Game 88, Rangers at Mariners
The lineups are the same as they were last night, but Baker also informs us that Chad Cordero is close to getting into a game and Jeff Zimmerman (surprise) has arm soreness. I’m sure one of you was wondering.
I’d suggest checking out the Futures Game too, where RF Tyson Gillies and 3B Alex Liddi are batting two and three for the World Team, but they’re in the midst of a rain delay. Gillies grounded out in his first at-bat, but Liddi drew a walk and the World Team has scored two runs off of former Mariners prospect RHP Chris Tillman.
Alternatively, there is a Jerry Brewer article on pitching coach Rick Adair that could help pass those long forty minutes until the game starts.
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269 Responses to “Game 88, Rangers at Mariners”
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does this series switch Z into a more “buying” mode. And let me set it straight that I don’t dislike Hardy, he’s a fine player, he’s just not “can’t miss” in my opinion. I haven’t looked at the advanced metrics, but it seems that at least offensively, he might have regressed a bit when he should be hitting his prime.
We almost lost Gillies to the St. Louis stands!
Whoo! Gillies just crashed into the stands, ending up face down, trying to catch a foul ball.
Watch out, kid. We need you to stay in one piece.
So we finish this dreaded 16-game stretch with a record of 9-7, two to three games better than most predictions. Not bad. Now that we’re likely not sellers, let’s see about that little hole at SS.
I know the consensus is that Cedeno is not an everyday shortstop, but he played well today and remember, this is what BP said about him during the offseason:
As early as two years ago, we produced 23+ VORP in AAA. I’d like to see if he can get his mojo back.
46-42 is very impressive way to go into the all-star break.
This team is for real, lets see what Dr. Z can do to shore up the offense.
Wow to think also how the M’s have 46 wins already after only winning 61 last year.
Good win guys!
Allow me to be one of the first (today) to say:
I hate the all-star game. No baseball until Thursday??
You’re killing me!
What?!?!?! How can you hate the All-Star Game?
1. Every player actually wears their team’s uniforms instead of some stupid all-star uniform used to make a couple extra bucks.
2. Out of all the all-star games in all the professional sports leagues, this game is the one that most resembles a regular season game.
3. It’s not on Versus.
4. There’s usually always a special pre-game ceremony beforehand that’s meaningful and looks good on TV.
5. WE’RE ACTUALLY PLAYING FOR SOMETHING! (home field advantage in the World Series) Maybe it isn’t the best way to decide home field for the World Series, sure. But hey, at least it means the All-Star Game is worth something.
Go American League!
And this is where I start to have problems with the ASG (which I otherwise enjoy, FWIW). If it is going to “mean something” then both leagues should be able to field the best players: players chosen strictly by their performance rather than fan votes (in which case your starting AL CF would be Franklin Gutierrez, BTW) or selected by the two managers. If you’re going to allow the fans to stuff the ballot boxes to see their favorite players (whether they’re having particularly good years or not), that’s fine too — but then it shouldn’t “mean something.” Home field advantage in the World Series should not be indirectly decided by a popularity contest. The ASG is either an exhibition game full of fan favorites played for fun, or it’s a serious game with the best players deciding something important. Pick one.
I have never understood the reasoning behind the home field advantage thing anyway. If I’m a Yankee, do I want the Red Sox to have home field advantage if they make the World Series. If I’m a Royal, why do I care at all, since I’m not going.
If the All-Star Game is going to affect post-season play, the mechanism for selecting players can’t be based on fan voting.
It’s one of Bud Selig’s worst ideas, ever, and that’s saying something.
Alternating home field advantage between each league every year is not that great either.
Having the All-Star game determine which league gets the extra home game in the World Series, should encourage fans to be more objective in choosing the best players. (Although they would presumably choose the worst players for the opposing league)
If the All-Star game is going to determine post-season play, who should be selecting the players? I don’t know that there’s a good answer to that, as having a computer select the best player may not go over that well.
If it is genearally considered that the entire playoffs (which consist of many games) is more or less a crap shoot.
Why wouldn’t the ASG be even more of a coin flip, regardless of who plays on each team?
Their might be argument against having the ASG counting for home field advantage. But, I’m not really sure the fact that the “best” players don’t all make it really sways the outcome enough to complain about it.
Not to mention that managers and players make just as many dumb selections as the fans do…
The World Series homefield advantage ought to just be determined on the aggregate record of interleague play. Everybody’s playing to win anyway, so it’d be easy. Let the all-star game be an exhibition and a break from real baseball.
ok, two things:
one, I actually meant to type “break” instead of “game”. I hate the all-star break. I know the teams need the break etc. selfishly, I wanna watch baseball tomorrow. I’ll get over it.
two, the actual game is really hard for me to buy into. I’d like to see Ichiro hit a HR in his first AB. Barring that, I don’t know how long he’ll play, who will pitch, is Felix in yet? Will he be back next inning? It’s way too segmented to feel like an actual game. I know it’s an ‘exhibition’, I don’t like exhibitions.
That said, I’ll listen to someone trying to hit 8 home runs in the second round etc. Then I’ll tune into the start of the game Tue. (DON’T get me started on the eternal pre-game rituals) All the while, I’ll miss baseball and look forward to Thursday, Cleveland. Washburn, I believe.
Olson, actually.
The other part of it that is poor, is that there is no resolution to take if the game ends in a tie.
My suggestion would be to allow each team to carry one extra pitcher. This pitcher would be told up front that he would only pitch if the game goes to extra innings (so that the manager would not be pressured to get him in the game in the 9th in order to use everyone). So, hey, enjoy the game and relax for 9 innings.
Then if the game goes to extra innings, this pitcher would throw the 10th.
If the 10th ends in a tie, then the game is called and the League that did not have home field advantage in the WS gets to have it in the current season.
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