When too much is a good thing
Adrian Beltre smoked his first home run of June in the 4th inning last night.
“I’ve been taking too many pitches,” so he says (Hickey, P-I).
Mr. Beltre makes an excellent case in that one must swing the bat to put it over the fence. But then, to a fellow with a career .329 on-base percentage (and presently .301 on the year), I might recommend taking a couple of more.
Beltre is finishing up his best month as a Mariner thus far. Somebody give him a cookie.
April – .258/.284/.361
May – .216/.245/.353
June – .312/.386/.442
The difference? 9 walks in June compared to 3 in each April and May. Here’s a breakdown comparing his strikeouts-per-at-bat and walks-per-at-bat month by month in 2005, along with his career totals and his career 2004 season…
Trade updates, plus something random
A bit about a potential Boone trade to the Twins in this Pioneer Press column. Don’t both clicking the link unless you don’t believe me, since this is the entirety of the item in blockquote, but if you do, it’s username: tkedwards@mailinator.com password: morris
The Seattle Mariners, by the way, might be willing to pay most of second baseman Bret Boone’s $9.25 million salary this year if the Twins would give up a marginal prospect in a trade.
This lets me weigh in on a topic that’s been percolating in the comments. I think if the choice is between paying Boone’s salary and gettting a prospect, or simply getting the other team to pick up the tab, the M’s ought to do the former. From a fan’s perspective, we know that the budget allegedly is zeroed out at the end of any given year. If they aren’t going to use the millions they save to improve the team next year, at least the team should get a guy with a chance to contribute.
On the Randy Winn trade front, a bit of news from Newday. The Yankees, looking for a centerfielder, sent two scouts to the M’s-A’s series to watch Randy Winn and Mark Kotsay, but they don’t feel like they have a fit with the M’s for Winn.
I’m not surprised there is no fit to be had with the Yankees. They don’t have much in the minor leagues to give up, and they’re tethered to most of their major league contracts.
Random Schadenfreude: I’m not sure I believe this or not, but that won’t prevent me from passing it on. It’s what every non-Yankee fan wants to believe is going on.
Game 77, Mariners at Athletics
RHP Meche v RHP Haren. 12:35, radio only.
Rare day game, as the Mariners look to get this series over with so they can get on their flight back home.
Baseball sites thread on Metafilter
Many of you are probably familiar with Metafilter, one of the first community weblogs. It’s an interesting community of shared links.
Recently, the site has added an “Ask MeFi” page where members can post a question for which other members provide informed answers. In a group of 24,000+, you’d be amazed the wide array of expertise that exists there.
Baseball site expertise is included, apparently, since yesterday saw a cool thread about “what are the best national pastime sites on the Internet“?
There are a lot of great suggestions in the thread, some of which you’ll definitely know about (Prospectus, Baseball Reference) and others you may not (such as other baseball blogs). Many of the suggestions I can personally vouch for as awesome, like Baseball Toaster and Baseball Analysts. This also seems like a good way to track down some new gems you might have overlooked, so have a look if you’re so inclined.
Even if you aren’t a Metafilter member, you can read the site for free. You only have to be a MeFite to post. I know at least one other MeFite reads this humble blog, since there’s a USSM mention in the thread (and many thanks for that, by the way).
Happy hunting!
Game 76, Mariners at A’s
Ryan Franklin v. Joe Blanton. Sorry we’re late.
BP/USSM at the Park
One of the main comments we heard at last years Pizza Feed was that everyone wanted to do one during the summer and catch a game together. Well, that is officially in the works.
Saturday, July 16th, the Mariners hook up with the Baltimore Orioles at 7 pm. We’re in the planning stages of putting together an event for Baseball Prospectus and U.S.S. Mariner readers. Full details will be forthcoming at a later date, but we are planning on purchasing a large block of tickets for the game. In order to make sure we accurately guage interest in an event like this, we’d like to hear from those of you who are extremely likely to attend. The cost of the outing (still to be determined) will include your ticket to the game.
If you’re fairly certain you’d be able to attend on the 16th, send us an email and let us know how many people you believe you would be bringing with you. This does not guarantee you entrance into the feed. This is simply to guage interest so that we have a general idea of how many tickets to buy. We’d like to be able to accommodate everyone who wants to come, so if you think you can make it to the park on July 16th, drop us a line. The sooner, the better.
And yes, I’m flying out from North Carolina for the event. So no excuses about travel, okay?
Between the Numbers: The Big Caught Stealing
Beware: do not read this post.
It will remind of last year’s most gutwrenching losses. It contains positive comments about both Dave Henderson and Willie Bloomquist. As such, it such may be dangerously shocking to people with heart conditions, pregnant women or children. So if you’re a pregnant child with a heart condition, for the sake of all that’s decent, do not read on.
Those who have longed for an exhaustive treatise on Willie Bloomquist’s stolen bases, join me after the jump. Read more
Could it be?
I’ll have a longer post this afternoon that’s actually Mariner-related. For now, you may want to check out what Josh Towers is up to against the Devil Rays.
No, I can’t tell you. It wouldn’t be right. But it might be worth watching.
Game 75, Mariners at Athletics
LHP Moyer v LHP Zito. 7:05, FSN.
A couple years ago, this would have been a great pitching matchup.
Olivo up, Rivera down, black white, day night
Miguel Olivo, who is hitting not-quite-as-badly as when he was sent down, has been recalled according to this baffling press release on MLB.com. Rene Rivera’s been sent down.
Now, whether this is temporary and they’ll make another move when Wiki’s ready (in a health sense there, reserving judgement about his true talent level).
Borders, 68 AB: .221/.260/.294
Gonzalez, 16 AB: .375/.375/.625
Olivo, 110 AB: .145/.174/.236
Rivera, 33 AB: .364/.382/.545
Wilson, 27 AB: .185/.214/.185
This has been a weird year.