Most important things discovered on my fact-finding mission: Mike Sweeney's favorite band is Creed and his favorite television show is American Idol.
Encouraged by field-level $40 tickets discounted to $21, I attended last night's Angels-Mariners game at Safeco Field with some friends. For my roommate's girlfriend, a scandalously young au pair from Austria, it was her first baseball game, and it was an unfortunately bad game.
Erik Bedard and Joe Saunders were the night's starters, and both of them had trouble finding the strike zone. Bedard still got a fair number of strikeouts but it took him a ton of pitches and he only lasted 5 innings. He only allowed two hits, but those two hits were solo HRs, which proved decisive as the Mariners were unable to push a single run across on the thoroughly mediocre Saunders.
The swinging strikes (and strikeouts) that Bedard was able to induce were probably the most impressive thing about the game, but the crowd really wasn't behind Bedard at all. That's somewhat understandable given the expectations created for the pitcher when he was acquired and the fact that the media has written approximately -2 nice things about him while he's been in Seattle. It was a start out of the "struggling Santana" mold, where hitters were fouling off enough pitches to run up his pitch count, but he still got his strikeouts and kept his team in the game. And when that happened for Santana at home, I feel like Santana would still draw pretty large applause for strikeouts, but you could barely tell that Bedard had gotten an out--let alone a strikeout--based on the crowd reaction.
Adrian Beltre's been struggling mightily at the plate this year, but he had a pretty decent night. The worst part of his 2-4 was that with 2 outs and runners on 1st and 3rd, M's manager Don Wakamatsu sent Ichiro, trying either to advance Ichiro into scoring position or get Lopez to score on the delayed steal of home. One of my friends called this good baseball, and I followed my mother's maxim that if you don't have anything nice to say, you shouldn't say anything at all. I don't think that's a very good gamble. Maybe Beltre chokes and maybe he doesn't, but down 2-0, I think you give Beltre a chance to either: a) score one run with a single, b) score two runs with a double, or c) score three runs with a HR. And maybe he'll fail, but sending Ichiro in that situation has to be a ridiculously low percentage play.
That same friend also expressed disappointment that Raul Ibanez was no longer with the team. I didn't really feel like fighting that fight. The older woman next to my friend also said that she was disappointed Raul wasn't with the team anymore, but she was happy he was doing well in Philly. (Pretty much everything older women say about Ibanez around here ought to be suffixed with "he's such a nice boy!" Nevermind the huge wad of tobacco bulging from his cheek. Oh well.) And while everything is sunshine and rainbows for Ibanez in Philly right now, well, that's how it was during Richie Sexson's first year in Seattle, and that didn't end well, to say the least.
The most dangerous hitter for the Mariners (by far?) right now is Russell Branyan and he had a very Branyan night at the plate. Two walks, a swinging strikeout, and a single. Uncharacteristically, he succeeded on a straight steal of second base. (He also advanced in the 9th inning on defensive indifference.)
I've watched Wakamatsu for a while now, and I don't think he's very impressive. He probably falls in the 80% of managers who don't make much difference one way or another. His bullpen management was fine last night and his opening lineup was fine (though Sweeney hitting third is a bit of a head-scratcher), but the aforementioned decision to send Ichiro was questionable at best, and letting Sweeney hit against Scot Shields in a close game seemed pretty inexcusable to me, unless Griffey was flat-out unavailable.
Starting in the top of the 9th, with an out or two on the board, some drunk woman in the section next to ours started shouting about how we needed to make noise and how we needed to believe and support the team, etc. And she kept yelling obnoxiously for the rest of the game. I would perhaps not have been so put off by her behavior, but it didn't seem particularly genuine. And in general, I think that the level of intensity in the stands has to be at least somewhat dictated by the events on the field. When you're down by 3 runs in the 9th, maybe you start making some noise when the bottom of the inning comes up, but yelling with a couple of outs and nothing in particular happening in the top of the 9th is no solution to an apathetic crowd.
Last but not least, Torii Hunter went 0-4, including hitting into a double play, perhaps the highlight of the game for me.
I almost forgot to mention that the biggest cheer of the night came for the Nuggets-Lakers highlights after it was revealed that the Kobes lost, which seems remarkable since Seattle isn't close to Denver or LA and doesn't have an NBA franchise anymore.
Love of basketball, and hatred for the Lakers, runs long and deep in these parts.
I like watching Bedard pitch, but my dad is convinced that the Bedard trade is a total bust for Seattle, because even if Bedard pitches well he's still a "bullpen killer." And, meanwhile, the performances of Jones and Sherrill in Bal'mer just make him think of what might have been. I imagine that's the consensus on talk radio up there, and starts like last night's (and his previous game) only seem to confirm that impression.
I have to admit, although it wouldn't turn me against Bedard, it would be nice to see Adam Jones along with Shin-Soo Choo in the M's lineup this season.
What are your thoughts on Gutierrez and Balentien?
Hey fw, good to see you around these parts.
Gutierrez is a plus-plus defender (+15-20 runs/year on defense) and seems to have his head screwed on straight at the plate. I think he'll be a league average to slightly above league average player for the next few years, so the Mariners should be fairly set at CF for a while.
If Balentien can keep his strikeout rate around 20% (definitely high, but not unreasonable) and still hit for power, he seems a lot like Michael Cuddyer. He'll have a good year or three, but probably not someone to build your franchise around.
I have to admit, although it wouldn't turn me against Bedard, it would be nice to see Adam Jones along with Shin-Soo Choo in the M's lineup this season.
No doubt. I can certainly understand the frustration that comes with a move like that. If I'm perfectly honest with myself, I think I'd have to admit that I'd cheer for Delmon a little more if we didn't give up so much to get him.
The thing is, it's not even just Choo and Jones. Having Asdrubal Cabrera around would be nice, making it easier to give away Betancourt or Lopez. (Betancourt has been making a ridiculous number of errors on routine plays this year and just generally playing the worst SS defense I may have ever seen.) Tillman might be the M's best pitching prospect. Drafting Morrow over Lincecum sure looks like a mistake now, but had Morrow not been rushed to the bullpen, he might be a decent starter in his own right. Bavasi just made a total mess out of the farm system by the time he was done.
I imagine that's the consensus on talk radio up there, and starts like last night's (and his previous game) only seem to confirm that impression.
The rich part of this is that talk radio thought that the Bedard trade was a brilliant move at the time, even as a lot of stats-oriented people thought that Bavasi was giving up way too much talent. The media basically turned on Bedard when last season started, though, since he doesn't like shooting the shit with them, which makes their job harder.
About Gutierrez, don't forget, he also has the Good Face. :)
The worst of those Cleveland trades is that, even at the time, it was hard to see why Bavasi was dealing prospects for guys like Eduardo Perez and Ben Broussard--and in a year when the club was hovering around .500 at the trade deadline and wound up finishing 4th, anyway. At least with Bedard, he was giving up prospective talent but for one of the league's best pitchers, in his prime.
Thanks, ubes. Hey, bS! (The system let me log on today! But I'm still having trouble getting my comments accepted at Bootsy's.)
Frightwig!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111one!111!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You had me at scandalously young au pair from Austria.
Here at the WGOM we aim both to educate and titillate.
Nice aim, ubes. Hopefully we get some more equally entertaining Foreign Correspondence, too.
My wife will be jealous. She's from Everett and is a Mariners fan. We've gone to several games at Safeco, but not for several years now. We usually try to catch the M's at least once when they come to Anaheim (or is it L.A.?). We didn't go last year since I was out of work and the year before we saw them at San Diego. Now that is a great place to watch a ballgame! It was Chris Young vs. Felix Hernandez and the M's won it in the ninth. Probably the most fun I've had watching a ballgame that didn't involve the Twins.