Wednesday, September 03, 2003
CAUGHT UP...BUFFA-LAWYER
The only good thing that happened tonight was that Oakland lost. And since the Mariners got exactly two hits off Doug "Pedro" Waechter, I won't be saying much about the offense until I rip into Ichiro.
Quick note: I've listened to Elise Woodward and David Locke on KJR, so their stuff makes it into the post every once in a while, and I try to credit it every time.
One quick thing, I must say I'll be glad when the Mariners get out of Tampa Bay (better be with a series win). Why? The camera angle they use during the pitching sequences is a HORRIBLE camera angle. It's too far overhead (you see the pitcher's head at the same level with the plate), and not covering enough of the "action," per se. Worse yet, it messes up my whole self-umpiring pitch recognition scheme I've developed over my many years of watching baseball. Another thing about it, it reminds me a little too much of ESPN's horrible Dead Center viewing scheme of a couple years ago, which was absolute and total crap. K-Zone is great, but I didn't want to watch a whole damn game from that view. I think the nail in the coffin of strictly-Dead Center game viewing was when they had a game in San Francisco and the camera was getting so relentlessly harassed by the wind it looked like the Blair Witch camera people were doing the game. My only other recent Blair Witch-like moment was watching that first XFL game. Ouch.
Another quick thing. I was unloading electrical goods to the people of Kitsap County and I was taking the boxes out of the truck and I slipped on a gravelly hillside. The first thing that popped in my mind: "I just had a Jack Cust moment." You know, Jack Cust could hit .310 and hit 27 homers a year for the rest of his career, and he'd still be remembered for blowing that game against the Yankees.
First, I guess I'll dissect Freddy.
In the 1st, Freddy whiffed Carl Crawford, but the pitch got away from Wilson. The Mariners wouldn't get Crawford out for the rest of the game. Crawford was picked off of first, then Baldelli was beaned on a 1-1 pitch. Huff doubled on a 1-1 pitch to put 2 on in scoring position with 1 out. Travis Lee sac flew to score Baldelli before Laforest whiffed (19 pitches). Tampa Bay 1-0.
In the 2nd, Freddy gave up a single, but still had a quick inning (6 pitches -- 25 total).
In the 3rd, six pitches and three runs. Crawford and Baldelli singled on their second pitches. Two on and nobody out, and Huff took the first pitch for a ball. My hand to God, I played the image in my mind of Freddy giving up this home run. I saw it coming. And it did. Worse yet, I had to hear Rick Rizzitello/Rizzs/Rickzilla/Rico (in any language, a homer) call that blast. In a sick reversal, Freddy got Lee, Laforest, and Lugo to whiff, bounce out, and whiff, respectively (16 pitches -- 41 total). Tampa Bay 4-0.
In the 4th, Freddy had a 1-2-3 inning (10 pitches -- 51 total).
==News break: Steve Trachsel is 14-8 for the Mets?!!?! WHAT THE HELL?!!?! Also, Jeff Cirillo is 1-for-32 since JULY 6!! That's damn near two months!! He is also on pace to have an on-base percentage higher than his slugging percentage (more walks than total bases minus hits). Mike Cameron has 13 RBI in the second half. (credit: Woodward and Locke)==
In the 5th, Crawford hit a leadoff triple, Baldelli whiffed, Huff was put on to put the double play in order, then Travis Lee hit a double on an 0-2 pitch to make the strategy backfire and score Crawford. Again, sick reversal of Laforest and Lugo grounding out and whiffing (22 pitches -- 73 total, SportsLine GameCenter has 76. Oh well). During the inning, Freddy and Wilson appeared at odds with what pitches to throw, as Freddy shook off Dan a million times, and when Dan came out to talk to Freddy, he was visibly upset and walked away toward the back of the mound. Love that harmony! Tampa Bay 5-0.
In the 6th, Brian Sweeney came in to eat up some innings in the rout. Sweeney had two on with two out and Baldelli and Huff singled, and Baldelli was nailed at second on the Huff play (21 pitches). Tampa Bay 7-0.
In the 7th, Lee hit a single, but then Sweeney got a double play (14 pitches -- 35 total).
In the 8th, Aaron Looper used 8 pitches and got a 1-2-3 inning.
==TRIVIA with Locke: Can you name the three guys in recent memory that spent a year on the Mariner roster THAT WERE HOMEGROWN through the farm system? If you said Ken Griffey Jr, Alex Rodriguez, and Willie Bloomquist, you get a friggin medal! It's sick how Looper, Gillick, Pelekoudas, Jongewaard, and Co. have rigged the Mariner farm system in such a way that they manage to turn out close to zero position players. I remember a couple years ago when the Mariners were rumored to be going after either Bartolo Colon or Jeff Weaver, both of whom would have helped immensely. I figured with all their young arms, the Mariners had more than enough to get one of those guys. But then the trade market demands for prospects inexplicably switched to position players. That was simply infuriating.==
Now the horrible offense.
The Mariners went down 1-2-3 in the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 7th, 8th, and 9th innings. The two hits were the Sanchez one-out single in the 3rd, and the Wilson leadoff single in the 6th. As Tom Paciorek would say, "WOW." I guess Doug Waechter must have brought his A-game in his FIRST GAME AS A STARTER IN THE MAJORS. As "Pedro" was striking out Boone, Niehaus was suggesting Waechter may be "deceivingly fast" because Boone hardly ever misses those kinds of fastballs. I'm sick and tired of this trend of no-name pitchers shutting the Mariners down. If I were the Orioles, Rangers, A's, or Angels (the Mariners remaining opponents), I seriously would call up three or four of my minor-league starting pitchers and throw them against the Mariners. The Mariners would probably go 0-23 the rest of the way. I wouldn't be surprised in the least bit.
--
Well, there goes all that Milloy-to-the-Seahawks banter. The guy's going to the Bills. He wants to stick it to the Patriots, along with Drew Bledsoe. Their defense has the tools to do such.
Quick note: I've listened to Elise Woodward and David Locke on KJR, so their stuff makes it into the post every once in a while, and I try to credit it every time.
One quick thing, I must say I'll be glad when the Mariners get out of Tampa Bay (better be with a series win). Why? The camera angle they use during the pitching sequences is a HORRIBLE camera angle. It's too far overhead (you see the pitcher's head at the same level with the plate), and not covering enough of the "action," per se. Worse yet, it messes up my whole self-umpiring pitch recognition scheme I've developed over my many years of watching baseball. Another thing about it, it reminds me a little too much of ESPN's horrible Dead Center viewing scheme of a couple years ago, which was absolute and total crap. K-Zone is great, but I didn't want to watch a whole damn game from that view. I think the nail in the coffin of strictly-Dead Center game viewing was when they had a game in San Francisco and the camera was getting so relentlessly harassed by the wind it looked like the Blair Witch camera people were doing the game. My only other recent Blair Witch-like moment was watching that first XFL game. Ouch.
Another quick thing. I was unloading electrical goods to the people of Kitsap County and I was taking the boxes out of the truck and I slipped on a gravelly hillside. The first thing that popped in my mind: "I just had a Jack Cust moment." You know, Jack Cust could hit .310 and hit 27 homers a year for the rest of his career, and he'd still be remembered for blowing that game against the Yankees.
First, I guess I'll dissect Freddy.
In the 1st, Freddy whiffed Carl Crawford, but the pitch got away from Wilson. The Mariners wouldn't get Crawford out for the rest of the game. Crawford was picked off of first, then Baldelli was beaned on a 1-1 pitch. Huff doubled on a 1-1 pitch to put 2 on in scoring position with 1 out. Travis Lee sac flew to score Baldelli before Laforest whiffed (19 pitches). Tampa Bay 1-0.
In the 2nd, Freddy gave up a single, but still had a quick inning (6 pitches -- 25 total).
In the 3rd, six pitches and three runs. Crawford and Baldelli singled on their second pitches. Two on and nobody out, and Huff took the first pitch for a ball. My hand to God, I played the image in my mind of Freddy giving up this home run. I saw it coming. And it did. Worse yet, I had to hear Rick Rizzitello/Rizzs/Rickzilla/Rico (in any language, a homer) call that blast. In a sick reversal, Freddy got Lee, Laforest, and Lugo to whiff, bounce out, and whiff, respectively (16 pitches -- 41 total). Tampa Bay 4-0.
In the 4th, Freddy had a 1-2-3 inning (10 pitches -- 51 total).
==News break: Steve Trachsel is 14-8 for the Mets?!!?! WHAT THE HELL?!!?! Also, Jeff Cirillo is 1-for-32 since JULY 6!! That's damn near two months!! He is also on pace to have an on-base percentage higher than his slugging percentage (more walks than total bases minus hits). Mike Cameron has 13 RBI in the second half. (credit: Woodward and Locke)==
In the 5th, Crawford hit a leadoff triple, Baldelli whiffed, Huff was put on to put the double play in order, then Travis Lee hit a double on an 0-2 pitch to make the strategy backfire and score Crawford. Again, sick reversal of Laforest and Lugo grounding out and whiffing (22 pitches -- 73 total, SportsLine GameCenter has 76. Oh well). During the inning, Freddy and Wilson appeared at odds with what pitches to throw, as Freddy shook off Dan a million times, and when Dan came out to talk to Freddy, he was visibly upset and walked away toward the back of the mound. Love that harmony! Tampa Bay 5-0.
In the 6th, Brian Sweeney came in to eat up some innings in the rout. Sweeney had two on with two out and Baldelli and Huff singled, and Baldelli was nailed at second on the Huff play (21 pitches). Tampa Bay 7-0.
In the 7th, Lee hit a single, but then Sweeney got a double play (14 pitches -- 35 total).
In the 8th, Aaron Looper used 8 pitches and got a 1-2-3 inning.
==TRIVIA with Locke: Can you name the three guys in recent memory that spent a year on the Mariner roster THAT WERE HOMEGROWN through the farm system? If you said Ken Griffey Jr, Alex Rodriguez, and Willie Bloomquist, you get a friggin medal! It's sick how Looper, Gillick, Pelekoudas, Jongewaard, and Co. have rigged the Mariner farm system in such a way that they manage to turn out close to zero position players. I remember a couple years ago when the Mariners were rumored to be going after either Bartolo Colon or Jeff Weaver, both of whom would have helped immensely. I figured with all their young arms, the Mariners had more than enough to get one of those guys. But then the trade market demands for prospects inexplicably switched to position players. That was simply infuriating.==
Now the horrible offense.
The Mariners went down 1-2-3 in the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 7th, 8th, and 9th innings. The two hits were the Sanchez one-out single in the 3rd, and the Wilson leadoff single in the 6th. As Tom Paciorek would say, "WOW." I guess Doug Waechter must have brought his A-game in his FIRST GAME AS A STARTER IN THE MAJORS. As "Pedro" was striking out Boone, Niehaus was suggesting Waechter may be "deceivingly fast" because Boone hardly ever misses those kinds of fastballs. I'm sick and tired of this trend of no-name pitchers shutting the Mariners down. If I were the Orioles, Rangers, A's, or Angels (the Mariners remaining opponents), I seriously would call up three or four of my minor-league starting pitchers and throw them against the Mariners. The Mariners would probably go 0-23 the rest of the way. I wouldn't be surprised in the least bit.
--
Well, there goes all that Milloy-to-the-Seahawks banter. The guy's going to the Bills. He wants to stick it to the Patriots, along with Drew Bledsoe. Their defense has the tools to do such.
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