Game 10, Mariners at Indians
Happy Felix Day!
Travis Hafner, Victor Martinez, Grady Sizemore, and Jhonny Peralta anchor one of the best line-ups in baseball. The Indians can flat out hit. Even their bad hitters are not bad hitters.
But it doesn’t matter. King Felix is on the hill. The best hitters in baseball don’t stand a chance against the Royal Curveball when Felix has even mediocre command. Every night is a possible no hitter, and every batter is a potentially embarrassing strikeout.
Felix Day only comes around 30-35 times a year. Don’t take it for granted.
Long Live the King.
Game 9, Mariners at Indians
4:05. RHP Gil Mech v RHP Paul Byrd.
Lawton is off the restricted list after his 10-day suspension. Time went fast, blah blah blah. This set off a couple of weird moves: Jeff Harris was optioned to Tacoma, Guillermo Quiroz was taken off the roster via designation for assignment, and Rene Rivera was recalled.
I’m as baffled as you are. Why did Quiroz got the boot? It was a nice little pickup. Did he turn out to have personality issues or something?
And I’m a little surprised that they’re moving off the extra-beefy bullpen, given that the starters are getting rocked.
Game 7, Athletics at Mariners
RHP Rich Harden v RHP Joel Pineiro. 1:05, FSN.
2004 ended with an elbow strain. He missed a fairly large chunk of time to start 2005 with shoulder stiffness. His release point and mechanics were horrible for most of the season and his velocity was significantly down.
After the elbow injury, his strikeout rate dove and never recovered. The walk rate’s been about the same, the HR rate’s the same. He just wasn’t getting the strikeouts anymore.
By year, since 2001:
19.4%
16.7%
17.0%
18.6%
13.0%
The league average is about 16%. In game terms, that’s a stikeout in every start, and that’s a significant effect on his success. Dave’s talked recently about how the difference between Pineiro and Meche is that Pineiro’s worth something, but this Pineiro — the guy with the hittable fastball who seems to be converting into a Bosio junkballer kinda role — isn’t a whole lot of help to a team trying to compete, either.
May he now have a stellar night to show me up.
Carl Everett watch:
.158/.304/.368
Game 6, Athletics at Mariners
LHP Zito v LHP Moyer, 6:05. FSN for TV.
Divsion rivals face off for the division lead! It’s crazy!
Interestingly, Felix Day drew pretty well, much better than previous games compared to past seasons. One of the things we’ve seen over the last two years is the M’s have still been able to sell the weekend and summer games even as the others have taken a nose-dive. If the team doesn’t do well and we still see those dates hold up, it’s a sign there’s a ~1.8m floor to attendence in Seattle that’ll erode, if at all, slowly.
Game 4, Athletics at Mariners
RHP Loaiza v RHP Meche. 2006 salary battle: $5m vs $3.7m. 7:05p, FSN for TV.
Also, it’s the season opener for the Tacoma Rainiers at 6:05. Fireworks and everything. They’re taking on the Colorado Springs Sky Sox.
As noted in another thread, the M’s traded Carvajal for another righty who doesn’t require a roster spot.
Game 3: Angels at Mariners
To paraphrase Bill Bavasi at the most recent USSM feed, “free agent pitchers scare the hell out of me.”
Today’s thrill ride features the respective debuts of Jarrod Washburn and Jeff Weaver with their new clubs. Watch closely to be sure they don’t try to swap in Jered Weaver for his richer brother, since the resulting confluence of misspelled names could cause headaches for years to come. In me, anyway.
And in case you weren’t already frightened by Washburn’s contract, beware — he’s out for revenge on the Angels, who let him go without so much as a phone call.
Revenge of the Wash. This time, it’s personal.
Winning two out of three before the A’s come to town would be an inspiring, nerve-calming way to start the season. Game time is 3:35.
Game One, Angels at Mariners
RHP Bartolo Colon vs LHP Jamie Moyer. 2:05 PM, FSN.
I’m excited.
To the Everett issue — what’s appropriate? Do you boo him starting with the first game and then keep booing until he’s released? Or is polite support for someone who wears the team uniform appropriate? If you don’t like the move, or if you don’t like Everett, I’d say the baseline is don’t applaud anything except the scoreboard announcement that he’s been traded to Tampa for a PTBNL. Waving inflatable dinosaurs… hmm. Where would you get one?
Game 162: Athletics at Mariners
LHP Joe Kennedy vs. RHP Felix Hernandez, 1:05pm, FSN & KOMO.
The 2005 season has come to an end for your Seattle Mariners. It’s fitting, I think, that King Felix take the hill today. Not only was he one of the few bright spots in an otherwise miserable season, but he’s also going to be a big part of the team returning to respectability next season.
RF Ichiro!
SS Betancourt
DH Ibanez
1B Sexson
3B Beltre
LF Morse
2B Lopez
CF Bubela
C JoeJessica
Game #161: Athletics at Mariners
Jeff Harris makes his first start since September 20, nearly two weeks. It could very well be his last in a Mariner uniform.
The Mariners face right-hander Joe Blanton. One could make a good case that Blanton should rookie of the year, but that won’t happen. According to VORP, he leads all rookie pitchers.
The Mariners have seen Blanton three times this year. April 30 the M’s chased him before the end of the fifth inning with 8 hits, scoring 4 times. June 29 Blanton dominated the Mariners, surrendering only an Adrian Beltre home run. September 5 he took the loss in a pitching dual against King Felix.
As I type this, both the Indians and Red Sox seem to have decided to let the Yankees have a playoff spot. Crap.
Game 160: Athletics at Mariners
RHP Kirk Saarloos vs. LHP Jamie Moyer, 7:05pm, FSN & KOMO.
Well, it’s almost over. Tonight begins the final series of the year, as the M’s and A’s play out the string with three meaningless games. Why watch? Other than King Felix going on Sunday, Ichiro! needs just two more hits to reach 200 for the fifth consecutive season. It’s not exactly 262, but it’s a remarkable accomplishment just the same. And of course, there’s tonight’s feel good story: Dan Wilson will start at catcher, catch the first inning, and then leave the field to what I’m sure will be a very long ovation.
Moyer, in his final start of the season, tries to run his Safeco Field record to 10-0 against a team which has beat him up in 2005 — 26 hits and 15 earned runs allowed in 15 2/3 IP over three starts. Saarloos, one of my favorite pitchers thanks to his generally good control and extreme groundballing ways (2.33:1 GB:FB this year, 2.27:1 career), dominated the M’s in his one start against them this year: 9 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, and 7 K in a 127-pitch effort back on June 23rd.
RF Ichiro!
SS Betancourt
LF Ibanez
1B Sexson
3B Beltre
“DH” Dobbs
2B Lopez
CF Bubela
C Wilson