Sunday, June 06, 2004
ONE-THIRD GONE
Let's see here...the parents swung by the apartment and picked up the two biggest things that couldn't fit in my car (drums, five-foot shelf). Before that, we had lunch. After that, I stuffed a bunch of excess clothing (offseason stuff that I haven't worn in months) and threw it into a suitcase. I tried to leave Ellensburg at 2:30 so I could get home by 5 to watch Tampa Bay/Calgary Game 6 in its entirety. Sadly, I was about a half-hour off. I got out of Ellensburg at 3 and got here at 5:30. Damn! And yes, sadly, when my dad told me to witness his preparation of the bathroom wall for ceramic tile improvements, that was exactly when Tampa Bay ended the game in the second overtime. I knew it would happen as soon as I got up. Yup, I didn't see the gamer, but I guess I know how to prep a wall for application of ceramic tile. Yay.
Anyway, I saw bits and pieces of the first half of the Mariner game, long enough to see the Mariners tie the game at 2. The Bret Boone homer I did not see live, but did see on the reel.
Also, I was able to listen to Baseball's Best Postgame Show, where there were definitely some issues. Jason Puckett had to tell producer Tyler Orsborn (sp?) multiple times back at the station to take the echo out of his headset. Also, Jason attempted to take a couple of phone calls, which the listeners could hear, but which Jason could not hear. End result: Jason Puckett had to fly solo on Baseball's Best Postgame Show. He did all right, with only some locker room clips and Tony Garassi toward the end of the show to bail him out. No callers, though. I remember this happened once with Steve Sandmeyer, but people just plain weren't calling him.
So...how do I ail myself out for post material if I didn't actually see most of the game? Scoring chances, of course...
1st inning (scored)
Ichiro draws a leadoff walk, moves to second on a Randy Winn groundout, and scores on an Edgar double. Edgar is stranded on second.
3rd inning (didn't score)
Ichiro leads off with a double and moves to third on Winn's infield single. Edgar is caught looking. John Olerud whiffs, but Winn takes second on the third strike. Bret Boone walks, then Rich Aurilia bounces out to short.
4th inning (scored)
Hiram Bocachica leads off with a walk and moves to second on Willie Bloomquist's single. Pat Borders bunts and Ichiro hits a sufficiently deep ball to score Bocachica. Winn grounds out.
5th inning (scored)
Olerud draws a one-out walk and Boone puts a 2-2 pitch into the leftfield bleachers.
One could say the Mariners were incredibly lucky that Boone's homer made it 4-2 since they only got two baserunners the rest of the way after the homer (Aurilia single right after the homer, and a Bocachica 8th-inning walk). The Mariners touched up Scott Schoeneweis a little, though they really could have roughed him up in the 3rd. For the final three innings, though, the Mariners were shut down by the likes of Mike Jackson and Cliff Politte. They're lucky Boone hit the homer, because how else does seven hits seem like a good thing? Holy crap, I didn't realize that Bret Boone is hitting .222. Damn. Jason Puckett suggested that maybe the health of his grandfather as well as issues with his wife (I'd have to investigate this, that's the first time I've heard anything about it) may have affected him mentally and in turn affected his game in some manner.
Did anyone like the lineup submitted by the thousand reject monkeys that couldn't type Shakespeare? Olerud cleanup? The bottom third of Bocachica, Pat Borders, and Bloomquist? Those Killer B's would only kill rallies, not the baseball.
Ryan Franklin went seven fairly solid innings, giving up two runs on six hits, walking three and fanning four on 103 pitches, telling us once again that he was extremely dependant on his defense. After throwing a horrid 24-pitch 1st inning, Ryan would settle down over his final six. He allowed only one runner to get into scoring position from the 2nd through the 7th, and that was on Paul Konerko's leadoff double in the 7th. Sometimes I don't know how Ryan Franklin is getting the job done, but when he gets it done, he gets it done. Of course, it helps when he doesn't get bitten by the long ball.
As for the bullpen, JJ Putz tilted the crap-per-time ratiometer, walking the only two men he faced in the 8th, in his best Shigetoshi Hasegawa impression. Julio Mateo set down the next two guys he faced (could he be coming around slowly?), and Eddie Guardado came in to record a four-out save. Eddie walked his first batter to load the bases, but hey, from what I know, that's part of an Eddie-type save. He forced a Konerko to end the 8th, and had a hitless 9th, though with a Miguel Olivo walk. It's gotta be something with Eddie, but man, the guy's fun to watch.
So...did anyone like the whole thing where Hiram Bocachica started in centerfield and Randy Winn started in left? How does Randy Winn take this? Does he get ticked off and start sucking? Could they just move Raul Ibanez to rightfield when he comes back and just move Ichiro to center, which has made perfect sense to me since last winter?
Two baseball notes on the semi-local to local level...
-- that thing the other day where the Giants cut Jeffrey Hammonds also meant that Central Kitsap graduate Todd Linden is back up with the big club
-- Mike McKnight, i.e., my high school baseball coach, is stepping down from that post. I think this means he sticks around as head football coach though. The picture they had of him in the Bremerton Patriot (the non-Sun indy rag) did appear to show him with the pencil over his right ear; no surprise there.
-- As I drove past Cheney Stadium on the way home, the sign outside said that today was T-Man Dysfunctional Family Day. Can anyone explain this to me? The Mariners' "family-friendly" approach apparently doesn't reach beyond the Safe, because no one can convince that the T-Man did something that could be "family-friendly." The guy can get pretty raunchy, and I know that not only from KUBE, but also from his short-but-mythical stint as a night show host on KJR.
Gameball: Bret Boone. This isn't just for the home run, because that'd be too easy. For a guy that's been atrocious for a while, he was 1-for-2 with two walks (and a token strikeout). He got on base three times, which of course means he didn't hit into an out three times. It's a start for The Boone.
Goat: JJ Putz. How much longer until he gets Meche'd? Ten pitches, two balls (two walks). Who wants George Sherrill or Bobby Madritsch??
Loaiza. Moyer. Later today.
Anyway, I saw bits and pieces of the first half of the Mariner game, long enough to see the Mariners tie the game at 2. The Bret Boone homer I did not see live, but did see on the reel.
Also, I was able to listen to Baseball's Best Postgame Show, where there were definitely some issues. Jason Puckett had to tell producer Tyler Orsborn (sp?) multiple times back at the station to take the echo out of his headset. Also, Jason attempted to take a couple of phone calls, which the listeners could hear, but which Jason could not hear. End result: Jason Puckett had to fly solo on Baseball's Best Postgame Show. He did all right, with only some locker room clips and Tony Garassi toward the end of the show to bail him out. No callers, though. I remember this happened once with Steve Sandmeyer, but people just plain weren't calling him.
So...how do I ail myself out for post material if I didn't actually see most of the game? Scoring chances, of course...
1st inning (scored)
Ichiro draws a leadoff walk, moves to second on a Randy Winn groundout, and scores on an Edgar double. Edgar is stranded on second.
3rd inning (didn't score)
Ichiro leads off with a double and moves to third on Winn's infield single. Edgar is caught looking. John Olerud whiffs, but Winn takes second on the third strike. Bret Boone walks, then Rich Aurilia bounces out to short.
4th inning (scored)
Hiram Bocachica leads off with a walk and moves to second on Willie Bloomquist's single. Pat Borders bunts and Ichiro hits a sufficiently deep ball to score Bocachica. Winn grounds out.
5th inning (scored)
Olerud draws a one-out walk and Boone puts a 2-2 pitch into the leftfield bleachers.
One could say the Mariners were incredibly lucky that Boone's homer made it 4-2 since they only got two baserunners the rest of the way after the homer (Aurilia single right after the homer, and a Bocachica 8th-inning walk). The Mariners touched up Scott Schoeneweis a little, though they really could have roughed him up in the 3rd. For the final three innings, though, the Mariners were shut down by the likes of Mike Jackson and Cliff Politte. They're lucky Boone hit the homer, because how else does seven hits seem like a good thing? Holy crap, I didn't realize that Bret Boone is hitting .222. Damn. Jason Puckett suggested that maybe the health of his grandfather as well as issues with his wife (I'd have to investigate this, that's the first time I've heard anything about it) may have affected him mentally and in turn affected his game in some manner.
Did anyone like the lineup submitted by the thousand reject monkeys that couldn't type Shakespeare? Olerud cleanup? The bottom third of Bocachica, Pat Borders, and Bloomquist? Those Killer B's would only kill rallies, not the baseball.
Ryan Franklin went seven fairly solid innings, giving up two runs on six hits, walking three and fanning four on 103 pitches, telling us once again that he was extremely dependant on his defense. After throwing a horrid 24-pitch 1st inning, Ryan would settle down over his final six. He allowed only one runner to get into scoring position from the 2nd through the 7th, and that was on Paul Konerko's leadoff double in the 7th. Sometimes I don't know how Ryan Franklin is getting the job done, but when he gets it done, he gets it done. Of course, it helps when he doesn't get bitten by the long ball.
As for the bullpen, JJ Putz tilted the crap-per-time ratiometer, walking the only two men he faced in the 8th, in his best Shigetoshi Hasegawa impression. Julio Mateo set down the next two guys he faced (could he be coming around slowly?), and Eddie Guardado came in to record a four-out save. Eddie walked his first batter to load the bases, but hey, from what I know, that's part of an Eddie-type save. He forced a Konerko to end the 8th, and had a hitless 9th, though with a Miguel Olivo walk. It's gotta be something with Eddie, but man, the guy's fun to watch.
So...did anyone like the whole thing where Hiram Bocachica started in centerfield and Randy Winn started in left? How does Randy Winn take this? Does he get ticked off and start sucking? Could they just move Raul Ibanez to rightfield when he comes back and just move Ichiro to center, which has made perfect sense to me since last winter?
Two baseball notes on the semi-local to local level...
-- that thing the other day where the Giants cut Jeffrey Hammonds also meant that Central Kitsap graduate Todd Linden is back up with the big club
-- Mike McKnight, i.e., my high school baseball coach, is stepping down from that post. I think this means he sticks around as head football coach though. The picture they had of him in the Bremerton Patriot (the non-Sun indy rag) did appear to show him with the pencil over his right ear; no surprise there.
-- As I drove past Cheney Stadium on the way home, the sign outside said that today was T-Man Dysfunctional Family Day. Can anyone explain this to me? The Mariners' "family-friendly" approach apparently doesn't reach beyond the Safe, because no one can convince that the T-Man did something that could be "family-friendly." The guy can get pretty raunchy, and I know that not only from KUBE, but also from his short-but-mythical stint as a night show host on KJR.
Gameball: Bret Boone. This isn't just for the home run, because that'd be too easy. For a guy that's been atrocious for a while, he was 1-for-2 with two walks (and a token strikeout). He got on base three times, which of course means he didn't hit into an out three times. It's a start for The Boone.
Goat: JJ Putz. How much longer until he gets Meche'd? Ten pitches, two balls (two walks). Who wants George Sherrill or Bobby Madritsch??
Loaiza. Moyer. Later today.
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