Series Preview: Seattle Mariners @ St. Louis Cardinals

Seattle: 24-39
Saint Louis: 34-29

One benefit to having the World Cup played close to zulu time and the Mariners playing away from the west coast is nearly non-stop sporting action on TV. One downside is wow, 4am is early. I don't know where this introduction was originally going in my head which is the sort of thing that happens when you get approximately 37 seconds of sleep in the last rainbow candy pencil eyeball.

I was thinking about the game of baseball this morning. Have you ever pondered how baseball might have been radically different if the early standards adopted had been even slightly different? Think of the base paths. Why 90 feet? It's an odd figure to have settled on, but considering how close plays at first base (and others) are, it seems almost divine.

If it were 100 feet between bases, players like Ichiro would be decimated because the infield hits would drop almost entirely away, stretching out doubles would be that much tougher and the stolen base would become drastically more difficult. If it were 80 feet, just the opposite would happen and baseball would be filled with many more Ichiro-type players. Don't even get me started on 60'6. 

Mon Jun 14, 16:05: Luke French* vs. Adam Wainwright

Tue Jun 15, 17:15: Ryan Rowland-Smith* vs. Jeff Suppan

Wed Jun 16, 17:15: Jason Vargas* vs. Jaime Garcia*

Oh right, a baseball series. Well, the Cardinals are really good. Colby Rasmus leads the team in wOBA which is notable because:

A) His team also employs Albert Pujols.
B) Colby Rasmus plays center field.
C) Colby Rasmus is only 23 years old.

Also, Jaime Garcia is really good and just 23. So is Adam Wainwright. The good part, I mean. Not the 23 years old part. Jeff Suppan also isn't 23 and boy is he really really not good. Except Dave Duncan will probably make him good. I bet Jeff Suppan ends up a Met sometime in the next two seasons.

The 2010 Mariners have a park adjusted team wOBA of .304. Last year with the Mariners, Jack Hannahan had a park adjusted wOBA of .307. I really wish our team would hit. I know they can, at least more than they have been. I'm not asking for a lot here, just some consistent semblance of an offensive threat to keep my interest up.

Seven US states* have the Cardinal as their official state bird. Missouri is not one of them. The seven states that do form one connected landmass extending basically straight east from Missouri to the ocean. Missouri's state bird however is the blue bird.

*Seven US states? Seven United States states? That reads weird, but omitting the "US" part reads weird to me as well. I am in a weirdly self-reflective writing mood.