Lookout Landing

I would be

very interested in seeing that.

SeattExPat - May 13, 2010 reply

I'm going with six.

Just checked all the charts...

This was actually surprisingly only the 3rd. 4/30 and 5/2 it got above 90, but that’s it.

Mataya - May 13, 2010 reply

Huh, so we just suck then

It was depressing seeing how many didn't get above 55%.

Mataya - May 13, 2010 reply

In a statistically perfect world, 15% of the time

but Mariners baseball has been far more depressing than the math would suggest.

Jon S. - May 13, 2010 via mobile reply

When Corey Patterson hits a homerun against you,

it’s time to start admitting that fate is against you. Either that, or it’s time to buy some lotto tickets.

BWoodrum - May 13, 2010 reply

Corey Patterson hitting a home run is not that weird.

Teej - May 13, 2010 reply

Corey Patterson hits home runs fairly often.

It's when Corey Patterson gets cut by your team in spring training and then guns down your backup shortstop at the plate in the top of the ninth that fate's really against you

On the bright side, I'll bet Corey Patterson is feeling pretty pleased with himself.

At least somebody’s smiling – it might as well be Patterson.

I woke up just in time to see Patterson throw out Wilson.

“Oh hey today, fuck you too.”

SethGrandpa - May 13, 2010 reply

My initial reaction to these stunning turn of events:

Oh man, we haven’t lost that way in a while! At least it was different.

missed the game and internet's balky today

what the hell happened?

anybody

have a well cropped picture of the Hindenburg?

SeattExPat - May 13, 2010 reply

With Mike Brumley waving it into the mooring mast?

.

harkening - May 13, 2010 reply

5-1 lead with Felix. League give up 5 in the 8th. Wilson gunned out at home with 2 outs in the 9th.

SethGrandpa - May 13, 2010 reply

Well that's just a moldy jar of fetid testicle sweat

There were a couple awesome times where it was like Rob Johnson

was gonna catch the ball but then he totally didn’t.

They may have fresh jars at Trader Joe's

Yummy…

AltCtrlDelete - May 13, 2010 reply

I take it back - this wasn't a fun WE chart at all.

Blammo!

My only complaint about this game was that League appeared from the first batter

to not have his good stuff. Would have liked to have seen some back up getting ready in the pen.

But it appears that right now League is the only guy that Wak trusts in a close game. This manager for some reason has real issues with Shawn Kelley.

Rudy4three - May 13, 2010 reply

I feel like this game needs to be played on a loop in Wak and Z's hotel room

until Rob Johnson is demoted or released. You can make a decent case that if we have (random, semi-competent catcher) in the game we win.

I do wonder what goes through their minds when they watch Johnson fail in very important ways, over and over again.

They’re clearly smart guys. They must recognize that Johnson is terrible. They must want to replace him if they could find a better option. Mustn’t they?

I am yearning for the days of simple poor play behind the plate.

Please just give me bad guys. Not “Got picked last in sandlot games because his friends thought he was retarded” bad.

WAIT WHERE'S THE AIRPLANE KABLOOEYVILLE GIF!?

I didn't want to search for it

All tradition has gotten us is a big sack of losing :(

At least it's hilarious losing!

I'd rather be Hilarious Losers than Lovable Losers any goddamn day

of course, I’d rather be a winner, but that doesn’t seem to be on the menu at this point.

In this case I assume point = eternity?

The Mariners have winning seasons every so often so probably not eternity

but it’s further away than I’d like to see.

You sound awfully reasonable about all of this.

I’m enjoying the maniacal glee of completely losing hope.

I've been a Mariners fan since the early 80's

I lost all hope in about 1987.

Yeah.

This offseason kindled the embers of my hope. Took two months of powerful gusts of failure to put that shit out.

I think right now we are pathetic losers

Edgar for Pres - May 13, 2010 reply

Awww...Nuts.

Get out the Rye Bread and Mustard, Grandma,

It’s Grand Shit Sandwich Time!

urchman - May 13, 2010 reply

I see what you did there.

The 2008 club was 14-20 at this point in the season.

Janic - May 13, 2010 reply

So you're saying we're getting Strasburg

No, we'll win a meaningless series at the very end of the year to get the #2 pick.

Eyebrows - May 13, 2010 via mobile reply

no no no

I’m saying that unlike 2008, we have buffer room at the end of the season to win the meaningless series and still get Strasburg!

Hope.

Hope in losing, but still.

Can someone explain something?

I was of the understanding that we don’t have a first round pick this year.. Is that pick protected or am I just wrong?

Paseman - May 13, 2010 via mobile reply

We don't have a first-round pick in this upcoming draft.

We gave it to the Angels by signing Figgins. Because our record put us in the top half of MLB, our pick wasn’t protected.

Teej - May 13, 2010 reply

Thanks

I get confused by the midseason draft, now I see our record can net us a high pick NEXT draft..

Paseman - May 13, 2010 via mobile reply

Is it just me or have we been phenomenally unlucky in addition to terrible this year?

Yes.

Absolutely.

seattlesundevil - May 13, 2010 reply

You would think that the sheer scale of awful performance and luck would regress positively at some point.

It’s just really, really unfortunate that it hasn’t happened yet. It would be cold comfort if it everything picked up again when the team was already way out of the hunt.

Rather be lucky or good. Just one seriously.

I just want one.

Luck can be both good and bad

Where's the Vidro in Wrigley .gif?

On the sidebar

Crystal for DH - May 13, 2010 reply

I can't wait to ruin the Cubs this June.

Like we ruined the O's?

In April, yes.

This one's more fitting though:

Crystal for DH - May 13, 2010 reply

Oh Vidro

I don’t miss you at all.

Seeing the Mariners in Wrigley is still weird.

OceanBird - May 13, 2010 reply

I have to travel to Spokane today for work.

Last year when I took the trip? Brandon Morrow gave up a walk-off HR to Texas.

More of the same, more of the same.

The easy answer to this is to never go to Spokane again

Actually, that's just a good answer in general.

Eyebrows - May 13, 2010 via mobile reply

Replace Brumley with a windmill. At least then we can count on the wind being still sometimes, as opposed to Brumley who constantly blows.

Janic - May 13, 2010 reply

Also it will keep us cool during the warm summer months

Too obvious

I rec'd it.

Kirk - May 13, 2010 reply

Sometimes jokes only need to be referred to

rather than explained and completed in a manner more suited to assembling a bookshelf than invoking laughter

True

Plus it can power the roof at Safeco! Envorimental!

I just woke up to see this.

So glad I missed this game.

Hopefulmsfan - May 13, 2010 reply

It is the afternoon.

Hey guys let's change the site logo since we have hope now

Crystal for DH - May 13, 2010 reply

MORONS

So...

Sell?

magistermilitum - May 13, 2010 reply

Sell what?

Used cars? Crack? Amway?

Crack is pretty profitable.

Lets go with that.

If only there was something we could burn.

Eyebrows - May 13, 2010 via mobile reply

LL commenters are probably flammable

Since when did Richard Pryor and Michael Jackson become LL commenters?

Don't have to be dead to burn.

you make an excellent point

Hmm....

Eyebrows - May 13, 2010 via mobile reply

I'm having one of those things. You know, a headache with pictures.

Eyebrows - May 13, 2010 via mobile reply

An idea?

beastwarking - May 13, 2010 reply

"I'm having an apostrophe!"

“I think you mean an epiphany.”

I will be come Saturday night.

Also, I hate Ken Rosenthal.

I bet he’s sitting back and laughing, thinking that he’s the most clever sportswriter ever.

GOD.

Maybe the season isn't "over" for us yet, but it's starting to look like unless something major breaks our way very soon we'll have no choice but to be sellers at the deadline

We may not technically be out of it yet, and there’s no way this performance is going to continue over a full season, but our playoff chances are getting so low now, they’re going to have to start playing good baseball right now or we’re going to have to take the long-term health of franchise route and sell Lee and others at the deadline. Can we really start playing good baseball and pull to withing 2-3 games of the Rangers by then? We might, but a lot of people think there’s a lot of time to get all of this bad luck sorted out, but there’s really not anymore. They’ve got 1.5-2 months before we need to make an organizational decision to sell at the deadline or go for it. A lot of people need to start playing a lot better and they don’t have that much time to do it.

Every one loss means less time until we have to make the keep or sell decisions on some guys that will ultimately decide whether we’re still going for it or looking ahead to the future.

OlSalty - May 13, 2010 reply

Nobody will buy Lee at the deadline

he’s a free agent after the season. Why trade for him in July?

Playoff run!

Amazing pitching in the playoffs is horseshit.

You’re right.

Calm down

That was incredibly dickish.

No offense taken

Because then you could get the draft picks back.

Sabathia was traded after all. It probably won’t net much, but in theory it should net more to trade him in July than to hold onto him the whole year if there’s no hope

True but

would the selling team be less willing to part with worthwhile parts other than the draft picks, if they know they can just write a check in November? I don’t know, I’m just curious.

Only a handful of teams would be able to afford Lee in the winter

Trading is a real possibility.

Besides, we saw first-hand when you sit back and do nothing at the trade deadline when

you’re in contention.

*What happens when

Doug Creek says hi.

Doesn't help you right now to improve your team though

wins right now are worth more than wins next year

Playoff runs inspire teams to do dumb things.

The Cardinals gave up their top prospect (and then some) for half a year of Holliday last year.

Jon S. - May 13, 2010 via mobile reply

My guesss it is it will net us better than the type A compensation picks for keeping him, and the quality of picks we gave up to get him

Since the team we trade to will get those picks instead, they’ll have to do better than that value to get us to trade him. He would make for a huge bump for pretty much every team in wins, and the better they are not he more valuable those wins are even if you’ve only got him for 6 months, and you can recoup some of those losses with the supplemental picks.

OlSalty - May 13, 2010 reply

now* the*

OlSalty - May 13, 2010 reply

Oh Fuck!

What the fuck happened?

zeeehjee - May 13, 2010 reply

We won!

It was a fun game and nothing bad happened, and at the end they fired Rob Johnson!

Just look at the WE Chart upside down.

See? The Mariners won!

ThomasG - May 13, 2010 reply

It's right side up.

And it’s a loss expectancy chart. Mariners win!

Jon S. - May 13, 2010 via mobile reply

If you want the true emotive experience, I suggest scrolling through the game threads

I checked on the score to see that we were ahead and figured that I wouldn't miss much while doing accounting.

This is the first time I have ever been glad that I did accounting.

beastwarking - May 13, 2010 reply

You should have taken our bad luck into account.

Zing!

Well then, now I'm glad that I couldn't watch this game.

I’m only sobbing silently at my desk instead of destroying everything in the house.

drblacknwhite - May 13, 2010 reply

I unfortunately am nearly finished with destroying everything.

My dog ran away. That was probably a good thing.

At least we scored some runs against a good pitcher

Signs of life?….Maybe?…Please?

Signs of life aren't gonna help when we are this far back..

Unless said signs of life includes another 7 – 2 streak.

seattlesundevil - May 13, 2010 reply

We have a much better chance of going on a 7-2 streak if we can score more than 4 runs a series

It's not unrealistic to say that this is quickly slipping beyond reach.

Millwood isn't all that good

We have made much worse pitchers look like all-stars this year

FIP of 4.45, tERA of 4.87, etc.

I feel like right now Jack needs to offer Cliff Lee a reasonable extension or trade him.

If he takes the extension, it proves that this year is not our “only” shot. That we’ll have 5 more years of Lee and Hernandez and we can relax a bit more about this year. That we’ll have 5 years to get some hitters on this team.

If he doesn’t sign the extension, lets start the bidding wars.

I somehow get the feeling that Cliff Lee won't be signing an extension.

Then trade it is, but I think something along the lines of "future" to the fans would be very nice right now.

My heart is breaking.

melenious - May 13, 2010 reply

I love him too :(

I see no incentive for Lee to even look at an extension.

You're right but on the other hand I think every pitcher should always be concerned about blowing out his arm at any time.

Its a small risk, but if 90 million were on the table its something to think about. I don’t think he’s going to get CC money, somewhere between Lackey and Zito.

Sure he would have to think it over. But why not wait and sign a better contract with a good team at the end of the year.

I see what you’re saying, but I don’t think it’s enough to get him to sign.

I think he gets CC money if he goes to the Yankees.

Of course, if he goes to the Yankees then there’s no reason to watch baseball for a few years.

Felix, Ichiro, Guti.

If any of those three gets injured or traded I quit. I fucking quit.

If we wait to trade him until after we offer an extension we lose a lot of leverage.

What if we promise him free Ivar's for life?

Damn. Thats some nasty negotiation ploys.

We could offer him all you can eat Dick's

we must remember the apostrophe in the offer sheet though.

I love Cliff Lee

but paying 40 million+ annually for two starting pitchers seems like an absolutely horrible idea.

BigR - May 13, 2010 reply

Having 2 aces is never a bad idea, especially when none of them have shown any real injury history.

I agree

I would imagine there’s some sort of extension offer on the table right now. I would up the offer a bit and put a time limit on it (say a month). If he hasn’t accepted and we still suck, trade him.

Jon S. - May 13, 2010 via mobile reply

It is quite fitting that the Mario tune was playing during the 8th inning!

He did well to get 700 points there.

600 points for dying?

So that’s why the Angels had such a good offense after that whole Adenhart thing.

Eyebrows - May 13, 2010 via mobile reply

Welcome aboard.

I was making Adenhart jokes ages ago.

Eyebrows - May 13, 2010 via mobile reply

I know, I was just saying it because I hadn't for a while*

*May not be 100% accurate.

I can't decide if I'm offended or not because I can't stop laughing.

I should probably hate myself.

philkid3 - May 13, 2010 reply

What kind of return can

we expect if we trade him in July?

None.

Kirk - May 13, 2010 reply

Probably a couple of players.

Players that can

make a difference? or is it better we get the draft picks?

and I

mean in the future.

It's Z.

Theres a good chance we can completely rape some farm system.

More than likely a safer bet would be to take players over picks.

Ace pitchers are valuable in playoff runs, and teams pay (hopefully overpay) a hefty price for such a commodity.

The Indians did get 4 players for

CC

Its hard to say

The trade probably has a better chance of paying off but its just not realistic to expect to get a top prospect for a guy who’s contract is up, more than likely you’d get 3 or 4 mid level prospects with chances of maybe becoming major league players some day.

We can get plenty

In the Holliday trade last year, the A’s got Brett Wallace, Clayton Mortensen and Shane Peterson. That’s one top prospect and two solid ones. All of these guys should be major leaguers (Mortensen and Wallace as early as this year) and Wallace has All-Star potential with the bat. And by most accounts the trade was even, and that’s before Holliday re-upped with the Cardinals.

Jon S. - May 13, 2010 via mobile reply

How the As managed that trade is still a mystery to me

But the better comparisons in this case are C.C. Sabathia to the Brewers and Lee last year to the Phillies since we’re dealing with pitchers rather than an everyday player. Of the 8 players Toronto and Cleveland got in those trades 2 are currently in the majors and both are hitting bellow .200 they could still turn out to be good and the chances of somebody out of the group of prospects turning into something was certainly better than the chances of the draft picks those teams would have gotten panning out but the fact of the mater is that its rare for a team to get a guaranteed impact player back as part of a trade at the deadline. So while trading Cliff Lee at the deadline would make sense if the Ms are out of the race don’t expect that trade to turn around 2011 or even 2012 for this team.

Somebody will give up a top prospect for Lee. He's that good, and he gives

whoever gets him a significantly greater chance of winning the WS

Rudy4three - May 13, 2010 reply

Well trading for players, even just two players, you know what two players you are getting.

Waiting for type A, you dont know which draft picks you are getting or which two players. So its ALWAYS safer. But that doesn’t mean you trade just to make a trade.

The previous two Lee trades didn’t net those teams any apparent future stars. However, it doesn’t mean that the M’s couldn’t get one or two now. There’s no telling if its going to be a Teixeira deal, Bartolo Colon deal, or a Cliff Lee to Philly deal.

It's probably unfair

but I blame this entire loss on Rob Johnson.

Drew_D - May 13, 2010 reply

sometimes life is unfair

Unfair?

You are absolutely right sir.

Top to bottom we have the worst catching situation in the majors.

I think.

I think that is an understatement.

And I'm including the entire farm system.

Whenever we do make a trade, we need to address that situation.

I think the solution is

Sweeney as catcher, drop Johnson, Moore, and Junior. So much breathing room!

It's cool

Rob Johnson caused the Misery Index to go to an all time high.

I think it's unfair to us that Rob Johnson can't catch.

Hopefulmsfan - May 13, 2010 reply

Remember how Chicago ruined our hopes and dreams last season too?

And to think we could have won all three of those games, and two of the three against Texas…Fuck ifs, there are WAY too many when you’re a Mariners fan.

OceanBird - May 13, 2010 reply

...

Decatur - May 13, 2010 reply

I worry this entire thread will turn into rosterbation.

It won't if we have anything to say about it

It sounds like an obituary over at USSM right now.

Being a Mariner fan, it’s hard to give up when the season that saved baseball in Seattle had the M’s 13 1/2 back in August.

I hope the team will refuse to lose in 2010

I just don't know if they will :(

I refused to pay taxes once but I still had to

I know, but the feeling of winning that tie-breaking game was enhanced by the fact we thought the team was done.

I might watch less games, lose a little hope, but I will never say a team is absolutely out of it in May in a weak division. Remember the Twins came back from a hole late last year. Or a few years ago when Houston was 7 back of St Louis with a week left. Houston won 6 in a row, St Louis lost 6 in a row, and it came down to the final game. St Louis won, but teams can cover some ground quickly.

Particularly a team that will presumably have three true aces within a month and two very solid back of the rotation guys

When the offense regresses from suck to meh, they could go on quite a winning streak.

hiskeyd - May 13, 2010 reply

As opposed to refusing to win?

I mean that Byrnes squeeze play was the best example of how this team turns into amateurs when they have a chance to win.

This was clearly a play on your name

I know I'm just saying that right now it's almost as if they are refusing to win.

The season that saved baseball in seattle was 15 years ago and none of those players are still with the team

Yes, I said “none of those players are still with the team”. I don’t know who the current #24 is but it’s not the 1995 one.

Colorado was

20-30 on June 1st last year and won 92 games. Anything can happen.

Those are the exceptions not the norm.

MFAN - May 13, 2010 reply

There is no floor, you're right!

In conclusion, it is not 100% impossible for the Mariners to make the playoffs

I was hoping to have someone list every example of an improbable comeback

*I was not actually hoping for this

Well it's May, so coming back from 5.5 games is not as improbable.

All I’m saying is teams make the playoffs with more games to make up than we have now, and it often happens at the end of the season enough that I have to challenge Dave’s assessment of this game. Hell if Oakland wins, we’re still 5.5 back. It’s not like we are chasing wild card teams. We have 4 more series against the A’s and Rangers, plenty of chances to gain ground. I know we all have 3-4 games in our heads that should have been wins. We could easily be a 16-17 team right now. I think regression will knock the A’s out, and the Rangers often fade in the Texas heat. If the Mariners can be within 4 on September 1st, well that’s striking distance.

Not that I disagree with what you're saying but I have to ask

Why are you challenging Dave’s assessment of this game on Dave’s site…here?

(NOTE TO EVERYONE: please do not interpret this question as an invitation to list your pet peeves with USSM)

Because I don't comment on his site.

Give it a shot.

Teej - May 13, 2010 reply

And yet you comment here

Life is fair!

It wasn't Dave. It was the idiotic new guy.

Don't be so hard on yourself

you’re not that new.

Idiotic moderately new guy?

slightly moronic non-internet virgin guy.

Sure, if you're not into the whole brevity thing.

Brevity is so very unbelievably important in a way that I cannot overstate the importance of

TL;DNR.

I think the point is that it's getting rapidly less probable, and that these comebacks are remarkable because they're so rare.

I just don't want to be the guy that said the M's are done if they sweep the Rangers next month and we're only 2 back.

I don’t disagree with the probability, but as a fan we all are hoping to overcome the odds and win a championship. Even the Rays and Yankees will need some good fortune to go all the way. Yes, the odds are lower now, but things can change quick. If all I cared about was playoff odds, the Mariners wouldn’t be my team.

Its not that coming back is that improbable

Its that the longer the Ms keep losing the more the chance of making a comeback is taken out of their hands, with every additional loss it becomes more important not only for the Ms to start winning but for Texas to start losing. Even if the Ms turn it around tomorrow and play up to their ability for the rest of the season we are at the point now were that alone wouldn’t be enough, it would have to be accompanied by at least a minor collapse on the part of the Rangers in order for this team to get to the playoffs.

I just think it's too early. We were 2 1/2 games up last year on May 3, 15-10 record.

Then we slowly lost ground. I don’t know if they can do what the Angels did last year, but I also don’t think they need to.

we can't afford to have one of our pitchers die though

We can't?

Not one of the good ones.

Mercer Island has too many Sean's anyways.

Haha. Maybe a DH then? Of natural causes!

They're both already dead

oh you meant their lives, not their careers.

I hate that Sweeney hit a home run because this isn't quite as stinging.

Broken clocks, blind squirrels

doesn’t change the fact that Sweeney’s a dead man walking, career-wise

Pretty sure the only reason that homer happened

is because he heard that Kevin Millwood’s fastball leaked the Griffey napping story.

Yeah, but he has bat speed still.

If he’s a dead man walking, then Griffey is a Zombie. Griffey got all of a pitch last night and couldn’t hit it into RF seats. Sweeney drove the ball to center and. I think Sweeney got himself in shape and is getting all he can out of his body. Griffey do a damn thing to get ready.

This is Gary Busey speak

Zombie = Dead man walking?

Well dead man walking just means death is imminent but your still alive.

Thank you for clarifying!

Oops that might sound like a Sweeney defense!!

OOPSIES

Kermit. - May 13, 2010 reply

I'm not sure what it sounded like

Gary Busey. Isn't anyone around here literate?

Well there is such a thing as tone in writing, so it's not entirely wrong to refer to it as "sounded like."

I guess I should say “It read like….” but, we’re just creatures of habit.

STOP

POSTING

Why?

No reason.

No there are some pretty good reasons

Kansas City was

23-27 on June 1st last year and won 65 games. Anything can happen.

Eyebrows - May 13, 2010 via mobile reply

Seattle was 84-77 on October 3rd last year and they finished 85-77!

Anything can happen, indeed!

Kansas City is made of magic.

I cannot get any sound from USSM. How are you doing it?

Okay, it READS like an obituary over there.

But you knew what I meant . Nice dig I guess.

Whatever.

Go Langerhans, go Saunders, go Felix, go Ichiro. The sign of being a Mariners fan is that I’m already over this loss and if the season is going to be filled with losing I find it’s (sadly?) really easy to just flip the switch to rooting for my favorite players and enjoying the baseball season.

The sign of being a Mariners fan is that you don't care when we lose?

I’m doing it wrong.

No the sign is that I have well established and easily accessible

coping mechanisms for failure.

yeah

What’s up with Saunders? I was about to drop him in my keeper league before he got called up. I activated him a few days ago due to some injuries and thought I’d ditch him once guys got back, and boom, after a lousy start to AAA, the guy is en fuego. Always talented but i thought something was wrong with him given how he struggled in the minors this year.

May I know the rest of your fantasy roster?

DON'T ENCOURAGE HIM

sorry forgot to take caps lock off

I feel as though the caps were called for in this case.

NOBODY CARES ABOUT YOUR FANTASY TEAM

Yeah, I get it

pardon.

It's okay, don't do it again

Y'all mods

are just so much sweeter these days. It’s……strange.

it's cool, we got all kumbaya a few comments down

Yes

sensei

Brandon League/Hr-FB Rates

The idea is that generally a pitcher’s hr/fb rates should average about 11% and is mostly luck, park effects, etc.

Brandon League has pitched 222 1/3rd major league innings. He has never been below 12% in a given year (some very low innings years in there). He has given up 25 home runs and 133 flyballs, I believe, for an 18.8% career rate.

Since 2004, per fangraphs, only 3 pitchers in any given season of 100 iniings or more has given up as many or more homers/flyball than league in his career.

Brandon Webb in 2005 at 18.8%. Derek Lowe in 2005 at 18.9%. And Josh Geer last year at 19.3%.

Brandon Webb, Derek Lowe and Brandon League. 2 guys named Brandon. All 3 extreme groundballers, over 60%. All 3 above the 11% “average” on home runs to flyballs. League is at an extreme in that regard.

Oh, and I have Felix Hernandez and Brandon League on my fantasy team (holds count in our league). Aaaaargghhhhhhhh!!!!!!!

Nobody cares about your fantasy team

Understandably

And I will drop it. But I figured you might care about his extreme home run rates. It is kind of freakish. That’s an extremely high career rate.

Stuff like that is fine

as long as it doesn’t involve talking about fantasy teams – that’s a pretty strict no-no ’round here.

Got it

Should have brushed up on the guidelines.

Saunders, i don’t know. It’s like a light switch went on. Small sample, i know, but he K’d a ton in the majors last year and it seemed to carry over to his start to the year in the PCL. I was wondering if he had changed his swing, had an injury or something.

Worth noting that innings may not be the best measure for League, since he's an extreme groundballer

He’s thrown more than 200 innings, yes, but he’s only allowed 133 fly balls over that span. That’s a pretty small sample. As a random example…Joe Saunders allowed 467 fly balls between 2008-2009.

League’ll average out. He may give up more HR/FB than the average guy, but this rate will regress.

Duly noted

I mentioned the low flyball rate. That’s why i thought it interesting Lowe and Webb came up on that list of high hr/fb rates. It is interesting that over their entire careers (and some of Lowe’s precedes the data), all 3 of them are above that 11% average and are all extreme groundballers. But I can see your point. All 3 of them have smaller samples in that time than most because there are so few flyballs.

I am not sure of the latest thoughts on pitcher effect on this anyway. Pat Andriola had an article on Scott Olsen in hardball times which suggested his former over-reliance on his fastball may have led to higher homer/flyball rates. I kinda thought there was a body of thought that pitchers had little effect on this rate.

Hopefully there not avoiding the sweep when

I go to St. Petersburg on Sunday.

So who does Roger Hanson have compromising pictures of exactly?

Am I the only one who doesnt really sweat this loss because Michael Saunders is showing

signs of being the long term answer in LF? I kinda don’t care that we lost given how well Saunders played today

Rudy4three - May 13, 2010 reply

I'm glad Milton is fixing his issues and giving Saunders a chance.

We didn’t have to lose though. If we win, they still say “I like this kid in left, let’s get rid of a DH when Bradley gets back.”

No, you're not. It's clearly the best thing to come out of the game.

But of course, Saunders being the long term answer in LF doesn’t really affect the team’s chances of competing this year.
I’m really pissed off because I think the team couldn’t afford this loss, but moderately hopeful that they’ll have less work to do to compete in 2011.

So I left for the game for more important things right after the Patterson homer.

Jesus Christ, Mariners. GET AHOLD OF YOURSELVES.

So I just watched a replay of the Scott granny and how the hell wasn't that fan interference?

Saunders was within a few inches of the ball and then a fan just got his sausage fingers out there and knocked it away.

Wasn't fan interference called on a similar play last year when Endy reached into the seats to take one back?

BrianL - May 13, 2010 reply

Technically it's not interference if the ball is over the wall.

But I cannot fathom how it wasn’t reviewed

Oh. Then in that case there wasn't really a review needed as Saunders had his glove a few feet over the short wall out there.

Still. I’d have turned around and punched that guy in the face.

Over the wall horizontally though.

That is, the plane of the wall extending vertically into space. I know Saunders was over the height of the wall, but I’m not sure he reached past the wall.

If that makes sense.

I know exactly what you mean. It's like the goal line, and I'm fairly certain that the mope was encroaching upon playing field space.

Nope. They reached into the field of play.

That’s Saunders not yet to the wall and those guys with their bellies on the wall leaning over.

Should be an automatic replay.

It's almost like umpires suck.

Yeah that looks like they're reaching over the wall

In sequence you'll see that Saunders hits the wall a moment later after the ball bounces off one of them.

I want to be mad

but all I feel is resigned.

Angel Hernandez!!

Joe West!

And two random other fucks who probably suck!