I did some checking and found out that Ackley's first-place vote (and one of Pineda's second-place votes) came from Charley Walters, a columnist for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. He hold the distinction of being the only newspaper writer I know who actually pitched in the major leagues.

The Mariners prefer to call them "Northwest Green" caps, but those hats are indeed making a comeback to go with the Northwest Green alternate jerseys that were worn on Monday and Friday home games last season.

The 2007-2011 Mariners All-Hate Team
Like an All-Star team, but selected on the basis of my hatred for the player. Would you make any different selections?

C Rob Johnson
1B Richie Sexson
2B Jose Lopez
SS Yuniesky Betancourt
3B Chone Figgins
LF Matt Tuiasasopo
CF Willie Bloomquist
RF Eric Byrnes
DH Ken Griffey Jr.

INF Miguel Cairo
1B Scott Speizio
DH Jose Vidro
C Miguel Olivo
OF Jack Cust

SP Jarrod Washburn
SP Jeff Weaver
SP Miguel Bautista
SP Carlos Silva
SP Horacio Ramirez

RP Luke French
RP Julio Mateo
RP Roy Corcoran
RP Ian Snell
RP Garrett Olson
RP Chris Reitsma
RP Sean White

On second thought, some of the guys in the pen were a stretch, so I crossed them out and replaced them with Sean White. Furthermore, "hate" is an intentionally fuzzy word which more or less means how much I hated watching him play on the Mariners. Sometimes, it doesn't even imply anything against the player personally (but then again, it often does). Also, Speizio is out of place, but I'll leave him in anyways.

We ran down the ramps and once I was outside I went into the TV truck and got on the telephone to the station. Was there dead air? You’d have to ask KIRO, I wasn’t around. I didn’t want to go down with the ship.

#Mariners fan in the lobby tells me Wedge has shaved off the stache.

While he dominated primarily with a mid-90s fastball that touched 97-98 on plenty of occasions, he also flashed a plus power curveball that could turn him into a monster if he can be more consistent with it. One scout put it best by saying, "The thing I like best about him is his birthday," as the ultra-athletic righty doesn't turn 19 until August. He arguably has the highest ceiling of any pitcher in the Midwest League, but the amazing thing is there are plenty of nights that he's one of the best pitchers on the circuit right now.

It's on wonderful days like this that I like to stop and ponder, if just for a moment, "What is Jose Lopez doing today?"

"I don’t try to strike out people, but sometimes they swing and miss." - Felix Hernandez to David Laurila at Fangraphs.

Milton Bradley suspended one game following his first ejection with the Mariners. One game plus fine, he will appeal.

@Kevin_Goldstein
Hey Seattle people! I'll be on @950KJR talking prospects and stuff at 7:34 pm PT. Swear to god, that's the time they gave me.