitting, worse defense, pitchers who throw way too many pitches too early in games, Sexson and Lopez are lost, and Vidro still hearts the DP.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:36 pmeyes DMZ strangely That must be a Yayyy of “yippee, another poster who really isn’t all that informed but likes to jump in with supposedly witty comments!”
PS: Love the new submit button!
March 31st, 2008 at 5:38 pmA Kenji walk? Didn’t expect to see that within the first week of the season.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:39 pm174: He gets the error for allowing the hitter to advance to 2nd. Had the ball been knocked down by the overly large 1st baseman who looked lost, and the runner been just on first….no error.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:39 pmWhat if I find them actually witty? Is that okay?
March 31st, 2008 at 5:42 pmWe need a better defensive catcher…
March 31st, 2008 at 5:44 pmI missed the Mariners half of the fifth, looks like Vidro still can’t help but GIDP whenever the opportunity presents itself.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:44 pm182 - yeah, someone who can throw guys out trying to steal.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:45 pmIt’s awesome, although I may be newly doubtful of your taste and/or sanity. Wait, scratch the “newly.”
I see that Adam Jones went 0-for-2 today for the O’s…
March 31st, 2008 at 5:51 pmI see that Adam Jones went 0-for-2 today for the O’s…
If he goes 3-4 with a HR, does that mean Bedard will throw a shutout?
March 31st, 2008 at 5:54 pmYou’ll hear?
Michael Young is a good fielder.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:54 pmMy man-crush on Ichiro! continues.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:54 pmWoo! Let’s get something started.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:54 pm180 - thanks - Sexy did look lost. I just don’t want Yuni to get down on himself early in the season.
Jose!
March 31st, 2008 at 5:55 pmahhhhhh
March 31st, 2008 at 5:56 pmWhooooo! A run! I remember those!
March 31st, 2008 at 5:56 pmI spell Raul with 18 U’s.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:56 pmRaul with the RBI. Sign that man to a contract extension!
March 31st, 2008 at 5:57 pmRauuuuuuuuuuuuul!
March 31st, 2008 at 5:57 pmRauuuuuul! Those first 6 innings were about are warm as fuzzy as the weather here in Raleigh today. Thank you M’s and MLB.tv! GO MARINERS.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:57 pmRichie fails to get a runner home from 3rd with less than 2 outs. Boo. Hiss.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:58 pmHAHAHAHA.
“Not a lot of speed on the basepaths right now…”
Would’ve been even better if Turbo was on base, but he’s too busy getting ready for his next GIDP.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:58 pmYes! Nice job Beltre
March 31st, 2008 at 5:59 pmYay leads!
March 31st, 2008 at 5:59 pmNice start for Beltre
March 31st, 2008 at 5:59 pmRauuuuuul! Those first 6 innings were about are warm as fuzzy as the weather here in Raleigh today.
The weather here in Seattle is cold and fuzzy. (snowflakes are sort of fuzzy).
Good greif, if we’re going to get Cleveland’s weather, can we at least have their DH?
March 31st, 2008 at 6:01 pmSun just came out here in West Seattle in perfect concert with the Ms taking the lead. Now if Green can just keep his pitches somewhere within 5 yards of home plate….
March 31st, 2008 at 6:04 pmIf Green makes it through the 7th quietly, who comes in as the “right-handed set-up man” for Putz?
March 31st, 2008 at 6:05 pmThe Walla Walla Wonder, that’s who.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:06 pmOuch, hat trick for Broussard.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:07 pmWell, now that we’ve had our first regular season look at Bedard, while it wasn’t what we had hoped for a in a perfect world, if him struggling constitutes a 1 k/ip and only one run given up, I can’t wait to see what he can do once he settles in.
As an aside, does anyone else think that SF’s game today was a microcosm of things to come for them? Zito got rocked, and they didn’t score any runs . . .
March 31st, 2008 at 6:08 pmman, Green is looking great right now!
March 31st, 2008 at 6:09 pmOur offense is going to be terrible. Derek is right, Vidro is about done as a hitter. The pitching better to be darn good, because there will be a lot of 2-1 games.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:10 pmLopez?! I know that’s not an error, but dang, if he doesn’t slide, he probably gets that . . .
March 31st, 2008 at 6:10 pmarggh….Jose
March 31st, 2008 at 6:10 pm207-The giants are likely going to be bad, but picking on a team like that is bad karma.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:12 pmIn happier news, the Angels of mid-Southern CA are losing…with any luck, we could be atop the AL West at the end of the night! Great effort by Sean Green to keep us in it. Surely we can find someone better than Turbo…
March 31st, 2008 at 6:12 pm#207. SF is probably the worst team in the NL this year. Their offense will be lucky to score 650 runs without Bonds. There is no indication that Zito has turned around. Caine and Linecum aside, there aren’t much in that pitching staff.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:13 pmGreen did look much improved this inning, didn’t he?
March 31st, 2008 at 6:13 pmWow lots of people completely ridding off Vidro..He will probably bat a hollow 310….I really doubt he is “completely done.” Not an ideal DH but not a completely worthless batter..just because he is 0-2
March 31st, 2008 at 6:17 pmWhat happened to Zito? Wasn’t he 116 ERA+, 220 IP like 2 years ago? How is it that he’s looking this bad this soon, and in the NL no less?
March 31st, 2008 at 6:17 pm213- I know that Zito hasn’t been a particularly good pitcher now for several years, but my question, is what happened to him? He’s still fairly young. Has his control gone to hell? Is the curve no longer working? Has he lost velocity? All of the above? Anyway, I just find it odd he could go from being so good to so bad so quickly, while still relatively young in baseball terms . . .
March 31st, 2008 at 6:17 pm..just because he is 0-2
Correction, 0-3.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:18 pmJohjima with 2 walks today.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:20 pmJohjima walking is almost as rare as Bloomquist going yard. The end must be near.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:20 pmYeah, I’m really happy to see him taking pitches like this. In other news, I’m going on 30min on hold to try to fix my MLB.tv…
March 31st, 2008 at 6:20 pmZito only looked good if you judged him on his ERA. Once you abandon that useless statistic, the truth became clear.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:22 pmWilkerson, jeesh… I know it’s early, he sure looks expensive today. Strange strike zone early. I heard an announcer say Milton Bradley is a career 300 hitter!?!? Uh, not quite. VIVA LA BASEBALL!!! Go M’s
March 31st, 2008 at 6:22 pmVidro’s bat speed looked really slow. All he could do today was pull couple outside pitches to the right side of the infield. If your bat speed has slowed down, you try to hit it to the opposite field, not pull it. That’s why I think he’s done.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:22 pmBest situation of the day here with 2 on 1 out 2-1 to Ichiro. Blow it Open Guys!!
March 31st, 2008 at 6:23 pmLopez has had 3 2-0 counts today and Johjima’s walked twice — did the plate discipline lessons work?
March 31st, 2008 at 6:25 pmFUNK WP!
March 31st, 2008 at 6:26 pmHA
March 31st, 2008 at 6:27 pmThose fans reaching for that ball should have their season tickets yanked.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:28 pmThe two out double is now good situational hitting? In what situation is a double with runners on base not what you want?
Anyway, way to go Lopez.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:28 pm
March 31st, 2008 at 6:30 pmlast pid: 24648; load averages: 39.07, 13.93, 6.45 up 324+20:38:55 21:30:05
263 processes: 45 running, 195 sleeping, 2 stopped, 2 zombie, 19 waiting
I was waiting for a ’situational hitting’ comment. I didn’t have to wait long.
Double plus good, Lopez.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:32 pmGotta love the aggressive baseblundering.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:33 pmJonah Keri from espn.com:
The mention of outs on balls in play from an ESPN writer is impressive, to put it lightly.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:37 pmIf Jose Lopez did that on his own, he should be taken into the clubhouse and beaten with a fungo bat.
If McLaren asked a slow footed player to steal 3rd with a lefty at the plate and one out, McLaren should be taken into the clubhouse and beaten with a fungo bat.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:38 pmAh, sweet, sweet aggressive baserunning. Can we just call it ‘manufacturing outs’ now and get it over with?
Also, how is a ground ball a double? Does David Murphy have Ibanez’ range in LF?
March 31st, 2008 at 6:39 pmO’-Flaherty looks good.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:39 pmSub-out Wilkerson for the last bit?
Thank god for insurance runs…
March 31st, 2008 at 6:42 pmNo, It’s cool guys. McLaren told them to give up the run so he could bring JJ in, and then we would have a better chance of winning.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:43 pmSomeone apparently didn’t tell O’Flaherty that he had to establish his fastball. He was just lights out with that breaking ball, making Rangers hitters look ridiculous. His ERA won’t reflect it (yet another reason it’s a pointless stat), but that was a tremendous outing for EOF. If he would have put on 60 pounds over the winter, I’d have sworn that was Sherrill out there.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:44 pmPretty solid middle relief work today. Now bring on JJ.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:45 pm240: No kidding…EOF was incredible there. No contest pitching. Now all we need is a complete game from Felix tomorrow to make up for wearing out half the bullpen to win this one…
March 31st, 2008 at 6:46 pmSorry to ask–I’m stuck at work–how did Lowe look?
March 31st, 2008 at 6:46 pmYou ALWAYS have to establish that fastball. Just ask Eric Gagne. His repeatedly established it belt high at 91 mph.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:47 pmI think the bullpen will turn out all right. Green, O’Flaherity and Lowe all look good.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:47 pmNothing wrong with using the ‘pen this much today. They were well rested coming out of ST and have an off day on Thursday. It’s not a problem.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:48 pmOh and I just started watching so I noticed the lineup. SEXSON HITS CLEANUP? AHEAD OF BELTRE? Who manages this team, Dusty Baker?
March 31st, 2008 at 6:49 pmDoes this mean that the M’s coaches no longer believe that their pitchers need to, “Establish the fastball?”
March 31st, 2008 at 6:50 pm243 - Lowe threw three pitches but they were 95 mph so can’t complain too much. And he got a groundout.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:51 pm249–thanks. I realized after I posted that there weren’t many pitches to look at, but that sounds great. I had thought there were reports that his velocity wasn’t back yet. Maybe the Safeco gun is giving him a few MPH.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:55 pmSituational hitting: When you find yourself at bat, it is a good situation in which to get a hit.