Game 43, Padres at Mariners
Richard vs Snell, 7:10 pm.
Ian Snell makes his triumphant return to the rotation by default, as he wasn’t as bad as Ryan Roland-Smith. He’ll try to shut down the Padres tonight, but unless he’s figured out how to to get lefties out in the last few weeks, I’d imagine Adrian Gonzalez will have all kinds of fun this evening.
Richard is a righty, by the way, but Saunders is not in the line-up. His small sample size power display is not as shiny and new as Sweeney’s small sample size power display. Defense, schmefense. We are slaves to the hot hand. I’m a moron.
Ichiro, RF
Figgins, 2B
Gutierrez, CF
6-4-3, DH
Lopez, 2B
Bradley, LF
Kotchman, 1B
Bard, C
Josh WIlson, SS
Game Forty-Two Recap
Yay, 16-26.
Livan Hernandez has a 1.62 ERA. Ty Wigginton, Kelly Johnson, and Jose Bautista are in a three way tie for second in the majors in home runs. Jose Lopez leads the world in UZR. You can now add this line-up scoring 15 runs in five innings to the list of things that make you just shake your head and laugh.
Mike Sweeney… he’ll get a post of his own next week.
How about Josh Bard? No, he’s not an all-star or anything, but I’d suggest that the M’s may have found their starting catcher, at least as long as they’re still playing for 2010. Another couple of well struck balls and a walk, plus no annoying passed balls or other defensive problems I knew I shouldn’t have written that sentence while the game was still going. And we should note that he has a history of major league success – just under 1,800 career plate appearances, during which he’s been worth seven wins over a replacement level player. That’s 2.3 wins per full season. He’s on the downside of his career, so we shouldn’t expect him to play that well, but it’s not like he’s been a scrub for years and is having the best run of his life. He’s a switch hitter with some patience and power, and given the alternatives, that makes him the best catcher in this organization right now.
Cliff Lee is running a 31:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio this season. Yeah, the Padres got a few balls to find holes and put up a couple of runs on him, but he’s easily one of the five best pitchers alive right now. He’s just so, so good.
Enjoy this one – you won’t see many more of those this year. Unless Wade LeBlanc ends up pitching against them again.
Game 42, Padres at Mariners
Lee vs LeBlanc, 7:10 pm.
The Padres are about as close to the Mariners as you can get, only their pitchers are more overachieving than legitimately good. I wouldn’t expect them to start underachieving this weekend. These two teams meeting in Safeco Field should theoretically equal a lot of low scoring games.
Ichiro, RF
Figgins, 2B
Gutierrez, CF
6-4-3, DH
Lopez, 3B
Bradley, LF
Kotchman, 1B
Bard, C
Josh Wilson, SS
Revisiting the ’09 Mavericks Hitters
Since the Mariners signed on with the affiliate in ’07, we’ve talked a lot about the High Desert effect and what exactly that means to the development of prospects within the organization. It’s common to see the Mavericks at the top of the leaderboard in runs scored per game, and last year was no exception, as they lead by 0.40 runs and were first in most offensive categories, save doubles, base stealing, walks and strikeouts. To start the season, three prominent hitters from that ’09 lineup were promoted to the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx, Joe Dunigan, Alex Liddi, and Carlos Peguero. So how have they fared thus far and what lessons can be taken from it? Let’s take a numbers-heavy look at what each of the three have been doing, starting out with Dunigan.
Read more
Game Forty One Recap
Yay, 15-26.
Don’t have much time, will add more later, but congratulations to Junior (and Sweeney) for a big hit and a big win that the team desperately needed. Here’s to hoping the Mariners run off about 15 more of those in a row.
Game 41, Jays at Mariners
Romero vs Vargas, 12:40 pm.
Romero has a nasty change-up. This should go well.
Ichiro, RF
Figgins, 2B
Gutierrez, CF
6-4-3, DH
Lopez, 2B
Bradley, LF
Kotchman, 1B
Bard, C
Josh Wilson, SS
Game Forty Recap
14-26, 8 1/2 games out. The season will be over in a couple of days if the Mariners don’t start winning in a hurry.
There’s not much else to say. Day game tomorrow, so don’t expect any more roster changes. The Mariners have decided to go to war with this group. It’s Little Bighorn 2.0.
Game 40, Blue Jays at Mariners
They got rid of Sean White, so I’ve backed off my no game thread for the night stance.
Fister vs Cecil, 7:10 pm.
Ichiro, RF
Figgins, 2B
Gutierrez, CF
6-4-3, DH
Lopez, 3B
Bradley, LF
Kotchman, 1B
Bard, C
Josh Wilson, SS
Respect
Milton Bradley is going to rejoin the team tonight, and is in the line-up. He’s playing left field, and hitting sixth. Sweeney is DH’ing, and hitting fourth. This does not constitute anything like real change. So, fury, post one.
When Larry LaRue suggested last week that the Mariners were going to release Ken Griffey Jr if he didn’t retire, the organization’s most pointed response came from Jack Zduriencik:
“One thing Ken will always get is the respect and dignity he deserves in this game,” Zduriencik said. “And he’ll always get that from this organization and this community, and he deserves that.”
That has been the underlying reasoning given every time anyone defends Griffey’s place on the roster. Respect. He’s earned the right to go out on his own terms, we’re told. It would be disrespectful to ask him to retire, to place him on the disabled list, or to hit him anywhere other than fifth in the line-up, apparently. Those of us who think his presence on the roster is a huge problem that needs to be dealt with immediately aren’t showing the proper respect.
You know what? He’s not the only guy on the roster.
While the Mariners are respecting Ken Griffey Jr’s legacy by allowing him to tarnish it on a nightly basis, they are showing no respect for the rest of the team. Franklin Gutierrez, whose hard work has made him perhaps the best all around center fielder in the game, is seeing a prime season of his career flushed down the toilet. Cliff Lee, who was snatched from a contender after pitching in October, is seeing his talents wasted. Do they not deserve the respect of having major league caliber teammates? Is the work they put in all winter not worthy of the respect of having an organization deal with problems when they arise? What is respectful about asking the rest of the team to not just carry their own burdens, but compensate for the failures of a sacred cow?
While we’re all so busy respecting one man for what he did 15 years ago, we’re disrespecting the work of everyone else in the organization who is actually worthy of a job in 2010. The thousands of hours of preparation that went into this season by hundreds of individuals who receive paychecks for what they do now, not what they’ve done in the past… it’s all being undermined on a daily basis by the hero who can’t walk away. Doesn’t he owe them the respect they deserve?
Why is Respect Avenue a one way street?
Somewhere in the past few months, wires got crossed. Ken Griffey Jr has replaced the paying customer as the one that the organization is trying to please. In the process of respecting him, we’ve all been disrespected, being sold a product that isn’t worth the price of admission. Now, here we stand, with the season on the line, facing the prospect of four months of meaningless baseball, and Ken Griffey Jr is still on the team, Milton Bradley is still playing left field, and Mike Sweeney is hitting cleanup. When the team absolutely has to win a game, they’re still punting.
We’ve respected the hell out of him for 20 years. Now, it’s time for him to return the favor and GO AWAY. It’s time for the organization to respect the fans again and give us a team we can be proud of. We’re not proud of this roster. We hate this roster. We never want to see this roster again.
Ken Griffey Jr’s cup runneth over with respect. Rather than asking for more from all of us, he should use some and retire immediately. If he won’t do it on his own, then the organization needs to grow some balls and ask him to. If he declines, then they need to grow some bigger balls and put him on the 60 day disabled list. Every day he spends on the roster, you’re choosing to give the entire fanbase the finger in order to keep one man’s ego from being bruised.
It’s stupid. It’s time for this charade to end. No more respect. Go away, Jr.
Dave With Brock and Salk
Due to tomorrow’s day game, we’ve moved my weekly chat with the boys at 710 ESPN to this afternoon at 12:30. The Mariners probably won’t like what I have to say, so if they want to keep me from yelling at them on the air, perhaps they should schedule a press conference for 12:29. I can imagine a few things worth announcing.
Either way, tune in.