6/5: Open Game Thread

by Jeff on Jun 5, 2007 3:10 PM PDT in Regular News

First Pitch: 7:05pm PDT

Roberts 2B Ichiro CF Payton LF Lopez 2B Markakis RF Guillen RF Tejada SS Ibanez LF Millar 1B Johjima C Huff DH Vidro DH Mora 3B Broussard 1B Hernandez C Betancourt SS Patterson CF Ballgame 3B ---------- ----------

Burres (3-2, 3.08) Baek (3-2, 4.93)

A couple things:

I know absolutely nothing about Brian Burres, but he seems to walk a lot of people, meaning this could be a nightmare for our lineup.
The Mariners have the fifth-best FIP in the American League, which makes them look pretty damn good when you match it with an offense on pace to score 846 runs. The only problem is...
...the defense, which THT has at -14 on grounders and -7 on fly balls. Third-worst in the AL, sixth-worst overall. Things'll get better when Betancourt stops trying to hyperextend Sexson's ligaments with errant throws, but still, this team has not been good in the field.
If Safeco reduces runs by 7%, then this is a park-neutral 876-run offense over a full season. That's incredibly good, and 75-100 runs better than most people were projecting. It won't keep hitting .307 with RISP all year long, but then Richie Sexson won't keep being an unmitigated disaster, either, so that should balance out.

LET'S GO MARINERS!!

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Shit

I am definitely drunk and my parents are definitely going to be home in under 10 minutes what do I do.

Why the fuck did I say "Hey! It's my day off, and my parents aren't home I'm getting wasted!"??!?!

by I'm NOT Corco on Jun 5, 2007 3:29 PM PDT 0 recs

Dude.

It's 3:30.

by Jeff on Jun 5, 2007 3:30 PM PDT up 0 recs

It's actually 4:30

but what happened is I said "Ah...off work, I'll have 2 beers"

I finished those, had a third, and then a fourth, and then a fifth.

And now i'm drunk.

Fuck this.

by I'm NOT Corco on Jun 5, 2007 3:33 PM PDT up 0 recs

Five beers gets you drunk?

Aren't you in college?

by Jeff on Jun 5, 2007 3:34 PM PDT up 0 recs

Yes

but I've always been a lightweight.

by I'm NOT Corco on Jun 5, 2007 3:37 PM PDT up 0 recs

Cheap date.

Man, I love being tall.

by Jeff on Jun 5, 2007 3:38 PM PDT up 0 recs

I'm not ever letting one of them females

pick up the tab, though.

by I'm NOT Corco on Jun 5, 2007 3:39 PM PDT up 0 recs

Just brush your teeth, go lay down in bed,

and tell your parents you aren't feeling well.

Oh, and hide the empties!

"Hi, I'm Keanu Reeves. I've beaten the world of acting, and now I'm beating the world of breakfast sausage."

by Thingray on Jun 5, 2007 3:48 PM PDT up 0 recs

Matt Kata DFA'd noooooooooooooooo

by Jeff on Jun 5, 2007 3:30 PM PDT 0 recs

watch us

claim that sucker off waivers

by I'm NOT Corco on Jun 5, 2007 3:33 PM PDT up 0 recs

Mariners' Player of the Month

Maybe Tampa will sweep him up...and into the trashcan.

by jtopps on Jun 5, 2007 4:16 PM PDT up 0 recs

FWIW

Ramon Vazquez isn't that much better.

Let's see, who desperately needs a 3B/LF?

by Gomez on Jun 5, 2007 4:20 PM PDT up 0 recs

Hmmm.

Isn't Texas' GM, like, a saber-friendly dude? Maybe he's read our little blog here, and a lightbulb came on. That wouldn't be good.

Since there's no "u" in "retire" this'll have to do: Retiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiire.

by PositivePaul on Jun 5, 2007 4:41 PM PDT up 0 recs

Hard pressed to think so

Given how effective he's been in slowly dismantling the Rangers.

by Gomez on Jun 5, 2007 7:14 PM PDT up 0 recs

Daniels is sabr-friendly

He's just not a good GM.

A bad day at the ballpark is better than a good day at work ~Courage the Rally Lion

by Rollo Tomasi on Jun 5, 2007 7:18 PM PDT up 0 recs

I know I've brought this up before

but when you look at the stuff on Sexson's defense does it take into account how well he is at fielding throws from other players or is it only on how well he fields groundballs. I don't know how many errors he's saved for Yuni this year but it must be quite a few because of his reach. Just wondering how that works cause 1B is really the only position where it matters that much.

by Edgar for Pres on Jun 5, 2007 3:32 PM PDT 0 recs

I'm pretty sure it's just balls in play

and not throws, but I'm not 100% certain.

UZR has Sexson at -9 runs per 150 games (2003-2007). Do you think he's worth +9 runs saving bad throws? I don't. He's good at it, and his height gives him an advantage, but first basemen are supposed to be able to save the shortstop's bacon.

by Jeff on Jun 5, 2007 3:36 PM PDT up 0 recs

His reach has always been a plus

and Betancourt/Beltre have horked quite a few throws over the last couple of years. Richie saved quite a few of those.

by Gomez on Jun 5, 2007 3:40 PM PDT up 0 recs

But how many of those

are throws that a standard first baseman wouldn't have caught? That is, how often is Richie really going full extension?

by Jeff on Jun 5, 2007 3:43 PM PDT up 0 recs

This is a job for

CAPTAIN RESEARCH!!!...

... whoever the hell he is.

by Gomez on Jun 5, 2007 3:45 PM PDT up 0 recs

Captain Research

is currently trying to figure out a way to make Anaheim cease to exist.

by Jeff on Jun 5, 2007 3:47 PM PDT up 0 recs

Earthquake?

Though that might wipe out some other things too.

by Deanna on Jun 5, 2007 4:35 PM PDT up 0 recs

Most notably me.

by Jeff on Jun 5, 2007 4:51 PM PDT up 0 recs

Thought you were in San Diego,

you could make it through an earthquake in Anaheim (probably).

Take one for the team man! LOL!

"Hi, I'm Keanu Reeves. I've beaten the world of acting, and now I'm beating the world of breakfast sausage."

by Thingray on Jun 5, 2007 4:55 PM PDT up 0 recs

There comes a point in everyman's life

that he must deceide whats more important: His very existence or the teams that he roots for. Do the right thing.

by Robert on Jun 5, 2007 5:00 PM PDT up 0 recs

Good point.

You guys take good care of this place without me.

by Jeff on Jun 5, 2007 5:07 PM PDT up 0 recs

BTW

If you happen to discouver the secert of time travel, let me know. I need to go back to October 2000 and make sure Arthur Rhodes has a run in with a trash compactor.

by Robert on Jun 5, 2007 5:12 PM PDT up 0 recs

Besides, Courage would do a rally dance

during the earthquake, and magically counteract the shockwaves in your area. The Rally Dance is that powerful.

Or you can hope Captain Planet stops by.

"Hi, I'm Keanu Reeves. I've beaten the world of acting, and now I'm beating the world of breakfast sausage."

by Thingray on Jun 5, 2007 5:13 PM PDT up 0 recs

I was in San Diego for an LA Earthquake

It was the Northridge one. Barely felt it. You should be A-Ok.

Chuck Norris invented black. In fact, he invented the entire spectrum of visible light. Except pink. Tom Cruise invented pink.

by Ben in Va on Jun 5, 2007 6:11 PM PDT up 0 recs

I was in

Laguna Hills (South Orange County) during that one and it scared the crap out of my wife and I. Very little damage (a couple of things fell off the shelf) but we got shook pretty good. The weirdest part was turning on the news, seeing the aftershocks hit the studio and than feeling them a few seconds later.

by derban on Jun 5, 2007 8:41 PM PDT up 0 recs

We felt that earthquake in Las Vegas

Incredible.

by Gomez on Jun 5, 2007 8:51 PM PDT up 0 recs

I was in SD

and didn't wake up.

by Jeff on Jun 5, 2007 8:53 PM PDT up 0 recs

I don't know really

but even if he only saves a few of them its something that should be factored in. There is a pretty big difference between nobody on and a guy at 2nd base. It probably wouldn't get him all the way to neutral but it might get him from horrible to slightly below average.

by Edgar for Pres on Jun 5, 2007 4:11 PM PDT up 0 recs

So the gist of it is

that we don't really know how much 1Bs contribute to defense. We're just guessing its small since A) it probably isn't that big of a deal and B) it is probably hard to figure out so lets just hope A) is correct.

by Edgar for Pres on Jun 5, 2007 6:55 PM PDT up 0 recs

I keep trying to get this point across

in softball too:

"first basemen are supposed to be able to save the shortstop's bacon."

I understand it's rec league, but occasionally they should be able to save a short-hopped throw, or one that's a little wide. It's the SS that's going deep in the hole and having to throw off balance, so help a brother out sometimes!

"Hi, I'm Keanu Reeves. I've beaten the world of acting, and now I'm beating the world of breakfast sausage."

by Thingray on Jun 5, 2007 4:35 PM PDT up 0 recs

You should have me play 1B for you

I'm the JT Snow of the rec league (dead serious)

Shop smart......Shop s-mart...... YOU GOT THAT!!!!

by Scruffy Lefty on Jun 5, 2007 5:34 PM PDT up 0 recs

Speaking of Softball

My pitching K's for the season has reached 10 K's in 8 games. Don't know how I do it but I probably throw a better screwball with a softball then I do with a baseball

Shop smart......Shop s-mart...... YOU GOT THAT!!!!

by Scruffy Lefty on Jun 5, 2007 5:37 PM PDT up 0 recs

Haha

I consider myself somewhat of a Doug Mientkiewicz.

I made a throwing error from 1B the other day, and all my buddies were ragging on me for the error. It's ridiculous how much a sweet scoop or big stretch to "save the infielders bacon" gets overlooked. It's not that easy "I think I'm gods gift to athletics to I play SS in rec softball" guy.

by PShwa on Jun 5, 2007 5:41 PM PDT up 0 recs

I'm a lefty

so I kind of get stuck there. Sometime I venture out to second base and actually am probably better than most (just I can't turn 2)

But I have become a pitcher now because of my reaction time and I get hit at a lot.

Shop smart......Shop s-mart...... YOU GOT THAT!!!!

by Scruffy Lefty on Jun 5, 2007 5:43 PM PDT up 0 recs

I never said it was easy!

But just like any other position, sometimes you have to make the tough play to help out your team. You can't expect every throw to be perfect, just like you can't expect every fly ball to come right to you.

I am by no means "gods gift to rec league SS", and I'm well aware of that. That's why I wish my first baseman got more credit for the nice catches he makes for all of us infielders.

If you don't dive, it seems nobody notices a good play.

"Hi, I'm Keanu Reeves. I've beaten the world of acting, and now I'm beating the world of breakfast sausage."

by Thingray on Jun 5, 2007 6:13 PM PDT up 0 recs

THANK YOU.

I wish more people were like that.

I only make fun of the SS because every time I play its the most cocky kid with no range or arm, who has to blame every mistake on everyone else.

I say nice play and all that to my fielders all the time and I get the look of "psh...that was easy"

Just my experience, I know most people arent like that.

Either way, I think 1B in softball is great to play...scoops feel so good when you dont fuck them up haha.

by PShwa on Jun 5, 2007 6:27 PM PDT up 0 recs

One thing I've noticed is that on wide throws, I

see people who are afraid to get off the bag and go to the ball if it's way off the mark.

Seriously if you can't reach for the throw, get off the damn bag and catch the damn ball. It's much better for the guy to be safe at first because you were off the bag, then for the ball to go sailing past you and the runner heads to 2nd.

I've recently switched to right field to help out our OF defense because it's been horrible, so we had some tryouts for first base to see who was gonna take my place, and that's always the main problem.

Protect the enviroment, or I'll FUCKING KILL YOU! CAPTAAAAAIIIINNNN PLANNNNET! ~Ted Turner

by Goose on Jun 5, 2007 5:44 PM PDT up 0 recs

I'm not worried about the infield defense,

both Yuni and Beltre have made more errors in the first third of the season then I expect them to make for the next two thirds.

Ibanez is not a good LF (and we all know that) and Guillen has looked both impressive, and scary (seems inconsistent to me). I don't know a realistic solution to the OF problem, I sure don't want to bench either one of them to play Ellison every day.

"Hi, I'm Keanu Reeves. I've beaten the world of acting, and now I'm beating the world of breakfast sausage."

by Thingray on Jun 5, 2007 4:19 PM PDT 0 recs

Well this isn't realistic

because it's not going to happen, but...

Adam Jones for Raul would upgrade the defense nicely. Would upgrade the offense, too.

And if you think that Raul's being left handed is worth something, I guess you could swap Big Ben and Richie, too.

by Zack on Jun 5, 2007 4:57 PM PDT up 0 recs

So that's Yuni's goal with those throws!

If Sexson does hyperextend a ligament, all the errors would be worth it!

by Manzanillos Cup on Jun 5, 2007 4:30 PM PDT 0 recs

How is Lopez's defense?

Is he as good as he looks?

A bad day at the ballpark is better than a good day at work ~Courage the Rally Lion

by Rollo Tomasi on Jun 5, 2007 4:56 PM PDT 0 recs

Phenomenal.

Check out the UZR thread.

http://lookoutlanding.com/story/2007/6/1/141333/6041

by Jeff on Jun 5, 2007 5:06 PM PDT up 0 recs

Hello Again

Game prediction: Burres gives up 1-3 runs goes into the 7th. Bullpen gives it up. Mariners win. Congratulations.

by Baltimo on Jun 5, 2007 5:38 PM PDT 0 recs

wow you sound like us for the last 3 years

Shop smart......Shop s-mart...... YOU GOT THAT!!!!

by Scruffy Lefty on Jun 5, 2007 5:39 PM PDT up 0 recs

No

I sound like an Orioles fan, for the past decade.

by Baltimo on Jun 5, 2007 5:43 PM PDT up 0 recs

Cheer up

You could be the Rangers.

by Graham on Jun 5, 2007 5:47 PM PDT up 0 recs

Or the Royals

The thing that gets me pissed is that the O's are third in starting pitching, first in team defense, have arguably 3-4 allstars (Brain Roberts, Miguel Tejada, Nick Markakis, Erik Bedard) and have absolutly nothing to show for it.

by Baltimo on Jun 5, 2007 5:51 PM PDT up 0 recs

I mean no offense

Your legitimitly a better team than us. But in every single gameday thread and matchup, our starting pitching is better, our defense is better, our offense is comprable, and our coaching staff (managers aside) is better. The diffrence is bullpen I guess but it just sucks losing games the way we lose.

by Baltimo on Jun 5, 2007 6:01 PM PDT up 0 recs

The Mariners in the late 90s

were the same way. It's been beaten into the ground already, but you guys need someone new running your team. All that money spent on crappy relievers this offseason was hard to watch.

A bad day at the ballpark is better than a good day at work ~Courage the Rally Lion

by Rollo Tomasi on Jun 5, 2007 6:06 PM PDT up 0 recs