2008 In A Nutshell
by Jeff Sullivan on Oct 8, 2008 7:05 PM PDT
in Miscellaneous
108 comments
You will often hear of a certain event or game that it captured the spirit of an entire season on its own. Today I ask you, the reader, to choose the event that best illustrates everything the 2008 Seattle Mariners were all about. The event that best epitomizes the anguish, the humiliation, and the occasional hilarity of a season gone to waste. There are many candidates, but there can be but a single nutshell, so choose wisely, and take your time. For this is pretty much the most important ballot of the year.
WARNING: many many .gifs to follow. Upon clicking through, please allow time for the images to load. View the images before voting.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
6 recs |
108 comments
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And now I don't ever want to close this page
by Graham on Oct 8, 2008 7:17 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
It took a while to load all of those...
It was worth it though.
BOOYA! You got Slurved!
by Slurvey on Oct 8, 2008 7:18 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Man, tough call.
I think “O (Bad angle)” is the most metaphorical though. This team couldn’t keep up with anything.
by ThundaPC on Oct 8, 2008 7:20 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Lawn Darts shows how inept we were.
However, for me the season ended the 2nd game of the year when Hamilton crushed JJ and our season. That is what I might have chosen.
by Sec 108 on Oct 8, 2008 7:21 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I voted for O
as the perfect metaphor – charge the season and then OOPS!
by seattlebruin on Oct 8, 2008 7:22 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
There were many that could be more in-depth metaphors...
…but O is simple and to the point.
by Omerta on Oct 8, 2008 7:26 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
The Sexson homer getting robbed just pissed me off.
I voted C it shows no matter what we do right we’ll just end up losing in someway after that. I hate you mets…
BOOYA! You got Slurved!
by Slurvey on Oct 8, 2008 7:27 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I love how K-Rod points to the air like it's a routine popup
thank god someone will probably pay him a shitload of money and he’ll regress. Hopefully it will be the Angels
by basebliman on Oct 9, 2008 10:52 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I voted F
Maybe because I haven’t seen it before and it made me laugh the most, but falling over right from the start was exactly what the ‘08 M’s were all about. Felix getting hurt is more of a representation of Seattle sports in general to me.
On a related note, I or M would work great for the Angels’ year (or A for the Mets’ last two)…
by Crystal for DH on Oct 8, 2008 7:32 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Oh, and we should also have Clement missing the pop-up.
by Crystal for DH on Oct 8, 2008 7:43 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Good times!
The road to hell is paved with Mariners.
by Taylor H on Oct 10, 2008 8:11 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I vote F
It epitomizes the epic fail at even the simplest tasks that was Seattle ’08
by mariners124m on Oct 8, 2008 7:52 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
To me
Lawn Dart perfectly conveys the comical ineptitude of this team.
by BrianL on Oct 8, 2008 7:56 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Lawn dart is the funniest,
and that’s how I voted. Although now that I think about it ‘bad angle’ really does sum up the 2008 season best.
by brayden04 on Oct 8, 2008 8:01 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
No gif can describe it
P. Miguel Cairo makes the team (bringing a knife to a gun fight).
by Tony S on Oct 8, 2008 8:04 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Stop posting gifs in this thread
It’s breaking my internet
Determined, Jonesing Commentor | Proud proprietor of Washingtonhighways.org
by I'm NOT Corco on Oct 8, 2008 8:07 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I just went to McDonald's and back and it's still not done
Determined, Jonesing Commentor | Proud proprietor of Washingtonhighways.org
by I'm NOT Corco on Oct 8, 2008 8:43 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I'm running FF3 on a brand new 2.6 gig mac
and it’s still taking this page about two minutes to fully load.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
by pdb on Oct 8, 2008 9:02 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Not saying I don't like it
just defending those with older machines.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
by pdb on Oct 8, 2008 9:02 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
It does take an awful long time
hence the warning. It’s just a one-time thing, though, and I think it’s worth the trouble. I love most of these.
by Jeff Sullivan on Oct 8, 2008 9:03 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah, they're all pretty awesome
or depressing, I can’t figure which.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
by pdb on Oct 8, 2008 9:12 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yep, about 2 minutes is about what it took for me to load.
And I’m on a machine that’s almost 5 years old with FF3. Although once it loads and is stored in cache, I’m able to come back to it and it loads instantly, provided I don’t close the browser.
With that said, I’m going with B. JJ’s season is a pretty good example of the Mariners season as a whole. Came in with high expectations, and failed them. In this instance he failed them spectacularly.
God, I was at that game too. It was freezing and it was horrible.
by Goose on Oct 8, 2008 9:19 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
That is number 2 for me.
I’m pretty sure Brett was standing next to me when that happened. That place got quiet real fast.
by Sec 108 on Oct 9, 2008 9:02 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I'm using the most recent build of FF3
Determined, Jonesing Commentor | Proud proprietor of Washingtonhighways.org
by I'm NOT Corco on Oct 8, 2008 9:12 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
New computer? Defrag? Faster connection?
This post is definitely intense, but a trip to McDonald’s is excessive.
by Teej on Oct 8, 2008 11:57 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Sexson falling belongs in this post
by Jeff Sullivan on Oct 8, 2008 8:20 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I keep expecting K-Rod to be struck by lightning and be vaporized each time
It disappoints me on every loop
by Scrupio on Oct 8, 2008 8:23 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I don't need no cracka ass special effects.
9=8
by JI on Oct 8, 2008 8:26 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
O
Seeing the ball roll for a few seconds then watching Raul shoot by arms flailing is classic.
Perfectly encapsulates the fail of 08.
by Will Kier on Oct 8, 2008 8:11 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Vote for I
3 events happened in this clip which can be seen to sum up our season. First, the M’s tried to do well (WFB running hard). Second, the M’s failed (WFB getting called out). Third, the team imploded (WFB collapsing in pain).
by Scrupio on Oct 8, 2008 8:20 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
He got out? I thought he was safe because Wash had to run for him afterwards or something like that.
BOOYA! You got Slurved!
by Slurvey on Oct 8, 2008 8:21 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Stop ruining my argument
It sounds better when he’s called out
by Scrupio on Oct 8, 2008 8:25 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
"I DON'T CARE!"
BOOYA! You got Slurved!
by Slurvey on Oct 8, 2008 8:29 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I'd be hard pressed not to choose N
seeing as I was at the game and all… damn it, Raul >:(
by ningwers on Oct 8, 2008 8:20 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Flurking shnit
I forgot about that :(
by ningwers on Oct 9, 2008 9:46 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
"Bad Angle" is my favorite of the season, but for this specific pool, I have to go with Vidro hitting himself in the face.
by Teej on Oct 8, 2008 8:33 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Though other moments were more memorable
I voted for K not just because it was an appropriate representation of this season but, quite appropriately, there’s a WaMu logo in the background, making it a multilayered illustration of fail.
by Gomez on Oct 8, 2008 8:46 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I'm voting for H because it loaded
Determined, Jonesing Commentor | Proud proprietor of Washingtonhighways.org
by I'm NOT Corco on Oct 8, 2008 8:48 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Sexson is such a bitch.
I mean seriously, who fights like that? What a fucking wimp.
by brayden04 on Oct 8, 2008 8:50 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
We need to use that phrase more often.
The road to hell is paved with Mariners.
by Taylor H on Oct 10, 2008 8:13 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
J must be the choice..
Raul’s were hilarious, but I cant use a Raul gif to sum up the failures of this season cause Raul was a beast with the bat.
And the robbery of home runs and getting thrown out at the plate indicates metaphorically that we were close to success but have bad luck or were just an inch short of success. That obviously wasn the case.
The Vidro gif sums up the yr. Pathetic veteran hitting himself in the face chasing a bad pitch.
by DarkLou on Oct 8, 2008 9:11 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
A vote for Option J here too.
Vidro was unable to hit anything but his own face. It’s so poetically apt. The Mariners season in a nutshell.
B.J. Upton's new nickname = "Laggard McShambleslow"
by esoteric on Oct 8, 2008 9:30 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I voted for G.
Because Yuni fails at everything and our team was as ridiculous as his slide.
by Mariner John on Oct 8, 2008 10:17 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I voted for Lawn Dart.
Early season hopes of being at least respectable being embarrassingly thrown into the ground. I’m pretty sure that was the exact point where I realized that this team was terrible and nothing could be done to salvage the season.
54!
by joof on Oct 8, 2008 10:40 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
C
Because for every good thing that happened this season, it was immediately followed by garbage. That was 2008.
by Matthew on Oct 8, 2008 11:14 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I'm going with auto strike.
In encapsulates the inevitable futility of the year. From another angle, it suggests that at some point, even Gameday decided it didn’t give a shit.
by Paytheline on Oct 8, 2008 11:28 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Lawn Dart
And not just because it’s probably the funniest gif I’ve ever seen.
This season began in the heat of a long-running argument about the Bedard trade. With a record payroll and expectations as high as they’d been since 2002 or 2003.
The suddenness, the comprehensiveness and the…creativeness of the ineptitude this season was something I don’t think I’ve seen before. For those of us that don’t have to write about this shit every day, there really was something fascinating in this season, like the music of The Shaggs or other outsider art.
All of this is summed up in that magisterial “throw.” The argument about LF defense, the expectation of a close play, the can’t-turn-away beauty of a play so terribly NEW. Once this season was lost, and you can argue that happened in April, most of us were tuning in (if we did) simply to see how bad it was going to get. Raul Ibanez showed us that this question can never really be answered in his interpretive dance entitled “There is no floor.”
by marc w on Oct 8, 2008 11:38 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
N
Because it everything seems to be looking positive…Raul actual plays the carom…but then it turns to major failure extremely fast.
by SethGrandpa on Oct 8, 2008 11:50 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I also need this explained.
Bring back José Cruz Jr!
by darmok on Oct 9, 2008 9:09 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I have no idea what happened there, either, but I voted for it.
Getting called out on an automatic strike generally involves failing utterly to play the game. Like refusing to step in the batters box.
I don’t know what happened this time, but regardless it’s the best way to sum up our season.
I like using semi-colons; they make me feel smart.
by Llewdor on Oct 9, 2008 9:33 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Voted D
The look on Beltre’s face sums everything up for me.
by Smegmalicious on Oct 9, 2008 12:25 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Has to be lawn dart
Seeing that IN PERSON was one of the greatest moments of my life. I knew ‘this is why I am a Ms fan.’
Then again, I also saw the Lowe wild pitch in person too……..
I should either NEVER go to another M’s game, or go to ALL of them.
by Limerickx on Oct 9, 2008 6:23 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I went with J.
This team kept screwing itself over again and again.
But for some reason, I can watch F continuously. Seriously, how the hell does one fall like that?
by NOLAmarinergirl on Oct 9, 2008 7:07 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
G had the most complete metaphor for the organization’s expectations and results: Yuni expects to score but instead runs face first into a shin guard.
I also liked K (Raul falls down) for the subtle irony of the giant WaMu sign in the background of the shot.
by MrIncognito on Oct 9, 2008 7:14 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I voted Lawn Dart because
it looks like the ball explodes when the Yes graphic comes up. That just typifies the season for me.
Be open minded about what you don't know.
by Jed MC on Oct 9, 2008 8:39 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Notably absent from this list is Ichiro
“Ichiro hurts his team by not failing spectacularly thereby preventing us from landing Strasburg!”
by PDXTai on Oct 9, 2008 8:41 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Oh yeah the one where Ichiro did not come up with the catch with 2 on and 2 out and we lost the game
would have fit pretty well also.
by Schuxu on Oct 9, 2008 2:28 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
K
Finding new and inventive ways to loose AND a giant WaMu banner in the background sums up the season for me.
The Felix getting injured clip was too painful.
by DoesntCompute on Oct 9, 2008 8:59 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
E - Sexson getting robbed
Really represents the futility of the year. And damn it, we all wanted Richie to succeed. He hit it and it looked like it was out. They were going to beat the angels. Then start winning a bunch and take first place and make the playoffs and win their first world series and it was going to be an awesome season. Then Torii Hunter ruined my goddamned birthday.
Bring back José Cruz Jr!
by darmok on Oct 9, 2008 9:18 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
This was my 2nd choice
Man, was that a punch in the stomach.
by Gomez on Oct 9, 2008 11:14 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Good God.
That game was the last instance of GTE up until Felix got injured, wasn’t it?
by BrianL on Oct 9, 2008 11:17 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Well is GTE only GTE when it's angry?
Because positive GTE counts then the Felix Slam would’ve been the next GTE by a matter of moments.
by SethGrandpa on Oct 9, 2008 12:48 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I voted "other"
The play that made me laugh the most was against Toronto in the Skydome. A Jay hit a stinger off the RF wall and Reed played it perfectly and made a pretty good throw to the cut-off man, Richie Sexson. Sexson seemed to be inspired and he did a little spin and threw the ball almost directly on the dirt towards the catcher. Dave Sims’ call was perfect: “Richie tries to use the turf to get the ball home!” I laughed for a good five minutes.
Cuba Si! Yanqi No!
by Patrick517 on Oct 9, 2008 12:20 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Sexson is a good firstbaseman
Look how many error his frame saves.
9=8
by JI on Oct 9, 2008 1:26 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Thanks...
it’s funnier with Reed included.
Cuba Si! Yanqi No!
by Patrick517 on Oct 9, 2008 4:32 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Nothing is showing up in your comments, Jeff.
The road to hell is paved with Mariners.
by Taylor H on Oct 10, 2008 8:13 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
What is it? Is my internet not showing a gif?
The road to hell is paved with Mariners.
by Taylor H on Oct 10, 2008 11:16 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I have to go with K for one simple reason
The Mariners couldn’t even go backwards (1st overall pick) correctly, just like Raul
Raben died for your sins.
by rlintott on Oct 9, 2008 12:43 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I like to think
that someone had to restrain Rick Rizzs from running onto the field and wrapping up Willie in his arms when “I” happened.
by BrianL on Oct 9, 2008 1:19 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
This thread is incredibly cathartic
MORE PLEASE. My misery, I will truly wallow in it.
by Lents Park Homer on Oct 9, 2008 2:14 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Bedard MIA
I think the winner should be something involving him. Say what you will but he was a letdown.
has anyone sent this to failblog?
by vj on Oct 9, 2008 2:29 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Had to go with Perlozzo (which surprisingly has the least amount of votes).
That man summed up this team’s frustration when he flipped out. All he needed to do was knock the umpire on his ass and it would’ve been perfect.
by Wilder. on Oct 9, 2008 2:40 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Lawn dart for me
Vidro hitting himself is also an acceptable way to look at things. For too long this season, management allowed players to try to fill roles they had no business in based on reputation and history, not objective evaluation.
by SkipT on Oct 9, 2008 4:04 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Needs a Felix crying gif.
Favor the Bold
by IcebreakerX on Oct 9, 2008 5:43 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Weaver throwing the ball in the dugout from last year.
The road to hell is paved with Mariners.
by Taylor H on Oct 10, 2008 8:14 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
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