25-47

Something unexpected came up and swallowed my time between the seventh inning and now, so I only have three very brief things to point out:

• For years now the Mariners have been building with an eye towards adding good clubhouse guys. One of the most frequent definitions you'll hear regarding a good clubhouse guy is that "he makes the other guys better". According to John McLaren, Ichiro has been making his corner outfielders worse. Ichiro was signed to the largest contract in franchise history.
  
  
• 188 of Jose Vidro's 232 plate appearances so far this year have come from the fifth slot in the lineup or above. If John McLaren were in high school and his English teacher assigned a project in which all the students were to choose a song and interpret the lyrics, McLaren would choose something by Andrew WK and interpret it wrong.
  
  
• 
  The man with the craziest, most strenuous release face I've ever seen survives by throwing the wussiest pitch in baseball. Seriously, how do you look at this picture and reconcile that with the impression that knuckleballers never get tired? Something doesn't quite add up.
  

Biggest Contribution: Raul Ibanez, +10.6%
Biggest Suckfest: RRS, -18.5%
Most Important AB: Sexson DP, -10.2%
Most Important Pitch: Jacobs homer, -14.9%
Total Contribution by Pitcher(s): -35.1%
Total Contribution by Position Players: -23.3%
Total Contribution by Opposition: +8.4%
(What is this chart?)