Saturday, September 20, 2003
DRIVING WITH RICO AND NIEHAUS
And I just heard the Boston College band do "Zombie Nation" by Kernkraft 4000. Unfortunately, they also just did Sean Paul's "Get Busy." You can't win 'em all, I guess.
So I drove back to Ellensburg today with the Mariner telecast on.
I drove through some traffic crawls in Tacoma as Pineiro sucked horribly in the first and it looked dire. It sounded like Joel wasn't going to get past the 4th the way he was going early. I thought the Mariners were going to have to burn their bullpen when they didn't need to.
And another thing before I proceed here -- DAVE MYERS IS ABSOLUTELY NUTS. More on that later.
Joel threw 34 frigging pitches in the 1st and I said the F-word about 3494 times in the span of that half-inning. To me, that seemed like something that psychologically the Mariners could not come back from. Two runs had scored before he got the first out of the inning on the fifth batter, Scott Hatteberg, who bounced into a very-much-needed 3-6-1 double play. From there, Piniero caught fire like nobody's business. We all know the struggles that this guy has had in the 1st inning pretty much all of this year, and that this was no time to be having another bad 1st inning, but the way Joel didn't let it get to him today, and the way he kept the team in the game so they had the chance to score some runs, was amazing. Joel set down 15 of the final 16 batters he faced, as he somehow stretched out from looking like he would be pulled in the 5th to finishing out seven (six strong) innings. Joel's had a rollercoaster year, but he was great today. Three cheers for Joel Pineiro.
Now the offense. Ichiro won somebody a free year's worth of groceries (valued at $5200) from Safeway as a part of the $1,000,000 Baseball Magic promotion by getting four hits. Ichiro was 4-for-6 and finally stepped up in a way that we've expected him to.
In the 4th, Winn drew a key 9-pitch walk and Cameron (whoa, he DID something) singled on his second pitch. Sanchez bunted the runners over, which he would do another time in this game. Ben Davis quickly fell behind 0-2, but grinded out a nail-biting 8-pitch at-bat where he fouled off three pitches before whiffing. He'd contribute later. Ichiro -- who saw eight Duchscherer pitches while warming up in the on-deck circle; you can't tell me that didn't help him out -- then came up and singled on a 1-0 pitch to put the Mariners up. This was the game-breaker, and if not that, it was definitely one of them.
Ichiro's single was big. Then came the 6th.
Facing Mike Wood, Cameron doubled to left on the first pitch. Sanchez got his second bunt, moving Cameron to third. A sac fly here would have given the Mariners a 4-2 lead. Ben Davis was up, and Wood threw a wild pitch on 1-1. Cameron broke for home, and apparently the throw had him beat. Hernandez made a bad throw to Wood covering the plate and Cameron scored, then knocked Wood over. Point here is, as dumb as taking off is in that situation (especially since the throw had Cameron beat), Oakland didn't make the play. The Mariners were up 4-2. Davis then singled on the 3-1 pitch. On the next pitch, arguably the biggest emotional play in the Mariners season (or at least since the Winn grand slam) took place. Ichiro doubled the first pitch off the wall in right, Dye fell down but got back up and threw the ball in to Tejada behind second. Tejada relayed the ball home. Davis was steamrolling in from 3rd. Tejada's throw had Davis beat. Now Ben Davis may only be batting .244 on the season, but this play was big. Davis plowed into A's catcher Ramon Hernandez, who fell down and knocked over umpire Joe West in the process. Amidst all the mayhem, the ball was jarred loose and Davis went back to touch the plate. Ben Davis -- A CATCHER -- scored from first. Friggin amazing. Mariners 5-2.
Boone and Edgar hit RBI singles in the 8th to put some icing on the cake (7-2 lead), as Pineiro was cruising by this point. Ichiro then doubled again in the 9th to give the Mariners their final run at 9-2. Benitez gave up a 2-out RBI double to Mark Ellis in the 9th, but it was rendered moot. I have to say, a seven-run lead is EXACTLY the situation that I want to see Benitez pitching in for the rest of the year. I didn't want to see Rhodes in the 8th, but he only gave up a 2-out Tejada single rather than giving up a dong to the first batter, so it didn't turn out bad. I really loathe bullpen decisions when the only guys I feel comfortable with are not named Rhodes, Sasaki, and Benitez.
Okay, now to Dave Myers. I'm just assuming here, except for the first play I'll reference here. Last night, he sent EDGAR (yes, that's the Mariners slowest runner, in case you forgot) from second on a 2-out Winn single where the throw had him beat by a mile but Hernandez took his eye off the ball and lost it. Edgar scored. Today, he is in the coaching box as both Cameron and Davis (a CATCHER, and therefore fairly slow) are beat (but not put out) on plays at the plate. This is friggin crazy. I love the aggressiveness and all, and I especially love the fact that these guys scored, but man, Mariner fans are friggin going to hate it if one of these plays ever goes the other way. This from the man who is featured on the Safeco Insurance commercial but set back Chris Snelling's career by two years, and possibly a Mariner trade for Jeff Weaver or Bartolo Colon. Thanks, Dave Myers!
Anyway, big day for Seattle sports tomorrow. Let's hope it turns out okay.
So I drove back to Ellensburg today with the Mariner telecast on.
I drove through some traffic crawls in Tacoma as Pineiro sucked horribly in the first and it looked dire. It sounded like Joel wasn't going to get past the 4th the way he was going early. I thought the Mariners were going to have to burn their bullpen when they didn't need to.
And another thing before I proceed here -- DAVE MYERS IS ABSOLUTELY NUTS. More on that later.
Joel threw 34 frigging pitches in the 1st and I said the F-word about 3494 times in the span of that half-inning. To me, that seemed like something that psychologically the Mariners could not come back from. Two runs had scored before he got the first out of the inning on the fifth batter, Scott Hatteberg, who bounced into a very-much-needed 3-6-1 double play. From there, Piniero caught fire like nobody's business. We all know the struggles that this guy has had in the 1st inning pretty much all of this year, and that this was no time to be having another bad 1st inning, but the way Joel didn't let it get to him today, and the way he kept the team in the game so they had the chance to score some runs, was amazing. Joel set down 15 of the final 16 batters he faced, as he somehow stretched out from looking like he would be pulled in the 5th to finishing out seven (six strong) innings. Joel's had a rollercoaster year, but he was great today. Three cheers for Joel Pineiro.
Now the offense. Ichiro won somebody a free year's worth of groceries (valued at $5200) from Safeway as a part of the $1,000,000 Baseball Magic promotion by getting four hits. Ichiro was 4-for-6 and finally stepped up in a way that we've expected him to.
In the 4th, Winn drew a key 9-pitch walk and Cameron (whoa, he DID something) singled on his second pitch. Sanchez bunted the runners over, which he would do another time in this game. Ben Davis quickly fell behind 0-2, but grinded out a nail-biting 8-pitch at-bat where he fouled off three pitches before whiffing. He'd contribute later. Ichiro -- who saw eight Duchscherer pitches while warming up in the on-deck circle; you can't tell me that didn't help him out -- then came up and singled on a 1-0 pitch to put the Mariners up. This was the game-breaker, and if not that, it was definitely one of them.
Ichiro's single was big. Then came the 6th.
Facing Mike Wood, Cameron doubled to left on the first pitch. Sanchez got his second bunt, moving Cameron to third. A sac fly here would have given the Mariners a 4-2 lead. Ben Davis was up, and Wood threw a wild pitch on 1-1. Cameron broke for home, and apparently the throw had him beat. Hernandez made a bad throw to Wood covering the plate and Cameron scored, then knocked Wood over. Point here is, as dumb as taking off is in that situation (especially since the throw had Cameron beat), Oakland didn't make the play. The Mariners were up 4-2. Davis then singled on the 3-1 pitch. On the next pitch, arguably the biggest emotional play in the Mariners season (or at least since the Winn grand slam) took place. Ichiro doubled the first pitch off the wall in right, Dye fell down but got back up and threw the ball in to Tejada behind second. Tejada relayed the ball home. Davis was steamrolling in from 3rd. Tejada's throw had Davis beat. Now Ben Davis may only be batting .244 on the season, but this play was big. Davis plowed into A's catcher Ramon Hernandez, who fell down and knocked over umpire Joe West in the process. Amidst all the mayhem, the ball was jarred loose and Davis went back to touch the plate. Ben Davis -- A CATCHER -- scored from first. Friggin amazing. Mariners 5-2.
Boone and Edgar hit RBI singles in the 8th to put some icing on the cake (7-2 lead), as Pineiro was cruising by this point. Ichiro then doubled again in the 9th to give the Mariners their final run at 9-2. Benitez gave up a 2-out RBI double to Mark Ellis in the 9th, but it was rendered moot. I have to say, a seven-run lead is EXACTLY the situation that I want to see Benitez pitching in for the rest of the year. I didn't want to see Rhodes in the 8th, but he only gave up a 2-out Tejada single rather than giving up a dong to the first batter, so it didn't turn out bad. I really loathe bullpen decisions when the only guys I feel comfortable with are not named Rhodes, Sasaki, and Benitez.
Okay, now to Dave Myers. I'm just assuming here, except for the first play I'll reference here. Last night, he sent EDGAR (yes, that's the Mariners slowest runner, in case you forgot) from second on a 2-out Winn single where the throw had him beat by a mile but Hernandez took his eye off the ball and lost it. Edgar scored. Today, he is in the coaching box as both Cameron and Davis (a CATCHER, and therefore fairly slow) are beat (but not put out) on plays at the plate. This is friggin crazy. I love the aggressiveness and all, and I especially love the fact that these guys scored, but man, Mariner fans are friggin going to hate it if one of these plays ever goes the other way. This from the man who is featured on the Safeco Insurance commercial but set back Chris Snelling's career by two years, and possibly a Mariner trade for Jeff Weaver or Bartolo Colon. Thanks, Dave Myers!
Anyway, big day for Seattle sports tomorrow. Let's hope it turns out okay.
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