Trayvon Robinson Just Fine, Mariners Play Baseball Game

I said I was basically taking the weekend off, so I'm basically taking the weekend off. I feel stupid sitting around and not writing something, so, here. But it ain't much. I swear it ain't much.

Friday night, the Mariners lost to the Angels. Whoa! As if that's in any way a surprise. This was, after all, Jason Vargas against Jered Weaver. Vargas had been one of the least successful pitchers in baseball lately, and even if you're one of those people who doesn't believe that slumps are predictive, this was still Jason Vargas against Jered Weaver. And the Mariners' offense against the Angels' offense. This was a lopsided matchup from the beginning, and if anything we should all be thrilled the M's forced extra innings. They lost by one in ten innings! They beat the spread!

Whether they deserved to get as far as extras considering all the jams they got into, well, whatever. They got as far as extras anyway. And who cares about who deserves what? What does it even mean to deserve anything? Did the Mariners deserve a better fate, since Vernon Wells delivered the walk-off single on a rare really good pitch from Dan Cortes? Did the Angels deserve the outcome, since Wells put the bat on a really good pitch? This is all just one giant intellectual labyrinth. Let's avoid it.

Honestly, while the Mariners lost, that just isn't the story. That's the story for the Angels and the Rangers, who still have to worry about silly things like "runs" and "final scores," but the story for the M's was the Major League debut of Trayvon Robinson. Robinson's debut got a lot of attention - a somewhat surprising amount of attention, given that he's not a can't-miss prospect. I wasn't expecting a lot, given the matchup. But now that it's over, I'm not sure Robinson could've asked for much better of a night.

I guess he could've delivered a hit in the eighth with the go-ahead run in scoring position. He still worked a good at bat, though, and two innings earlier he lined a single to left. The Mariners haven't made a lot of solid contact against Jered Weaver all season, but Robinson made solid contact in the sixth. And, of course, there was the catch. The amazing catch without which this is a completely different baseball game. The whole thing looked so smooth. There are two ways to rob home runs: awkwardly and smoothly. The gifted defenders rob them smoothly. Robinson was smooth.

Some players dream of going deep in their debuts, but this was just as good, if not better. Lots of players have gone deep in their debuts. Few have taken away a home run, and this is a story that's going to follow Trayvon Robinson through the rest of his career. He'll never forget this catch, and we'll never forget this catch. Or if we do forget this catch, it's only because that memory has been replaced by something more recently awesome, like another amazing catch, or a bunny eating crackers.

The Mariners lost, but it doesn't really matter. Let other people worry about that. Other fans of other teams. The lasting memory from this one is going to be Trayvon Robinson going horizontal in the left field bleachers, and between his catch, his hit, and his damn infectious smile, tonight paid off. We watch for fun, and that was more fun than it wasn't.