Game 95, Mariners at Indians
LHP Moyer v RHP Scott Elarton. 4:05 pt, KSTW, etc.
What, if anything, happened yesterday to Joel Pineiro?
A study in contrasting theories
Pick one or more of the following:
1. Nothing’s wrong, he’s back as good as ever (“I was out there feeling like I did in 2000 and 2003 […] There was the one big inning, but I was pitching more like myself. That felt outstanding.” — Pineiro
2. It was one mistake pitch (“I made one mistake, really. It was to Hillenbrand. I tried to get it up and in and it was just down and in.” — Pineiro)
3. Didn’t throw first-pitch strikes (“Strike one takes care of that.” — Hargrove)
4. He lost but made progress towards a larger goal (“Today, I saw him get upset, which is good to see. And I saw that he kept his composure. Hopefully this will be a good confidence boost.” — Hargrove)
5. Didn’t come through in two-out clutch situations (“Two-out runs are the toughest ones. I don’t know if there’s an art to closing out innings. If there is an art, it’s probably in keeping concentration for the entire inning.” — Hargrove)
Me: Pineiro is no longer an effective major league pitcher, and has not been for some time.
Every game the Mariners lose, there seems to be a 50-50 chance that they’ll float a batch of bizarre explanations for what went wrong. I think we’ve heard everything but “my iPod keeps freezing so I can’t get psyched up before the game”. Feel free to play along at home and try and predict what’ll come up the next day. It’s surprisingly fun.
Unlike seeing Pineiro get shelled.
So anyway, back to this game… I wrote a hugely enthusiastic chapter about the Indians organization a couple years ago (a little too enthusiastic, in retrospect, but I still agree with my main point). Since the crash, they’ve slowly and patiently built the team back up, testing and discarding players as they went, working towards better and better teams. I disagree with some of their moves, but it’s hard to say that they haven’t been moving steadily in the right direction.
The interesting thing to watch for the Mariners is the fan base in Cleveland. Jacbos Field has drawn fewer and fewer fans as the Indians have been torn down, but they did draw 25,000 for a weeknight game against KC yesterday. I have to believe this is something the Mariners ownership looks at (and Dave’s discussed at length): is it possible to better apply their money to making that dip as soft as possible? How soon can two .400 seasons be forgiven? If they compete next year, will the season ticket buyers come back for 2007?
Game 94, Mariners at Blue Jays
The Mariners try to avoid the sweep by sending Joel Piñeiro out to the hill at 9:37 Pacific time. The Blue Jays counter with Josh Towers. Near no-no aside, Towers has been pretty bad over the last few months, giving up 10 hits to the Devil Rays in four innings last time out. We could see another slugfest.
I promise to minimize the wrestling references from here on out. But after seeing the last item in the P-I’s notebook, I’ve got just three (not two) words for you: “World Wrestling Foundation?” Foundation? Is that the organization that puts on Texas Death Matches for needy four-year-olds?
Game 93, Mariners at Blue Jays
RHP Franklin v LHP Gustavo Chacin, 4:07.
Gameday shows Reed playing in center against a left-hander. Cool.
Update
To wash that out, may I suggest the Rainiers at home against Tucson? 7:05, listen on the net to the fine broadcasting of one Mike Curto. Hear Conor Jackson (the draft pick we gave up to the Diamondbacks) and a major-league sequence of hitters whup up on the Rainiers, and the Rainiers whup up on Tucson’s awful pitching.
Game 92: Mariners at Blue Jays
How come the Mariners never do anything like this? Tonight at the Toronto Rogers Centre of SkyDome, special guests Roddy Piper, Bobby Heenan and “Mean” Gene Okerlund will be in attendance.
Now that’s a promotion. I haven’t been this jealous since the White Sox had “take your dog to the ballpark” day. Or last night at the Aquasox game, when we watched some kid win a hundred bucks by beating some other kid in a remote control car race. Yes, I know Safeco Field hosted Wrestlemania. It’s not the same.
Naturally, the entertainment at the game will feature an episode of “Piper’s Pit.” We can only hope that Rowdy Roddy cracks Aaron Sele with a coconut and takes the mound himself. Another possibility: Piper shows up in sunglasses and runs screaming at the site of Seattle bullpen.
Failing that, perhaps Heenan will refer to the Mariners as “humanoids.” If they would let Heenan and Mean Gene do the commentary for the game on MLB.tv, I would personally guarantee one more viewer.
It’s just too bad Gorilla Monsoon is dead, or we could do a wholesale replacement of broadcast teams, like a line change in hockey.
Aaron Sele v. Ted Lilly. Random 7:07 p.m. start. Is that 7:05 p.m. in Canadian time? Or are they only giving Roddy two minutes for the Pit? Blasphemy.
Game 91, Orioles at Mariners
1:05 sure snuck up on me. RHP Sir Sidney Ponson v RHP Gil Meche.
Bloomquist sits! (gasp of shock)
Game 90, Orioles at Mariners
LHP Bruce Chen vs. LHP Jamie Moyer, 7:05pm, FSN & KOMO
I just got back from Maryland tonight after a really long — amazing how Friday afternoon NYC traffic can turn a four-hour drive into seven hours — one-night trip with wife and son. Palmeiro was on the cover of the Baltimore Sun, as you might have guessed.
Chen’s in search of his fifth straight win, and since he’s a lefty, Hargrove has take the liberty of benching Reed in favor of Willie Bloomquist. Morse at short, Lopez at second, Borders behind the dish; the rest is pretty standard.
And hey, how’s this for amusing? For a mere $4.95 per month — $44.95 a year — Major League Baseball will host your baseball blog at their special URL which I won’t be mentioning. They really are all about the fans, eh?
P.S. Blogger hosts blogs for free and even lets you post photos now. No foolin’.
Game 89, Orioles at Mariners
RHP Rodrigo Lopez v RHP Joel Pineiro (that’s ei for everyone commenting). 7:05, FSN.
There are, according the the press notes, 11k tickets left tomorrow and 10k tickets for Sunday. Yow. Willie Bloomquist is working on a nice little nine-game hitting streak, during which he’s hit .438. But today he sits in favor of Morse at short and Reed in center. Also, it’s the sixth anniversary of Safeco Field. Yayyyy.
But most importantly — Snelling’s in left field, batting 8th. Woo-hoo!
All-Star Game!
Ichiro vs. punks.
Sigh. Remember when we had a whole ton of players in the game? Good times.
Game 82, Mariners at Royals
5:10. RHP Meche v RHP Carrasco and yet–
No Doyle. No Morse. Bloomquist plays at short and bats 8th. Borders catches.
I don’t get it. Doyle needs his playing time like a lost man in the desert needs water, and they’re keeping him away from the fountain. What’s the deal?
Game 81, Mariners at Royals
A rare 5:10 start time. FSN, KOMO, etc.
RHP Franklin vs. LHP J.P. Howell.
Who the heck is J.P. Howell?
Anyway — this, in terms of level of competition, the second-worst matchup in the AL this year, behind the Devil Rays-Royals. If we’re lucky, in the next hour the Mariners will announce they’ve secured a king’s ransom in prospects in return for trading the last four pitches left in Eddie Guardado’s shoulder.