Monday, September 29, 2003
NEED I REMIND YOU...
This is a post I put on a message board on July 31st after the trading deadine had passed. On message boards and chats, I don't capitalize anything. I hope that's not too much of a burden for anyone, because this is going to be a straight cut-and-paste jobbie here. I threw in some after-the-fact stuff where I felt it was necessary. Here goes...
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the 1pm trading deadline came and went today, and i was on edge as it was announced that pat gillick was holding a conference call within minutes. everyone thought it would be to announce a deal. the result? absolutely nothing.
for the fourth year in a row, the mariner fans have been slapped in the face once again. they blew it on the aaron boone deal, bob melvin is a tool who the mariners are winning in spite of (a monkey could have managed the team to the record it has now), there is no passion in this team. and where is gillick? he saw the stones concert (SARSstock) and is helping his wife move. in winter of 2001, he was in hawaii. how much does this guy really care about this team? is he even trying?
the sad thing...this was the last year of the window of opportunity. garcia will be gone, cameron will probably be gone, and someone out of the nelson-rhodes-hasegawa trio will be gone [Ed.: Nelson was shipped away soon after for popping off; little did we know Rhodes would later suck badly]. and edgar will retire because he's tired of this horrible lame management who has cared about the bottom line and NO MORE than that. edgar, olerud, and moyer should be given the biggest opportunity to win the world series that they so deserve. the mariners have a sweet cable deal, generate the most revenue in baseball, and draw the most fans in baseball. and how do the mariner fans get rewarded? with a swift kick in the pants. bret boone has already vented on this and you can bet your bottom dollar (m's management won't let you bet theirs) that the clubhouse is going to be irate tonight. rhodes, boone, and nelson will be the first to speak up. [Ed.: again, Communist management hears Nelson and ships him off.]
lou piniella is having a field day today in tampa bay...you can take that to the bank. he was all over gillick for a power bat after alex rodriguez left and he never ended up getting it. instead, gillick made piniella couch-surf the rule-v luis ugueto last year (good teams don't use rule v guys) and took away a coveted roster spot that piniella desperately could have used. [Ed.: Luis Ugueto and Charles Gipson were the same guy -- late-inning defensive replacement/pinch runner.]
and if i hear that the mariners were strapped at the deadline because garcia won his arbitration case in the winter, then this is absolute bull. howard lincoln was the first one to say that he would be strapped at the deadline. how dare these guys pinch pennies.
the management expects the players to bust their butts every day on the field... and it's the players' right to expect the management to bust their butts in the front office and fix the holes that need to be fixed. and when the players don't get backup...they can't help but feel betrayed or slighted.
even the easiest -- and CHEAPEST -- thing that could have been done (getting the lefty in the bullpen) WAS NOT DONE. the mariners missed the boat SIX TIMES on left-handed relief pitchers. it started with scott sauerbeck going to boston and it ended with gabe white going to the yanks.
and the mariners could have parted with prospects. they're PROSPECTS. they don't always turn out. as far as i'm concerned, clint nageotte, travis blackley, and rett johnson better all win 20 games in the season they come up. remember when roger salkeld came up through the mariner system and won the cy young award? oh, that's right...HE DIDN'T, and there's no guarantee that what the mariners have will pan out.
with this management, the mariners will probably end up like the braves or the cubs, for different reasons. the braves just choke every year, it's hard to get to the ballpark, and the fans are sick of them, so they don't draw well. the mariners could end up like the cubs because the management is penny-pinching and doesn't give a crap as long as the money is coming in (and in chicago, as long as the beer is flowing).
in all...this team is absolutely dead and will be on the outside looking in come october, and it hurts me to say this. oakland is poised to make their run, and the bottom line is that out of the four of oakland, boston, the yanks, and seattle, one of these teams will not make the playoffs. and i have a feeling it's that last team i listed that won't make it.
it hurts be to be yanked like a yo-yo by the mariner brass -- to be tempted into thinking the mariners have a chance, and then the ownership wants them to be good, but not great. i hate it. lincoln needs to go, and minaya needs to come in for gillick.
so much on my mind, and it all sucks.
GO SONICS!
GO SEAHAWKS!!!
---
Yes, the emotions are still ripe.
---
the 1pm trading deadline came and went today, and i was on edge as it was announced that pat gillick was holding a conference call within minutes. everyone thought it would be to announce a deal. the result? absolutely nothing.
for the fourth year in a row, the mariner fans have been slapped in the face once again. they blew it on the aaron boone deal, bob melvin is a tool who the mariners are winning in spite of (a monkey could have managed the team to the record it has now), there is no passion in this team. and where is gillick? he saw the stones concert (SARSstock) and is helping his wife move. in winter of 2001, he was in hawaii. how much does this guy really care about this team? is he even trying?
the sad thing...this was the last year of the window of opportunity. garcia will be gone, cameron will probably be gone, and someone out of the nelson-rhodes-hasegawa trio will be gone [Ed.: Nelson was shipped away soon after for popping off; little did we know Rhodes would later suck badly]. and edgar will retire because he's tired of this horrible lame management who has cared about the bottom line and NO MORE than that. edgar, olerud, and moyer should be given the biggest opportunity to win the world series that they so deserve. the mariners have a sweet cable deal, generate the most revenue in baseball, and draw the most fans in baseball. and how do the mariner fans get rewarded? with a swift kick in the pants. bret boone has already vented on this and you can bet your bottom dollar (m's management won't let you bet theirs) that the clubhouse is going to be irate tonight. rhodes, boone, and nelson will be the first to speak up. [Ed.: again, Communist management hears Nelson and ships him off.]
lou piniella is having a field day today in tampa bay...you can take that to the bank. he was all over gillick for a power bat after alex rodriguez left and he never ended up getting it. instead, gillick made piniella couch-surf the rule-v luis ugueto last year (good teams don't use rule v guys) and took away a coveted roster spot that piniella desperately could have used. [Ed.: Luis Ugueto and Charles Gipson were the same guy -- late-inning defensive replacement/pinch runner.]
and if i hear that the mariners were strapped at the deadline because garcia won his arbitration case in the winter, then this is absolute bull. howard lincoln was the first one to say that he would be strapped at the deadline. how dare these guys pinch pennies.
the management expects the players to bust their butts every day on the field... and it's the players' right to expect the management to bust their butts in the front office and fix the holes that need to be fixed. and when the players don't get backup...they can't help but feel betrayed or slighted.
even the easiest -- and CHEAPEST -- thing that could have been done (getting the lefty in the bullpen) WAS NOT DONE. the mariners missed the boat SIX TIMES on left-handed relief pitchers. it started with scott sauerbeck going to boston and it ended with gabe white going to the yanks.
and the mariners could have parted with prospects. they're PROSPECTS. they don't always turn out. as far as i'm concerned, clint nageotte, travis blackley, and rett johnson better all win 20 games in the season they come up. remember when roger salkeld came up through the mariner system and won the cy young award? oh, that's right...HE DIDN'T, and there's no guarantee that what the mariners have will pan out.
with this management, the mariners will probably end up like the braves or the cubs, for different reasons. the braves just choke every year, it's hard to get to the ballpark, and the fans are sick of them, so they don't draw well. the mariners could end up like the cubs because the management is penny-pinching and doesn't give a crap as long as the money is coming in (and in chicago, as long as the beer is flowing).
in all...this team is absolutely dead and will be on the outside looking in come october, and it hurts me to say this. oakland is poised to make their run, and the bottom line is that out of the four of oakland, boston, the yanks, and seattle, one of these teams will not make the playoffs. and i have a feeling it's that last team i listed that won't make it.
it hurts be to be yanked like a yo-yo by the mariner brass -- to be tempted into thinking the mariners have a chance, and then the ownership wants them to be good, but not great. i hate it. lincoln needs to go, and minaya needs to come in for gillick.
so much on my mind, and it all sucks.
GO SONICS!
GO SEAHAWKS!!!
---
Yes, the emotions are still ripe.
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