Charity Game Thread
Padres vs Mariners, 12:05 pm. Pitchers and catchers are nice, intrasquads are okay, but this is an actual (exhibition, but still) game against another Major League team. Welcome back, baseball.
Ichiro, RF
Figgins, 3B
Bradley, DH
Smoak, 1B
Kennedy, 2B
Olivo, C
Saunders, CF
Gross, LF
Jack Wilson, SS
Erik Bedard takes the hill for the M’s. While he won’t pitch very long, it will be interesting to see where his velocity and movement are. He’s still not someone the M’s can count on, but tracking his progress is probably one of the more meaningful stories of spring training.
In other news, Jody Gerut has decided to retire. He wasn’t likely to make the team anyway, so this doesn’t have much of an impact on the outlook this year, but it does give them a little less depth in the outfield. I still expect the M’s to make a trade for a right-handed hitting outfielder at some point during March.
I’m going to my father-in-laws 60th birthday party, so I won’t be around to listen to the game, but that’s probably for the best anyway. I’m not ready to listen to a Mariners game that isn’t voiced by Dave Niehaus yet. I wish good luck to those of you who have to try to get through today’s broadcast without openly weeping.
For me, Dave Neihaus has always been the welcome first voice of spring. Man, I miss him.
Nothing against Rizz, really – but Dave was an announcer who really deserved the accolades he received.
But… I am happy about baseball, even though it won’t be the same. Maybe it’s appropriate that Dave left us before this year of rebuilding, with so many kids vying for places on the team. May Smoak hit .400, Saunders find his stroke, Ackley field so well and Pineda so dazzle with newly-mastered secondary pitches that Wedge can’t find a way to leave any of them off the team!
I hate to get excited during spring training but I can’t help it. Bedard 9 pitches, 8 strikes, 2 k’s…gotta love it. If SOMEHOW this guy can stay healthy, that’s a formiddable 1-2-3 (hoping pineda starts with the m’s).
Nice to see Wilson swing the bat and not get hurt too.
Ready for the season, hoping for some competitive ball this year!
Mariners have 6 runs so far – I’m pretending it’s not because they’re facing spring training pitching. 😀
BTW I missed part of this – who is the old guy they’re talking to on the radio? He thought Duke Snider was underrated? What?
Manny Delcarmen’s in something of a battle for a bullpen spot against the other NRIs and minor leaguers. He’s been up and down with the Red Sox, but he always had a decent FB, though he’d lost a touch from 2008 to 2010, going from 95mph to 93.1.
In his first inning today, his FB sat between 87-89. It’s extremely early, and it’s just an inning. But this is not the sort of first impression you want to make when you’re fighting for a spot.
There’s always a chance that the pitchfx system in Peoria’s a bit wonky, but it had Bedard at 90-91, which is pretty much exactly what we’d expect (that’s just slightly below where he was in 2008-09).
Hmmm. Gameday says Mangini’s at 3rd, M’s booth say it’s Alex Liddi… wonder who’s right and who’s still working the rust off?
Speaking of working the rust off… Bautista is not having a good outing.
Yeah, Bautista’s someone who would benefit if Delcarmen isn’t MLB-ready this spring. Bautista’s velo was there, at least.
(Incidentally, Jerry Coleman was the old guy in the booth talking about Duke Snider, Westside Guy).
I’m with Dave on the announcing thing. I still have trouble tuning into Tigers games on mlb.com and not hearing Ernie Harwell’s voice, and I last spent a full summer in Detroit in 1976. I’ve listened to Niehaus since 1979 and I’m not ready to hear anything else. Although the Monday night replays were creepy, too.
Thank you. It just seemed like a bizarre perspective… he mentioned the quote “Willie, Mickey, and the Duke” and complained that “it treats Duke Snider as a bit of an afterthought” rather than “Wow, look at the people he’s being grouped with”.
Final, 13-12, M’s win!
Gotta love spring training baseball, especially early on.
I just noticed a tweet from Drayer (back during the game) – she also said it was Mangini. Apparently the rust is either with the announcers, or more likely the producer that was feeding the info to them.