Go see Felix Friday
DMZ · May 5, 2005 at 5:48 pm · Filed Under Mariners
Friday the Tacoma Rainiers host the Salt Lake Somethings at 6:05. The Mariners are out of town, why not go see the future of the team?
Two reasons to go to that particular game:
- King Felix starts
- Fireworks night
If I didn’t have to hang around here until it’ll be impossible to get through traffic and make it to Cheney, I’d go.
As always, if you can’t go, I encourage you to listen to Mike Curto do another fine broadcasting job via the Internet or on Fox Sports Radio 850 AM.
Comments
41 Responses to “Go see Felix Friday”
Stingers. Stingers. Stingers.
I’d love to but I’m already slated to run 4 miles of a 21.5-mile trail run in North Central Washington on Saturday. I might do the whole thing if the mood strikes me.
Any idea what the Mariners or Rainiers broadcast station is in the Winthrop-Twisp area? Anyone?
Too bad I can’t convince the Rainiers to play that game in McCall. Our only baseball field in town, which is at the high school has 325 foot alleys with a 400 foot centre field fence at 5000 feet. It’d be fun to see if Felix could pitch in that environment.
I’m working … but I’ll have Mike Curto riding shotgun.
I like “somethings” better. Think of the mascot….
Oddly, I was already planning to go to the Rainiers game tomorrow. Should be fun. We’d originally planned on going to the game today because of Thursday dollar deals and all, but upon finding out the game was at 12:35 today instead of 6:05, and Felix was starting tomorrow, and it’ll be against the Angels’ AAA team instead of the Rockies AAA team… yeah, tough choice there, huh?
If I had a “USSM Fan Club” button I’d wear one so people could come say hi, but alas.
Re 7:
I’m getting me a hat custom made that says
“David J Corcoran: Obsessive Site Reloader”
So folks know it’s me.
DJC, why not just get a hat that says “Corco”? It would accomplish the same purpose and be more mysterious to anyone else. That’s always a plus.
I’m lovin’ La Russa and Kevin Jarvis. Jarvis gets in the game with 2 men on 2 outs, he walks the first guy to load the bases on 5 pitches, Jarvis gets lucky and the first guy gets picked off to end the inning. In the beginning of the next, Jarvis hits Damian Jackson on one pitch, and then with a 3-0 count on Sweeney he gets pulled for Pulsipher. I love it. 9 pitches, 1 strike.
And the Cards PH Ojeda for the PH Sweeney with a 3-0 count to play L/R games. How often does that happen?! (Ojeda singled, BTW)
The “Bill Pulsipher Renaissiance” just ended. I knew it was too good to be true.
I am getting tired of the Curto plugs…time to move over to another subject concerning the Rainier’s. Have to say if you keep it up your boy Curto will be with the big league club as he truly deserves.
Felix on the other hand is going to be up before Curto. i like the fact theat he is facing some adversity in AAA. He isnt in danger of being mismatched, but he is learning.
So wait. You’re tired of the plugs but if I keep it up he’ll be with the club? Given that choice, you’re going to be freaking exhausted when I finish.
I know what you are up to DMZ, and since this is your magnificent forum, go for it. You guys do a great job, thanks for taking the time to keep us all entertained and informed!
Long live Doyle!
Cutro is great. Probably the best game caller I’ve ever heard. Had I not come to this site, I may never have taken the time to find out. I’m all for the promotion. Rock and Roll McDonalds to DMZ for continuing to spread the word.
There’s really nowhere to put this, so I’ll Corcoranize:
The Yankees are in last place, thanks to losing to the D-Rays.
If you can’t be happy about the M’s, at least you can get some schadenfreude from this, hopefully. And let’s hope we can still say this after the Yankees home series in a couple weeks…
Perhaps I’ve missed something, what is the deal with pimpin’ mike curto with every mentioning of the rainiers. is this some subliminal advertising….????
“subliminal”… no, clearly it is not.
Alright DMZ lets see your weekly PI spot! Its already Friday and still not up!
DMZ do you ever sleep? It appears that your efforts here span twenty hours per day.
[I GUESS IF YOU USE ALL CAPS YOUR POST WILL BE DELETED]
#22
You could simply disagree with me and that would be sufficient. You could even cite examples of better game callers so that I might be able to hear for myself and understand why you disagree. But as is, no I am not deaf, or we wouldnt even be having this discussion would we? All I’m trying to say is that if you don’t like my opinion, fine. If you’d like to point out that I’m wrong on something, fine. But do it in a way that presents an intellingent argument.
[poof]
who announces batters/lineups, etc. at cheney stadium? is that also Mike Curto?
Thanks,
J
Still nothing on the M’s/R’s radio stations for my road trip to the east? Okay, I’m off to do some Web surfing to find the info (hopefully).
Fair or not, I am not sure Curto has the distinct “voice” to get the call to the major leagues. It is difficult to describe, but most major league teams hire play-by-play men who speak with commanding yet warm and smooth tones — the type of voice that stops listeners from turning the dial when they hear it. Dave Niehaus and Jon Miller are classic examples, and to a lesser extent, Rick Rizzs has it too (despite the inane things he says with it). I certainly appreciate Curto’s intelligent play-by-play calling, and I personally would prefer to him to guys like Rizzs, but from a business standpoint, I doubt he gets the job because his voice simply does not stand out. But if Ryan Lefebvre, the radio equivalent of Nyquil, can stick with the Royals, there is at least a chance.
Finally, I might be able to actually see “The King”! I’m just hoping I can leave work early enough to actually get tickets (Will Call tickets work pretty good, right? ). It’s a decent day, weather wise, and Friday Night Fireworks, too. Throw in an appearance by Felix, and, Bingo, tough night to get in…
I’ve already got the approval to leave early, it just hinges on the wife. If I do go, I’ll be behind home plate “conversing” with the umps like I normally do (it seems like the PCL umps like to call the outside batters box line a strike more often than not…). That’s a good skill to teach my 3-year-old, and he’s gettin’ pretty good at it.
w/r/t “the voice”: I’ve heard this before, and it’s not true. It’s an ideal, and teams may think they want it, but if you’re like me and end up listening to a ton of crews, there’s no way most major league teams have someone who provides that.
And I think we cleary see in Seattle the difference between quality of voice and quality of work, and should appreciate that the former cannot carry lack of the second.
If the M’s can hire Ken Levine and subject us to his rancid voice (nevermind his annoying ramblings), then they most certainly could bring Curto aboard. Curto is infinitely better than Levine, and definitely better than a majority of the fogies associated with M’s broadcasts today.
He’s got my vote!
Found the radio info! For the Mariners anyway. Rattlesnakes here I come! (Hopefully not.)
And yet major league teams have employed Rick Rizzs and his quality of voice for twenty years. It may not be fair, or right, but the reality is that teams prefer the ideal. Teams hire announcers not only for their broadcasting skills, but also their ability to huck insurance and farm supplies for their sponsors. The ad executives for local auto dealerships and carpet retailers are going to pick Rizzs over Curto to read their spots. If an MLB team has an opening, they likely will listen to dozens, maybe hundreds, of audition tapes. Guys like Curto who lack the distinctive voice are at a major disadvantage. It is no different than TV stations hiring the newscaster who is more attractive than knowledgeable, or a movie studio casting Tom Cruise over Paul Giamatti for the lead in its summer blockbuster. Again, this is by no means a good thing, but it is naïve to say it is not true.
I’m totally not saying any of that isn’t true. I’m sure that teams think about all those things, and that given two equal candidates, they’ll pick Voice Man.
My point, really, was two-fold, and maybe I should have been clearer:
– it’s not true that “most” ML broadcasters have The Voice, even if it’s true that teams look for it
– that’s a stupid thing to base hiring decisions on, because over time, quality of work drives satisfaction and not the voice
Anyone ever listen to the Boise Hawks’ PBP guy, circa 2001/2002? Peterson, I think his name was… he was awesome.
Is there anywhere pitching probables for upcoming Rainiers home games are published or posted on a regular basis so one can plan ahead to see King F?
Hey wabbles,
Where do we listen in? I’m going up there too–my wife is running the whole 21.5 of the Sunflower Relay. Then we’re going to see the Winthrop 49’er days with our kid. If her legs don’t fall off. In which case it might take us a little longer to get there.
Hmm, PositivePaul makes me a little positivelyparanoid that the game may actually sell out? I sure hope not… hmm.
I’m on my way out the door now; wearing a Hanshin Tigers jersey, if anyone else actually ends up at the game.
The Rainiers site does an okay job of putting up probables, as do Lookout Landing/Mariner Minors – but they, like the Rainiers themselves, can’t really project it out that far. There seems to be too much volatility in line-ups and the rotation in particular.
The Rainiers have seen one starter/long relief guy released; another suspended, then rejoin the team; they’ve seen a spot start from Brett Evert; Albie Lopez is lurking down there in the bullpen, threatening to start, etc. It’s pretty tough with that amount of movement in one month.
But – Felix and Jorge Campillo are pretty much anchored in the first two spots, so you can pretty much figure those guys will be going every five days (Campillo starts the Sunday game, FYI).
#25, the stadium announcer is most definitely not Mike Curto. It sounds like a 17 year old. Painful stuff. I wonder what happened to the old guy, who’s announced Tacoma sports events for years. Anyone else remember the excitement of Tacoma Stars games?
Re: (# 3) THE TWISP RADIO AFFILIATE – It’s KVLR, 106.3.
[Mariner Information Guide, p. 346.] *
________
*This $10 value is free (at the team store) with the coupon that ALL (full & partial) season ticket holders receive. (David Cameron, himself, once said, “This may be the best ten dollars you’ll ever spend.”)
BTW, this Curto/voice thing: IMO, if owners were slaves to preferring the voice over the substance, how did Curto replace Bob Robertson? (They say that Bob could sell the pope a double bed.)
I hate to sound like I’m going against the grain here, but I think we need to ratchet back our love affair with Felix just a little bit.
Don’t get me wrong – he’s a phenomenal prospect, and if he stays healthy (always a big if with pitchers) he should at least become a very good one at the MLB level. I also have no quarrel with the idea he’s (by far) our best pitching prospect and probably one of the top ones in the minors right now.
That said, he’s not ready for the bigs – not yet. Sure, he’s got the stuff, but he’s not quite refined his approach enough to succeed at the MLB level. His ERA and hits allowed in Tacoma are impressive, but if we’ve learned anything from sabermetric evaluations of pitching, the more important factors are K:IP and K:BB ratios. Right now Felix is at 7.75 K per 9 innings – good, and impressive for a 19 year old, but not dominating. He also has 19 walks in his 36 innings, which is understandable given his age but a real warning sign for his prospects of success in the majors at the moment. His K:BB ratio is just 1.63:1, which shows he needs to further refine his command.
I guess what I’m saying is, let’s not confuse the fact that he’s a tremendous prospect with the thought that he’d be able to find success right now as a Mariner. His performance so far for Tacoma has been good, but not good enough to assure us he would do any better in terms of results with the M’s than Aaron Sele. That may sound ridiculous to some, but his command issues – the high walk rate, the good but not overpowering strikeout rate – indicate a strong likelihood that Felix would struggle as a major leaguer if promoted right now.
I think the big thing to look for as Felix’s season progresses is if he can reduce the walks and increase the strikeouts – if that happens, he may well have a decent rookie campaign with the Mariners. But unless/until that happens, I think he’s better off with Tacoma, and if the M’s end up needing another starter Campillo would be a safer and smarter bet at this point.
Thanks for pointing out last night’s game, Derek. Felix and fireworks was an irresistable draw. Even after underestimating traffic and arriving in the middle of the 3rd, and forgetting to warn the boys that the fireworks were going to be Close and Loud — if any readers were in section M, you probably heard/saw them clinging to me for dear life — it was a great time.
And Choo’s shot over the center field wall was a mighty blow — even though it needed to go 425, I knew as soon as he hit it that it was gone.