Thursday, August 21, 2003
I JUST REMEMBERED!
While I'm taking a short (it really will be short this time) break from my 5-page research paper on apocalyptic thought for my Sacred Books of the World class here at Central Washington University, I have to say I just remembered how, with the Mariners down 7-3 with nobody out and leadoff hitter Randy Winn getting aboard for the second straight inning, Melvin had the audacity to send JOHN FREAKING MABRY (for Wilson, we'll call that a wash) up to the plate. Oh by the way, Ben Davis is also on the bench at this time and is a much better hitter than Mabry (something I don't think anyone needs statistical proof of by this point). Moving along... One rule that I was taught even in youth baseball was that when you're down a few runs, you need baserunners, and when you need baserunners, you make the pitcher throw a strike, and that means the "take" sign goes up and you TAKE THE FIRST PITCH. So what does our veteran pinch-hitter John Mabry do? He swings at the first pitch (no-no number one) and GROUNDS INTO A DOUBLE PLAY (no-no number two)?!!?! Now this is a lot Mabry's fault because he's the one that swung, but didn't someone in the dugout think, "hey, Mabry kinda sucks and we need some baserunners...maybe we should have him take the first strike"? See, at least this would have given the Mariners a little bit of a fighting chance even though it still is John Mabry at the plate. All said, the end result you get is a groundball double play on the first pitch after you had your leadoff guy get aboard for the second straight inning and you tolled the bell three times the inning before. Two down, nobody on, Ichiro up...there's only so much that can be done at that point. You need the five-run rally from hell, and that's hard to do with two outs. Hell, the rally the Mariners had the inning before with two outs to score three runs was hard enough; there's no way they get that kind of luck twice in the game, though the second time they would have needed five runs instead.
And get this, looking through the game log, the Mariners pretty much had the take-the-first-pitch thing going in the 8th, because the only batter that inning -- in which the Mariners sent nine men to the plate -- to not take the first pitch was Rey Sanchez, who grounded into a fielder's choice to force out Ichiro for the second out with Boone on deck, who later singled. Now what happens if Rey isn't an idiot and instead works deeper into the count? Say if he strikes out or something, the Mariners still have Ichiro and his wheels at first (he's faster than Reyrey) and can score if Boone rattles one down the line or in the gap. Anyway, it changes the course of the inning.
And lastly, much like Bret Boone's batting average fell under .300 in the last week or two, the Mariners winning percentage has dropped below .600 for the first time in quite a while. All that really matters, though, is holding off the A's.
Good night, y'all...I'm at where the Zoroastrians influence the apocalyptic thought processes of the Jews. It's actually kind of interesting.
And get this, looking through the game log, the Mariners pretty much had the take-the-first-pitch thing going in the 8th, because the only batter that inning -- in which the Mariners sent nine men to the plate -- to not take the first pitch was Rey Sanchez, who grounded into a fielder's choice to force out Ichiro for the second out with Boone on deck, who later singled. Now what happens if Rey isn't an idiot and instead works deeper into the count? Say if he strikes out or something, the Mariners still have Ichiro and his wheels at first (he's faster than Reyrey) and can score if Boone rattles one down the line or in the gap. Anyway, it changes the course of the inning.
And lastly, much like Bret Boone's batting average fell under .300 in the last week or two, the Mariners winning percentage has dropped below .600 for the first time in quite a while. All that really matters, though, is holding off the A's.
Good night, y'all...I'm at where the Zoroastrians influence the apocalyptic thought processes of the Jews. It's actually kind of interesting.
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