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6/2: Open Game Thread

First Pitch: 7:05pm PDT

                   

DeJesus CF Ichiro RF Grudzielanek 2B Beltre 3B Sanders RF Lopez 2B Brown LF Ibanez LF Graffanino 3B Sexson 1B German DH Everett DH Mientkiewicz 1B Johjima C Berroa SS Reed CF Buck C Betancourt SS ---------- ----------

Keppel (0-0, 2.70)          Moyer (2-5, 4.24)

I don't know a thing about Bob Keppel, but I do know a little something about the Royals, most notably that they totally suck, and that Bob Keppel probably isn't any exception. Not that that ever stopped Doug Waechter.

LET'S GO MARINERS!

0 recs  |  244 comments

Comments

Note
Sorry about the lack of MLWU's these last few days. I don't know what Devin's deal was today, but I can't cover when I'm working, so there you go. We'll get it sorted out.
That's it...
...I'm not renewing my subscription until you get this heinous personnel issue sorted out.  I pay good money for this site and I don't like to see it wasted. GET WITH THE PROGRAM!

/sarcasm

No biggie on the MLWU's, I'm just impressed with the amount of work you put in to this thing regardless.  Thanks for all you do with LL...

Let the Battle of Suck begin!!
Yesss
Hargrove's still our manager!  Isn't that just the greatest thing since World War Two?
FUCK
Greatest thing
since trading Lowe/Varitek for Heathcliff.
Ugh.
Might have to get drunk to watch this game.
Already there buddy.
But I don't feel any better about the travesty that is Mike Hargrove.
Bob Keppel
The story on him... 24 year old out of the Mets system, ended up in KC and I guess they were so enamored with his 2.45 K/BB ratio and his 7 HRs surrendered in 54 IP with Omaha that they just HAD to call his ass up and feed him to the Mariners.

Oh... what's that, voices in my head?  Thinner pitching depth than the Kingdome roof in KC?  Oh, okay, guess THAT'S why he got called up.  Okay then.

Welcome to the Suck.
For Interest
Jeff Heaverlo is pitching against Tacoma in Salt Lake right now. They signed him out of the Independent League and put him immediately into the starting rotation. Tonight is his second game.
Lineup
Beltre batting in the 2 slot.

...

That's it.

Everything else is just like the old lineup.

Eh
I'd swap Sexson and Johjima until Richie gets it together, but otherwise, no problem.  Maybe Beltre DOES like the 2 hole.
Um
'Beltre likes the 2 hole' sounds more wrong than I intended.
I'd probably swap
Everett with Sexson or even have Sexson bat after Everett and Johjima.  Otherwise I think that lineup is a bit too similar to the old one.

Pregame show: Even Hargrove knows he's getting fired pretty soon.

Hargrove quote
"I'd rather have us get thrown out at that base ahead of us than not try and play it safe on the base behind us."
Buddy Bell and Mike Hargrove are best friends??
Why does that not surprise me at all.
Underway!
This is my fake excitement face.
Why
That looks exactly like your I Want Hargrove Fired face.
I hate it when they start after the game has
already begun.Betancourt decides to be the left fielder for the first play.
Sexson still errorless in the field.
He's an all-around outmaker.
Combined runs scored in this series?
I'm gonna say less than 20.
Kansas City's lineup
DeJesus might be the only guy I'd actually want getting a ton of at bats on my team.
Early report on Bobby Keppel:
I still don't know who he is, or why I should.
He's some unknown
Already planning to mow down our lineup.
That was 10 feet off the plate.
Ichiro grounds out to the pitcher a lot.
Beltre might be trying hard.
And my mom says that's all that matters.
Since you probably missed it
Chris Snelling hit his first home run of the season last night.
Same Game
that mighty Scott Youngbauer hit his second. Actually, the bats they were a'jumping last night.
Also,
Apparently, Appier has retired. Word around is that he announced his retirment on the mound when Brundage came out to pull him.
Somewhere in the Safeco bullpen
Jake Woods breathes a deep sigh of relief.
You're Right
Appier no longer shows up on the Rainiers roster. It was an awfully rough performance the other night. He got hit in the stomach with a line drive, fell down after making a pitch, got hammered, walked too many, and seemed to be on the mound for an hour and a half. As bad as he was, the Rainiers are terribly hard up for pitching.
Embarrassingly enough
Kansas City has the same team OPS as we do.
Ibanez is 34?
Damn, didn't think he was that old...
There was no spot in Seattle for Raul?
What? How many left fielders did we go through again?
Ohh
Good hit, Sexson.
Well
There goes the perfect game.
Sexson the 1B
just as bad as Sexson the DH.
Carl the DH
Looking like Petagine after a monthlong rest.
Wow
hargrove still hear?

Well I am leaving to go get drunk

L8r

Chances of no runs scoring in the first 9 innings
are pretty good I'd say.
That was a mighty productive inning.
And we all thought Raul was joking when he said his birthday wish is to get stranded in scoring position.
Must be a bad scouting report....
Angels put up 10 spot, win.
Weird.
great
now we get to hear about Jered Weaver being super good all week.
Jered Weaver is so good
that the Angels are going to let his brother go. I guess southern California, the land of magic carpets, is only big enough for one good weaver. (Ouch, that even hurt to type).
Moyer
with a sharp looking HBP
there goes the other perfect game
If the Royals won't make it interesting
I suppose Jamie has to do it himself.
Yuni is kind of good
Right from the seat of his britches Dave says.
Yuni doesn't take days off.
John Buck
Nice to see the Beltran trade still paying dividends.
Coors Lite
a beer who's entire ad campaign is based on their beer being cold, which, ultimately, is actually my decision. It's called a fridge. We all have them now. If I want my beer to be as cold as possible so as to mask the fact that it tastes like filtered piss, I can do that completely on my own and can do it with any beer. You are not special Coors Lite. Go away.
2.5 innings in 25 minutes.
This game could be over by 2100.
But in 2100
Jamie Moyer will STILL be pitching....
He'll be pitching to his great-great-grandkids
Getting them out with his 63 mph "heater" and 51 mph changeup.
who's this guy batting for us?
Did anybody else think of this when they saw
Keppler's name?

About to walk down to the Safe
Me, my girlfriend, and about a hundred and fifty other people are going to be there.

Huzzah.

Maybe I'll get a ball.

Ball?
Hell, the Royals may sign you to work middle relief and take you right to the bullpen.
It would be interesting
if the Mariners batted around with nine solo homers.
This is pitiful...
3 Innings in half an hour?
Geez I better finish making dinner soon or this game will be over.
FWIW
For those of us w/o video, here's the link to Yuni's DP wednesday. I wouldn't agree with Dave saying it's the best DP ever, but it's pretty good.

You should be able to figure it out

Ichiro Ks
we're doomed.
Keppel owns Ichiro.
Jesus...
Yea
DeJesus is up.
And no
I am by no means willing to reconsider my thoughts on Bobby Keppel. He sucks. We do too. End of story.
If only he was OOTP Keppel
http://elitesim.ho8.com/Sim%20League/p1421.html
He sort of is.
Desire for Winner : Minimal
National Popularity : 1 / 6 (Insignificant)
Local Popularity : 1 / 6 (Insignificant)
If I were Bob Fontaine
I'd try to select Albert Pujols with the #5 pick, because, why not?
Moyer so far
8 GO, 2 PO

Royals have less pop than WFB. Amazing.

Oh man
Grudzalaniek should pull an Appier. Just set down his bat and walk off the field, peeling off his uniform as he goes.
y?
Grudz hitting over .300 d00d, he rox!!!11
but but but
he just got owned (and besides, it would be funny to watch)
What a battle
KC can't hit lefties.
M's can't hit n00b pitching.
3.5 innings in 38 minutes.
3-2 right down the middle...
fouled back.
Watching the Royals bat is like watching a team
of Willie Bloomquists.
Watching the Mariners bat
is like watching a team of slightly older Willie Bloomquist's bat.
High strike.
Of course.

Someone homer. Anyone.

Go Raul! It's your birthday, It's your birthday!
Jose Lopez
falling back to earth?
Due for a slump.
He's not as good as he looked (yet), but he's still a very good, very talented second baseman.
Kevin Youkilis
Remember when people didn't think he'd ever hit enough to hold a job in the Majors?

.316/.433/.495

This game is already a loss for the Ms
Buddy Bell not bunting.
Guess he and Hargrove aren't real close friends.
No way
Cagey veteran at the plate!
Or maybe
Buddy Bell actually likes his job.
He'd better.
Won't be any more of these in his future.
Sporting News, hopefully someday soon
"The Seattle Mariners fired manager Mike Hargrove today. Saying 'We wanted to show the world just how committed we are to winning' the Kansas City Royals immediately fired Buddy Bell and hired Hargrove.

Said Hargrove: I'm really excited about this team. We have batters up and down the lineup and every one of them can bunt. And the pitching staff is a bunch of guys I've never heard of. Man, that kind of pitcher always killed us when I was with the last team -- what's their names."

Any Verizon customers...
get a phone call from a 305 area code tonight? The phone just rings once and then hangs up.

My Girlfriend, her brother and myself all got one.

Nope.
But I got one from your mom.
Funny...
I don't recall her being buried with her cell phone.
Joke ruiner.
Better than....
my head being a family photograph ruiner.
I'll have you know
that my head isn't the only thing that ruins family photographs.
I'm going with...
the lopsided ears.
This thread is closed.
She called you
from my bed.
I got 2 calls from British Columbia
back to back. I answered neither, and no voicemail was left. I thought it was weird.
I got two calls last week
from some training place somewhere in Washington. They were looking for someone named Michael with my number, very weird.
Odd...
The number is 305-503-8066. I googled the number and it looks like many people have gotten this call. Some have called it back and I guess it's some people phishing to get your SSN by telling you that you won a vacation.
Scary stuff
good thing we have the internet to protect us.
this is exactly why I always make up numbers
when people ask for my SSN.
Why would you ever believe a phone call
telling you that you won a vacation?
Why not?
Who wouldn't win a free vacation by not entering?
Correction
Yuni does take days off.
That looks familiar.
I'm actually a little intrigued by how bad this is
people with visual
how empty do the stands look?
It's actually not as empty as I expected.
So...
1 hit through 5 innings, looking good
I literally just got a slice of cake
and missed the entire bottom of the fifth.
Moyer
Has a low pitch count (52 thru 5).
Can Grudzie retire now?
BTW
Compiling WPA stats for the next write-up, and I noticed that Grudzie is easily the team leader in WPA.  So he should probably be KC's All Star rep.
I think it should be Greinke
I think it should be George Brett
Both teams deserve a loss in this game.
This is getting repetitive.
Please steal second.
Hey, something happened.
I don't know how to react to this.
This is retarded.
If you're Mike Hargrove...
and you believe that the textbook requirement for a #2 hitter is the ability to consistently drive the ball the other way, wouldn't Adrian Beltre be pretty much the worst possible guy to put there?
Beltre,
You goddamn worthless sack of rat shit.
You can always count on Beltre
to hit into a clutch DP.
This is the most boring
15-inning game I've ever seen.
Good
I was worried that we were going to do something.

But we did nothing.

This could be a very fast game
except for that infinite number of innings thing because neither team is competent enough to score, of course.
Doesn't Matter
where Beltre hits. He had two meat balls and he couldn't do anything except foul one back and swing through the other. The Royals announcers were baffled.
On the plus side
there's only about $47m left on his contract.
Ichiro should have just taken off and not stopped
running until they tagged him out. Maybe he could have gotten home.
Both dugouts
must be bored out of their minds right now
I know its the Royals
But you got to love the way Jamie is pitching. So many groundballs.
This team is a bunch of muffins.
What just happened?
We love you Jose Lopez
I love Jose Lopez!!
It's a back to back....
and a belly to belly!!!
BACK TO BACK HOMERUNS
FROM COMPETENT HITTERS!!!
2 pitches
2 HR's!!!!
what the hell?
I leave for 45 seconds...
Raul!!
Haha. Neat.
Well
Isn't that special?
Well that's probably ballgame.
I feel bad for Bobby Keppel.
Not because of the home runs, but because he's a Royal.
I have a cousin in the Royals system
just tore his meniscus. I called him up and my first words to him "Boy, you really don't want to play for the Royals do you?"
I'm certain Greinke's 'personal reasons'
are, "This team absolutely blows and I want nothing to do with it."
apparently the Ms
do not like being called muffins.
If Sexson makes it back to back to back
I'm going streaking.
That was damn close.
What?
That wasn't a homer?
It's depressing
when you know the home run streak ends with Richie Sexson.
HAHAHAHA
Sexson still finds a way to make an out.
And we return to...
regularly scheduled programming.
Richie
You are such a douche
Yeah for agressive baserunning!
Tsk so close
how unfortunate.
But remember, Robinson Cano is better!
WPA: -52.5
Good for 3rd to last among eligible 2B's on the AL ballot.
</barnburner>
Why is Richie still starting? I thought he hurt his heel.
The most awesome part
is that the home runs were hit so quickly that we should still end within two hours.
So do we think
Moyer is going to get a chance to finish the game?
At 75 through 7?
You better believe it.
I don't believe anything
with Hargrove still in the dugout
What?
And ruin Hargrove's perfect opportunity to re-establish Eddie as the closer?
When thinking about Sexson's baserunning just
remember the great Hargrove quote: "I'd rather have us get thrown out at that base ahead of us than not try and play it safe on the base behind us."
FWIW
It's not like the Royals haven't spent 7 innings trying to give this game away.
And the M's haven't been?
Exactly
It's an anti-battle of non-wills.
and with that K
Jeremy won't start again for a month.
Reed, unfamiliar with left-handed pitching
Thanks, Hargrove.
$64 million defense right there.
If I were there
I'd still boo Beltre for his offense.
Further crap from umpires
in the BAL-NYY game, Damon was clearly caught stealing, but AFTER the tag, the ball came out of the 2B glove. Ump changes call from out to safe. Next batter: 1B, Yanks win.
Beltre
A giant brick wall out there.
"Great stop!
Nothing's getting by Adrian tonight!  Except, obviously, for fastballs down the pike."
Sorry
I misread that. I thought you said "A giant prick out there." and, of course, I was going to agree.
and there goes the 1 hitter.
Jamie just asked Hargrove
"What do you want?"
I think...
Moyer was a bit shocked to see Hargrove coming out of the dugout.

I thought he was going to pull him.

"...you fat sack of donkey dung."
Royals
Don't want to score.
I really do feel bad for them.
I kind of hope the Royals are all pompous dicks so they're just getting what they deserve.
Angel Giant Chompers Berroa
GIDP.  That's the best shortstop the Royals have, folks.
Kirk Saarloos
looks a little too much like Evan Marriott.
Battle of the least impressive CGs
Lets assume Moyer finishes 1-2-3 in the 9th.

Moyer: 9IP, 2H, 0R, 1BB, 2K against Royals
Pineiro: 9IP, 9H, 2R, 0BB, 0K against Twins

Felix needs a 14 K'er.
I hope I get a shoutout from Rick Rizzs
When I'm 87.
Attendance??
It looks crowded.
As fast as this game is
The A's/Twins game is even faster. They just completed 8 full.
Ichiro had 46 hits in may
What are the chances he gets 50 in June?
52 hits
and 37,000 people slaughtered in his violent cout

http://www.lookoutlanding.com/story/2006/6/2/104557/9671

This rally is unnecessary.
Let's just end the game already.
Jose Lopez is a fucking god.
LOPEZENATOR
Jose Lopez can be my lola
LOPEZ!!!
WHAT AN ANIMAL!
Lopez = God
Ok, cool.
Now make some outs and take the win without getting greedy.
For the love of god, VOTE FOR LOPEZ
FUCK ROBINSON CANO!!
After fucking O. Cab
Cano might be a welcome change.

That's a little inside joke.

I'd even take Mark Loretta at this point
Just not JEE-TAH's pointless middle infieldmate.
On a related note
I think the Lopez + bunt joke is now officially old.
I haven't seen Beltre try to bunt yet
come to think of it.
You don't need a right handed pitcher
To get Richie out. All you need is someone that can throw a baseball.
Nice job Richie.
Finish it Jamie.
Way too much booing.
Like Peralta has any idea where that ball was going to go.
Awww Crud
I was hoping Hargrove would pull Jamie, so Jamie could go all ballistic on Grover and kill him. Then we could get a real manager.
Jamie goes "Brad Penny"
...'cept this time he uses the bat on the manager and not the cooler.

Hargrove lays dead on the dugout steps

Valle says, "I've known Jamie for a long time, and I've never seen that side of him."

I bet it'd make Sportscenter...if we're lucky.

Betancourt made that
look effortless.
Betancourt = awesome every time
We're way too spoiled.
Top 5 vote getters for AL 2nd base
  1. Robinson Cano, Yankees 289,394
  2. Mark Loretta, Red Sox 257,125
  3. Tadahito Iguchi, White Sox 246,838
  4. Brian Roberts, Orioles 130,702
  5. Placido Polanco, Tigers 129,596
Jose isn't even there.HE ISN'T EVEN FUCKING THERE!!!!!!!! AND HE'S BETTER THAN ALL OF THOSE!!!

Makes me want to just hunt everbody down who voted for any of those and slaughter them.

He got 50 votes from me.
Sign me up
Those brainless, city slicker sacks of shit!
Pull him!
Gotta keep him fresh for the Twins.
Normally I would be all excited about a CGSO by
Jamie.But it's the Royals so big deal.
So where do Royals rank on MLE?
AA?
Two hours on the nose.
I'm satisfied.
Game
and beat Oakland. They're still in the bottom of the 9th.
Wow
A complete game shutout against the Royals.  That hasn't happen since.....

...well, since yesterday.

Chad Kreuter
named head coach of the USC Baseball program today, I had no idea he was Gillespie's nephew.
Jose Lopez
No wonder he doesn't have any votes. When he gives his All-Star MVP speech, no one will be able to understand him.

But I still love the guy.

I know
I heard a Rizzs interview a few weeks ago.  I could pick out a few words but that was about it.  Lol, apparently him and Yuni eat spaghetti all the time.
I really want to give Moyer
a lot of credit for pitching great tonight but really, if you aren't throwing a shutout vs the Royals your doing something wrong.  And I really expected the offense to have a field day but they were really quiet for most of the game.
Well
They have scored 200 runs this year and Pineiro will probably spot them some more.

I still give Moyer credit though, he made that look too easy.

JOSE'S ONLY 22!
Positive thoughts...positive thoughts...
Krueger just said
on the post game that it was really a smart move by Mike Hargove to move Lopez to the 3 spot. In the next breath he said it was another intuitive move by Hargrove to put Beltre in the 2 spot. Wow, this man lives in a dream world. Is it credible that he might have missed Hargrove's line-ups for the first 53 games or that he missed Hargrove saying " change the lineup, what good would that do?"
Well....
He is paid to say how good Management and the FO are.  I think they've toned him down.  I remember he said "Bitchin'" on the air once last year when he was doing color commentary for one game, and ever since, it seems they've made him less...edgy and criticizing...

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