August 2009: batting in the mid-.200s, Sweeney figures he will retire at the end of the season
September 2009: Sweeney re-considers after a talk with his wife, and sets sights on returning in 2010 in southern California or Seattle
October 2009: Sweeney becomes a free agent
January 2010: Sweeney remains a free agent
February 2010: Sweeney comes to camp with the Mariners on a minor league deal but is considered a long shot to make the roster ahead of Ryan Garko; consensus opinion is that Sweeney was brought in to be a veteran presence in ST, and that the Mariners are letting him work out to try and catch the eye of another team
March 2010: Sweeney bats .512, while Garko blows
April 4, 2010: Sweeney officially makes the Mariners' roster
May 21, 2010: Sweeney goes 4-5 against San Diego with two home runs to lift OPS near .900
June 3, 2010: Sweeney placed on DL for first time with back soreness
June 25, 2010: Sweeney starts at first base
June 26, 2010: Sweeney placed on DL for second time with back soreness
July 2010: Sweeney hangs out, does nothing
Early August 2010: Sweeney placed on waivers
Early August 2010: Ryan Howard sprains his ankle
August 4, 2010: Sweeney traded to Phillies to fill in for Howard, then work off bench when he returns
September 26, 2010: Phillies clinch playoff berth
October 5, 2010: Sweeney officially named to Phillies playoff roster
October 8, 2010: Sweeney makes first-ever playoff appearance and singles against Aroldis Chapman
October 10, 2010:
"Here we are," Mike Sweeney says. "This is the most joyful I've ever been in my baseball career."
-----
Love Sweeney, hate him, or think he's okay, this is about as perfect as a story can get.
3 recs | 55 comments
Has anyone visited the FB page
I Want A Hug From Mike Sweeney
msb - October 14, 2010
Made even more perfect by the fact nobody in the locker room was wearing those goddamned champagne goggles
HititHere - October 14, 2010
Amazing!
ThundaPC - October 14, 2010
I'm happy for him.
E-Lizz - October 14, 2010
I'm happy for him!
and I consider this incontrovertible evidence that hugs work.
doublemazaa - October 14, 2010
Does anybody really not like Sweeney?
I mean, you can not like his production and lack of flexibility he created when with the Mariners, but I’d blame those situations more on management. How can you actually hate the person Mike Sweeney?
SethGrandpa - October 14, 2010
If you hate Mike Sweeney, you're not American.
Or not a human being, one of those.
Patrick Stites - October 14, 2010
Or maybe you hate America.
Patrick Stites - October 14, 2010
There are ways
Jeff Sullivan - October 14, 2010
My dad always says Sweeney reminds him of Burt Lancaster's character in Elmer Gantry.
I mean this in a way to describe how someone could not like Sweeney – not that Sweeney is actually like Gantry.
Jed MC - October 14, 2010
Hate is not the word I would use, but I dislike tha man.
But my dislike predated his Mariner tenure by many years.
Sec 108 - October 14, 2010
I can't fucking stand him
Aaron Campeau - October 14, 2010
Let's pretend he was in a different line of work that he was still good at. Would you like him then?
.Taylor - October 14, 2010
No
Aaron Campeau - October 14, 2010
Absofuckinglutely.
ThomasG - October 14, 2010
Can't remember - what's the backstory here?
marc w - October 14, 2010
If it is the same as mine it cannot be discussed here.
Sec 108 - October 14, 2010
Just looked and let's just say nevermind nevermind, I retract my comment, nothing to see here.
marc w - October 14, 2010
Why can't you stand him?
Patrick Stites - October 14, 2010
look two comments above your question
pdb - October 14, 2010
I don't like Sweeney because he wanted to fight the rookies in the clubhouse.
joof - October 14, 2010
Would you prefer he fight them in the parking lot
misterjonez - October 14, 2010
Of course I missed the punctuation there.
misterjonez - October 14, 2010
I have never met the person Mike Sweeney so I can't say whether I hate him or not
pdb - October 14, 2010
I don't like Sweeney.
Never have. Something about him just gets on my nerves. If he’s successful as a pinch-hitter with the Phillies, what the fuck, I’m not bugged — but I’m unmoved.
ignacio - October 14, 2010
I think Jeff Weaver doesn't like him :-)
Video (sorry, best video quality I could find)
TIFO - October 14, 2010
I never really had put it into context how close he was to never making a playoff appearance.
Miracles!
Kenneth Arthur - October 14, 2010
Will Mike Sweeney become one of the players that people
“will get sick of” if the Phillies win the WS?
Coach Owens - October 14, 2010
I doubt it
Jeff Sullivan - October 14, 2010
Even though that's one of the stories that the media will keep talking about?
Coach Owens - October 14, 2010
I don't think that's true
Sweeney would win and then go away.
Jeff Sullivan - October 14, 2010
Absolutely not.
sanford_and_son - October 14, 2010
This...blows my mind
Good for him
Ence - October 14, 2010
I hated Mike Sweeney on the Mariners because we sucked and he sucked and he served no useful purpose on the active roster
Mike Sweeney getting to play in the playoffs is awesome
seattlebruin - October 14, 2010
SWEENDOG!
This went under my radar, but makes me happy now that I know.
SgtSasquatch - October 14, 2010
I'm happy for him.
A lot of Royals fans still have an opinion that he screwed the team by making multiple trips to the DL after signing a big contract with them. I understand the let down of Sweeney hitting the DL a ton after being giving a lot of money by the team, but it’s not like he was at his mansion in Johnson County lighting cigars with $100 bills while wearing a Cardinals hat. The guy got hurt and it sucked, but he also chose to stay in KC when every other decent player jumped ship when FA hit. I don’t really have a team I care about still in this but I won’t be upset if the Phillies win and give Sweeney and Halladay a championship.
KC Mariner - October 14, 2010
I'm always glad when a good-guy veteran gets to have playoff success after a long career.
Good for Sweeney!
bomdal - October 14, 2010
Hooray for Sweendog!
But really, this post served to remind me the Mariners, at one point, had Ryan Garko. Back in the halcyon days.
Robert Lintott - October 14, 2010
How can anybody hate Mike Sweeney?
Especially considering that he isn’t on the Mariners any more?/.
Judging by all the comments above mine, my questions are probably not necessary.
quacker27 - October 14, 2010
Been talking about this exact chain of events ever since the M's traded him.
A great baseball story. Hell, a great human story.
sanford_and_son - October 14, 2010
Congrats Sweeny.
If I were him I would retire after this season. I couldn’t think of a better way to end a career
d0nkey - October 14, 2010
God dammit Griffey
Jeff Sullivan - October 14, 2010
I just went back and looked at the articles from the end of last season.
He really should have ended it there. It would have been a good way to finish.
quacker27 - October 14, 2010
But his ceremony was so nice,
carried off the field by his team, sold out crowd at safeco cheering.
SeattExPat - October 14, 2010
Sweeney!
Scruffy Lefty - October 14, 2010
Good for him.
We so seldom see a story actually work out, it’s nice that it happened to one of the good ones.
Hopefulmsfan - October 14, 2010
Mike Sweeney is going to be the mariners next manager.
zehavi - October 14, 2010
I'm happy for Sweendawg
Griffin Cooper - October 14, 2010
I'm indifferent. He leaves me cold.
ignacio - October 14, 2010
OK, everyone has covered my reaction up above... enough said
ignacio - October 14, 2010
Looing back, it's obvious now
We should have kept him for the remainder of the season. There’s no doubt in my mind we would have lost no more than 100 with him in the lineup.
Buckyfan - October 14, 2010
Possnanski offers his tribute to Sweeney
Sweeney: An Essay
Not much to add, in my mind. We, unfortunately caught Sweeney at the end of his career. But there is a reason why guys like Wakamatsu valued him highly.
We can think guys like Wakamatsu are stupid and we’re smarter than they are. Or we can think that maybe we’re not as smart as we think we are. I incline toward the latter.
Steve Nelson - October 14, 2010
Anybody that has a problem with Mike Sweeney, I challenge you to stand up and fight me.
Patrick Stites - October 15, 2010 via mobile
Normally I would hate a guy that says shit like "Sweenys never give up"
But this guy seems to mean it, somehow I think he would be an interesting guy to meet. Obviously the Mariners didn’t need him, but he didn’t ruin 2010. That was Griffey.
Dustin G - October 15, 2010
And I can't stand Jeff Weaver so that is another point in his favor.
Dustin G - October 15, 2010
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