Still getting his hugs
I'm never quite sure how to acknowledge a game that we won in large part with the help of an umpire. Granted, a big part of that is that I've so little experience, but tonight, for example, while I'd love to write a bunch of beaming prose about how the Mariners finally pulled through in extras - pulled through for Junior - for a walk-off win, the truth of the matter is that Ryan Langerhans only came around to score because Dale Scott blew a close call at second. If Scott calls Josh Wilson out on Matt Tolbert's flip, the inning is over, and we advance to the 11th where Minnesota sends up the top of its order. It's a very different situation. With the call, the Mariners win. Without the call, it's back to being a coin flip. The win expectancy impact, in other words, was a robust 50%.
That's weird. It feels weird celebrating what is, in essence, a 'tainted' win.
But then, so what? I'm not going to deny that, when I saw Langerhans touch home, my arms went up and I accidentally kicked over a glass. Blown calls suck, but they suck for the loser. Winners are just happy to win however they can. It's the Twins and their fans who should be upset with Dale Scott. I'm not going to sit here and apologize for a miscue that bumped my team in the standings.
I guess what it does do is slightly alter the narrative. So the Mariners didn't quite pull together and earn themselves a victory. Maybe they would have later on. Maybe they wouldn't have. What they did do, though, is play well enough, and even if they didn't necessarily deserve the break they received, they still came away with the emotional lift that I'm not sure could've come on a better day. Ichiro leapt into the arms of Lee Tinsley. Mike Sweeney delivered another giant bear hug. Milton Bradley smiled between teardrops. The Mariners got some help, but of all the days to get help, today was the most befitting. Given that the M's were running with a short bench and a 24-man roster, some might even choose to credit Junior's spirit.
The Mariners, and Don Wakamatsu, did some things wrong tonight that very nearly cost the game. Make no mistake - they escaped. But while I sympathize with the Twins and their fans for what happened at second base, I'd like to think that, after a day like today, this team has earned a good night's sleep.
0 recs | 74 comments
Well said
Hopefully they can relax a little bit.
jfbjr1 - June 2, 2010
Is there a picture from the opposite side?
Not that Dale Scott had the view from the other angle either, but he would be making the judgment based on when the glove came up off the ground, I bet. That’s a couple of seconds later than when that pic was taken. I’m just glad the M’s won, yeah for the humanity of the game.
seattle_since_81 - June 2, 2010
Split seconds, man. There are no seconds in baseball.
joey90 - June 2, 2010
There are when Slowey's on the mound.
Jeremariner - June 3, 2010
Yay baseball!
E-Lizz - June 2, 2010
The ending is ironic for those of us banging on about the need for replay all night
but even as an M’s fan, I’d be 100% behind it in this case. Maybe it’s easier from this side of the Tropic, but it’s an easy decisions for me.
I’ll just try to remember this the next time we’re on the wrong end of a horrific umpire fuck-up.
marc w - June 2, 2010
Agreed 100%.
Wins are nice and all, but I would prefer the system be less flawed.
Sec 108 - June 3, 2010
Is there online video of Milton Bradley's teary postgame?
JonBBT - June 2, 2010
Doubt it
Someone better than I will have to upload it themselves.
Jeff Sullivan - June 2, 2010
Sometimes the postgame interviews are uploaded at the end of the end of the game on MLB.tv,
But the Bradley one wasn’t today… just checked. I always wait to see who the postgame interview is before shutting the TV off, and when I saw it was Langerhans, I watched it and then left. Bradley’s interview in Kansas City was online, but it cut off too soon for today’s game. Hopefully I’ll be able to see it somehow, sounds like it was a good one.
Mataya - June 3, 2010
If anyone finds this
Please post it as a fanshot or something. Thanks!
greymstreet - June 3, 2010
Not so sure the ump missed that call
That still shot is right before he squeezed the ball in the glove. I had it on DVR looked at it frame by frame and he looked safe. At the very least it wasn’t ‘indisputable evidence’. Do we really want to bring that phrase to baseball? I vote no on replay.
kstreetdawg - June 2, 2010
Brandon League has 10 decisons. 10!
tait644 - June 2, 2010
It's a combination of being good at times, bad at times, and the stereotypical middle man for a team with a low-scoring offense.
thehemogoblin - June 2, 2010
Arthur Rhodes went 10-4 back in 2002.
Coach Owens - June 3, 2010
Tyler Clippard has seven wins.
Teej - June 3, 2010
I can't believe Mike Sweeney has lasted longer than Griffey on this team.
MFAN - June 2, 2010
Amen to that...
I didn’t think of it until now but you’re absolutely right – I would never have bet on this outcome!
mwalter - June 2, 2010
Griffey was a Mariner for 12 years
pdb - June 3, 2010
Really?
HitKing69 - June 3, 2010
We're usually getting the short end of the stick so tonight is just karma.
It was meant to be!
Sam Regens - June 2, 2010
Yep, finally some luck.
sanford_and_son - June 3, 2010
We've had plenty of luck
It’s just all been bad.
Matt Erickson - June 3, 2010
I wonder if the source of our bad luck was having Griffey on the roster?
My, oh my.
ThundaPC - June 3, 2010
His glove isn't closed in that picture.
Jeremariner - June 3, 2010
But whatever the case,
I can’t help but imagine that the giant “24” in the dirt behind second base may have had a bearing on the umpire’s call. If there was ever a justification for the human element to seep into the judgment of calls, that call next to those numbers on this day would be it, in my humble opinion.
Jeremariner - June 3, 2010
Or maybe something like the 27th out of a perfect game?
BigR - June 3, 2010
That doesn't really make any sense.
pdb - June 3, 2010
Is anyone else convinced that Griffey is now going to be our "Angel in the Outfield" figure - miraculously helping us pull out games for a pennant run?
Just me? The fact that he’s not dead is merely a technicality.
SethGrandpa - June 3, 2010
I had the same feeling after watching this game.
The way the players were talking about him, it almost felt like he was dead. If we go on some kind of great run for the rest of the season, you know that’ll be the new motto.
Hopefulmsfan - June 3, 2010
The numbers, if nothing else, indicate that they will eventually start playing better,
and when they do, you can count on hearing Griffey’s name in an awful lot of post-game interviews. He was such a presence there that his absence will be as apparent as his presence for a lot of the people in that clubhouse, particularly the leaders.
“Win one for Griffey.”
Jeremariner - June 3, 2010
More high speed with less drag.
Kermit. - June 3, 2010
Another "d'awwww" quote from Milton Bradley that I had to share:
“On a day like this, it should rain in Seattle.”
Jeremariner - June 3, 2010
Watching the end of that game, I had a huge smile on my face.
It’s strange admitting that seeing total strangers happy makes me happy but seeing Ichiro jump into the arms of Tinsley and Bradley jumping up and down, I was happy not just for the win as fan but for them as players and people too.
Hopefulmsfan - June 3, 2010
I'm sure we'll hear more on this later, but I can't help but find the events strange.
In honor of Griffey’s retirement, fans came out with signs, jerseys, tears, and applause. The Safeco crew etched a 24 into the infield and put together a video montage, complete with cliched music. Each of the broadcasters came primed with memory after memory with which to share throughout the course of the game. Even the team put together a great show of affection. So through this great tribute to a Mariner legend, where the hell was Griffey? I’m sure this was a bittersweet event for the guy, but shouldn’t he have been here to receive all of the love headed his way?
abender20 - June 3, 2010
He was driving home to Florida
Jeff Sullivan - June 3, 2010
I'm sure Southwest had a sale or something so he probably flew
gotta get away!
pdb - June 3, 2010
Allow me to be the sand in the Griffey vaseline if you will
This is who Griffey is. This is what he does. I can rattle off all my Griffey bona fides like anyone here – I saw him play in Bellingham, I saw him play in the Kingdome, blah blah blah – but the common thread through all the years is that Griffey’s about Griffey and no one else. He does things his own way, on his own terms. He’s probably earned that right by being awesome, but most of the time it comes off as self-centered prickishness. I’m not sure I’d call last night “prickish” but it also wasn’t a surprise that it went down the way it did.
pdb - June 3, 2010
Eh, he'd threatened to either fax the news or leave a note on his locker when he went
so a personal phone call with the Chuckster was a big step forward
msb - June 3, 2010
I was actually impressed he made that call
I was fully expecting the note on the locker. Or just an empty locker.
pdb - June 3, 2010
Didn't his agent make the call?
Brian Floyd - June 3, 2010
Don't know, I wasn't actually around last night and didn't find out about this until the 4th inning
we were at a bar with a TV with the sound off so I didn’t really hear any of the details.
pdb - June 3, 2010
Apparently they both did
Kirby Arnold
Griffey spoke briefly by phone with Mariners president Chuck Armstrong
on Wednesday afternoon to tell of his decision.
John Hickey:
Griffey spent most of the day on the phone with his agent, Brian
Goldberg, with Seattle club president Chuck Armstrong and with team
CEO Howard Lincoln. The Mariner front office didn’t believe things
would happen as quick as they did, but once Griffey had made up his
mind, that was that.
msb - June 3, 2010
I understand that he's always been that way, but last night was about him.
abender20 - June 3, 2010
As a person who almost violently recoils from any sort of public recognition myself
I totally get why he bailed the way he did. He doesn’t really WANT to bathe in the adulation of thousands, even though they were primed and ready to give him one last big sendoff. I can respect that.
pdb - June 3, 2010
I was surprised that he let them talk him into the hoopla when the Reds came to town
I guess it took a lot of convincing
msb - June 3, 2010
But he had always said he didn't want it to be about him when this happenend
seattlebruin - June 3, 2010
Yet he found every way to make it about him.
All of the events that happened in his honor yesterday were going to happen whether he was there or not. His presence at the event is more of a sign of respect and a chance to show his gratitude to the fans and team that supported him for so long.
abender20 - June 3, 2010
I don't know man, to me it feels like he slipped out the back door.
If he’d stayed in town and made himself available for interviews and adulation it could have gone on for awhile. This is more like ripping off the band-aid, still going to happen but it’s not prolonged.
Kermit. - June 3, 2010
I've thought about this a lot, and in the end I agree with Kermit
Jeff Sullivan - June 3, 2010
I also agree with Kermit as to Griffey's probably reasoning for leaving.
I just also think that his inability to tolerate a day or two of answering questions and shaking hands makes him selfish.
abender20 - June 3, 2010
He's got a lifetime of that staring him in the face
and I’m sure he’ll come back in a few weeks or months for one final goodbye. But for now, I think he’s earned a break.
Jeff Sullivan - June 3, 2010
I hope it's for the last game of the season
I would be totally cool with him suiting up and playing an inning in CF – or even playing one batter and then getting pulled.
pdb - June 3, 2010
He should totally retire after getting carried off the field by his teammates in one of the ultimate feelgood moments in recent memory.
abender20 - June 3, 2010
Like that ever happens.
TheBishop - June 3, 2010
Like Ichiro could lift all that weight by himself
pdb - June 3, 2010
Watch Junior comes back in 3 months for his goodbye and is
30 pounds lighter and ripped. “Fuck all of you.”
TheBishop - June 3, 2010
This way is also less distracting for the rest of the team. I can respect that.
sanford_and_son - June 3, 2010
You've just hit on the essence of Ken Griffey Jr!
pdb - June 3, 2010
This is why I've never been attached to him and have wanted him to go away all season.
abender20 - June 3, 2010
Exactly, except Aron's wording is just a bit off.
Griffey’s selfish behavior is the reason he left this way, not the other way around.
Sec 108 - June 3, 2010
Absolutely, and it's also why he came back this year in the first place.
I’ve successfully managed to foster a Griffey-bashing thread the day after he retires. Goodness.
abender20 - June 3, 2010
I don't think it's bashing to acknowledge his imperfections.
I got irrationally upset yesterday and some people bringing up the negatives as the emotion of the whole thing was so fresh. But a day later I think we can all celebrate the greatness of his talent and the positives of (what we know of) his personality while still having fun with and maybe even bitching about the negatives.
Dude was confusing and frustrating at times.
TheBishop - June 3, 2010
C'mon, that's a bit harsh
As Jeff says, and as Howard/Chuck said during the game, they’ll have a big Griffey send-off with him in attendance later. If he didn’t want to be there tonight, that’s his call. If he WAS there, you’d all be complaining that the sudden shock of it meant that his fans weren’t able to get to the game to ‘say goodbye’ or whatever.
I actually wish more athletes did this. When you retire, step aside quickly/quietly and let the current team be the focus. Yeah, the team can plan some gala event some time, but I’m just not a fan of the farewell tour thing, which is why last night was 10X better than the weird/uncomfortable ‘celebration’ for Junior while he was a member of the Reds.
marc w - June 3, 2010
Don't get me wrong, I'm totally happy with the way last night seemed to go down
It is entirely his call, and he made the call I would have expected him to make. Which is why I don’t understand why people are surprised that he didn’t hang around last night – that’s just not who Griffey is.
pdb - June 3, 2010
They could always bring him back for a proper sendoff at the end of the season, too.
OlSalty - June 3, 2010
He'll never do it
He’s basically Ted Williams. When he’s gone, he’s gone. Didn’t tip his hat, didn’t have a teary press conference, he’s just gone. And I’m OK with that – he’s earned the right to go out as he wants to. He doesn’t owe the fans anything.
pdb - June 3, 2010
I agree with this and am happy to hold in tention the reality of Griffey:
Flawed, complex man and Griffey: My all time childhood hero. His personality didn’t matter to me one bit as a kid and when it comes to Junior I’m always a kid.
It’s weird and dumb but it is.
TheBishop - June 3, 2010
Sports is delicious in its irrationality and there's nothing wrong with your stance at all
pdb - June 3, 2010
Irrational thoughts and feelings are all the more powerful
when I spend the majority of my life trying to eliminate them. This is one that I tried to get over for years after he left. But they wouldn’t be so easily dismissed.
TheBishop - June 3, 2010
Agreed on the latter, but I'm not so sure he's completely gone
Let the media frenzy die down, give him some time with his family, then see what happens. I bet he’d be more warm to the idea of a formal goodbye in a few months. I’m sure his teammates want it to happen, and for all his faults he does seem to care what they think, at least in his zombified state.
OlSalty - June 3, 2010
They should sign Trey to a one day contract instead.
CapSea - June 3, 2010
The one time I wish I had "insider status-- Levy just read several perceptive paragraphs by Olney on the dichotomy of Griffey's personality
msb - June 3, 2010
Im happy we won the game and that's all that matters to me now.
Maybe Griffey was a distraction. Maybe now we can just play ball. Thanks Griffey.
Kenneth Arthur - June 3, 2010
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