UPDATE! MLB's Gameday (the live internet play-by-play) finally has the 2007 mugshots showing instead of the 2006 mugshots, for at least the Cubs and Padres. However, the Cardinals and maybe the Pirates still have last year's pictures. I'll address this as it develops. End Update!
My impressions of the Mariners are 1) Ichiro! 2) Nice Uniforms, 3) Ubelmann and Frightwig are fans, 4) Hargrove might be the worst manager in MLB, and probably cost the team a postseason appearance last year.
Here's the proabable starters for the three-day series in Seattle:
"Jered's older brother" Jeff Weaver (2006 World Champion), "King" Felix Hernandez, and "Another Angel?" Jarrod Washburn.
(Weaver '07, Hernandez '07, Washburn '07)
Each of these guys gets broken down below.
Two starters that will avaoid the buzzsaw that is Nick Punto are Miguel Batista and Horacio Ramirez.
(Batista '07, Ramirez '07)
Kenji Johjima does most of the catching, and his backup is Jamie Burke.
(Johjima '06, '07; Burke '07)
Burke's neckline is just awful. I could not find Burke's mugshot from his time with the White Sox, although this may suffice for most Twins Fans:
(Burke '04, Hunter '04)
Relievers JJ Putz, Chris Reitsma, George Sherrill, with Arthur Rhodes on the 15-day DL..
(Putz '04, '06, '07; Reitsma '05, '06, '07; Sherrill '02, '06, '07; Rhodes '05, '06', '07)
Reitsma was born in Minneapolis (although he grew up in Canada). I live in Minneapolis, maybe we're related. The 2002 Sherrill is with the Winnipeg Goldeyes, an independent Northern-League team. They opened that season at Midway Stadium, playing the Saints. Rhodes's mugshots seem apologetically sad. "I'm sorry about that blown 5-run lead."
My #1 thing above I know about the Mariners is Ichiro! Suzuki, who has been with the team longer than I realized.
(Suzuki '01, '02, '03, '05, '06, '07)
Richie Sexson plays first base like Joe Mauer plays catcher... tall-ly.
(Sexson '98, '04, '05, '06, '07)
No pictures from Cleveland or Milwaukee. The '98 is from his time in the AAA Buffalo Bison. My opinion is that the teal-and-purple Diamondbacks are probably the worst modern MLB uniform. Maybe the their expansion-mates, the gradient teal-to-yellow Devil Rays, but those unifroms lasted only two years. The D:\backs' abominations lasted nine including one World Series.
The 2007 Mariners' former Royal is... outfielder Raul Ibanez.
(Ibanez '01, '03, '05, '06, '07)
On to that rotation, Jeff Weaver looks really scuzzy. I like that.
(Weaver '04, '05, '06, '07)
Felix Hernandez
(Hernandez '03, '05, '06, '07)
The 2003 Photo is from his time with the Everett AquaSox. (Yes, that's a team. They've worn tie-dyed uniforms.)
Jarrod Washburn
(Washburn '01, '02, '03, '04, '05, '06, '07)
I might take back that comment about the Purple-teal D:\backs, the late 90's Disney Angels were another type of awful.
Here's a few position players, back through time... Adrian Beltre, Yuniesky Betancourt, Willie Bloomquist, and Ben Broussard.
(Beltre '07, '06, '05, '02; Betancourt '07, '06, '05; Bloomquist '07, '06; Broussard '07, '06)
The following Joses (and one Julio) look important, but I only have one picture of each of them, Jose Lopez, Jose Guillen, Jose Vidro, and Julio Mateo.
(Lopez '07, Guillen '07, Vidro '07, Mateo '07)
Now, almost all the above mugshots for 2007 have black underbills. At least none are clearly grey (excepting maybe F-Her and Beltre), but a few of the M's minor leaguers clearly had grey underbills for their shots: Sean Green, Jon Huber, Oswaldo Navarro, and Rene Rivera.
(Green '07, Huber '07, Navarro '07, Rivera '07)
If you look back at the mugshots of Weaver and Washburn with the Angels, you can see that they had black underbills way back then.
That Beltre '02 is almost a glamor shot.
Damn, I made a Jamie Burke joke in the Series Preview in Blog, too. You may have got the best of me on that one AMR, but I have Richie "Funk Blast" Sexson.
Hargrove might be the worst manager in MLB, and probably cost the team a postseason appearance last year.
Maybe I'm not up on things -- is this mostly tied to the lousy DH thing?
I don't know if that would have made up 10+ games and overtook 3 teams, so maybe I'm missing something...
It's just an impression. I don't remember the details. I'm probably being a bit extreme with the "cost them a postseason appearance" seeing that they were in fourth place, but seeing as many of those games were against those same teams... maybe not?
Maybe I’m not up on things — is this mostly tied to the lousy DH thing?
It's pretty much everything. He insists on keeping about 20 pitchers on the roster, has a bigger Scrubini Fixation on Willie Bloomquist than Gardy has on Punto, and fills out lineups that make Gardy look like a freakin' genius. I don't know if it was a 10 game difference, but Hargrove is quite possibly the worst manager in the majors.
Again, top-shelf stuff, AMR. Perhaps Burke is just trying to bring back the "Flashdance" look.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/6300214184/ref=dp_image_text_0/103-4882774-1255834?ie=UTF8&n=404272&s=video
I've never seen Jeff Weaver and Sean Bean in the same room. Coincidence? I think not.
... and now Boromir has the ring! If only we had known!
It is a strange fate that we should suffer so much fear and doubt over so small a thing. Such a little thing.
Note to self:
Sean Bean is not Kurt Cobain's daughter.
I don't see the Sean Bean (whose birthday is today) / Jeff Weaver connection. To me, Weaver's pics look like they were taken with a soft lens, he's that scruffy
Okay, the semi-smile is Bean-like, but you're not doing Sean any favor with that comparison.
Really? You don't see it?
Okay, you're comparing Weaver to Boromir, not Sean. Boromir was a scruffy outdoorsman; Sean Bean only plays one on TV.
Richie Sexson plays first base like Joe Mauer plays catcher… tall-ly.
That is simply delicious.
Best one yet!
Is Burke's neckline still out-of-whack from his collision with Torii?
Ibanez's soul patch looks off-of-center, doesn't it?
I wonder what kind of stuff Weaver is on, and when he started. He used to look so clean and normal -- now he's almost a textbook burnout. For reference, here is a collage of Tigers-era Weaver cards: link.
I noticed that on Ibanez, too. Looks like he had a little razor slip.