Game 15, Royals at Mariners
DMZ · April 15, 2008 at 3:15 pm · Filed Under Game Threads
3:40 start time. Batista, you’re the stopper — go!
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Wilkerson on the bench against LHP again, somebody shoot me.
Does Willie get the start in right? I haven’t seen lineups yet. If so, the Mariners’ season has just been ignited. Boom. Boom.
Ibanez in the lineup against LHP again, somebody shoot me.
Suzuki cf
Lopez 2b
Ibanez lf
Beltre 3b
Vidro dh
Sexson 1b
Johjima c
Bloomquist rf
Betancourt ss
Not bad for McLaren if you ask me. At least they will have defense in center and right for Batista. If WFB has to get PT I don’t mind it here.
3. I love platoons as much as the next guy, but you can’t argue with Ibanez being in the lineup today. He has been hitting everything. It’s not like we have a great option on the bench either.
Word is that Bedard is on the 15 day DL retroactive to April 9. Looks like Dickey for Friday.
I’m glad they’re taking Bedard out for a while instead of the nagging problems Raul dealt with last year. Get healthy, then come back and contribute.
So Johjima (.162 / .244 / .189) is still hitting better than David Oritz (.104 / .246 / .167), and Jason Kendall (.298 / .375 / .394) is hitting way better than either one of them. How long will that go on? Whenever the natural order of the world reasserts itself should pretty much determine the end of “it’s still early in the season.”
5- Wilkerson is on the bench. He hits a lot better against LHP.
Bedard update from Darrin Beene, TNT
I’m glad they’re taking Bedard out for a while instead of the nagging problems Raul dealt with last year.
It’s a lot harder to hide your injury and lie to the organization when you’re a pitcher.
I was at the game last night. I was marvelling at seeing Olivo as a DH, since I remember his as a backup catcher. And then he hit one 420 feet. Wow that was hit hard.
My other observation from last night is the certain knowledge that the Mariners will never be charged with an error at home.
Stuff like that used to bother me, but this site has helped me understand defensive stats, and, well, errors are pretty much meaningless anyway.
Speaking of natural orders. Angels caught A’s this afternoon.
11–Thanks for that. Everyone I know looks at me in horror when I suggest St. Raul did such a thing.
Man … that lineup really does look worse and worse every time I look at it … turning to Willie B to get something started … love the guy but come on.
ERIK BEDARD ON THE DL … RETROACTIVE TO APRIL 9TH.
felt that one coming.
Dickey on Friday! Ponies all around!
How many players are wearing 42 today?
A couple on each team?
And, who is being called up to take Bedard’s spot? Move is said to happen tomorrow.
jlc: I know, I encounter them too. Just point them to this story, at “the Official Site of the Seattle Mariners”:
(I have it bookmarked for just such discussions. Heh, I initially wrote that as “suck discussions”)
KOMO mentioned both managers and 3-4 players on each team are wearing #42.
I know its only been two hitters but Miguel looks awful.
#42 is Miggy, Yuni, Beltre’ and Morse.
Why doesnt everyone just wear it?
I’ve always thought Miguel is awful.
Does his release look different tonight? It looks liek hes aiming more
Jose Guillen is wearing #42 also. I thought I remembered that from last year.
McLaren is awful. His teams have less focus than a BluRay DVD. Silva said it himself.
ah me. off to walk home, stuck listening to Rizzs try and make bad baseball happy.
I’ve heard Reed didn’t play in Tacoma last night. Perhaps he will be coming on up to the show?
Jimerson was going to wear 42, but he got overtaken by events, sadly.
Apparently Grady Sizemore is among those wearing 42 for Cleveland. Good for him. I always thought it kind of oxymoronic that only African Americans were expected to wear that number this day, or could feel strongly about it. Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey made baseball better for everybody.
I think Ichiro’s throw had a chance…
some teams are
I felt really bad about Jimerson getting cut loose so close to today. He sounded like he really saw it as an honor to wear 42.
There are some teams that are all decked out in 42. I know the Dodgers, Angels, and Astros are.
Not just baseball was made better. And Jackie Robinson was just flat out a hell of a guy.
Well… that was hardly encouraging, but it could have been worse. Thanks Guillen!
#23….Every player is allowed to wear a #42 jersey today as mandated by MLB. It is up to each team/player to determine who wears it. For instance, Every player on the Washington Nationals is wearing #42.
Thanks for the link msb (as always). The Mets are all in 42.
So is Adam Jones.
i think thats pretty cool
If all the Yankees wore 42 – how would anybody know who they are? [I hate name-free jerseys. Not all of us know every players by face or number.]
It’s nice to see small in action starting with an Ichiro double.
“Ichiro doesn’t steal enough.” No, Ichiro steals when he knows it matters.
[I hate name-free jerseys. Not all of us know every players by face or number.]
I always thought that was the ultimate expression of Yankee arrogance. Of course you’re supposed to know every Yankee by face and number.
I too think that’s very cool that players of all stripes, so to speak, can wear 42. Robinson changed the game, and the majors is a better place because of him and those who followed him.
I think Arthur Lee Rhodes is also wearing 42.
One note the, in regards to Joser’s original comment: Grady Sizemore is actually half-black. I didn’t know that until I read it in that big feature that Sports Illustrated did on him last year.
Grady Sizemore is half African American.
Anybody know anything about Bale – beyond his brief ML stats.
Soft underbelly of KC’s rotation?
Er – born in ‘74 and barely sniffed the Show.
Raul didn’t see that pitch very well.
Does anyone else remember when Jim Palmer said that Ibanez hits lefties pretty well every year during the Orioles series? That was fun.
I always wanted to wear #42. Not because of Jackie Robinson, but because of the Hitchhiker’s Guide the Galaxy. And had I been a major-league baseball player, I probably would have come up before the league-wide retirement, so I would have been grandfathered in and still been wearing $42 to this day.
I always thought that was the ultimate expression of Yankee arrogance. Of course you’re supposed to know every Yankee by face and number.
The Red Sox at least have the decency to put names on their road jerseys.
I can actually see the point of not putting names on the home jerseys. The home fan should probably know which players are which. The road jerseys should have names though. I can name most of the starters of most teams, but I don’t know their numbers.
Grady Sizemore is half African American.
Yeah? Huh, didn’t know that, cool. That’s an even better form of integration. (Cool too that your comment was #42)
BTW, I highly recommend “We Are the Ship,” a beautiful book by Kadir Nelson. I bought it to give to a friend’s kid but ended up buying another copy for myself.
Might want to be careful what neighborhoods you walk around in.
All together now: “That’s not a ‘ground rule’ double!”
calling that a ground rule double is one of my biggest pet peeves!
I have to disagree about not having names on home jerseys. Lots of us don’t get to the ballpark very often and a lot of casual fans know players’ names but don’t necessarily know what they look like. Especially at bat.
Yeah, every year there’s always one “white guy with scruffy facial hair” that it takes me a few games to identify reliably. This year it’s Wilkerson. Last year it was Burke.
jlc,
I didn’t say I was for it, I just said I could see the point. Although I’m usually far enough away that I can’t read the player’s names anyway.
Well I’ll be . . . Good job Willie
Bale is looking Morrow-esque on Gameday, except that everything is 10MPH slower.
Willie giveth, and then taketh away.
Hey first game all year we scored runs in both the 1st and 2nd innings. I’m taking that as a good sign, we have pony power for sure now!
So that counts as a pickoff AND a caught stealing?
All together now: “That’s not a ‘ground rule’ double!”
In the Yankees-Red Sox game on ESPN on Sunday, Jon Miller correctly referred to what Sean Casey did as an “Automatic Double”. Joe Morgan, of course, immediately called it a “ground-rule double”.
*Cringing as Raul breaks on that ball…
Ibanez in the outfield sometimes resembles those “Family Circle” comics where Billy visits everything in the neighborhood on his way home.
If the white players wanted to show some solidarity with the guys wearing a ‘42′ today they could always put on a ‘1′ — PeeWee Reese’s number.
I was just looking at Mark Grudzielanek’s ‘97 season and wondering how many other players have hit fifty+ doubles and had an OPS that low (.691!). It can’t be too many, right?
What are the chances of a 1-2-3 inning with 2 hit to LF and 1 to 1b?
62 – Love it!
Ibanez just gave me Glenallen Hill flashbacks. I can’t believe there were two replays highlighting his awful path to the ball.
…But Mark Teahen’s play on Ichiro’s single was just as awkward.
I like “Ichiro and that Magic Wand…”. Niehaus still entertains me.
I’m amused that the Royals have the rhyming duo of Teahen and Guillen.
I spell Raul with 42 “U’s”.
Figures they play a decent game when everyone is at work and can’t watch them. God I hate afternoon games.
70: I understand what you’re thinking, but for those of us in the eastern time zone, this is great.
59. in bingo land, the ignitor only counts as a “Pick Off”. The “CS” is for catcher caught stealing.
Wow runs in the first 3 innings, they better simmer down or the ponies will be tired by the stretch run.
Maybe Bavasi’s link to the past is making us lucky with #42. Don’t know how we did last Jackie Robinson Day, though.
Between innings semi-tasteless joke:
Perhaps Grady Sizemore should wear 21 today.
Semi-tastelessness over.
Please go back to enjoying the memory of Richie fanning weakly while the M’s try to hold onto a lead.
Let’s hope Batista isn’t cooled off after that long sit on the bench.
And, in case there was any doubt, Sexson still can’t hit a changeup–it’s totally guess-and-check for him.
I looked at every 50 double season on Baseball Reference and only Brian Roberts in 2004 (OPS .720) comes close to being as bad as Mark Grudzielanek in 1997.
In case, anybody but me is interested.
Why don’t they just have a 7-day DL in the majors instead of retroactive placement on the 15 day?
The Ponies will only come out when they see this kind of offense against a major league pitcher.
April 15, 2007: Beat Texas 14-6. Horacio Ramirez(!) got the win. But maybe it’s the tax day thing.
Aww c’mon the Ponies aren’t that picky. Especially if you let Boom Boom start, they’re already chomping at the bit.
Ahh. These tail end of rotation days.
Anyone interested in the Seahawks? What do you think about the Hawks playing Dallas on Thanksgiving Day!
The pink ones are very discriminating.
These first and third situations are times when I’d like to see teams run more. Double steal, delayed steal from 3rd, bunt squeeze.
Of course, there’s a downside to that.
Joser, I’d like to see the numbers…I think Buck took a stupid chance there….against Batista, I think you would expect that a hitter could put the ball in the air. Lemme look all of that up.
A picked off and now a catcher caught stealing.
Throw away outs – the buffet is calling.
Argh. Maybe Bale will cool off even further now too.
Who needs Bedard healthy when Batista’s pitching like this?!
…I do.
Hilariously, Batista is still out-pitching Bale. He has 3 more outs on 8 more pitches.
USSM Conflict: When Rally Fries and Ponies meet.
Nomo-mania is about to run wild…
Nomo v. Boom-Boom. The tension is palpable.
Bunt? We don’t need no stinkin’ bunt.
I’m pretty sure we can assume Nomo has nothing left in the tank when he can’t even fool Boom Boom.
No Mo’ seems like a more appropriate spelling for a reliever.
Not in his case, but still…
No Mo’ gas in the tank, in this case.
I don’t see any ponies – just batting practice KC hurlers.
Huh. I would have thought they’d IW Ichiro here.
Tough day at the office for Guillen.
hey, why doesn’t that Bloomquist kid play more, all he ever does is hit, and make things happen on the basepaths …
100- Comment of the day. Classic.
Can I just say that one of the things I really do like about Sims is that when he botches something – like automatically reading “slash bobble–” – he actually fesses up and sometimes mocks his own error and even the nature of the endless shilling he has to do (”I’m so used to saying slash bobblehead”).
If you listen to other broadcasters, you know how rare that sense of humor is.
Looks like the Good Miguel returned for the inning.
Can I get some USSM Swag trying to quantify Beltre’s awesomeness? No, it wouldn’t fit on a shirt!
Man, Richie sure can walk.
No Mo major league career.
[snerk]
Ichiro has blown past Hubie Brooks, Mark Loretta, and original Pilot Tommy Harper on the all time hit list tonight.
Hit #1610 puts him in 459th place.
105: I believe Obi-Wan Kenobi is standing in the dugout when Sexson is up, saying “This is not the Richie Sexson you’re looking for. This is Barry Bonds, circa 2001-02. Pitch him accordingly.” I have no better explanation.
So Nomo’s last appearance in the bigs was in ‘05 for the Rays. Seems his comeback attempt is fizzling out. Too bad, I used to be a big fan of his. His wind-up is a lot less whacky than it used to be, which was the source of his mysterious power. That, and his abnormally massive glutes.
Teahen- Professional Left Fielder.
George MacKenzie, how I love I thee!
Are we ready to declare Johjima officially out of his slump?
I think that Kenji may have finally gotten Mariner fandom off of his back.
Dave just called him “Jack, I mean John Buck.” Sigh.
Joh is now astride the Mendoza line!
Mariners have been at bat so long in this inning Batista should get credit for two separate starts.
Wow, Dave might need a quick class on causation versus correlation. We are pretty sure the little girl in the riders hat doesn’t have magical powers once she gets rally fries. But she might have a pony!! The ponies strike again! Ok, new plan, fill Safeco with girls with ponies.
Geez, I just noticed the Ms have scored every inning so far.
If ever there was a time for a double steal.
Ok that works too.
Batista got chased out of the game by his own offense.
This is a funny offense. I’ve come to always expect the worst of them when we face lousy pitching, but today that hasn’t been the case at all.
At least Batista will be fresh the next time we need him to make a spot save!
Do we really know if Mama RRS is watching the games on MLB.tv or are they just plugging it cause they can?
Tony Pena, Jr.: Mariners pitching::Kenji Johjima : Royals pitching
Then, Baker will remind us that he is the only member of the Seattle media to cover Bastista’s time as the closer in Toronto. And there will be a hockey reference, but it won’t involve either Crosby or Ovechkin.
Has it been noted that Adam Jones hit his first Oriole homer today?
They are 2 innings behind on the Astros/Phillies game on the radio out of town scoreboard. Incredible! Do they have internet access up there?
RRS must be nervous, knowing that his mum is watching.
What’s the over/under on the number of times Sims has to say this year: “That’s a long run for Ibanez”.
In that last AB, even though RRS got the last out, he was living dangerously with that high slider.
29 baserunners. No jacks. 3 innings to go (assuming no bottom 9)
Hey…has anyone ever pointed out on here how bad Sexson sucks?
130: I think it needs to be turned into a drinking game. Stock up.
Sexson struck out swinging? Shocking!
Did Sexson walk twice? I’ll take 0-2, 2BB for most games and be content with it.
If this is an old power hitter pattern for Richie, he might get by this whole season by drawing a lot of walks. I’ve seen hitters do that for pretty much a whole year.
But eventually pitchers will be able to throw him strikes and he won’t be able to hit them. It’s called aging.
I didn’t know that moose have lairs. Or dens. Simms just called it a lair, but last night on the big screen at the park they called it a moose den.
Hey, I haven’t checked, is it cold outside?
Ok, the “bring up Clement” people should be feeling pretty foolish about now. Assuming they’re even willing to show their sorry faces.
137 I’m pretty sure that that’s the phenomenon we’re witnessing. Seeing as we’re stuck with Sexson for the year I’m hoping he manages to pull the whole “walk a lot hit a few home runs” act off for the rest of the season.
Kenji!
And the hits just keep on coming!
Man, think of the childhood Jimmy Gobble must have endured with that name.
Don’t look now, but our entire lineup is above the Mendoza line for the first time all year!
The Ignitor, with a walk.
147: His brother Dick had it worse.
Uhmm…Somehow 137 became 141. Am I the only one whose comment numbers shift down every once in a while, so that post #10 suddenly becomes #13? Is this a result of moderators allowing queued posts through?
Moose do have beds, of a sort. I don’t think they have entertainment centers or desks or anything that would qualify as dens. Let alone the mirrored ceilings and beads and lava lamps that would make for a “lair.”
Is this a result of moderators allowing queued posts through?
Yep. And sometimes retroactively deleting earlier posts. Now that we have a moderation crew that sometimes verges on beltre-pointing-to-first-base-ump level of hypervigilance , I’ve stopped referring to posts by number and switched to commenter name instead.
Raul is the only Mariner hitter today with a negative WPA.
joser – that sounds like a good practice.
Sigh. It’s sensible to refer to the commenter rather than the post number in any case, and it’s even better to quote when possible, so I’m glad at whatever has prompted the change in your personal approach, which makes it easier for everyone else to follow the conversation; is there really any point to taking a cheap shot at moderators removing worthless posts, the worst of which you never even see?
Right, use names or reply to quotes. Comment numbers are best avoided. And really, we do far more letting stuff through that was held in the queue, as opposed to outright deleting. Even for worthless stuff, the spot it was in usually doesn’t disappear, it just gets edited to say [reason comment was deleted].
Great offensive showing from the boys today. Please, please let the bullpen close this one out.
Wait, relievers can’t pitch two innings! That’s FORBIDDEN!
So, we get to see the return of the diamond stud-man in the 9th. Hope we get a few insurance runs just in case, but I’m hopeful.
Well, we are going to get to see Rhodes in the 9th.
Here’s hoping he has something left in the arm.
Belre punches himself out. How often will that happen this season?
Sorry, that shot was meant to be “humorous” not “cheap”
Between 89 and 91 mph on pitches to the first hitter.
In all seriousness, I do like the intimidation factor and swagger that Rhodes brings to the team. Not that it has any effect on the game, but I do like seeing him out there. Granted, if this inning gets out of hand that could all change pretty quick.
Adam Jones not only hit a homer, but he walked in both of his other trips. Today’s OBP = 1.000. Oh, and George Sherrill leads the majors in saves. Hmm.
That was a short outing. Oh, well.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Arthur Rhodes, always have. Great fun to watch. Just not anymore.
And there you have it folks, the intimidation factor of Arthur Rhodes!
Cairo?
Him?
Cairo?
Might I remind you Mr. Spade that you may have the falcon, but we certainly have you.
Oh, you mean that Cairo…
Sorry,
It would be awesome if Rhodes were suddenly the Rhodes of 2001 – however unlikely this should be. But even if he is, and his diamond earrings are continuing to sparkle in the sunlight, I still don’t want to see him pitching against the Yankees in a close game. I have enough bad memories of that already.
“Ryan Rowland-Smith has been providing his family back in Australia with some advance play-by-play of his outings. His mother, Julie White, subscribes to the MLB Extra Innings package back home, but because of the time difference winds up watching the games several hours after they’ve been played.
Rowland-Smith usually chats with her beforehand, letting her know whether he got in the game or not. “I’ll tell her what happened and what to look for,” he said. “Mostly just the good stuff.”"
Unrelated, but… Doyle went yard for his first of the year tonight.
And:
couple of interesting pieces on the presence of african-americans in baseball today; the annual report card on diversity and a column about it
I hate to say I told you so about Bedard being hurt in spring training, but I did.
Will Mama RRS be able to get games in the Bay Area this week that I won’t? I’m outraged. I think those teams require a blackout in Oz. If not, which teams do claim the Land Down Under? Shouldn’t MLB divide up the entire world as it would make almost as much sense?
I was in the center field bleachers for most of this game. It was freakin’ cold as fuck. Even I, your fellow USSM-reading stalwart, had to get out of there just before the end of the 7th.
Still, I had a fine view of the Ichirear.
Here is my injury report going up on the KJR Doc blog tomorrow regarding Bedard:
Bedard lands on DL
Erik Bedard has been placed on the DL with a left “hip” injury. In general, and without having examined him, the most likely diagnosis would be a muscle strain or a bursitis. Bursitis involves irritation and inflammation of a small protective sac of fluid that sits on top of a bone to keep overlying muscles or tendons from rubbing on the bone. There are a number of bursa in the hip, and the most commonly affected is the trochanteric bursa that sits on the bony prominence on the outside of the hip. It usually hurts when you touch it, and causes pain with going from sit-to-stand. There are also a number of muscles in hip that could be strained, and these can be uncovered with certain tests that involve stressing those muscles.
The worst-case scenario for Erik is that he is having pain from early arthritis (also called degenerative changes) due to the repetitive trauma of pitching. This would usually be uncovered with an x-ray or MRI, and would obviously be devastating. Did we keep the receipt on that trade???
I try to think of pitching as four stages of body movement: stride, hip rotation, trunk rotation, and arm movement. If Erik is having pain in the hip, regardless of the cause, the cycle is broken and he will lose velocity and accuracy. Like JJ Putz, time and rest will hopefully take care of the inflammation and discomfort. Anti-inflammatories (like ibuprofen or naproxen) may help, and both could receive steroid injections (if Erik has bursitis) to decrease pain/inflammation. Speedy healing guys!
The Mariners’ Arthur Rhodes , who had ligament replacement surgery last May, got one out and allowed two singles in the ninth in his first game since Sept. 9, 2006, when he was with Philadelphia.
”(The doctor) said it would take 12 months to get back. I beat that,” the 38-year-old left-hander said. ”I’m proud of myself. I pat myself on the back.”
Doctors then diagnosed a new injury to his arm most likely caused by the contortions necessary to pat himself on the back.
Ok, that last part isn’t true. I hope.
Dunno if anyone will read this far down with newer threads in place, but… went to the game yesterday and was curious… was a record set in this game for Japanese imports appearing in one game? Both teams had two. Would seem somehow appropriate for this to have happened on Jackie Robinson Day.