This Will Make You Laugh
Dave · June 28, 2009 at 7:19 pm · Filed Under Mariners
The Mariners High-A affiliate in the California League, the High Desert Mavericks, have scored 14 runs tonight in the same game that center fielder James McOwen set the league record by getting a hit in his 36th consecutive game. McOwen also homered, as did two of his teammates, as the Mavericks lit up Lake Elsinore’s starter for 11 runs in 4 2/3 innings.
They’re losing by 18. I’m not kidding. Here’s the box score. Lake Elsinore is up 32-14 as I type this. Thirty-Two to Fourteen.
Gotta love baseball at altitude.
Update: They weren’t done – the final score was 33-18.
They need to take a cue from the folks at Coors Field, only I don’t think a humidifier will be enough. Maybe just leave the game balls soaking in barrel of water behind home plate. The ballboy wouldn’t even need to bring new ones out, the ump could just walk over, fish one out of the barrel and shake it a couple of times before throwing it to the pitcher.
I was screaming that going for two made no sense…
Poor Jose Yepez might go through his whole minor league career with a 135.00 ERA and 12 home runs per inning average.
Rats, Sidi beat me to it… Still, they could have tried an onside kick in the ninth, nothing to lose when you’re down by two scores that late in the game.
Good luck to Jay trying to recap that mess.
We scored 18 runs and only drew one walk?
The organisation really needs to preach patience. The other guys drew 13 walks – we drew 1.
Walking in High Desert is kind of stupid. If you can make contact, it’s probably leaving the yard.
Man alive, High Desert is punishment for pitchers, isn’t it. I can see the Mariners minor league co-ordinator now. “I find your lack of faith disturbing. If you do not please me, I shall have you exiled to High Desert!“
Wow, both teams went the entire sixth and seventh innings without scoring.
It takes up half a page. :/
How do you evaluate anyone from all that?
Pretty neat though, a baseball team scoring like a football game.
Ideally, you don’t.
I coach a 6th grade team, and we completed our perfect season on Wednesday with a 42-6 win.
I emailed the league director about implementing a mercy rule and.. she said no.
They needed to catch their breaths.
Was this played at Adelanto, or on Mars? One of my favorite stats comes from Lake Elsinore’s leadoff hitter Brad Chalk–9 ABs in a 9-inning game.
On the year, Jo Yepez has not hit four home runs…and given up four (granted, he’s only had a third of an inning to build up his homers allowed).
Does that make him the definition of league average?
But more importantly, wouldn’t his ERA be a lot lower if he’d just been allowed to catch himself (the Rob Johnson CERA factor)? And if he shakes himself off, whose fault is it?
OK, should be ‘has now hit four homers’…
A couple things looking at the box score really stood out (beyond the ridiculous score):
every batter for Lake Elsinore had at least 2 hits, the leadoff batter went 4-9(!), and they had a total of 45 baserunners.
Thirty-Two to Fourteen.
Gotta love baseball at altitude.
Update: They weren’t done – the final score was 33-18.
As our broadcasters might say, “High Desert’s rally just fell short.”
And if the goal were to win games in High Desert, that would be relevant.
The purpose of High Desert is to develop players. I would think that it would be a great place to teach patience because it would require so much discipline to take pitches when you know that solid contact equals four bases.
Do you think the org will wise up and decide that this is not a good place to have a minor league team? Think of the psychological damage it inflicts on pitchers and the false hope it instills in hitters!
They should wear cheap trucker’s caps and the outfielders should place cups of beer nearby in the grass…play only 5 innings…have a 10-run rule…
And if the goal were to win games in High Desert, that would be relevant.
Go try convincing the players that their goal on any given night isn’t to win. Your perspective is not their perspective.