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Lookout Landing

5/22: Open Game Thread, Part 2

Horacio Ramirez may have left, but his spirit lives on.

Matthew's Note: DICKEY! If this team is going to fail, and boy will it, at least fail in an entertaining manner.

0 recs  |  432 comments

Comments

Ho Ram never left.
I thought Turbo ate him in spring training.
Ate him WHOLE.

So he’s still there, inside Vidro, feeding off hot dog remnants.

Turbo like to eat Hos?
HoRam might not be as bad as Washburn was yesterday.

At least he was less of a prick.

And (as far as we know)

didn’t mess around with little girls

did I miss some news here?
Washburn is a pedophile.
She was 16.

Technically he’s an ephebophile.

what are you talking about?

HoRam was king of never accepting blame for sucking.

That's a long-ass single.

Is Gameday right on that placement?

just about to ask that.
Ichiro hesitated, and Ordonez caught it off the bounce and threw it in quickly.
Ichiro hesitated.
Fucking Pathetic....

I don’t give a shit how hard Ichiro hit that ball there is no reason that he’s not standing on 2B. This guys are mailing it in.

I suck at photoshop.

Can someone make a “Lisa Cuddy Throwing in the Towel” shop?

You'll have to build it from scratch

use the Princeton Plainsboro logo

Ichiro does this shit every once in a while

He’s really cautious to a fault some times

Does Ichiro really have any reason to care?
We so don't deserve to win this game.
do we deserve to win any game?
Every game Felix pitches.
nearly even split on balls v strikes

and we cannot score off him.

We have 6 hits, but only 1 BB and only 1 XBH

A team of pussies could do better

The Angels?

Yeah, probably.

No, I mean a team made up of actual vaginas
So just Reggie Willits, then.
we're playing 1876 rules

9 balls for a walk

Did you know the Royals picked up Ho-Ram with out giving up a valuable arm?
HoRam still sucks.

I’d rather have a can of delicious Sprite.

I'd rather have a jug of horse diarrhea
Watch us not score any runs here somehow
I think....

the M’s should get Brian Bannister and make him a player/GM.

But he is smart
Crazy, I know.
Wouldn't that be great though?

He answers his cell phone in between pitches, hangs up, and walks over to Jose Lopez and tells him that he’s been traded to the Brewers.

Manager pulls him from the game and is subsequently fired.

Hahaha then he needs to be GM right now
Traded for a delicious can of Sprite.

And Lake Geneva.

Over Under on runs scored this inning: .5

(Just to make Jeff mad)

Over/under on bannings this inning: 2
Over/under on blue

19

Red
FROGS!
Q to 147.
The Mariners suck at Calvinball too
Bonderman gets free passage to wicket five!
Actually, I think it's >& to -{{~~
Bases loaded

Nobody out. Chances of this being an unproductive inning = 82%

Awful...

and so predictable.

Two productive outs!
Are they Strasburg prodcutive outs?
Don't you get two productive outs for a run scoring DP?
Do you get Strasburg if you lose enough games?
Probably.

I just don’t understand productive outs. >:(

Ask Joe Morgan to explain them.
Let's ask him

I'm going to bet that Strasburg doesn't want to come here.
Who would want to come here?
Hence 'Go M's'
Ah, good call.
Tell him to have fun in Washington.

ha what gameday?
bases loaded, 0 outs

Raul’s BIP is labeled “In play, no out”

Knew something had to be wrong. Turns out it was everything.

It was in play.

So… Um… Gameday had that going for them.

God dammit Raul.
Improbable Suckage!
So bad....

Bases loaded and 0 outs….

The inning is over like 2 minutes later.

5 pitches to work out of that one.
THIS WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED IF RAUL WAS IN LEFT FIELD!
Yes. Then we'd still be playing the bottom of the second.
Just be thankful it wasn't a triple play
Where IS Ron Wright when you need him, anyway?
On the same...

house painting crew as Bucky.

I miss Bucky, let's get him back, as least as a mascot or something

Or he can have Mclaren’s job, whatever, same thing to me

OK, he is literally the worst player ever.
Dammit Dickey.
Who could possibly predict Dickey isn't actually very good?
Stop crushing my dreams.
So much for the amusement factor.
Matthew Joyce.

Who in the fuck is Matthew Joyce

I wonder if this is the most inept series in franchise history.
no, yanks series earlier this year was worse than this
Were we outscored by more?

and are we accounting for the opponet’s true talent lever, or current W-L record?

consider the pitching matchups

and the lineups involved.

Not by very much
I think that occurred during Sept. 07
The next one will always be worse
Like Office Space.
Man this game is giving me a rash

again…..

NO
I know your saying no

but my heart is saying yes

Your heart can fuck off.
Robert will delete your post retroactivly.
These god powers will be awesome
who gets syphilis from watching baseball?
.....

Ha ha, his balls are his feet.
Fun fact!

2004 Mariners after 48 games: 18-30

Fun fact: We lost the Upton race that year :(
But we won the Clement race!
That's good
But Clement will be dealt for Mike Jacobs.
That's bad.
It comes with a free choice of PTBNL.
Uh...
The PBTNL is below relpacement level

(that’s bad)

Can I go home now?
I wish we all could.
Does the PTBNL contain potassium benzoate?
More like patassium cyanide
Just like we will this year with Strasburg
To be fair....

the 2004 team had talent…

...or the opposite of that
Disregard....

I read that as 1994…..

2004 team stunk.

Let's see...

We had Ichiro and… we had Ichiro.

Was that Player A

or Rich Aurilia?

Quick, name good players on the '04 roster!

Ichiro!

...

uh…

...

Boone, Moyer

shit, cock, balls (otherwise known as Pineiro, Spiezio, Aurilia)

Boone was pretty much done by 2004

Garcia wasn’t, quite, but yeah.

Ibanez?
...was playng the field
he wasn't always this bad
He was still a big fucking dropoff from his predicessor.
not Raul's fault

his defense was likely passable in ‘04.

Yeah

I am (doing a poor job of) trying to get across that we willful made a huge downgrade to our team and most people didn’t take notice.

Oh yeah

I forgot about him

(Boone, Moyer, and Edgar were supposed to be good depite being a combined 120 years old)
But they weren't
I'm not disagreeing

I did not expect to win that year.

Edgar will always be good in my book.
The 2004 team had Ichiro violating the laws of time and space.

Not much beyond that.

Now we just have Washburn violating the laws against statutory rape!
Woo chase the dream!
For Llewdor

since i missed the earlier question (damn you, work!):

The Mariners are 20th in triples allowed, with 7.

Top three:
Rockies 17
Dodgers 13
Jays 12

Thanks.

And so is Washburn!

Yeah Reed

hopefully that buys him some LF time

Watch Reed not score.
We've had the leadoff guy on base how many innings now?
Are you kidding?

One hit a week gives vets all the PT they need. If a guy is under 27 he has to hit .350 to get playing time around here. Unless he’s a shitty defensive player then he gets all the time he needs.

Hey look at that.

We have a left fielder who can get basehits and can play defense.

Sit the fuck down on the bench, son. You’re not Mariner material.

HBP! It's Kenji's version of a walk!
Betancourt Pop up???

Dude...

I sat like 15 rows down from that guy a few weeks ago. A drunk guy in front of me walked up to him and yelled “ICHIRO!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Yay for the Pop-Up Twins (TM)
Raul has that.
... off the wall
I'm starting to hate this Joyce fellow
Yeah, I didn't like Finnegans Wake either
2 on, no outs?

Fat chance!

2 On, So What?!
No runs, one hit, two left.

Typical.

One trade that gets a lot of shit, but probably shouldn't

(Tino + Nelson + Mecir) in exchange for--> (Sterling Hitchcock + Russ Davis).

Well, actually, yes it should.

An all-star 1B plus a good reliever for a no-stuff LH and a crappy fielding 3B is pretty bad, even if it is salary-driven. Tino’s not HOF material, but he’s not THAT far out of it. He’s in the Moyer/Boone class of being a fairly close miss.

huzzah what?

Tino’s not even close to HoF.

Neither is Boone.
He has a better case.
Two years of above average play?

Me thinks not.

Two years of spactaculatr play

two more of very good play

several years of decent play

No, he’s not a HOFer, but he has a much better case. Defense matters.

No.

I grant you defense matters, but we have a player who had an OPS+ over 100 on 13 separate occasions, 340 home runs, vs a 2nd baseman with only 5 years of an OPS+ over 100, 252 home runs and 5 years of sub 90 OPS+ during his peak years.

Tino is far more HOF worthy than Bret Boone, though neither are close. Bret Boone’s defense doesn’t make up for overall never being that good other than 2 of his years in Seattle.

Tino was basically a league average firstbaseman

Bret Boone was arguably the best player in the AL on one season, and the best secondbaseman in baseball two others.

His career destroys Tino’s.

I completely disagree with this premise.

Best during two seasons? Who cares? If you’re awful every other year, you really didn’t accomplish much.

Should Francisco Liriano be in the hall of fame because he also won Cy Young his rookie year, even if he spends every other day of his career in the minors? Of course not.

Tino has great numbers every year he played. Boone had good numbers thrice. Tino wins.

*almost, not "also"
Tino has great numbers every year he played

The hell? No he didn’t.

. Boone had good numbers thrice.

Wrong wrong wrong.

Boone had several good years in the 90s.

find them:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/boonebr01.shtml

1994...

MAYBE 1998, debatable.

1995, 2000

defense FTW

As I said,

his defense may have been quite good, but it doesn’t make up for not being a good hitter. Brandon Inge is not getting into the hall of fame any time soon. And I don’t know how to look up Tino’s defense at first, but wasn’t bad enough to take away his offensive accomplishments.

except that Tino wasn't an oustanding offenseive player
And Boone was decidedly below average in the majority of his seasons.

Tino still wins.

What?

Boone was a really really good defensive 2B

we're talking offensive, dude.
I'm not

I’m talking overall value.

"except that tino wasn't an outstanding offensive player"

“And boone was decidedly below average”

These comments relate to each other by the fact that they are nested.

But to factor in who is a better player you have to factor in defense.

A 95 OPS+ with great 2B defense is worth as much as 120 OPS+ With average defense at 1B. So they probably broke even a lot as far as actual value. Though as an offensive player, save for his late Seattle seasons and one year in Cincy, I would agree that Tino is the better offensive player.

Me too, I'm saying your point about defense was irrelevant to my comment.

Not that it is untrue.

Well yeah, Tino was a better hitter

But Boone’s defense annihilates that. It’s not like he was Mark McGwire. Compare Tino to his peers year to year and I’d bet you find that he ranked in the top 6 or 7 1B twice in his entire career. Compare Boone to his peers at 2B and I bet he’d have several more to 6-7 finishes.

Plus, Tino was never at any point the best defensive or offensive player at his position. Boone was at least three times, and he played a harder position.

...and except for the obvious lows of 1996-97

for was a very good hitter for a secondbaseman.

I’d also ague that Orlando Hudson is a much better player than Tino Martinez ever was.

So you'd say that if Orlando hundson retired today, he'd be more HOF worthy than Tino?

Because if you think that, you’re high.

This subthread is almost as good as

Graham and Corco’s wilderness one.

I think that.

The O-Dog’s defense broke PMR, if you’ll recall. The dude’s practically an MVP candidate on his glove alone.

No.

But I will Hudson’s peak destroys Tino’s peak.

*say

it’s entirely a longevity thing.

Tino was really really good though.
In the same sense that Sean Casey was really really good.
Tino has far better numbers than Casey over a sustained period of time.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/martiti02.shtml

112 career OpS+

FTL

You have to see the irony in criticizing Boone for only having two good years

when Tino really only had two really good years to his credit.

Of course.

And 14 other above average years, with significantly better raw numbers over a sustained period of itme.

Boone: 2 good years, several awful years, some meh years and 2 okay years. No good raw numbers, no good totals. Only other positive side was his defense.

They're both very good players.

Boone’s best years are probably enough to give him a slight edge, though Tino was way more consistent. I’d take them both.

Tino was a worse hitter for his postion that Boone was.

and he wasn’t exactly Keith Hernandez with the glove.

Believe me Boone is a far superior player.

I don't agree that two good years make a great player.

Without any sustained offensive success. But since we clearly disagree on that basic premise this argument is somewhat moot.

HE HAD WAY MORE THAN TWO GOOD YEARS

and even if you only count the two really good ones… well Tino really only had two really good years too. The rest of the time he was anywhere from inoffensive to mediocre.

I could've sworn OPS+ was position adjusted too.

But maybe it is just park adjusted.

I think just park.
It's not positon adjusted.
Career 112 OPS+

OPS+ is park adjusted…pretty much good for .270/.350/.460 with average-ish defense every year. Tino was better for longer and his best was better than Casey’s best.

Or his better was better than Casey's better >_>
Casey's best two years as basicall as good as Tino's two best.

yeah, Tino is the better player, but Casey is comparable.

I'd put him up against guys like Kelly

“New York ballplayers who were good but not HOF worthy”

I can't leieve Bernie williams doesn't get HOF talk

since A) he’s probably worthy, and B) he was an irreplaceable part of the late 90s Yankee juggernaut.

I'd pump him for it. Good offense and D.

He might be a better player than Jeter, and Jeter, overrated as he is, is pretty good.

Tino was replaced with cheap players that matched his production

and Davis’ defense wasn’t a problem until years later.

Davis was seen as a league average thirdbaseman, Hitchcock was a cheap ~ league average starter. Plus there’s no way Tino even resembles a HOF player.

Uh, what?

Russ Davis, first year in bigs: .939 fielding percentage. His career average was well below league average. And I can tell you he wasn’t making errors on balls nobody could have gotten to, either.

I don't think anyone knew his defense sucked until a year or so after the trade.
Man, am I glad this team worked on its situational hitting

God knows that that skill would have been wasted if they hadn’t.

I hope Griffey never hits 600

and they play that mlbtv commercial for 50 years.

Fred McGriff is a more tragic figure.
I hope he does it all in one game

So that it is over so quickly they don’t have time to hype it up more.

I think there's a fault with my MLB.tv player

As I’m able to watch live games other than Derek Jeter’s.

Mine has a bunch of stupid flash stuff that doesn't work

and I can’t scroll through games.

It's crap isn't it?

You basically have to use Gameday to navigate the player.

I use the links page, then is paste the game into WMP.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mediacenter/index.jsp#20080522

Ah, cunning

I will do this in future

How does that work

you copy everything but the java script part?

you open the game as normal

as soon as it loads up you right click, choose properties, and copy the address. You then paste it into WMP (file—-> open URL). You must do it very quickly because the address is only valid for x number of seconds. I do this because I like to doc the gmae on top.

Or if you just want to watch in the flash window, all you need to do is click on the links and the player should load automatically.

Ahh okay

so its the same as it used to be, just have to be quick.

Now if I could only figure out how to open a url in wmp11.

you know what's awesome about mlbtv?

you can go back and watch Jon Lester’s no hitter as many times as you want!!!

Jesus Christ Mac

why are you burning through the bullpen!? You have a fucking knuckleball pitcher!

What're you new?

Mac’s bullpen strategy is to do the opposite of what is reasonable.

He needs more guys to succeed so Bill can DFA them.
Plus Mac likes having excuses

“the bullpen was tired” everyone is just tired…
etc.

When does Jeff start starting the WPA charts at zero?
I remember last year when we had the Loss Expectancy charts
hahaha

Sims just made a funny.

What did he say?
Talking about the dirt path between home and the mound...

said something to the effect of the M’s having the same path due to the catcher wearing out the path to go to the mound to tell the pitcher to throw strikes.

I love that he isn't throwing out the company lines
Sims is going to get fired.

We’re going to miss him.

Sims is becoming the next Bob Uecker.
GIVE HIM A LONG TERM CONTRACT NOW!
And make sure the M's get the movie rights!
Side note:

Carlos Triunfel is back from his suspension, and went 3-4 last night.

Let's try to keep this game thread on topic please.

...
...
...
I kid, I kid.

My deepest apologies.
Yes.

No success allowed.

So it wasn't steriods?
It's never steroids

cue jpeg, please, someone

steriods?
No, steriods..

They are walmart brand.. cheaper.

Hahaha humorous spelling
I hate my life.
So... Batista wanted to have a starting rotation where

All 5 pitchers pitched 200 innings huh?
What an idiot…

They're only going 2 innings at a time.

Can’t we just have two starters who pitch on alternate days?

We do.

We have two starters and 3 garbage.

Ah the glory days.. of April :-(
whats the chance...

That we return from this road trip with a new manager and/or GM?

zero
We need to extend Mac's contract first.
And then bench coach him 40% of the time.
I cannot figure out how we don't have one already sooo....?
GM no

if the team gets swept in New York there could be some changes in the coaching staff.

I depends how loyal Bavasi is to McLaren
I don't even care....

What’s the point when all Howie and the crew will do is interview a bunch of retread “good baseball men” to replace Bavasi with? Until those jokers give up power to new thinkers the franchise is screwed.

I figure both Howie and Chuck will retire in 15 years

At which point Ms ownership decides to sell an Paul Allen purchases the team. Smart GM inserted, rebuilding begins. 5-6 years after that we’ll have a competitive ballclub.

So, in 20 or 21 years we can look forward to a good team.

Why are you so optimistic?
BECAUSE UNLIKE YOU I LOVE THIS TEAM!

U TAKE UR STATS AND GO BACK TO YOUR MOM’S BASEMENT U FA-

Uh.. maggot.

[coathanger]
GO BACK TO THE PI BLOG WHERE YOU BELONG!
::shudder::

Optimism is scary

I felt dirty writing it.
Hey McLaren, here's an idea for turning this team around

Tender your resignation

How I feel about this series^H^H^H^H^H^Hseason

Using my jpeg to get recs

clever girl

Will Batista be removed from the rotation before or after the break?
After.

We call up Feierabend to replace Washburn after Washburn shoots himself in despair when all of the concession girls are issued tasers.

So then we need Batista to eat innings because we already DFA’d Baek.

Down by 6.. Infield in... Awesome.
Hoo boy.

Mac isn’t going to make the trip back to Seattle now.

HAHAHAHAHA

The way Simms called that play was hilarious. He sounded so completely unsurprised

This team is annoying.
My only regret is that we won't give up 30.
GET READY FOR A FALSE HOPE RALLY!!!!

YAY!!!!!

Here's a question

Would you rather us lose every game 10-3 from here on out, or every game 6-5 from here on out?

6-5 if Wlad and Beltre homer.

10-3 if they go hitless.

How would we score 3 runs if we go hitless

When we can’t even score 3 runs on 8 hits 3 bbs and 1 hbp?

Not "we."

Wlad and Beltre.

So I just turned the game on.

Did I miss anything other than embarrassment?

A whole lot of embarrassme.... oh.. uhhhh nope!
Mass suicide.
The nice spacemen behind the comet with rescue us.
You missed the second time ever

that an LL game thread part 1 has linked to the new thread

Reed lost his glove

with a AAA move

Man, defense is so cool.
I miss good defense :-(

Jealousy reigns

I want a Raul FB to secure his spot.
FB meaning.. chopper to second? MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
I want a Raul ground out.

So he can be buried in left field after his passing.

Ironically, this will improve his range.
This is a ballpark promotion I can support.

Raul deserves to be buried out in LF.

It’ll be out version of monument park.

This game is so bad I wish Hawk Harrelson were calling it.
is it wrong

that I wish all our runs we’re scored as a result of something Ichiro, Beltre, Wlad and I guess Lopez did?

No.

But I’d add Reed to the list.

I'd also remove Ichiro.

I really don’t care about how well he does. I like him, and I like him on the team, but I don’t personally invest any emotion into his success.

I'd keep Ichiro in the list

because his success smites baseball purists, casual fans, and “analysts.”

Him succeeding makes them miserable. That makes me happy.

Well.. okay.

At least I personally am not invested in it, even if the outcome is sweet.

Hay, I have an idea!

We’re down by 7 runs. LET’S USE 8 PITCHERS!!

Because blowing out your bullpen

before a Yankees series is an awesome idea.

Maybe Willie can get a start.

On the mound.

He is the kind of gritty veteran who could succeed in a pressure spot like Yankee Stadium.
I'm really starting to think this is going to be Mac's last road trip.
It's starting to have that air of Hargrove-itis

With using the bullpen when you shouldn’t in order to save your job.. Funny how Grover did while up a run or two and Mac does it down by 6-10 runs. What does that say?

He left after an 8 game winning streak and under his own accord.

So, I don’t know if we know what the pink slip aura feels like with the M’s.

But it only gets worse: Jim Riggleman will be the interim manager
Let's make Rob Riggle the interim manager.
I'd say that's a good thing.

Riggleman will do such a terrible job he won’t be brought back for next season.

FREE DAN ROHN!

Oh.. wait.

Cool a Brandon Morrow sighting
Damn.

That means he can’t take Washburn’s next turn.

Sims likes hockey?

They are clearly very bored.
Gotta feel bad for them, trying to announce a loss night after night? No thanks.
For over a million dollars a year?

I’ll announce snail races.

I don't think they are getting that much. Dave Niehaus probably doesn't even make a million a year.
He fucking better.
Niehaus probably gets paid most doing sponsorships and speeches.
If he does not make at least a million dollars

than the mariners are assholes.

They aren't already with the way this roster has been constructed?
Being an asshole and being incompetent are two completely separate things

case in point – Bill Bavasi

But Howie and Chuck have played an integral part in constructing this roster.

They are assholes.

This team looks completely listless

They just don’t care it seems.. but hey! JJ is up!

Ugh. Why??
Because we don't want him to get rusty and lose his command forever?

It’s not like he’ll have any games to save, he needs to pitch sometimes.

Well... Okay.
Eh.. ehhhhh?????

I am depressed..

It took this long

To get to depressed?

To be fair, I was asleep until about 11:30

Today started out to be a good day.. until I saw that we were already down by an insurmountable deficit.

That'll teach you to watch the games when you're in a good mood.
We're pretty much always down by an insurmountable deficit

since baseball games don’t start with -1 to 0 scores.

Great.

At least if Putz is rusty, he can work it off against MLB hitters.

It;s a save situation!
Yeah, saving us from watching more shit.
We should lead this team to the gas chamber

Except for JJ Putz, Felix, Bedard, Beltre, Ichiro, and Wlad.

I think you mean [COATHANGER]
AND LOPEZ
Yeah, good call.
Save Richie Sexson!

Haha, just kidding

What is sad is that they make up more than 20% of the roster and we still suck.
It's Zyklon the Cuddly Tedd - PSSSSHHHHHHHHH
K!!
Wooooohh, too much excitement.

Tone it down a little, please.

Hahahah that's what I was goin for..
Welp - JJ looked better..

Yay small victories!

"Yay" and exclamation marks are banned for the rest of the day.

I am going to go hang myself now.

No hanging! more YAY!'s
Woot....

Dude, watch where you're pointing that thing!
Haha Cairo pinch hitting

and WFB on deck..

Aaaaannnnd... That's the sweep.
Well that was an embarassing series
Well this is an embarrassing season

*fixed your post

Well this is an embarrassing franchise
  • FYP
This was whole new levels of embarassment though
You apparently missed the late 80's/early 90's.
Oh I don't doubt that many of those teams were worse

But I doubt they were ever expected to be playoff contenders, and I bet they put a bad team on the field for a lot less money.

If I could consult the chart for a moment:

Expectations + $$$$$$$$$$$$ <—-—-—-—-——Embarassment —-—-—-—-—-—-—--> On field performance

No expectations + $$ <—-Embarassment-—>

As you can see, this is far more embarassing.

Really? I didn't watch any of it.

Reading through the GT’s kept me entertained, though.

So, for the next LL night

is black tie and paper bag over the head the correct dress combination?

We want screenshots if this happens!
I can do this.

Tuxedos from Value Village FTW.

You mis-spelled "plastic"
No, I'm pretty sure suicide isn't acceptable or family-friendly,
This team is not family friendly
AAAAAAND we've hit double digits back from first in May.

plus the ever so popular “keeping pace with the 2004 Mariners” mark.

So at this point, we need to win 30 of our next 40 to even sniff any sort of comeback possibility.
I think sniffing glue or paint thinner is a lot more likely to happen.
I honestly don't think that would be enough.
Mariners Baseball: more painful than being attacked by rabid sewer weasels

Red Sox have two grand slams so far today in 6 innings of play.
And they're far enough ahead they're letting Craig Hansen pitch.
Heh

What a rubbish first-round draft-pick

Good news

Dave Cameron will be on KJR tomorrow at 3:35.

Let me summarize what Dave will say

The Mariners suck

The end.

Is he previewing the 2009 season?
Wow, Baker writes something interesting AND snarky.

http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/mariners/2008/05/mariners_at_detroit_tigers_052_2.html#more

The final team bus arrived here just after 11 a.m. - two hours before gametime - and there were a lot of players on it. No batting practice either. Read into that what you will. At some point, these players are going to have to stop talking about doing things and just get the job done. And somebody’s going to have to get them to do it.
The way busrides work in the majors is, there are two of them that leave from the team hotel to the ballpark—one early and one late. You take the early bus in if you want to get some pre-game work done, like going over video, taking extra BP in indoor cages, getting some extra infield work in, that type of stuff. You take the late bus when you just want to do the basics, like regular stretching and pre-game BP on the field. When the team doesn’t have a morning BP before an afternoon game, you take the late bus in so you can have your morning coffee at the hotel, work on those crossword puzzles, catch up on some sleep after a late night out, that sort of thing. Obviously, a lot of players didn’t feel they had any extra work to do. Or, they needed more sleep. I’m not here to make excuses for them. Just telling it like it is. Hope you can appreciate that.

Your Seattle Mariners: mailing it in for 2008.

Wouldn't you?
Not if I wanted to keep my job. This is the kind of thing that gets people fired.
It must be nice to have a longterm contract.
There are days I wish baseball had non-guaranteed contracts like the NFL.
I never wish that.

The players earn their money by being awesome.

Bavasi and McLaren have long term contracts?
I thought we were talking about the players.
And I know, yes, they aren't players. They do get to decide who's on the roster, though.

Keep in mind guys like Spiezio and Cirillo got dumped fast.

This is EXACTLY the sort of stuff that give you major housecleanings.

I don't remember them getting dumped fast.
Well, this IS the M's we are talking about here.

Better example might be WIlkerson.

I’ll go on the record that we’ll see players dumped by the All-Star break. And I don’t mean Baek or Dickey, either.

Cirillo was here two whole years.
OK, so maybe someone goes to the DL with acute suckitis

much like Cirillo and Spiezio did at one point or another.

Cirillo most certainly wasn't dumped fast.
Taking a team-organised bus gets you fired?
Read it again.

“Obviously, a lot of players didn’t feel they had any extra work to do.”

This, after generally looking like crap for two games.

Maybe they felt they sucked because they were tired

so decided to get extra sleep.

But why would they get fired?

If management wants the players getting to the ballpark early then they should just cancel the late bus until further notice.

Or are you saying that the late bus is a trap?
Well, if you are making $3+ million a year in guaranteed money, I don't think getting fired and finding another job would be so bad.
I get the impression that none of these players have faith in their leadership

And it’s translating into general apathy and laziness in their play on the field.

I get the feeling that none of these players have any talent

And it’s translating into general suckitude and crappiness in their play on the field

I wouldn't want to get out of bed.
Hahahaha

Boycott the games!


1:06 PM, May 22, 2008

It would be difficult to get a fan boycott going; no one will notice a few fans, or even a few hundred, missing. But … unhappy Ms fans could pick a particular game and spread the word to boycott that one particular home game. Make it very public and if you can get the crowd down a a scattering of people, then a message is sent.

Who’s ready to stop bitchin’ and start a revolution?

Uh… the fans are ALREADY boycotting the games…

No they're not.

Safeco will draw enough soccer moms and children to keep Lincoln and Armstrong’s jobs safe.

What did I tell you about being optimistic?
Wikipedia is amazing

look at all the suck rolled into one place

Free agent signings under Bavasi include Raúl Ibáñez, Richie Sexson, Adrian Beltre, Jarrod Washburn, Scott Spezio, Rich Aurilia, Carl Everett, Matt Lawton, and Jeff Weaver. Some of the notable trades that Bavasi has made during his tenure as Mariners GM include: Freddy Garcia for Miguel Olivo, Jeremy Reed, and Mike Morse; Carlos Guillen for Ramon Santiago; Asdrubal Cabrera for Eduardo Perez; Shin-Soo Choo for Ben Broussard; Randy Winn for Jesse Foppert, and Rafael Soriano for Horacio Ramírez.
Logan?
Ha.

I see what you did there.

Seriously

he’s the only person who would fixate on the Choo/Broussard trade.

Logie, Logie, Logie.

Every time Dave Cameron or Jeff blinks he starts foaming at the mouth. So much vitriolic rage in one person…

That Garcia trade was awesome.
Yeah, just none of the players in return panned out.

Not Bavasi’s fault. And Garcia hasn’t done much since being traded (I know winning a WS, but it’s not like he was a main factor).

Not true.

He was 14-8, threw over 225 innings in 05. Won 17 in ‘06.

And he’s available.

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