10-6, Game Note
by Jeff Sullivan on Apr 23, 2009 7:42 PM PDT
in Seattle Mariners Game Recaps
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PrintI didn't get to watch much of this game, since the bulk of it took place while I was at work or commuting home, so all I'll say is that this looks an awful lot like a game plan gone right. Felix vs. left-handed hitters today, from BrooksBaseball.net:
Against Tampa's dangerous Pena/Crawford/Iwamura/Zobrist/Navarro lefty quintet, Felix lived on the outside of the zone, never daring to throw so much as a single pitch over the inner half. The results? 67% strikes, 73% grounders, zero line drives, and six swinging strikes. While Felix is a guy you'd expect to have a normal platoon split, today he was far more in command against lefties, and when you combine that with a few timely strikeouts of righties, you've got all the ingredients for a dominant game. A terrific effort when the Mariners could afford nothing less.
By the way, Felix has gotten to an 0-1 count in 52% of his plate appearances this year, up from 47.6% for his career and the 47.3% league average. I'm going to go ahead and hope against hope that this means he's locating better. Felix getting ahead in the count more often means all kinds of things. Unhittable things.
Oh hey I have another note! You may never see a better version of David Aardsma than you saw this afternoon. His showdown against BJ Upton was shades of Rafael Soriano vs. Nomar Garciaparra, only without all the context that made Rafael Soriano vs. Nomar Garciaparra so awesome. A lot of times when hitters miss on a fastball, they miss ferociously. Upton and Crawford swung like sissies. Neither of them looked even the least bit comfortable, although in their defense I don't know why anyone would be comfortable hitting against a crazy person with a rocket launcher.
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"although in their defense I don't know why anyone would be comfortable hitting against a crazy person with a rocket launcher."
I dunno Jeff, the Marines seemed to polish off those Somali pirates without breaking too much of a sweat. It’s about professionalism.
Patriotism, Pepper, Professionalism
The Seattle Mariners are 10-6
After having played the Twins, A’s, Angels, Tigers, and Rays. That’s pretty incredible.
101.25 to be technical about it
Yay 1/4 wins!
RIP Nick Adenhart. You will be missed by baseball fans across all organizations.
by seattlecougar on Apr 23, 2009 9:06 PM PDT up reply actions
No way we're 18th in MLB
I could see 10-15, but below average? Our run prevention is absurdly good.
by Graham MacAree on Apr 23, 2009 10:31 PM PDT up reply actions
I'm trying not to get too excited.
If we really do have one of the two or three best run-prevention units in baseball, then yeah, I can call us above average. But I still see us in that 15-25 range overall. But if Washburn stays decent and Bedard remains healthy . . . yesyesyes.
I also think we're favourites to win the West now too
by Graham MacAree on Apr 23, 2009 10:46 PM PDT up reply actions
Me too
But out of the 3 candidates I think we currently have the strongest case. This is hilarious in many, many ways
by Graham MacAree on Apr 23, 2009 11:15 PM PDT up reply actions
I don't think we're the favorites
It’s only April. And we can’t score runs to save our life. But we’re in much better position than opening day.
Everybody's batting poorly except Endy and Ichiro!
And Endy’s cooled down as of late.
I don’t see this trend continuing.
In My Opinion
we should swap places with the Angels, but hey, that’s Yahoo! for ya.
I'm more like I am now than I've ever been.
Ahahahahahahaha he made a "Steinbrenner is a hothead" joke!
What an incredible and original joke! Ahahahahaha!
Is that the light at the end of the tunnel, or the headlights of an oncoming train?
Team Chemistry Wins Ballgames
It’s science.
...and now I'm here
I don't know about ballgames ...
but it seems to be making them happy.
“Don Wakamatsu has tightened up the dress code on the airplane and Ken Griffey Jr. has been less than happy with the tie policy. Well, he got his revenge today. When we arrived at the airport, the coaches and staff got on the plane first. About 10 minutes later, the team boarded. Wak, as is the custom for the manager, sits in the first seat. Jr was the first player to step into the airplane. He was wearing a nice dark suit and a tie. A white tie with a smiling Don Wakamatsu in his uniform silk screened on the bottom of it. The rest of the team followed in the same ties.
I'm not sure where to start...
Commence bullet points.
-Seriously? This is about 3 years too late. Even the MLB 2k series has incorporated things like sabermetrics and farm system emphasis. All this is going to do is get a bunch of housewives and college girls who don’t understand baseball to come watch Brad Pitt speak the equivalent of a foreign language for 2 hours.
-Demetri Martin as Paul DePodesta… I don’t quite see it (not sure Demetri can play that kind of nerd), but at least there will be something entertaining to watch.
-Larry Stone has never heard of Demetri Martin. Are you fucking serious??
-This would have made much more sense back when the A’s were still pretty exclusively winning at Moneyball and had that competitive advantage. I’m assuming they’re going to play this like a historical piece.
-Odds on steroids taking a much larger overtone in the Hollywood version: Good
-Like jinxing a pitcher during a no-hitter, I have that sick, disgusted gut feeling that Larry Stone already naming and casting a movie about our inevitable World Series season might be the other shoe falling.
-Seriously, how does this fucknut still have a job?
RIP Nick Adenhart. You will be missed by baseball fans across all organizations.
by seattlecougar on Apr 24, 2009 8:52 AM PDT up reply actions
Larry Stone still has a job because he's amazing
by Graham MacAree on Apr 24, 2009 8:53 AM PDT up reply actions
He writes some good columns
But then he writes something like this, which (as best I can tell) is solely trying to inform us that there’s a Moneyball movie in the works — when this was announced a while ago, and only showed up on Stone’s radar because Demetri Martin was cast on the 21st. The rest of it is like watching a wounded animal beg for death, while everyone just sits there watching it bleed out.
In hindsight, I probably take my movies a little too seriously, and shouldn’t fault Larry Stone for his lack of knowledge there (especially given that his baseball prowess far exceeds mine).
RIP Nick Adenhart. You will be missed by baseball fans across all organizations.
by seattlecougar on Apr 24, 2009 8:59 AM PDT up reply actions
We don't seem to have that problem here
/shrug
RIP Nick Adenhart. You will be missed by baseball fans across all organizations.
by seattlecougar on Apr 24, 2009 9:34 AM PDT up reply actions
if Stone fills his column/blog with the stuff we fill this place with
he wouldn’t be long for the Times. It was a bit of fun on his part. Not a big deal.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
I'd read about boobs, beer, and.. uh...
What exactly do we talk about the rest of the time, anyway?
RIP Nick Adenhart. You will be missed by baseball fans across all organizations.
by seattlecougar on Apr 24, 2009 4:25 PM PDT up reply actions
Well, somebody has their angry pants on this morning
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
Just a bit
Still waiting for the coffee to kick in.
RIP Nick Adenhart. You will be missed by baseball fans across all organizations.
by seattlecougar on Apr 24, 2009 8:59 AM PDT up reply actions
The only problem I had with the post is that he didn't consider Jeff Bridges to play Bavasi.
I'm more like I am now than I've ever been.
Or how about the guy who played Chakotay on Star Trek Voyager to play Wakamatsu.
I will smash your face into a jelly.
by Phil Hatzenbuehler on Apr 24, 2009 9:44 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Yup.
Funny, inappropriate things.
I will smash your face into a jelly.
by Phil Hatzenbuehler on Apr 24, 2009 9:46 AM PDT up reply actions
Not knowing who Demetri Martin isn't really a cardinal sin.
Unless you routinely watch Comedy Central or FOTC, you won’t know who he is.
He's the unfunny guy with the Emo Phillips haircut, right?
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
I thought so.
And yeah, Todd Barry is awesome. He was my second favorite comedian at the Sub Pop 20 show, behind Patton Oswalt, who I never thought was that funny until we saw him there – that was one of the funniest standup shows I have ever seen.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
Oswalt's not my favorite, but he has the ability to make me spit out whatever I'm drinking.
So I give him credit there.
He always struck me as being pretty average
but he absolutely KILLED that night. Every single thing he said was not only hysterical, but built on what he’d said before, so he kept people on their toes all night. It was something to behold.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
If you don't watch Comedy Central, chances are you don't know who Demetri Martin is.
I think he’s a funny guy, but it’s not like he’s some pervasive, inescapable force. Aside from a brief stint as a Microsoft pitchman, he hasn’t really done anything outside that network.
I think he's all right.
The Daily Show stuff was a riot, and I’ve been entertained by Important Things, but the shtick tends to wear thin.
Agreed.
And I’ve been a fan of stuff on the notepad, such as the pie chart of procrastination and the ability to draw mountains over time. But his style of humor can get old fast, particularly the skits.
I'm more like I am now than I've ever been.
I sit through the skits
Waiting for the actual jokes. Concur he can be dry, but usually it works.
RIP Nick Adenhart. You will be missed by baseball fans across all organizations.
by seattlecougar on Apr 24, 2009 9:32 AM PDT up reply actions
I couldn't even make it through one ep of Important Things
without wanting to punch him in the throat.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
I unenthusiastically disagree
I find him hilarious. Especially when he has a bunch of jokes that don’t tie together so he just fires them off one after another. Perfect for my ADD.
RIP Nick Adenhart. You will be missed by baseball fans across all organizations.
by seattlecougar on Apr 24, 2009 9:32 AM PDT up reply actions
Griffey fat jokes!
Frying things are already dead.
by JI on Apr 24, 2009 9:39 AM PDT up reply actions
If Griffey were death to frying things
he would eat in a healthful manner as he would have no tolerance for fried food.
by JI on Apr 24, 2009 9:52 AM PDT up reply actions
Could do better with photoshop, but when motivation strikes...
RIP Nick Adenhart. You will be missed by baseball fans across all organizations.
by seattlecougar on Apr 23, 2009 9:05 PM PDT reply actions 5 recs
I'm the one who wants King Felix on his face
by Jeff Sullivan on Apr 24, 2009 12:20 AM PDT up reply actions 4 recs
After tonight
I think we all do
RIP Nick Adenhart. You will be missed by baseball fans across all organizations.
by seattlecougar on Apr 24, 2009 12:22 AM PDT up reply actions
Woooooooo Felix!
The Mariners are 6-1 in the last 7 games I’ve gone to.
You can't hide from the omnipresent eye.
So a couple of observations from Safeco.
1. We had no business winning that game with that lineup. Thank god for Ichiro!
2.Rob Johnson is useless. Make him go away.
3.Screw you Yuni.
4.Burke play at first base bordered on hilarity.
5.Speaking of game plans, if Aardsma had one coming into the 8th, he executed to perfection. That was fun to watch.
6.BJ Upton’s fluidity in the outfield almost rivals Ichiro, at least from the right field seats.
7.Brett and I only got told to shut up once today! Improvement! And that was during the 9th with Morrow pitching. We were part of the 15% or so in that section that were on our feet and yelling. Apparently we were disturbing the people knitting(Seriously, there were two ladies directly in front of us freaking knitting!).
You can't hide from the omnipresent eye.
At least the knitters stopped and clapped here in there.
That dude in the Jake Locker shirt just made Husky fans look even worse. You’d think it would be bad enough that they started the Wave.
Yesterday's Pants
A blog-thingy about the Mariners and stuff.
by BrettJMiller on Apr 23, 2009 10:12 PM PDT up reply actions
Also, fuck the home plate ump with a rusty spork.
Pitches at the knees are strikes you assclown.
You can't hide from the omnipresent eye.
I agree.
If the bar wasn’t set so low as far as lineups go last year, then I would’ve been pretty pissed about it. Having Jamie Burke at first base is almost as useless as having Miguel Cairo there. Must’ve been more of a novelty thing, like having him relieve. I really hope it doesn’t become a regular thing.
Why would it become a regular thing?
The only reason it happened is because we have guys that know how to get hurt, but not hurt bad enough to get put on the DL. If Sweeney was more of a team player, he would’ve decided that he was hurt enough to go on the 15-day, but instead he tells Wak that he’s actually good enough to play if need be, at which point Wak silently curses Sweeney, tells Tacoma never mind, and goes and talks to Burke.
My bet – and hope – is that either Branyan or Sweeney are back (no pun intended) today.
I'm more like I am now than I've ever been.
Burke gets a pass from me
It’s like, yeah, he sucks, but its not like its really his fault he’s on a major league roster, plus he’s so lovable.
"...a crazy person with a rocket launcher."
We need to give all of our pitchers baseball firing rocket launchers.
Pitching machines
with guidance systems and rocket propellant.
by Edgar for Pres on Apr 23, 2009 11:08 PM PDT up reply actions
Sure he located well, but
how was the pitch mixing? Not to nit pick, but I’m definitely curious.
Also, can I get an explanation on the whole Soriano-Garciaparra thing?
Shit ton of fastballs
Soriano faced Garciaparra in the 8th inning of his breakthrough year and struck him out on three pitches.
by Jeff Sullivan on Apr 23, 2009 11:22 PM PDT up reply actions
Weren't they all swinging strikes, too?
I will smash your face into a jelly.
by Phil Hatzenbuehler on Apr 24, 2009 7:34 AM PDT up reply actions
Affirmative
swinging strike, swinging strike, called strike
by Jeff Sullivan on Apr 24, 2009 9:19 AM PDT up reply actions
Pitch selection was sporatic
6th inning, for example, he served Carlos Pena nothing but breaking pitches (Changeup, Sinker, Curveball, then Changeup) and struck him out swinging (swung at 3 of 4 pitches). Next batter, he served Pat Burrell nothing but fastballs and walked him on 5 pitches, no swinging strikes (although the Ump’s strike zone was crap all day).
Outing was fastball-heavy as usual with some flashes of mixing pitches.
Gotta love Jr.
I miss the good ol’ days with him and Buhner setting the gold standard for clubhouse pranks
RIP Nick Adenhart. You will be missed by baseball fans across all organizations.
by seattlecougar on Apr 24, 2009 12:23 AM PDT up reply actions
So, Rob Johnson is better than Clement? Really?
With his receiving skills there is no way he isn’t a top.
Stupid 10 pin - Thingray
But he's a good communicator, right?
Seriously, we all know Jeffie can hit. He’s slumping right now, but maybe that’s because he’s been dicked around so much in his career. Let’s give him his shot, for chrissakes.
Throw the snacks in the bag and I'm ghost like Swayze!
Preserved In All His Greatness - R.I.P. The Reignman 1989 to 1997
Amen
RIP Nick Adenhart. You will be missed by baseball fans across all organizations.
by seattlecougar on Apr 24, 2009 8:54 AM PDT up reply actions
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