Wednesday, March 17, 2004
THROWN UNDER THE BUS
On Monday, the Mariners appeared to be in midseason form as they played a role they've played quite well a few times in the past: Tim Hudson's bitch.
On Tuesday, Joel Pineiro got lit up. But hey, who cares? It's a spring game. Bob Melvin didn't take the same attitude toward a muffed hot-box play (that's what an old teammate used to call a rundown) though.
Melvin was particularly dismayed by a botched rundown play in the fourth inning. Mariners pitcher Joel Pineiro trapped Padres base runner Terrence Long off second on a comebacker, but he allowed Long to get back safely. Melvin cited mistakes by third baseman Greg Dobbs and shortstop Willie Bloomquist on the play.
"We worked on that all day today (before the game)," Melvin said. "That was our fundamental today. We did it very nicely then. It's discouraging, but it is what it is."
Okay, now it'd be one thing if the reporter (both Larry Stone and Bob Finnigan are credited in this article) said Willie Bloomquist -- who I'm amazingly not going to bash in this post -- and Greg Dobbs messed up during a rundown play. Instead, we get Bob Melvin calling out Willie Bloomquist and Greg Dobbs (not in a direct quote, but obviously he named names) for the rundown gaffe. What the hell is Bob doing? He snipes at Mike Cameron and John Mabry after they're out the door, he busts Ben Davis' balls for what he thought was incorrect pitch-calling (come on, we know Melvin's still bitter over Benny's bunt to break up Curt Schilling's perfect game), and now we get Melvin calling out Bloom and Dobbs in the press. Can't we deal with this crap behind closed doors? Let the guys know they messed up, sure, but the manager doesn't have to exacerbate that in the media after the game. You can say "we need to fine-tune it a little more" or "we'll come around; we've had great defenses the last few years, and Willie's been witness to that, so he knows what we do." Instead, I can imagine Bob Melvin's direct quote as coming out of any whining 10-year-old child, stomping and throwing Lincoln Logs (I'd used Duplo blocks in an earlier post, but why was the alternate toy Lincoln Logs? My mind's on a roll now).
But there are some positives in the article. Kevin Jarvis still sucks!
... Kevin Jarvis...continued to struggle. He gave up four hits and three runs in three innings. The Padres got two homers off Jarvis, including an inside-the-park job by Tagg Bozied. In 7-2/3 innings this spring, Jarvis has given up 17 hits (four homers) and 14 earned runs.
So Melvin bashed Dobbs and Bloom. What does he have to say about Jarvis? "It looks like his arm strength is back." Sounds like a ringing endorsement to me! Melvin has nothing negative to say about Jarvis, who has shown no sign of being remotely good all spring, but Dobbs and Bloomquist muff one rundown play and get raked over the coals.
Also in the article, Rich Aurilia sat out a game.
"I have no idea how I [strained my right calf]," Aurilia said. "I felt a cramp on Sunday, and when I woke up (Monday), it was tight. It's too early in the season, or in the spring, to push anything. It's better to get it healed."
Yes, the Mariners signed Rich Aurilia a few months ago, saying that he'd be more durable than Carlos Guillen, and then trading Guillen for a crappy backup shortstop. Chalk up the Right Calf Injury of Unknown Origin (RCIUO) as Weird Injury #1 (WI1) for Rich Aurilia's 2004 season with the Seattle Mariners.
Yeah, I know the main headline on the entire article is that Raf Soriano's getting back up to speed except that Melvin said Soriano "slightly" felt the injury. That was just too boring, though, so I figured I'd pick apart some other stuff.
On Tuesday, Joel Pineiro got lit up. But hey, who cares? It's a spring game. Bob Melvin didn't take the same attitude toward a muffed hot-box play (that's what an old teammate used to call a rundown) though.
Melvin was particularly dismayed by a botched rundown play in the fourth inning. Mariners pitcher Joel Pineiro trapped Padres base runner Terrence Long off second on a comebacker, but he allowed Long to get back safely. Melvin cited mistakes by third baseman Greg Dobbs and shortstop Willie Bloomquist on the play.
"We worked on that all day today (before the game)," Melvin said. "That was our fundamental today. We did it very nicely then. It's discouraging, but it is what it is."
Okay, now it'd be one thing if the reporter (both Larry Stone and Bob Finnigan are credited in this article) said Willie Bloomquist -- who I'm amazingly not going to bash in this post -- and Greg Dobbs messed up during a rundown play. Instead, we get Bob Melvin calling out Willie Bloomquist and Greg Dobbs (not in a direct quote, but obviously he named names) for the rundown gaffe. What the hell is Bob doing? He snipes at Mike Cameron and John Mabry after they're out the door, he busts Ben Davis' balls for what he thought was incorrect pitch-calling (come on, we know Melvin's still bitter over Benny's bunt to break up Curt Schilling's perfect game), and now we get Melvin calling out Bloom and Dobbs in the press. Can't we deal with this crap behind closed doors? Let the guys know they messed up, sure, but the manager doesn't have to exacerbate that in the media after the game. You can say "we need to fine-tune it a little more" or "we'll come around; we've had great defenses the last few years, and Willie's been witness to that, so he knows what we do." Instead, I can imagine Bob Melvin's direct quote as coming out of any whining 10-year-old child, stomping and throwing Lincoln Logs (I'd used Duplo blocks in an earlier post, but why was the alternate toy Lincoln Logs? My mind's on a roll now).
But there are some positives in the article. Kevin Jarvis still sucks!
... Kevin Jarvis...continued to struggle. He gave up four hits and three runs in three innings. The Padres got two homers off Jarvis, including an inside-the-park job by Tagg Bozied. In 7-2/3 innings this spring, Jarvis has given up 17 hits (four homers) and 14 earned runs.
So Melvin bashed Dobbs and Bloom. What does he have to say about Jarvis? "It looks like his arm strength is back." Sounds like a ringing endorsement to me! Melvin has nothing negative to say about Jarvis, who has shown no sign of being remotely good all spring, but Dobbs and Bloomquist muff one rundown play and get raked over the coals.
Also in the article, Rich Aurilia sat out a game.
"I have no idea how I [strained my right calf]," Aurilia said. "I felt a cramp on Sunday, and when I woke up (Monday), it was tight. It's too early in the season, or in the spring, to push anything. It's better to get it healed."
Yes, the Mariners signed Rich Aurilia a few months ago, saying that he'd be more durable than Carlos Guillen, and then trading Guillen for a crappy backup shortstop. Chalk up the Right Calf Injury of Unknown Origin (RCIUO) as Weird Injury #1 (WI1) for Rich Aurilia's 2004 season with the Seattle Mariners.
Yeah, I know the main headline on the entire article is that Raf Soriano's getting back up to speed except that Melvin said Soriano "slightly" felt the injury. That was just too boring, though, so I figured I'd pick apart some other stuff.
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