Howard Lincoln's Letter to Mariner Employees
Geoff Baker gets his hand on a letter sent by Howard Lincoln to Mariner employees, where he talks about the media reaction to the Mariners.
Favorite part is where he quotes Mark Cuban's "What I have learned in 11 years in the sports business is that the dumbest guys in the room are always the media guys. Some do a decent job of reporting, most just spew opinions. And those opinions change more often than they brush their teeth. So what the media was saying (about his effort to acquire the Rangers) was of zero impact or influence on what I was doing. Listening to the media only increases your odds of failing at whatever you are doing. So I ignore them."
over 1 year ago
joof
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I love how he mentions the bloggers
I’m picturing a shadowy figure of Jeff sneaking up behind Lincoln.
Carlos Silvelite
They're like ninja.
The screen of anonymity allows them to write subversive things without consequences. Why, there could be a blogger in this very room!
OH SHIIIIIIIIIII-
"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors
by JY on Sep 9, 2010 10:11 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Hey Howie, you know what's going to be good for morale?
A fucking winning season. An offense that can score runs. This last year could have gone either way, sure. But cutting the payroll each of the last two years isn’t really ‘doing everything we can’.
De Gutibus non disputandum est
by Bearskin Rugburn on Sep 9, 2010 9:46 AM PDT reply actions
Mark Cuban's quote is pretty good.
Lincoln’s email is pretty normal seeming. If they did listen to the media and bloggers they’d be running a pretty bad organization.
The Letter to Employees
If it means that ownership has no plans to detonate the front office after some incidents then I’ll take it. The letter itself is silly but if the idea is basically “this crappy season is almost over, hold on just a bit longer” that’s not much different than the mentality I have. The more I watch the 2010 Mariners, the more all the other issues are exacerbated.
The tone of this letter and the exclamation points make this sound an awful like
the little letters our GM sends out in our company newsletter every once in a while. “Things are looking better! Don’t worry! You’ll be getting a raise soon! You’ll be getting your 40 hours back! It’s all good!” And everybody knows it’s bullshit.
You're dead to me.
I don't know
But if he does, I will not be renewing my season tickets in 2011.
~Garrett Olson is my secret boyfriend~
Dave addresses one here.
12:40 [Comment From ZachZach: ]
Should I be worried about Jack keeping his job? Thanks.
A little bit. I’d say there’s a chance that he gets fired at years end. The Lueke thing is a problem for him.
Who the hell is ZachZach?
And why should we be concerned with his speculation?
I hope Z is around longer as well, you need a little more time than 22 months to fix a sinking ship, give him a break and a chance to fix things.
It wasn't zachzach you should be concerned about there
it was Dave’s response.
by pdb on Sep 9, 2010 9:18 PM PDT up reply actions
I think you mean DaveDave
Writer: CougCenter Twitterer: @GradyClapp
by Grady Clapp on Sep 9, 2010 10:06 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Getting time is the problem
All you can go by is his scouting record, but it took years to load up the Brewers with the hitting they have. This was apparently Z’s doing, and the results were pretty good for such a small market team.
The issue is geting the time here with a big regional team, who have sucked for a long long time. The organization needs to buck up and just do it, but with Armstrong being a geriatric, who seems to be obsessed with his “legacy”, and a return to the “Halcyon” days, the clock might run out, regardless of what they promised Z when he was hired.
That’s why, if he goes, it will be spun to look like it’s for non-baseball reasons, like this fake outrage over that pitchers legal situation.
I doubt if any outrage is faked.
I would have to believe that any perceived outrage from the front office is real. It would be perfectly consistent with everything this organization has said and done in the past.
by nathaniel dawson on Sep 14, 2010 4:33 PM PDT up reply actions
Prepare for Ugliness
This would just be the lever Armstrong might use to blow Z out. I don’t have any “inside” information, but if you watch how the entire season unfolded, and the methodical boning of Wakamatsu, the dark hand of Armstrong is apparent.
My guess is Z wasn’t his decision, and he wants the guy gone.
Sorry, it just smells like that kind of political bullshit. Who knows how truly pissed off he is about getting fucking embarassed by the “let’s fuck over the hall of famer” show earlier in the year. It certainly dicked his marketing plan, and Armstrong is all about marketing. That’s what he does.
There were a few people at the blogger event talking about it
And it’s not the first time I’ve heard it in general discussion, personally.
~Garrett Olson is my secret boyfriend~
I think he's as fond of exclamation points as Jeff is!
by nathaniel dawson on Sep 9, 2010 2:14 PM PDT reply actions
Still nowhere near the level of Ryan North.
"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors
by JY on Sep 9, 2010 3:09 PM PDT up reply actions
I just read the email, and feel like I need a Silkwood shower after giving Baker a blog hit.
But seriously, I found nothing really that offensive in the email as a season ticket holder. Big effing deal.
Mariners/D Broncos/BSU Broncos fan in Seattle
The first rule of Lookout Landing is...
by appleshampoo on Sep 9, 2010 3:26 PM PDT reply actions 5 recs
It read like every other corporate big wig internal rah rah email I've read. I don't know what the big deal is as well.
Hard work never killed nobody, but I won't take my chances.
by JAH on Sep 9, 2010 4:03 PM PDT up reply actions
I think the only people that will have a problem with this are the writers.
And because they’re upset and offended, they’ll use their platform to try and make it our problem, too.
by nathaniel dawson on Sep 9, 2010 4:13 PM PDT up reply actions
Actually
I have gone to great personal trouble and length to be able to afford and attend games this year. There have been times this summer that this team and game were all that was helping me keep my head above water.
Your mileage may vary, of course. As a paying customer, I simply find it offensive.
~Garrett Olson is my secret boyfriend~
I feel you on many levels, but I seriously suggest ignoring Lincoln.
I have done so for the better part of three years and it makes me happier.
Yeah
I can respect how it made you feel, section331, it just didn’t affect me that way…I pretty much just read a bunch of corporate doublespeak and tuned it out. But you are absolutely entitled to your opinion.
Mariners/D Broncos/BSU Broncos fan in Seattle
The first rule of Lookout Landing is...
by appleshampoo on Sep 10, 2010 4:26 PM PDT up reply actions
Part of it for me is that corporate ownership of sports teams is the modern way.
If not Lincoln some other talking head will behave exactly the same way because that is how these types of businesses operate.
I'll be honest with both of you
I’d rather NOT be upset with anything that goes on at the higher levels. I’d rather not feel like I’m getting worked over for whatever my wallet can provide. I still like going to games, I still like the park, I still want the team to win, etc etc. This year has just been frustrating, I guess – so everything winds up seeming like maybe a bigger deal than it might be.
I totally see what y’all are saying about the hollow pep talk and the corporate BS – I mean, I’ve certainly worked for places like that in the past – I guess maybe I’d just like to go back to the time a few years ago where I was blissfully unaware of a lot of this type of thing. :/
~Garrett Olson is my secret boyfriend~
Understand your spot completely.
Doing this since 1994 I realized long ago that ownership doesn’t care about the fans at all. What they care about are that there are fans. It is a small distinction, but an important one. That reality doesn’t make me happy, but we are not required to pay attention, we do it by choice.
I agree, totally.
It’s just a bitter pill to swallow, since there are other people in the front office who seem to care a little more about their jobs and the people who help pay their salaries than just operating for the bottom line.
I’ll get over it, it’s just that this year my personal situations have made it more annoying than it was back in 2008.
~Garrett Olson is my secret boyfriend~
Hey, listen to him
He’s sitting two sections below you. Got to be a reason he’s got better seats than you do.
by nathaniel dawson on Sep 14, 2010 4:38 PM PDT up reply actions
Riiiiiight
That makes complete and total sense. Thank you for insulting someone you don’t know at all.
Cheers!
~Garrett Olson is my secret boyfriend~
Was it him or you that was insulted?
Methinks you took this a bit too seriously.
by nathaniel dawson on Sep 16, 2010 3:10 PM PDT up reply actions
I wasn't insulted by anything that was said here at all
But you implying that someone who pays more for their seats in a stadium knows more about baseball or the workings of an organization’s front office is a statement of epic absurdity.
No offense to Mr 108 indicated.
~Garrett Olson is my secret boyfriend~
Hey, it was a joke, man, that's all
Sec108 talking to section331. Don’t take it seriously.
(Do you guys use bullhorns, or do you hold up signs to talk to each other across the stadium?)
by nathaniel dawson on Sep 17, 2010 5:51 PM PDT up reply actions
Has someone told Geoff Baker
that his job as a sportswriter is not to dig up things to torpedo a big league club, but, rather, to report on the news. Honestly, if he’s into sensationalist stories, why choose sports reporting? (And, how can we get him on a more appropriate beat? Say, the Cougars, for example.)
Except that he did exactly that, like it or not.
Scandals are always news. It’s actually rather surprising we don’t hear about more of them.
Fans are typically idiots.
by The Typical Idiot Fan on Sep 10, 2010 12:42 AM PDT up reply actions
This isn't a scandal though.
It’s a boring internal memo. The only questions it brings to mind is why does Geoff Baker think this is news (especially sports news) and how did he get his hands on this memo? I suppose that’s the part that’s most scandalous.
Besides, we already had this story (don’t talk to the press) earlier in the year with the “Napgate” scandal and Larry Stone.
No, but it's all tied into the recent "who knew what about Josh Lueke" scandal.
Since this is basically a retort to whatever Geoff Baker was going to post regarding the Lueke scandal, it has relevance as part of the news item.
Fans are typically idiots.
by The Typical Idiot Fan on Sep 10, 2010 4:17 PM PDT up reply actions
I have made some comments similar on his FB page
And was basically told by his minions to STFU. Every argument you might have for why he shouldn’t do stuff like this, he will justify by saying that it’s “news”, regardless of how newsworthy (or not) it is.
~Garrett Olson is my secret boyfriend~
Which brings up the question of exactly what is "newsworthy."
The answer is undoubtedly subjective, sadly.
I am going to come into your house at night and rec up the place.
Ohhhhh
I was referring mainly to the same people I see who agree with everything he says over and over again, people who rush to his defense the minute someone disagrees with him. He’s got a lot of Gallahads out there….
~Garrett Olson is my secret boyfriend~
Additional image
I was looking at the story and there’s two images linked,
lincolnemail – Copy.jpg
lincolnemail3 – Copy.jpg
There’s a third unpublished image, lincolnemail2 – Copy.jpg where it appears the show the name of the recipient I think, (Who would have then sent it along to Baker). You can see Lincoln, Howard /SEA as the author, and then right above him there’s another ?, Renee /SEA
by Janic on Sep 10, 2010 12:20 PM PDT reply actions 5 recs
Renee Choi
There’s a Linked In profile for a Renee Choi, who is a Retail Marketing Manager at Seattle Mariners.
Let's not jump to conclusions.
On my Outlook reading pane, the name above that blue line would be some random person who emailed me in the past, not the recipient of the email. So this could just be any person who received an email from Renee Choi at some point in time.
by FlaskInSafeco on Sep 10, 2010 6:19 PM PDT up reply actions
Someone probably isn't going to be emlpoyed much longer.
"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors
Whoops!
If Geoff Baker didn’t hate the blog-o-sphere before, he’s going to now. Nice work Dick Fucking Tracy.
Fans are typically idiots.
by The Typical Idiot Fan on Sep 10, 2010 4:21 PM PDT up reply actions
Security through obscurity!
Mariners/D Broncos/BSU Broncos fan in Seattle
The first rule of Lookout Landing is...
by appleshampoo on Sep 10, 2010 4:27 PM PDT up reply actions
The recipient of this email is Front Office /SEA
So, Lincoln probably sent it to that email account in the to line and then bcc’d everyone else in the office, or something similar. We can’t tell anything about the recipient of this particular email from this screenshot.
by FlaskInSafeco on Sep 10, 2010 6:28 PM PDT up reply actions
Protecting Your Source Fail
Reminder to self to never trust Geoff Baker when he says “Don’t worry, I always protect my sources. Your secret is safe with me!”
It's not about protecting the source.
It’s about Baker being kind of dumb about screenshooting shit.
"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors
by JY on Sep 10, 2010 1:09 PM PDT up reply actions
It is about protecting the source.
She sent him that email in confidence that it didn’t come from her, but by his own stupidity, now everybody knows it’s from her, and she’s probably going to lose her job. He completely failed at “protecting his source”.
by John McCallum on Sep 10, 2010 1:11 PM PDT up reply actions
He didn't publish that image though.
We did.
It was bonehead thing for him to do nonetheless.
"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors
by JY on Sep 10, 2010 1:13 PM PDT up reply actions
Well, he published it to a web server and named the images lincolnemail1,2,3. Seems like a stupid thing to do if you don't want it found.
Morgan Ensberg for Manager 2011!
AL Scout on Rendon: "I would peg him as a poor man's Jose Lopez."
That much is totally retarded.
On the other hand, I used to access the Mariners Top 10 lists at BA a day or two before they were officially released because they did the same shit, so (whistles)
"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett Mariners Minors
by JY on Sep 10, 2010 5:30 PM PDT up reply actions
We don't know that she's the one who sent this to Baker. See my comment above.
by FlaskInSafeco on Sep 10, 2010 6:22 PM PDT up reply actions
Aww man, this is somehow disappointing
Yet a relief all at the same time. Kind of weird when you don’t know the person at all, to know they’re likely off the hook.
This is tough.
On the one hand, hate to see someone fairly innocent lose their job.
On the other hand, discrediting Geoff Baker.
When you leak your bosses emails to the media
You’re making a conscious choice that you have to know is putting your job at risk. It’s not like she’s an innocent bystander.
I agree
There’s no way that she’s innocent in this respect. She chose to do what she did, and will have to accept the consequences. I’m not aware of the organizations policies for leaking information to the media, but I imagine that leaking a corporate memo ABOUT the media is grounds for dismissal.
M's fan in PA, soon to be LA
by perfectstrat on Sep 10, 2010 2:06 PM PDT up reply actions
If we had no leaks we would only have the word of the people in charge to go on, and they lie to or mislead the public all the time
Baker might lose a source over this, but we lose a person who was willing to tell us what’s actually going on. And she loses her job, which I guess is the risk she took yeah, and someone else probably would’ve figured it out, but we didn’t have to sort of shoot ourselves in the foot by being the ones to out her. Especially over such a tame email.
Baker might lose multiple sources over this actually, for all we know
The other people who feed him info probably aren’t going to be too happy when they find out how it got out. Which is his own fault but it’s kinda bad for us too in a way.
It's worth noting that the media in this case protected his source, as all good journalists do
The leaker was exposed here, not in Baker’s column. There’s a reason that screenshot was unpublished while the other two saw the light of day. That’s why it bothers me – I’m not saying she’s innocent, but this little thread may have cost her her job. Do we now get to fire Janic from his job because he leaked something that wasn’t for attribution?
The fact they're investigating the leak.
Means someone broke the rules. Even without the screenshot they were likely to find her.
by Scruffy Lefty on Sep 10, 2010 4:00 PM PDT up reply actions
I don't blame Janic at all
He was just poking around, like any hacker/intarwebs-savvy person would. The screenshot with the name should NOT have been available on the webserver.
Mariners/D Broncos/BSU Broncos fan in Seattle
The first rule of Lookout Landing is...
by appleshampoo on Sep 10, 2010 4:29 PM PDT up reply actions
I was really hoping this would be more scandalous.
I feel let down.
Milton Bradley apologist
by sanford_and_son on Sep 10, 2010 3:29 PM PDT reply actions
Yeah I felt the same way.
Mariners/D Broncos/BSU Broncos fan in Seattle
The first rule of Lookout Landing is...
by appleshampoo on Sep 10, 2010 4:30 PM PDT up reply actions
Good thing there is a mysterious FOURTH document, with a image of Lincoln flipping off a box of kittens.
Hard work never killed nobody, but I won't take my chances.
by JAH on Sep 10, 2010 7:33 PM PDT up reply actions 5 recs
For anyone that still cares,
The unpublished image actually was, which you can see in this google cache. So anyone that saw the story the night it went up would have seen it clear as day. As to why Baker would replace the image the next day, I can only guess. Maybe he didn’t want people to mistakenly think that this person was the source. (Although has made no such correction to his story saying as much).
However, if she was the source and does happen to get fired, it’s all on him.
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