Saturday, February 28, 2004
FORECLOSURE OF A DREAM
There's four somewhat-related-to-the-Mariners articles floating out there today...
Scott Miller of CBS SportsLine does a story on the Devil Rays' camp, specifically the fact that there's four closers in camp and three of them are former All-Stars. Yes, somehow, back in the not-too-distant past, Todd Jones, Mike Williams, and Lance Carter each went to an All-Star Game. It looks like Lou Piniella might be reacting to what happened before Sasaki came to Seattle, when his only choice in the closer's role was Jose Mesa. Sure, I don't think the Rays will break camp with all four of these guys (Williams and Jones are non-roster invitees), but maybe in a perfect world they could use the leftover closer(s) for trade bait. Best quote in that article is from non-roster invitee and former single-digit number-wearer Rob Bell, saying the multitude of closers in camp is "like being in a strip club with only $40 in your pocket." Rob Bell has a sense of humor. If Rob Bell had Eric Gagne-type stuff, was a Mariner, and made the strip club remark, we'd be talking about his release from the Mariners today.
No. Actually, the best quote of the article was this...
These guys are going to be good, and sooner rather than later. In Carl Crawford, Rocco Baldelli and Jose Cruz Jr., the Devil Rays might just have the best defensive outfield in baseball.
Sound familiar, Mariner fans? Best defensive outfield in baseball? Remember when the Mariners grossly overpaid Raul Ibanez when they could have had Jose Cruz Jr for much less? Sure, losing Mike Cameron in CF would have taken down their best defensive outfield status, but getting Cruz sure would have helped. Getting Ibanez, well, it blows. I'm sure Lou had a good guffaw over this.
In other news related to our old friend Lou Piniella, Victor Zambrano was named the Devil Rays' opening starter, and will take on the new New York Yankees. Mariner fans may remember Zambrano from this game, the day after Piniella returned to Seattle. Zambrano came in leading the AL in walks and then pitched into the 9th for the win as I threw up all over my apartment in disgust.
Here comes another entry from 2003's long list of no-name pitchers that beat the Mariners. This time it's Josh Towers of the Blue Jays, who stuck it to the Mariners last August and went 8-1 last year. Also, I think he was on fire for half of the 2001 season, and it looked like the Orioles might have had something with a Towers/Jason Johnson combo in their rotation. Then I think Towers busted his arm. Anyway, the article here is about how he is dealing with the death of former Oriole system teammate Steve Bechler.
Now to the AL West. Ken Macha says Eric Byrnes has a chance to crack the starting lineup for the A's on opening day. Of course, I remember him for absolutely flaming out over the second half of last year. He's a great hustle guy, but when I saw him fall off the face of the earth last year, I couldn't help but wonder why the Mariners didn't get him last offseason because he fit their identity so well. However, since Byrnes would probably make the bench better than it is right now, Bill Bavasi probably didn't even think about it, and instead chose to make a cube out of his Duplo blocks. Also, if Jermaine Dye goes down, an A's outfield with the best player being Mark Kotsay doesn't scare me that much. It wouldn't scare me any more than a Mariner outfield without Ichiro, and you never know with injuries these days.
Finally, to the Mariners. We have yet another article on our favorite enigma Freddy Garcia and his eardrums. I think Bryan Price is still miffed over Garcia's 2003. Why? Isn't that what you'd deduce if you heard a quote that started out with "[a]ll I care to say is that..."? This seems like a dead giveaway to some angry or disagreeable thoughts, much in the line of when a significant other suggests that "we need to talk."
And by the way, when Fox Sports Net NW is running those schmaltzy Mariners-when-they-were-really-young segments in March (with horrible homer Rick Rizzs doing the voiceover spots in the promos), let me just say it's a big vat of Must-Not-See TV. I can give you the story of Willie Bloomquist right now. He grew up in South Kitsap, was fairly good, then went to South Kitsap High School in the South Kitsap School District; a district in a pool of voters that has managed to fail every levy to build a second high school. South Kitsap High School has long since been the most populous high school in the state. When you have the most crowded high school in the state, you get a huge talent pool of kids to choose for your sports teams, right? Don't forget the fairly steep user fees that SK had to institute for players. Hope none of the good players were too far below rich. I may be a bitter B-towner here, but I'm not completely unfounded here.
Bloomquist then went to ASU, where they taught the hitters to throw the knobs of their bats at the ball; something which never worked for me, but look who's still playing; Bloom 1, Me 0. His best gesture was giving the rest of his full-ride scholarship to an ill teammate. This was the last time Willie was good. He latched on in the Mariner system and never hit well with any consistency in the minors. He rode the organization's infatuation with goody-goody local boys and cracked the Major League roster, where somehow he still resides.
And if I hear Rizzs call him "Willie Boom Boom" ever again, I'm going to grab a baseball bat. At some point after that, I'm going to black out, so anything that happens is not my fault. The path of a completely insane person at that point may try to hunt down Rizzs and smash his headset to pieces. See? You all thought I was going to inflict physical violence on Rick Rizzs, but I didn't. I tricked you all.
[Edit ~7:45p -- I don't think I finished that Bloomquist thought. What I'm trying to say is (in semi-mathematical form) is that levy failures => no second high school => huge pool of players to choose from => state championships in damn near every sport => more exposure for Bloomquist => everything else]
Scott Miller of CBS SportsLine does a story on the Devil Rays' camp, specifically the fact that there's four closers in camp and three of them are former All-Stars. Yes, somehow, back in the not-too-distant past, Todd Jones, Mike Williams, and Lance Carter each went to an All-Star Game. It looks like Lou Piniella might be reacting to what happened before Sasaki came to Seattle, when his only choice in the closer's role was Jose Mesa. Sure, I don't think the Rays will break camp with all four of these guys (Williams and Jones are non-roster invitees), but maybe in a perfect world they could use the leftover closer(s) for trade bait. Best quote in that article is from non-roster invitee and former single-digit number-wearer Rob Bell, saying the multitude of closers in camp is "like being in a strip club with only $40 in your pocket." Rob Bell has a sense of humor. If Rob Bell had Eric Gagne-type stuff, was a Mariner, and made the strip club remark, we'd be talking about his release from the Mariners today.
No. Actually, the best quote of the article was this...
These guys are going to be good, and sooner rather than later. In Carl Crawford, Rocco Baldelli and Jose Cruz Jr., the Devil Rays might just have the best defensive outfield in baseball.
Sound familiar, Mariner fans? Best defensive outfield in baseball? Remember when the Mariners grossly overpaid Raul Ibanez when they could have had Jose Cruz Jr for much less? Sure, losing Mike Cameron in CF would have taken down their best defensive outfield status, but getting Cruz sure would have helped. Getting Ibanez, well, it blows. I'm sure Lou had a good guffaw over this.
In other news related to our old friend Lou Piniella, Victor Zambrano was named the Devil Rays' opening starter, and will take on the new New York Yankees. Mariner fans may remember Zambrano from this game, the day after Piniella returned to Seattle. Zambrano came in leading the AL in walks and then pitched into the 9th for the win as I threw up all over my apartment in disgust.
Here comes another entry from 2003's long list of no-name pitchers that beat the Mariners. This time it's Josh Towers of the Blue Jays, who stuck it to the Mariners last August and went 8-1 last year. Also, I think he was on fire for half of the 2001 season, and it looked like the Orioles might have had something with a Towers/Jason Johnson combo in their rotation. Then I think Towers busted his arm. Anyway, the article here is about how he is dealing with the death of former Oriole system teammate Steve Bechler.
Now to the AL West. Ken Macha says Eric Byrnes has a chance to crack the starting lineup for the A's on opening day. Of course, I remember him for absolutely flaming out over the second half of last year. He's a great hustle guy, but when I saw him fall off the face of the earth last year, I couldn't help but wonder why the Mariners didn't get him last offseason because he fit their identity so well. However, since Byrnes would probably make the bench better than it is right now, Bill Bavasi probably didn't even think about it, and instead chose to make a cube out of his Duplo blocks. Also, if Jermaine Dye goes down, an A's outfield with the best player being Mark Kotsay doesn't scare me that much. It wouldn't scare me any more than a Mariner outfield without Ichiro, and you never know with injuries these days.
Finally, to the Mariners. We have yet another article on our favorite enigma Freddy Garcia and his eardrums. I think Bryan Price is still miffed over Garcia's 2003. Why? Isn't that what you'd deduce if you heard a quote that started out with "[a]ll I care to say is that..."? This seems like a dead giveaway to some angry or disagreeable thoughts, much in the line of when a significant other suggests that "we need to talk."
And by the way, when Fox Sports Net NW is running those schmaltzy Mariners-when-they-were-really-young segments in March (with horrible homer Rick Rizzs doing the voiceover spots in the promos), let me just say it's a big vat of Must-Not-See TV. I can give you the story of Willie Bloomquist right now. He grew up in South Kitsap, was fairly good, then went to South Kitsap High School in the South Kitsap School District; a district in a pool of voters that has managed to fail every levy to build a second high school. South Kitsap High School has long since been the most populous high school in the state. When you have the most crowded high school in the state, you get a huge talent pool of kids to choose for your sports teams, right? Don't forget the fairly steep user fees that SK had to institute for players. Hope none of the good players were too far below rich. I may be a bitter B-towner here, but I'm not completely unfounded here.
Bloomquist then went to ASU, where they taught the hitters to throw the knobs of their bats at the ball; something which never worked for me, but look who's still playing; Bloom 1, Me 0. His best gesture was giving the rest of his full-ride scholarship to an ill teammate. This was the last time Willie was good. He latched on in the Mariner system and never hit well with any consistency in the minors. He rode the organization's infatuation with goody-goody local boys and cracked the Major League roster, where somehow he still resides.
And if I hear Rizzs call him "Willie Boom Boom" ever again, I'm going to grab a baseball bat. At some point after that, I'm going to black out, so anything that happens is not my fault. The path of a completely insane person at that point may try to hunt down Rizzs and smash his headset to pieces. See? You all thought I was going to inflict physical violence on Rick Rizzs, but I didn't. I tricked you all.
[Edit ~7:45p -- I don't think I finished that Bloomquist thought. What I'm trying to say is (in semi-mathematical form) is that levy failures => no second high school => huge pool of players to choose from => state championships in damn near every sport => more exposure for Bloomquist => everything else]
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