SPORTS AND BREMERTONIANS

Saturday, August 19, 2006

GAME 122: ANGELS 3, MARINERS 0

In 25 words or less: It's not every day you get to see a Major League record. The Mariners' intra-division losing streak can now vote and buy cigarettes.

This one featured Felix Hernandez going up against Jered Weaver. The horribly slumping Ichiro was given the night off, and Willie Bloomquist hit leadoff, which of course gave the Mariners the best chance to beat Weaver. Taking Ichiro's spot in rightfield was Chris Snelling. That's fun. It shoudl be noted that when Bloomquist came to the plate in the third inning, Steve Physioc on the Angels' television broadcast said Bloomquist was from Bremerton (wrong) and went to college at the University of Washington (double wrong). The Mariners were trying to avoid losing their ninth straight game. The last Mariner team to do this was the magnificent 2004 team, which lost nine straight heading into the All-Star break en route to a grand 63-99 finish. That was also a season where Bob Melvin's contract was extended early on for whatever reason. All in all, I'm to the point where the Mariners are so hilariously bad that they might as well go all the way with it. You've lost eight straight, why not go for eight(een) more? Just bury this season already, I say. I guess the only thing that keeps me coming back day in and day out is that I'm a sadist.

TOP 1ST
Willie Bloomquist whiffed on a 1-2 fastball down and in. Jose Lopez took an 0-2 curve barely off the outside corner before being jammed on a 1-2 pitch and popping to left. Adrian Beltre was up 2-0 before popping an inside full-count pitch to left. Weaver threw 19 pitches.

BOTTOM 1ST
Chone Figgins was up 2-0 and ended up bouncing to first. Maicer Izturis lined a 1-2 pitch off chest of a diving Ibañez (the dive was too short), and the ball rolled toward center, enabling Izturis to get the double. Orlando Cabrera chopped the first pitch very very high to the left side, where Beltre had no play and Izturis moved to third. Vladimir Guerrero had his bat explode on the first pitch, but he fisted the ball just over Betancourt's reach and into left for a single, scoring Figgins and moving Cabrera to second.
»» ANGELS 1, MARINERS 0
Garret Anderson whiffed on a 1-2 fastball that was blown past him. Juan Rivera walked on a 3-1 pitch barely up and in, loading the bases. Howie Kendrick bounced the first pitch to short. Hernandez threw 20 pitches.

TOP 2ND
Raul Ibañez whiffed on a 2-2 breaking ball away. Richie Sexson fell behind 0-2 and whiffed brutally on a 1-2 breaking ball in the dirt away on a pitch where Weaver dropped down sidearmed. Ben Broussard worked a 1-2 count full before reaching to pop a full-count pitch to center. Weaver threw 17 pitches and had 36 through two.

BOTTOM 2ND
Mike Napoli worked a 1-2 count full before fouling a pitch off his front foot, then he flew out to the leftfield track. Reggie Willits hit a sinking fly to shallow center, but Bloomquist made the running and diving catch. Figgins was up 2-0 before popping to left. Hernandez threw 16 pitches and had 36 through two.

TOP 3RD
Kenji Johjima reached for an outside 1-2 pitch and bounced to short. Yuniesky Betancourt popped out to Kendrick on the infield grass. Chris Snelling had the hitters' counts before walking on a high full-count curve. Bloomquist was up 2-0 and whiffed on a high 2-2 fastball. Weaver threw 19 pitches and had 55 through three.

BOTTOM 3RD
Izturis took an 0-2 pitch barely off the inside corner before taking a 2-2 slider(?) over the inside corner. Cabrera bounced up the middle to Lopez, who ranged to the backhand side and threw in time to first. Guerrero hit a second-pitch bullet to Beltre reaching above his head at third, who caught the ball in the palm of his glove and grimaced at the stinging of it all. Hernandez threw 13 pitches and had 49 through three.

TOP 4TH
Lopez whiffed on a high first pitch and Weaver went to his hands and knees after delivering the pitch, and the team trainer came out right away with pitching coach Bud Black as it appeared that Weaver may have twisted his right ankle a bit. Weaver threw a couple warmup pitches and stayed in the game. Lopez was down 0-2 and rolled a 1-2 pitch to second. Beltre bounced hard to third on the second pitch. Ibañez shot the first pitch through the right side for a single. Sexson popped the second pitch high to Kendrick near the first-base coaches' box. Weaver threw nine pitches and had 64 through four.

BOTTOM 4TH
Anderson ripped a 2-0 fastball into the gap in rightcenter for a single. Rivera popped high to right. Kendrick took a 1-2 fastball over the outside corner. Napoli clubbed a 2-2 fairly low curve over the centerfield wall for his first RBIs in 21 games.
»» ANGELS 3, MARINERS 0
Willits was down 0-2 before waving at a 1-2 breaking ball. Hernandez threw 20 pitches and had 69 through four.

TOP 5TH
Broussard popped the first pitch to Cabrera in shallow left. Johjima rolled the second pitch to short. Betancourt popped a 2-2 pitch to Guerrero near the rightfield corner. Weaver threw eight pitches and had 72 through five.

BOTTOM 5TH
Figgins rolled the second pitch up the middle to Lopez. Izturis bad the hitters' counts before chopping to first (3-1 putout). Cabrera shot the second pitch through the left side for a single. Guerrero lined the second pitch into right for a single, moving Cabrera to second as Snelling flashed his arm on the play. Anderson whiffed on a 1-2 curve down and in. Hernandez threw 17 pitches and had 86 through five.

TOP 6TH
Snelling drilled a single into right. Bloomquist whiffed on a 1-2 pitch for the hat trick. Lopez bounced the first pitch right to third to start an easy 5-4-3 double play. Weaver threw eight pitches and had 80 through six.

BOTTOM 6TH
Rivera was down 0-2 and bounced a 1-2 pitch to third, where Beltre barehanded and threw to first, much like Cabrera did yesterday. Kendrick bounced an 0-2 pitch to short, where Betancourt moved behind it but threw into the runner at first as Kendrick reached on the error. Napoli was down 0-2 and took a 2-2 curve for strike three but Kendrick stole second on the pitch. Willits was down 0-2 before flying out to left on a 2-2 pitch.

Hernandez' line: 6 innings, 3 runs, 7 hits, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts, 107 pitches (69 strikes)

TOP 7TH
Beltre took an 0-2 pitch off the left side of the rib cage. Ibañez was up 2-0 and lined a single into left, moving Beltre to third. Sexson popped to Rivera in right and Beltre held at third on a throw that would have gotten him at the plate. Broussard whiffed on a high 0-2 fastball. Johjima had the hitters' counts before whiffing on a full-count curve off the plate outside (eighth pitch of the at-bat).

Weaver's line: 7 innings, 0 runs, 3 hits, 1 walk, 7 strikeouts, 103 pitches (69 strikes)

BOTTOM 7TH
Julio Mateo came in for Hernandez. Figgins worked a 1-2 count full and drilled a single past a diving Lopez and through the hole on the right side. Izturis took a 2-0 pitch and Figgins had the throw beat him at second, but Lopez had the ball come loose on Figgins' slide. Izturis walked on four pitches. Cabrera took a first-pitch ball and pitching coach Rafael Chaves visited the mound with Johjima. Cabrera popped to Beltre halfway in along the third-base line on a 1-2 pitch. Guerrero fell behind 0-2 and popped to Snelling in rightcenter on a 1-2 pitch.

Eric O'Flaherty came in for Mateo. Anderson popped the first pitch high to center. O'Flaherty threw one pitch.

Mateo's line: 2/3 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, 19 pitches (10 strikes)

TOP 8TH
Scot Shields came in for Weaver. Betancourt bounced the second pitch to second. Snelling popped lazily to left. Ichiro, hitting for Bloomquist, rolled a 1-2 pitch to second.

Shields' line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 10 pitches (7 strikes)

BOTTOM 8TH
Ichiro stayed in the game to play right, and Snelling moved to center. Rivera bounced a 2-2 pitch hard past Betancourt and into leftcenter for a single. Kendrick was down 0-2 and whiffed on a 1-2 slider down and in. Napoli was up 3-1 and took a full-count pitch down and in, moving Rivera to second. Willits rolled the second pitch to short, where Betancourt went to Lopez at second for the out, and Napoli slid hard and Lopez bobbled the transfer as Rivera went to third. Figgins lined out to right.

O'Flaherty's line: 1 1/3 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 walk, 1 strikeout, 22 pitches (12 strikes)

TOP 9TH
Francisco Rodriguez came in for Shields. Lopez popped an 0-2 pitch lazily near the rightfield corner. Beltre roped the first pitch down the leftfield line for what was originally called a home run. A fan reaching around to the fair side of the leftfield foul pole reached over the wall and caught the screaming first-pitch line drive on the fly. The umpires conferred after being spurred on by the Angels' acting manager Ron Roenicke and the ruling was reversed as it was called a ground-rule double. Ibañez took a pitch in the dirt that got away from Napoli as Beltre moved to third. Ibañez got ahead 3-1 and popped a full-count pitch to Napoli behind the plate. Sexson whiffed on a 1-2 slider over the outside corner.

Rodriguez' line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 16 pitches (12 strikes)
---

Gameball: Chris Snelling.
Throwing him in rightfield and giving Ichiro most of the night off was quite a position in which to put Snelling. Nonetheless, he came through with a hard single and was the only Mariner hitter to draw a walk in the game. He also flashed his arm at one point, holding a runner from going around to third. So, knowing that he's got a pretty good arm and knowing that with Willie Bloomquist and Adam Jones, you're getting nothing offensively out of centerfield, isn't right now as good a time as any to start Ichiro in centerfield? Ever since Mike Cameron left, I've wanted Ichiro in center. For me, I always liked to have as much ground covered in centerfield as possible more than I liked having a cannon arm in rightfield. Thusly, my starting infield on Opening Day in 2004 would have been Randy Winn in left, Ichiro in center, and Raul Ibañez in right. That thought was further reinforced in the first couple weeks of that season when there were a couple of gappers and long line drives on which you immediately thought, "Cameron would have had that," as it dropped and rolled to the wall for a double or triple. Also, if you believe in hiding your weakest arm in leftfield, that Winn/Ichiro/Ibañez outfield would have done that.

Goat: Willie Bloomquist.
Ichiro gets the day off and Bloomquist gets the spot start and leads off. He takes advantage of this by striking out three times. His net contribution in this game compared with that of Ichiro lately is probably not much different, though Ichiro rarely strikes out three times in a game. Ichiro would have put the ball in play at least once more. So, number two Web Gem on Baseball Tonight aside, this night wasn't good for Bloomquist. He had his third strikeout for the second out in the top of the fifth, and was lifted for the pinch-hitting Ichiro with two out in the eighth, taking away Bloomquist's chance to strike out a fourth time. When the Mariners let Mark McLemore sign elsewhere (Baltimore) as a free agent after the 2003 offseason, they'd basically groomed Bloomquist to be the next McLemore. In a way, they have. Bloomquist plays a few positions and doesn't care where. The problem is that he hits like the 2003 McLemore rather than the 2002 or 2001 McLemore (see). The Mariners weren't completely wrong about it.

Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 87-35 .713 -- L2
2002 74-48 .607 13 L1
2003 74-48 .607 13 W1
2000 69-53 .566 18 L6
2006 56-66 .459 31 L9
2005 53-69 .434 34 W1
2004 46-76 .377 41 W1

Washburn. Lackey. Tonight.

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post written by David, published at 1:47 PM
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Friday, August 18, 2006

GAME 121: ANGELS 5, MARINERS 2

In 25 words or less: Everything's gone bad when Mark Lowe finally gives up a run. Crazy eights overall and the division streak can vote after the next game.

This one featured Jamie Moyer going up against Kelvim Escobar. On gameday, the Mariners sent down Sean Green and activated Chris Snelling from the disabled list. Richie Sexson also took back his usual spot in the lineup, hitting fifth and playing first base, which means he was activated off the bereavement list after his wife had twins, so Mike Morse was sent back to Tacoma. The Mairners hoped to win a game against an AL West team for the first time since June 11th. Kenji Johjima came into the game hitting .377 with runners in scoring position, good for fourth in the AL. The Mariners hoped to avoid what would be a season-long eight-game losing streak, the likes of which hadn't been seen in Seattle since the nine-gamer that the grand ole 2004 team took into the All-Star break with them. Before that, the 2000 team lost eight straight in the truly dog days of August that summer. That team also lost 15 of 18 before their next winning streak. Of course, the 2000 team was light years better than the current team, and they went on a torrid 19-9 tear to finish the season.

TOP 1ST
Ichiro reached down for an 0-2 pitch and popped lazily to center. Jose Lopez didn't hold up on a 2-2 breaking ball in the dirt and was tagged out by Molina. Adrian Beltre smoked a single over the reach of Izturis and into left, extending his hitting streak to 13 games and his reaching-base streak to 28 games, the longest current streak of such in the Majors. Raul Ibañez had the hitters' counts before popping to left on a 3-1 pitch. Escobar threw 16 pitches.

BOTTOM 1ST
Chone Figgins grounded the second pitch hard to a drawn-in Beltre at third, who went to a knee and made the throw. Maicer Izturis reached for a 2-2 pitch and popped to Ichiro in shallow rightcenter. Orlando Cabrera popped a 1-2 pitch to Sexson down the rightfield line in foul ground. Moyer threw 11 pitches.

TOP 2ND
Richie Sexson whiffed on an 0-2 slider down and away. Ben Broussard foul-tipped a 2-2 breaking ball away into Molina's glove behind the plate. Kenji Johjima grounded to the hole on the left side, where Cabrera made the backhand stab and leaping spinning throw in time to first. Escobar threw nine pitches and had 25 through two.

BOTTOM 2ND
Vladimir Guerrero got way under an 0-2 pitch, popping a mile high to Ibañez in foul ground in the leftfield corner. Robb Quinlan popped the second pitch to Ibañez near the leftfield corner. Garret Anderson lined the first pitch into the rightcenter gap, but he's slow nowadays and only got a single out of it. Tim Salmon took a 2-2 pitch barely off the plate outside and walked on a full-count pitch more outside, moving Anderson to second. Howie Kendrick was up 3-0 and bounced a full-count pitch to Betancourt, who stepped on second trying to get the force at second on Salmon, but the runner had already made it, so Betancourt threw barely in time to first for the out. Plan C involved Sexson throwing home to try to get Anderson, but it was moot. Moyer threw 18 pitches and had 29 through two.

TOP 3RD
Yuniesky Betancourt grounded the second pitch to short. Willie Bloomquist whiffed on a 1-2 offspeed pitch over the outside corner. Ichiro worked a 1-2 count full and served a single over a leaping Cabrera and into leftcenter. Lopez chopped to short, where Cabrera picked the shorthop and threw to first. Escobar threw 15 pitches and had 40 through three.

BOTTOM 3RD
Jose Molina popped to Lopez in shallow center. Figgins dumped the second pitch into shallow center for a single. Izturis rolled a single up the middle past a diving Betancourt and into center, moving Figgins to third. Cabrera took an 0-2 pitch off the inside corner before popping the next pitch to Ichiro in rightcenter, who threw home and was cut off about ten feet in front of the plate as Figgins scored and Johjima airmailed a throw to second to try to get Izturis, and Bloomquist nearly had the ball go past him in center, but Izturis stayed at second.
»» ANGELS 1, MARINERS 0
Guerrero was intentionally walked. Quinlan popped the second pitch to Betancourt halfway down the leftfield line. Moyer and Johjima were shown in the dugout shortly after discussing signs through Johjima's interpreter. Moyer threw 18 pitches and had 47 through three.

TOP 4TH
Beltre popped the second pitch to Quinlan a ways in on the first-base line. Ibañez was down 0-2 and whiffed on a 1-2 breaking ball away. Sexson looped an 0-2 pitch into shallow center for a single. Broussard popped a 2-2 pitch down the leftfield line and Izturis tried to make the over-the-shoulder catch on it, but it went off his glove, giving Broussard the single and moving Sexson to third. Johjima lined out to fairly deep left on an 0-2 pitch. Escobar threw 17 pitches and had 57 through four.

BOTTOM 4TH
Anderson slapped a 1-2 pitch into the leftfield corner, and somehow he stretched it all the way out to a triple since Ibañez more than likely had him played to pull. Salmon whiffed on a full-count pitch down and in. Kendrick popped high to left, and Ibañez was a bit deep and couldn't get enough on the throw as Anderson scored.
»» ANGELS 2, MARINERS 0
Molina broke his bat and poked the second pitch for a slow liner that Lopez caught in very shallow right. Moyer threw 15 pitches and had 62 through four.

TOP 5TH
Betancourt laid the wood on an outside pitch but flew out to a running Anderson on the track in leftcenter. Bloomquist popped the second pitch to Anderson a couple steps short of the leftfield track. Ichiro fell behind 0-2 and whiffed on a low 1-2 fastball. Escobar threw ten pitches and had 67 through five.

BOTTOM 5TH
Figgins was down 0-2 and bounced a 1-2 pitch just past Betancourt, who ran over barely missed getting a glove on it. Izturis watched a 2-0 pitch as Figgins stole second thanks in part to a bouncing throw from Johjima. Izturis was up 2-0 but whiffed on a 2-2 breaking ball in the dirt. Cabrera took a 1-2 pitch as Johjima gunned down Figgins by five feet trying to steal third. Cabrera popped high to right on a full count. Moyer threw 16 pitches and had 78 through five.

TOP 6TH
Lopez chopped a ball along the third-base foul line that hit the grass cut in foul ground and came back fair, and Izturis, Escobar, and Molina all had no play as Lopez had the single. Beltre absolutely drilled a 1-2 pitch, but lined out to Anderson in left. Ibañez took a bouncing 0-2 pitch as Lopez stole second. Ibañez was down 0-2 and whiffed on a 1-2 splitter down and away. Sexson got ahead 3-0 before walking on a 3-1 pitch away. Broussard popped the second pitch to Cabrera along the leftfield line. Escobar threw 16 pitches and had 87 through six.

BOTTOM 6TH
Guerrero took a 3-1 pitch up and away for a walk. Quinlan rolled a 1-2 pitch to a diving Beltre on the left side, who had the ball come out of his glove while he was prone on the dirt, and he had no play afterward as Guerrero moved to second. Anderson bounced the first pitch to Sexson behind the bag at first, who wheeled to throw to second right away and received the throw from second as well for the 3-6-3 double play. Salmon was down 0-2 and grounded a 1-2 pitch to Beltre near the bag at third. Moyer threw 14 pitches and had 92 through six.

TOP 7TH
Johjima drove an outside second pitch to the wall in rightcenter for a double. Betancourt shot the second pitch into right for a single, moving Johjima to third. Bloomquist bounced the second pitch to short for an easy 6-4-3 double play as Johjima scored.
»» ANGELS 2, MARINERS 1
Ichiro was down 0-2 and popped to left on a 1-2 pitch.

Escobar's line: 7 innings, 1 run, 7 hits, 1 walk, 7 strikeouts, 97 pitches (70 strikes)

BOTTOM 7TH
Kendrick fell behind 0-2 and whiffed on a 1-2 change away. Molina popped the second pitch to Bloomquist in fairly deep center. Figgins hit a line drive that nearly left the yard but instead banked off the wall in left, just to the left of the bullpens for a double.

Mark Lowe came in for Moyer. Izturis was down 0-2 and took a 1-2 pitch off the right tricep. Cabrera got ahead 3-1 but took a full-count fastball away to load the bases. Pitching coach Rafael Chaves visited the mound. Guerrero laid the bat on a low-and-away second pitch, doubling to the wall in rightcenter to clear the bases. Welcome to the club, Mark Lowe, you now have a Major League ERA.
»» ANGELS 5, MARINERS 1
Quinlan walked on a full-count pitch down and away.

George Sherrill came in for Lowe. Anderson popped the second pitch high to center.

Moyer's line: 6 2/3 innings, 3 runs, 7 hits, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts, 102 pitches (65 strikes)
Lowe's line: 0 innings, 2 runs, 1 hit, 2 walks, 0 strikeouts, 18 pitches (8 strikes)
Sherrill's line: 1/3 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 2 pitches (2 strikes)

TOP 8TH
Scot Shields came in for Escobar. Lopez took a 2-2 pitch in the dirt that bounced up and got Molina flush in the left shoulder, and he needed a minute to walk it off and get a visit from the trainer. Lopez ended up getting under a full-count pitch, popping to left. Beltre rolled over an outside 3-1 pitch, bouncing to short where Cabrera showed off and completely unnecessarily barehanded the ball and threw in time to first. Ibañez bounced to short, where Cabrera picked the shorthop to the backhand side and threw to first. Shields threw 17 pitches.

BOTTOM 8TH
Rafael Soriano came in for Sherrill. Salmon was up 3-0 before whiffing on a full-count pitch away. Kendrick took a full-count fastball over the outside corner. Molina was ahead 2-0 but whiffed on a 2-2 fastball (91mph).

Soriano's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts, 19 pitches (11 strikes)

TOP 9TH
Sexson stuck a line drive to the rightfield wall near the corner for a double. Broussard popped the second pitch to Cabrera along the leftfield line. Johjima blistered the first pitch for a line drive that shorthopped the leftfield wall for a double to score Sexson.
»» ANGELS 5, MARINERS 2

Francisco Rodriguez came in for Shields. Betancourt bounced the first pitch deep into the hole at short, where Cabrera got to it, but he had too far to run and had no play as Johjima stayed at second. Chris Snelling, hitting for Bloomquist in his first plate appearance of the season, took a 1-2 pitch that bounced over Molina and to the backstop, moving Johjima and Betancourt to third and second. Snelling ended up whiffing on a 2-2 slider. Ichiro, up with two outs in the ninth for the fourth straight game, chopped the second pitch high to the right side, where Rodriguez ran off the mound to field it and ran it to the first-base bag. Thusly, Ichiro has made outs to end three of the last four Mariner losses/games.

Shields' line: 1 1/3 innings, 1 run, 2 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 23 pitches (14 strikes)
Rodriguez' line: 2/3 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 1 strikeouts, 8 pitches (5 strikes)
---

Gameball: Jamie Moyer.
Normally I'd shy away from giving a gameball to a starting pitcher if he walked three guys, but the Mariners really needed a starter to get into the seventh or later, and Moyer did exactly that in this game without Mike Hargrove having to extend him to 115 pitches to do it. Moyer got burned when the runner he left on second came around to score, but eventually Mark Lowe was going to give up a run sometime this season, and it happened to be tonight. Lowe had let an inherited runner or two score lately, but he got burned on the same hit that burned Moyer, the bases-clearing double where Vladimir Guerrero reached way down and away to drive the ball to the wall in rightcenter. It's not like Lowe's been the first guy to get lit up by Guerrero or anything. Anyway, Moyer's good start was much needed. In 16 starts so far in August, Mariner starting pitchers have recorded an out in the seventh inning six times. At the same time, they've gone five innings or less seven times. Then you have a Joel Piñeiro who's failed to get out of the fourth inning twice in three tries (earning him a spot in the bullpen) or a Gil Meche who had the key one-inning start in Texas, etc. Oh yeah, Moyer got screwed on run support again. In a total of 25 starts this season, he has given up three earned runs or less 17 times. In those 17 starts, he has a record of 5-7.

Goat: Raul Ibañez.
Since the middle game of the Tampa Bay sweep back in Seattle, Ibañez is 6-for-35 (.171) with one homer, five RBIs, nine total bases, and ten strikeouts. That works out to a slugging percentage of .257 over that span, by the way. In any event, in less than a week and a half, Ibañez has sunk his season average from a nice .276 to a less nice .268. There have been worse individual slides on this Mariner team lately, but if you drag it out to include the first week of August, Ibañez is still only hitting .203 for the month. Keep in mind this was a guy that was hitting .285 with 20 homers and 70 RBIs at the All-Star break. It's been a little more than a month since that, and Ibañez has hit exactly four more homers and driven in 24 runs since. The 24 RBIs isn't a bad thing, but the only four homers is. It could be worse, though. Ibañez could be Jose Lopez, who hasn't homered since June 2nd. Before Hargrove's big lineup tweak on May 30th, Lopez was hitting .286 and slugging .495. He had hit eight homers and driven in 40 runs, which is what got him into the All-Star Game. Since then, he's hit .270 and slugged .357. He's hit 15 doubles and two triples after hitting ten doubles and five triples pre-tweak, but of course the big thing is eight homers pre-tweak and just one after it. He's driven in only 22 runs in 60 games since the tweak. I know he's since been put back in the second slot in the lineup, but I think that pretty much screwed him up, and probably for the rest of the season. I don't know if it heaped too much responsibility onto him or what. Remember when this paragraph was about Ibañez?

Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 87-34 .719 -- L1
2002 74-47 .612 13 W1
2003 73-48 .603 14 L1
2000 69-52 .570 18 L5
2006 56-65 .463 31 L8
2005 52-69 .430 35 L2
2004 45-76 .372 42 L3

Hernandez. Weaver. Tonight.

/
post written by David, published at 1:20 AM
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Thursday, August 17, 2006

...AND THEN WE WERE THREE

Guess what, everybody? This spot on the web where Jeremy and I write and vent about sports is a spot that has now been here for three years.

Last year has been a busy year for the both of us and a pretty tough one for me. When we started this whole thing, I was going into my senior year of college but had an incredible amount of spare time on my hands. Jeremy was taking classes at Olympic College, but that's not the four-year madness he's currently experiencing at Arkansas State. The point is, we both had much more time on our hands than we do now. I have this full-time job, which limits me to do not much posting beyond the Mariner game posts I've been putting together, but they're not really anything creative to me until I get to the gameball and goat entries. What was hilarious was when I jotted down notes and tried to put them together after the game was over rather than just typing full-on as the game was going. Really, though, the worst thing over the past year for me was being so busy and so far away from the region when the Seahawks went all the way to the Super Bowl, and all I could devote to the greatest team our region has seen in a long time was every Sunday. I absolutely hated that I couldn't give the Seahawks more time.

Anyway, thanks to our readers who have stuck around. You help make it all worthwhile. I don't know how much longer this thing will last, but then again, we said the same thing last year at this time too. The party doesn't end until question marks.

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post written by David, published at 8:47 AM
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MARINERS BY THE NUMBERS

Folks, I have a probably unhealthy appreciation for jersey numbers and sports uniform designs and whatnot. If someone brings up a ballplayer or something, especially a local one, one of the first thing that comes to mind for me is what number the player wore or is wearing. So when I saw this page and made sure with a short look that I didn't see a comprehensive Mariner list of the same sort, I went through and put this little ditty together. First, I took the jersey numbers off from Baseball Almanac, then tossed in the Baseball Reference links to the said players. I'd definitely call this a labor of love, and it was fun putting this thing together, which I did mostly between pitches as Oakland was busy handing the Mariners their dinner over the weekend.

I'll look through further since I know for a fact this list is more than likely not complete. For one, I'm pretty sure Felix Hernandez wore 66 in his first couple appearances before he wore 59 (unless that was spring training), and I went through all those Baseball Almanac rosters and didn't find Ted Power, who I know was a Mariner for a short time (unless I skipped over a roster or something). Also, I do hope to update this at the end of every year, and I'd probably do it as the year went along, but the fact that we're three-fourths of the way through the season and there's been a lot of roster reshuffling wouldn't help me, and I don't think I've remembered quite everyone's numbers, though it wouldn't surprise me if I do.

[edit -- I later tried to go through the Mariners' stats this year and remember the numbers of players no longer on the roster. I also went back through some MLB.tv archives and found that Felix Hernandez did indeed wear 59 from his Major League debut to the end of 2005. Also, I must have skipped Ted Power when going over the roster of the 1993 team.]

Anyway, until further adjustment, here are your Mariners in a whole different format.

[last updated 25 Jul 2020, 1:30a -- updated after opening night players appeared in the boxscore.]

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