August 1
At the beginning of August, the Mariners and Twins were headed in two very different directions. The M's had lost six games in a row to drop to a season-worst 27 games below .500. The Twins, meanwhile, had won seven in a row to pull to within a half-game of the AL Central division lead. The M's were old toast, and the Twins had new life as they set their sights on a playoff run.
That was the context of the August 1st matinee showdown at Target Field between the two teams, which saw Luke French go up against dominant young lefty Francisco Liriano. Both Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer were absent from the Minnesota lineup, but even so, they had a great advantage.
Liriano, unsurprisingly, was able to keep the M's off the board, striking out the side in both the second and fourth innings. But French, for his part, was also able to pitch well for a while against a depleted lineup, keeping the Twins scoreless into the fourth. It was then that the Mariners had their ninth-most unremarkable moment of the 2010 season.
The score was 0-0, and following a Michael Cuddyer double play, DH Jason Kubel came to the plate with two outs and none on. Behind in the count 0-1, Kubel got a high-inside fastball at 89 miles per hour, swung, and fouled it back off the screen.
12 recs | 31 comments
A bit of a surprising choice.
I think we all know what #1 is going to be, though.
lailaihei - November 16, 2010
This comment raises a unremarkable question.
Are the top 10 ordered? Should I consider #1 to be nine times less remarkable (or more unremarkable) than this one?
doublemazaa - November 16, 2010
I believe it's like the Richter scale
Number 1 is 10000000000 times more unremarkable than number 10.
HititHere - November 16, 2010
Mariners Baseball:
Logarithmically Bad.
SeattExPat - November 16, 2010
Shhhhh!
Don’t let next year’s marketing plan out of the bag too soon!
doublemazaa - November 16, 2010
You mean it's not "Logarithmically Big."
ThundaPC - November 17, 2010
An Andy Richter scale?
quacker27 - November 16, 2010
This is good
Very good.
.Bonzo - November 16, 2010
Oh man, I can wait for the television broadcast of this countdown on PBS with Garrison Keillor as host.
Introductions by Ben Stein and James Lipton! Interviews with Doug Sisk and Rance Mulliniks.
ThomasG - November 16, 2010
Keillor says all the plays are above average.
Jed MC - November 16, 2010
Keillor's responsible for Bill James' projections?
ThomasG - November 16, 2010
I remember this - this was the moment when I knew we had a chance
Liriano was great, but a twin killing and then French comes right into Kubel’s kitchen and forces him to foul it off… we were in this thing and could win it with some doily run and win one of those games that frustrates the opponent for weeks/months.
I was arguing with a friend about it – I thought this showed French was pitching tough and could keep the Mauerless Twins off the board. My friend thought this was a FB in a near-perfect location and French STILL couldn’t get a swinging strike. We bet a beer on the game.
The M’s were shut out , they struck out 11 times against Liriano, and I lost a bet, but in this one fleeting, apparently non-predictive moment, I had hope. Thank you, Luke French.
marc w - November 16, 2010
Blizzards are remarkable.
Kenneth Arthur - November 16, 2010
#1's going to be Jason Vargas going #2 in the Mariner's clubhouse toilet
and not flushing, isn’t it?
Craig341 - November 16, 2010
Going #1 would be less remarkable.
Well, actually, I guess I don’t know much about Jason Vargas’s bathroom habits.
huskies2010 - November 16, 2010
If that action was unremarkable then holy shit would I not want to be around Jason Vargas at all
seattlebruin - November 17, 2010
Now I can't remember this at all
How could have this slipped my memory.
aussie_chop - November 16, 2010
Holy shit. This is an awesome series.
Rudy4three - November 16, 2010
I was at this game and yet I still don't remember this.
Truly unremarkable.
Mothy - November 16, 2010
Wait.. no this wasn't the game I was at this one was at Target Field.
Did we have this same matchup at Safeco Field? I remember it was definitely French against the Twins anyway.
Mothy - November 16, 2010
It feels like Luke French pitched 80% of the games last year.
Mariner John - November 16, 2010
What is the pinnacle of unremarkableness?
Will #1 have no comments and no recs? Will it be too unremarkable to make this list?
two_hands - November 17, 2010
And isn't this inherently contradictory?
Can they really be the top 10 unremarkable moments if Jeff is remarking on them?
The Ancient Mariner - November 17, 2010
In think I've got this figured out. By #6 I will reveal your formula. I just want to make sure.
These first two seemed self-evident, but it might be the next one will give it away completely. I’m still going to wait for #6 because I don’t think anyone else is going to figure out what you are doing.
TrustBaseball - November 17, 2010
I love how you are attaching a .gif on these
How many people have watched both of them multiple times now?
raises handIdahofan - November 17, 2010
This is such a great idea, it's so LL.
EnglishMariner - November 17, 2010
The Seattle Mariners Marketing and Promotions department has announced that it has hired Lookout Landing's Jeff Sullivan to identify the 10 Most Mariners Moments from 2010.
Each moment will be commemorated in a commercial for the 2011 season.
In related news, the promotions for 2011 will be scaled back to generate a more appropriately subdued level of enthusiasm in the stands. These promotions will include replacing the popular Bobble head series with Wobble head dolls that feature less head action to correspond to the action on the field. The Ichiro Silver Slugger bat promotion will be replaced by a Jack Wilson bat night. The balls for Ball Night will be signed by bullpen coach Jaime Navarro and pitching coordinator Rick Waits. The caps for Cap Night will not feature just one player, but will be actual sweat stained caps collected from players throughout the major and minor league system when they need to have their caps replaced. There will also be a David Pauley Garbage Train Car to commemorate garbage from large California cities being hauled to the Northwest for disposal. Welcome to your 2011 Seattle Mariners.
Droid Rage - November 17, 2010
I thought a Wobble might have the mid-section shake.
msb - November 17, 2010
I don't know how it can get more unremarkable than this.
But then I didn’t see how it could get more unremarkable than #10, and this one blows that one out of the water.
I’m on the edge of my seat. Er, squarely in the middle of my seat.
RunningFool - November 17, 2010
Wow.
I have no idea how you’ll manage to get less remarkable 8 more times.
Dont forget to pace yourself.
Llewdor - November 17, 2010
Quibbles
This one I have to disagree with. The game was still close, and therefore for 2010, remarkable.
Mariner Optimist - November 22, 2010
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