Today there is baseball.
A strange sentence, really, when you consider its meaning on Wednesday, March 3rd differs drastically when compared to its utterance on, say, July 19th or something. Today, I'm ecstatic, jubilant, excited--I mean, I said hello to a guy wearing a Reds hat in the coffee shop this morning, and usually the only way I can gather the courage to talk to someone I don't know is if they are either stepping on my foot or if I have had multiple alcoholic beverages within the hour. It's working, it really is working!
Now, nobody knows what's going to happen this season. Jerry has brought with him not only a whole new coterie of players, but a very unique kind of expectation that frankly defies whatever connotation the word "expectations" typically carries with it. This is not March of 2015, when we expected greatness. Nor is it the expectation of a rebuild, the realization that Chone had flamed out, that Miguel Olivo was our starting catcher and that we would at least get a Felix day 1.5 times a week. No this kind of expectation is an expectation that something different is going to happen, whatever it may be. This is an expectation that on July 19th, we won't say with a nasaly drawl that today there is baaaaseball but Today, There Is Baseball. Hell, I didn't even feel that way in 2014.
So lets get started, shall we?
Lineups:
Lineups and probables. pic.twitter.com/8MIm2Rbq2g
— Bob Dutton (@TNT_Mariners) March 2, 2016
Game Info
- Mariners vs. Padres, 12:10 PM PST
- TV: Ha, who are you kidding
- Radio: 710 ESPN, online at mlb.tv
- News: Nelson Cruz will be out of the lineup today with a sore 35 year old knee. This will not be the last time Nelson Cruz misses a game this season, but if you feel like turning it into an opportunity for anxiety, please be my guest. The Mariners have also agreed to a 1-year deal with Guillermo Heredia, who defected from Cuba last January. He hasn't played baseball in almost two years, so go ahead and file this in the back of your head for later.