Black Sunday Pick-Me-Up
by Jeff Sullivan on May 31, 2009 11:06 PM PDT
in Seattle Mariners News, Good
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Print- I don't know how or why this has seemingly been flying under the radar, but Ichiro is absolutely white hot right now. Not only has he had a hit in all but four games so far, but since May 15th he's batted .437 with six doubles and three homers. His season line to date is .354/.386/.484, and what he's lacked in walks he's made up for with a fair bit of pop. Yeah, his BABIP of .368 is high, but it's not much higher than his career mark of .356, so it's not like we should expect him to come crashing back down to Earth. This just has the look of a return to his peak level of production. Ichiro may be 35 years old, but there's no bit of statistical evidence - none at all - that he's about to slow down. He was stinging the ball today.
- Last night, Felix threw 113 pitches, and the Angels missed 17 of them. Why is that meaningful? I'd like you to take a look at the following chart.
Year Strike% SwS% 2005 64.9% 10.0% 2006 63.8% 9.0% 2007 65.2% 9.7% 2008 64.2% 8.6% 2009 65.0% 12.4%
The first column is good; Felix is throwing as many strikes as ever. But the second column is remarkable. I'm not entirely sure how he's done it - maybe he's finally figured out how to locate his fastball - but Felix has taken his ability to miss bats to another level. That 12.4% swinging strike rate ranks Felix fifth in baseball out of 131 starters. He's above Justin Verlander, he's above Cole Hamels, and he's above Zack Greinke. Felix has been missing bats like we always expected him to, and that improvement has allowed him to pitch like a bonafide #1.
I'm not quite ready to say it, since I've been burned by this one before, but it's possible that, after so many years of frustrating predictability and inconsistency, we're finally bearing witness to the birth of an ace. It's been a long, annoying road, Felix, but if everything in the past was just your convoluted route to the proper destination, then I guess it will have been worth it.
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Are you serious?
Ichiro is the ONLY player who actually hits the ball. If you want to contend this, find me another M’s player with a basic performance record like his. I don’t care whether it’s singles, doubles, triples or homers.. show me… After you do that show me:
A player who steals….. once in a while.
Then after that:
Some huge fielding plays, as defense… which saved our asses day after day after day.
Also, the one single Mariner who isn’t a 1/3 retard in the press, despite linguistic issues. I’ll take a good player with no English over a borderline autistic. He’s a player, hands down for 8 years. I wish most players would “pad” their stats by getting on base….
Any M’s fan who questions Ichiro is isn’t an “M’s” fan, period, without him, we’d be in bumfuck Idaho.
by ESB on Jun 1, 2009 12:56 AM PDT reply actions 2 recs
It is tough to tell, but I think we all agree with what you are saying here,
which makes your subject line very curious.
.
the one single Mariner who isn’t a 1/3 retard in the press
bahahahahahaha
by .Taylor on Jun 1, 2009 10:57 AM PDT up reply actions
Felix is really god damn good.
I feel bad that he is overlooked by the east coast bias and the overall Mariners suck. I really want to see him go to an all-star game or be a serious contender for a Cy Young award.
Well, there is a reason he pitches so stupidly...
by Matthew on Jun 1, 2009 1:25 AM PDT up reply actions 5 recs
I like a man who calls it like he sees it
And there is really only one way you can see it.
by jimmylauderdale on Jun 1, 2009 8:03 AM PDT up reply actions
I know, he's been inconsistent the past couple of years.
But I remember that he is only 23, so he still has plenty of time to win those awards.
by Fin on Jun 1, 2009 9:42 AM PDT up reply actions
Ichiro was 1 hit shy of recording his first 50 hit month since August 2004.
I will smash your face into a jelly.
by Phil Hatzenbuehler on Jun 1, 2009 7:53 AM PDT reply actions
well he obviously sucks and isn't helping the team since he was too selfish to get to 50
Nice Guys Finish Third - My semantics are a waste of time.
by pdb on Jun 1, 2009 7:56 AM PDT up reply actions
Our record in months where Ichiro has 49 or more hits sucks
What a selfish asshole.
by Graham MacAree on Jun 1, 2009 8:22 AM PDT up reply actions
Our record while Ichiro is on the DL is great.
He’s just too selfish to sacrifice his health for the team.
Obviously, he needs to dive more
I guess he didn’t learn to play the game the right way back in China
"Even the stupidest of men, by some instinct of nature, is convinced on his own that with more observations his risk of failure is diminished."
-Jacques Bernoulli Ars conjectandi 1713
by Bearskin Rugburn on Jun 1, 2009 10:03 AM PDT up reply actions
First game at Safeco
Hello all. I’m going to be in Seattle next weekend for the first time and I’d like to catch a game while I’m there, probably Saturday. Any recommendations of what sections of the park are good values, or sections to avoid? Can I buy tickets day of at the park, or should I get them online now? Lastly, is there any food that I shouldn’t miss? Thanks.
There's loads of stuff in the archives about Safeco and all it contains
but as far as tickets, if you can get them now do so. It won’t sell out, so you will be able to get tix at the box office, but they are more expensive (by $5 or so) day-of-game.
As far as I’m concerned, the only truly bad seats in Safeco are the upper deck above right field – sections 306 through 311. Otherwise, there’s really not a bad seat in the house – the 3B side will be in the shade for most of the game, if that’s important to you.
Nice Guys Finish Third - My semantics are a waste of time.
There was a fanpost ~3 weeks ago with these exact questions
and some good responses in the comments.
Ichiro had 49 hits in May.
Of course, he’s had 50 hits in a month more than any other player in modern history, and he alone holds the record for most 50-hit months in a single seson (2).
I like using semi-colons; they make me feel smart.
Felix question
was the gun slow on Sunday? The scoreboard had him at about 92-93 most of the game, touching 94-95. I’ve thought that gun was slow (if I remember right), and guessed he was actually around 94-95, touching 97. GameDay confirmation?
For the record, they had Mark Lowe between 97 and 99.
The gun was high on Lowe, however. Average - 96.93 with a high of 98.1
The board kept showing Lowe at 97 and 98, so the gun is just plain wonky.
I don't understand
You say it showed Lowe at 97-98, and pitchfx has his average at 97 with a high of 98. Doesn’t that basically match what you saw?
Yeah. The gun was ~correct on Lowe but low on Felix.
I wasn’t clear on that, sorry.
I'd guess it has to do with their deliveries relative to where the gun was at Angel Stadium
but that doesn’t make sense since you’d assume the Pf/x setup and the stadium gun would be set in the two best locations in the park for that, so their discrepancies should match each other
As a rough linear approximation, pitches lose ~ 1mph per 8 feet travelled or so.
Could different deliveries really cause a difference of ~15 feet in where a pitch is picked up?
Doubt it, but it's possible
when we took pitching lessons in high school, we were taught to stride much farther forward in order to decrease the distance from the hand to the plate.
However, Felix appears to stride further than Lowe (based on my very accurate eye and memory, with no supporting video evidence), which means his fastball should seem faster than it’s GameDay recorded velocity, not slower.
(seem faster to the Angel Stadium gun)
also, I recall that the difference was no more than 3-4 feet
3-4 would be more of an absolute maximum number rather than the difference between Felix and Lowe
I still think delivery is the most likely culprit (behind operator error), but I’m just not seeing any evidence here.
Velocity Reporting Discrepancy
By Jemele Hill, ESPN
Felix Hernandez glanced at the radar gun at the Big A and noticed his velocity was low. Yes, it was his 74th pitch of the game, but even so, Felix knew his fastball was better than 93. Felix Hernandez is Venezuelan.
Enter Mark Lowe. Mark Lowe read at or near his normal velocity for the duration of his appearance. Mark Lowe is Caucasian.
by abender20 on Jun 1, 2009 4:10 PM PDT up reply actions 8 recs
Without looking at ESPN.com yet
if you made this up, this is one of the best things this site has ever produced. If you copied it from ESPN, Jemele Hill has somehow hit a new low.
She managed to write a column that didn't mention her favorite topic today
which is impressive.
Nice Guys Finish Third - My semantics are a waste of time.
by pdb on Jun 1, 2009 4:13 PM PDT up reply actions
Well white people culture is pretty dumb.
by Aaron Campeau on Jun 1, 2009 4:35 PM PDT up reply actions
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