Sunday, October 03, 2004
THANKS AND PRAISE
Jamie Moyer got rocked. Ichiro got his 260th hit of the season. The Mariners got whooped. Did it matter? Not on this Saturday night.
The game was almost a formality to build up to the postgame ceremonies tonight. Local dignitaries, the commissioner, the front office, some former teammates (only Junior flying in could have topped it), Orlando Cepeda, Marty Martinez (scout who signed Edgar), Dave Niehaus, and Edgar's family were all there for the festivities. Gifts included donations to charitable organizations, a street-naming, a Light Bat (man, those Edgar shirts from Eagle were popular baseball practice shirts), Kingdome and Safeco seats, an awesome painting that looked like a Pinnacle insert card circa 1994, and the renaming of the AL Designated Hitter of the Year award as the Edgar Martinez Award. I frankly think that baseball should go all hockey on us and name all the awards after players, but it's not something I think about every day.
Will I still do the recap? Of course. I only have one more after this one, followed by a six-month siesta, so why not?
Oh yeah, Ichiro went 1-for-5 and netted hit number 260, further raising the bar of the single-season record for hits.
Spectrum...
Mariners on defense/pitching (bad to good)
massacre < terrible inning < some damage < fighting out of jam < decent inning < 1-2-3
Mariners on offense
I hate this team < come on, y'all < ho, hum < minimal damage < some damage < big inning
TOP 1ST -- 1-2-3
At least Moyer started out okay. Eric Young went down swinging, Hank Blalock was caught looking, and Michael Young flew out.
BOTTOM 1ST -- ho, hum
Kenny Rogers set down the Mariners 1-2-3. Ichiro whiffed, Randy Winn bounced out to short, and Edgar got a huge standing ovation, as was expected. Then he bounced one back to Rogers on the first pitch. I would have been equally unsurprised, however, if Edgar had hit a home run in that situation.
TOP 2ND -- decent inning
Mark Teixeira legged out an infield single, but Moyer set down the next three hitters in order, including the final two (Chad Allen and Laynce Nix) via the whiff.
BOTTOM 2ND -- minimal damage
Raul Ibanez doubled to the wall in right, anbd Jolbert Cabrera drove him in with a double of his own (SEA 1-0). Scott Spiezio would pop out to short (vintage 2004 Spiezio) and Dan Wilson would bounce one back to the mound to end the inning. Alas, the Mariner fans had a little to cheer about that had to do with winning the ballgame rather than solely Edgar or Ichiro. That'd change.
TOP 3RD -- 1-2-3
Moyer got through Rod Barajas, Manny Alexander (looking), and Eric Young. In a related story, I didn't need the broadcast crew to bring back the memories of Manny Alexander in the Mariners' system. It should never have happened.
BOTTOM 3RD -- ho, hum
The Gambler went 1-2-3 again, getting ground balls from Jose Lopez and Ichiro, then striking out Winn looking.
TOP 4TH -- some damage
Blalock doubled on the first pitch, and Michael Young jolted a pitch that got too much of the plate. Once the ball landed in the back of the Mariner bullpen, the Rangers had the lead (TEX 2-1). A Teixeira single, two fielder's choices and a whiff (Nix) later, Moyer escaped.
BOTTOM 4TH -- minimal damage
Edgar drew a leadoff walk. Two outs later, he remained at first base. A wild pitch advanced him to second, and Cabrera singled to center; Edgar got the wheels going one more time to tie it (2-2). And yeah, Spiezio was caught looking to end the inning.
TOP 5TH -- terrible inning
The roof fell in. Not literally, that was the Kingdome. Manny Alexander drew a one-out walk and got to second on a single by Blalock. Three straight doubles by Michael Young (TEX 3-2), Teixeira (TEX 5-2), and Kevin Mench (TEX 6-2) put the game out of reach. It was quick, and it was sustained.
BOTTOM 5TH -- come on, y'all
Ichiro's 260th hit was sandwiched by two errors by Eric Young at second base. Lopez, Ichiro, and Winn were on base with one out. Edgar bounced a ball to the Gambler again, who threw home for the force. Bret Boone bounced out to Eric Young, who naturally turned in a clean play this time.
TOP 6TH -- terrible inning
Masao Kida better not be on this team next year. Nix was beaned with the second pitch he saw. Barajas and Alexander (yes, even Manny Alexander) doubled to plate runs 7 and 8 for the Rangers, respectively (TEX 8-2). Alexander reached third on a groundout by Eric Young, and came home one out later when Michael Young singled (TEX 9-2).
Moyer's line: 5 innings, 6 runs, 8 hits, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts, 101 pitches (67 strikes). Forgettable. The Michael Young homer was the 44th mash given up by Moyer this year. And I thought Freddy Garcia and Ryan Franklin were homer-happy...yikes. Only one walk, yes, but Moyer just plum got tattooed. Five of the eight hits he gave up were for extra bases.
BOTTOM 6TH -- minimal damage
An Ibanez double, a Cabrera single, and a Spiezio single (huh?) plated the Mariners a run (TEX 9-3) and chased Rogers. In came Doug Brocail. Wilson hit into a double play, and Lopez whiffed. End of threat.
TOP 7TH -- minimal damage
Leading off, Mench absolutely jacked one (TEX 10-3). The rocket touched down just above the Emerald Queen Casino sign to the left of the out-of-town scoreboard. It was a shooooot. It was also Mench's 26th homer of the year. In an unrelated story, Jose Valentin and Mike Cameron have both hit 30 homers each this year. Kida gave up a single to Allen and was pulled for Randy Williams, who got Nix to whiff and got a double-play ball out of Ken Huckaby.
BOTTOM 7TH -- ho, hum
Brocail got three groundouts from the top of the order.
TOP 8TH -- decent inning
Randy Williams gave up a single to Alexander, but got the next three hitters out. To sum this up, Manny freakin' Alexander went 2-for-3 with a walk in the 9-slot against Mariner pitching tonight.
BOTTOM 8TH -- ho, hum
Ibanez singled with one out.
TOP 9TH -- decent inning
Aaron Taylor came in. More importantly, Edgar came out to play third base, which he hadn't done in years. Standing ovation, needless to say. Then he came out of the game after one pitch. Another ovation. Of course, Derek (and Austin) suggested the same thing I was thinking. I saw only the aftermath, as I was in the bathroom during the actual events. I came out to see Willie Bloomquist's name on the lineup card. Yes, Edgar was taken out for Willie Bloomquist. Do I even have to say what I think of this? And by the way, thanks to the North Kitsap football team for handling South Kitsap 62-7 on Friday.
BOTTOM 9TH -- minimal damage
Wilson led off against Ron Mahay with a double, and Lopez walked. Ichiro bounced into a fielder's choice to put the runners on the corners. Winn hit a deep-enough fly ball to leftfield, and Wilson scored (TEX 10-4). Bloomquist put a dinker single in-between three infielders charging toward the rightfield line. Boone bounced out and the red carpet rolled out.
Gameball: Edgar Martinez. 0-for-3 with a walk and a run. Sue me. Cabrera also went 3-for-4 with 2 RBI.
Goat: Bret Boone. 0-for-5 with a strikeout, stranding six. Ouch. I have to say I chuckled when he said he had a "hot mike" during his ceremony speech, which instantly brought Marty Culp and Bobbi Moughan-Culp (the SNL sketch) to mind, and I thought Boone would get out a keyboard and sing some songs because Edgar has brought great times to this great city...of funk. My other chuckle moment was when Jay Buhner stuck his tongue out at one of the FSNNW cameras while walking on the red carpet.
If only I could have been one of the hundreds that was able to get a hand slap from Edgar on his lap around the field. Since I liked the 2000 postseason run better than the 2001 run, I'd like to point out that Edgar homered in Game 1 of the Division Series against the White Sox that year, and homered in Game 5 of the ALCS against the Yankees (for the record, Alex was 9-for-22 in that series with two homers and was reeeeally good). The Mariner hype machine always says "yay 1995!" or "yay 2001!" but 2000 never gets its due (same with 1997, but they didn't get past the first round, so that's somewhat understandable).
Edgar's done a lot for Seattle, a lot for the fans, a lot for the game of baseball, and a lot for everyone he's come in contact with. Even though he walks away from the field for the last time on Sunday, Edgar Martinez won't stop touching lives. Hooray, Edgar. I'd take hitting lessons with Edgar (who wouldn't?). Not sure if I can get around a 31-oz wood bat while holding the bat high and pointing the head toward the pitcher like Edgar did, but I'd still take the lessons.
I'm gonna miss the guy. It is, and always will be, a Light Bat.
Park. Meche. Ten hours.
The game was almost a formality to build up to the postgame ceremonies tonight. Local dignitaries, the commissioner, the front office, some former teammates (only Junior flying in could have topped it), Orlando Cepeda, Marty Martinez (scout who signed Edgar), Dave Niehaus, and Edgar's family were all there for the festivities. Gifts included donations to charitable organizations, a street-naming, a Light Bat (man, those Edgar shirts from Eagle were popular baseball practice shirts), Kingdome and Safeco seats, an awesome painting that looked like a Pinnacle insert card circa 1994, and the renaming of the AL Designated Hitter of the Year award as the Edgar Martinez Award. I frankly think that baseball should go all hockey on us and name all the awards after players, but it's not something I think about every day.
Will I still do the recap? Of course. I only have one more after this one, followed by a six-month siesta, so why not?
Oh yeah, Ichiro went 1-for-5 and netted hit number 260, further raising the bar of the single-season record for hits.
Spectrum...
Mariners on defense/pitching (bad to good)
massacre < terrible inning < some damage < fighting out of jam < decent inning < 1-2-3
Mariners on offense
I hate this team < come on, y'all < ho, hum < minimal damage < some damage < big inning
TOP 1ST -- 1-2-3
At least Moyer started out okay. Eric Young went down swinging, Hank Blalock was caught looking, and Michael Young flew out.
BOTTOM 1ST -- ho, hum
Kenny Rogers set down the Mariners 1-2-3. Ichiro whiffed, Randy Winn bounced out to short, and Edgar got a huge standing ovation, as was expected. Then he bounced one back to Rogers on the first pitch. I would have been equally unsurprised, however, if Edgar had hit a home run in that situation.
TOP 2ND -- decent inning
Mark Teixeira legged out an infield single, but Moyer set down the next three hitters in order, including the final two (Chad Allen and Laynce Nix) via the whiff.
BOTTOM 2ND -- minimal damage
Raul Ibanez doubled to the wall in right, anbd Jolbert Cabrera drove him in with a double of his own (SEA 1-0). Scott Spiezio would pop out to short (vintage 2004 Spiezio) and Dan Wilson would bounce one back to the mound to end the inning. Alas, the Mariner fans had a little to cheer about that had to do with winning the ballgame rather than solely Edgar or Ichiro. That'd change.
TOP 3RD -- 1-2-3
Moyer got through Rod Barajas, Manny Alexander (looking), and Eric Young. In a related story, I didn't need the broadcast crew to bring back the memories of Manny Alexander in the Mariners' system. It should never have happened.
BOTTOM 3RD -- ho, hum
The Gambler went 1-2-3 again, getting ground balls from Jose Lopez and Ichiro, then striking out Winn looking.
TOP 4TH -- some damage
Blalock doubled on the first pitch, and Michael Young jolted a pitch that got too much of the plate. Once the ball landed in the back of the Mariner bullpen, the Rangers had the lead (TEX 2-1). A Teixeira single, two fielder's choices and a whiff (Nix) later, Moyer escaped.
BOTTOM 4TH -- minimal damage
Edgar drew a leadoff walk. Two outs later, he remained at first base. A wild pitch advanced him to second, and Cabrera singled to center; Edgar got the wheels going one more time to tie it (2-2). And yeah, Spiezio was caught looking to end the inning.
TOP 5TH -- terrible inning
The roof fell in. Not literally, that was the Kingdome. Manny Alexander drew a one-out walk and got to second on a single by Blalock. Three straight doubles by Michael Young (TEX 3-2), Teixeira (TEX 5-2), and Kevin Mench (TEX 6-2) put the game out of reach. It was quick, and it was sustained.
BOTTOM 5TH -- come on, y'all
Ichiro's 260th hit was sandwiched by two errors by Eric Young at second base. Lopez, Ichiro, and Winn were on base with one out. Edgar bounced a ball to the Gambler again, who threw home for the force. Bret Boone bounced out to Eric Young, who naturally turned in a clean play this time.
TOP 6TH -- terrible inning
Masao Kida better not be on this team next year. Nix was beaned with the second pitch he saw. Barajas and Alexander (yes, even Manny Alexander) doubled to plate runs 7 and 8 for the Rangers, respectively (TEX 8-2). Alexander reached third on a groundout by Eric Young, and came home one out later when Michael Young singled (TEX 9-2).
Moyer's line: 5 innings, 6 runs, 8 hits, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts, 101 pitches (67 strikes). Forgettable. The Michael Young homer was the 44th mash given up by Moyer this year. And I thought Freddy Garcia and Ryan Franklin were homer-happy...yikes. Only one walk, yes, but Moyer just plum got tattooed. Five of the eight hits he gave up were for extra bases.
BOTTOM 6TH -- minimal damage
An Ibanez double, a Cabrera single, and a Spiezio single (huh?) plated the Mariners a run (TEX 9-3) and chased Rogers. In came Doug Brocail. Wilson hit into a double play, and Lopez whiffed. End of threat.
TOP 7TH -- minimal damage
Leading off, Mench absolutely jacked one (TEX 10-3). The rocket touched down just above the Emerald Queen Casino sign to the left of the out-of-town scoreboard. It was a shooooot. It was also Mench's 26th homer of the year. In an unrelated story, Jose Valentin and Mike Cameron have both hit 30 homers each this year. Kida gave up a single to Allen and was pulled for Randy Williams, who got Nix to whiff and got a double-play ball out of Ken Huckaby.
BOTTOM 7TH -- ho, hum
Brocail got three groundouts from the top of the order.
TOP 8TH -- decent inning
Randy Williams gave up a single to Alexander, but got the next three hitters out. To sum this up, Manny freakin' Alexander went 2-for-3 with a walk in the 9-slot against Mariner pitching tonight.
BOTTOM 8TH -- ho, hum
Ibanez singled with one out.
TOP 9TH -- decent inning
Aaron Taylor came in. More importantly, Edgar came out to play third base, which he hadn't done in years. Standing ovation, needless to say. Then he came out of the game after one pitch. Another ovation. Of course, Derek (and Austin) suggested the same thing I was thinking. I saw only the aftermath, as I was in the bathroom during the actual events. I came out to see Willie Bloomquist's name on the lineup card. Yes, Edgar was taken out for Willie Bloomquist. Do I even have to say what I think of this? And by the way, thanks to the North Kitsap football team for handling South Kitsap 62-7 on Friday.
BOTTOM 9TH -- minimal damage
Wilson led off against Ron Mahay with a double, and Lopez walked. Ichiro bounced into a fielder's choice to put the runners on the corners. Winn hit a deep-enough fly ball to leftfield, and Wilson scored (TEX 10-4). Bloomquist put a dinker single in-between three infielders charging toward the rightfield line. Boone bounced out and the red carpet rolled out.
Gameball: Edgar Martinez. 0-for-3 with a walk and a run. Sue me. Cabrera also went 3-for-4 with 2 RBI.
Goat: Bret Boone. 0-for-5 with a strikeout, stranding six. Ouch. I have to say I chuckled when he said he had a "hot mike" during his ceremony speech, which instantly brought Marty Culp and Bobbi Moughan-Culp (the SNL sketch) to mind, and I thought Boone would get out a keyboard and sing some songs because Edgar has brought great times to this great city...of funk. My other chuckle moment was when Jay Buhner stuck his tongue out at one of the FSNNW cameras while walking on the red carpet.
If only I could have been one of the hundreds that was able to get a hand slap from Edgar on his lap around the field. Since I liked the 2000 postseason run better than the 2001 run, I'd like to point out that Edgar homered in Game 1 of the Division Series against the White Sox that year, and homered in Game 5 of the ALCS against the Yankees (for the record, Alex was 9-for-22 in that series with two homers and was reeeeally good). The Mariner hype machine always says "yay 1995!" or "yay 2001!" but 2000 never gets its due (same with 1997, but they didn't get past the first round, so that's somewhat understandable).
Edgar's done a lot for Seattle, a lot for the fans, a lot for the game of baseball, and a lot for everyone he's come in contact with. Even though he walks away from the field for the last time on Sunday, Edgar Martinez won't stop touching lives. Hooray, Edgar. I'd take hitting lessons with Edgar (who wouldn't?). Not sure if I can get around a 31-oz wood bat while holding the bat high and pointing the head toward the pitcher like Edgar did, but I'd still take the lessons.
I'm gonna miss the guy. It is, and always will be, a Light Bat.
Park. Meche. Ten hours.
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