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Friday, May 16th, 2008
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 07:38:08 pm
Sorry, for the late start, but I'm having some internet issues, namely I can't stay connected for that long. Clearly it's operator error, but I'll see if I can try and get through this and keep posting. Perhaps its a good thing I didn't have to write about the slop that Miguel Batista is tossing up to the plate. It's getting swatted around pretty hard. Let's see the worst offensive team in all of baseball, now has a 4-0 lead after two innings. That's just great. GAME UPDATES START HERE: 9:51 -- sorry for the delay, but I will say this, I don't think you should be doing the wave when you're losing by two runs. yet the fans at Safeco are still doing it. 8:52 --- How about these logos...  or  8:40 -- That's a great catch by Beltre. Gold glove caliber..... 8:25 -- Jeff Clement didn't have the hardest ball I've ever seen hit, but it got the run in. 7:57 --
Well, I didn't get to talk with him, but he's 2-4 with a 3.48 ERA. In 42 innings, he's allowed 42 hits, but one bad start in Tucson kind of skewed those numbers. He also has 25 strikeouts and just six walks. He's starting on Sunday in Tacoma against Doug Davis, who's coming back from Thyroid cancer and making a rehab start. 7:47 -- Joh-San!!!! Perhaps the Mariners' pitchers need to be more critical of his catching more often, because he seems to hit when they do.
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 05:22:26 pm
Well, that natural rival that is the San Diego Padres is in town and the bad blood and ill will is palpable. I guess it comes from having to share a spring training complex on the mean streets of Peoria. It just gives you this edge that's tough to explain. There's just a bad feeling between the two groups, like the mafia and cops, buffets and skinny people, Erik Bedard and the media, and Dave8557 vs. most modern day managers. Anyway, let's get to a few things. We were giving Willie Bloomquist a hard time for his "breaking" of the law. He said that he and a buddy were digging razor clams and they knew they were close to the limit, but weren't exactly sure. The total they could have had was 30, they actually had 32. He wasn't upset about having to pay the ticket, saying he was in the wrong. Not many of his teammates know about it yet, and he certainly isn't telling them, but he is expecting to receive some grief when he does. CAtching coordinator Roger Hansen is at Safeco Field and worked with Jeff Clement today and will work with Kenji tomorrow, while evaluating Clement, Joh and Jamie Burke over the next week or so. John McLaren said Hansen will go with the team on the road trip. Hansen was entertaining as usual. Here's tonight's lineups.... Padres Mariners
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 02:40:46 am
Sorry for the lateness of my first post of the day, or is it tomorrow now, whatever. Does it really matter? Basically I treated today like an off day for me. It wasn't exactly an off day since I spent much of it working. I spent my morning doing my expenses from the floor of the Dallas Airport, spent a good portion of my four hour flight trying to figure out what to write about, the other part doing the crossword. And then I got a sweet hour and half drive to Tacoma from Sea-Tac. So that's why I didn't post earlier. I should have but I didn't. I also went to the last four innings of the Rainiers' game tonight. Assistant GM Lee Pelekoudas was there, along with minor league director Greg Hunter and top Asian scout Hide Suyeoshi were also there. Not much going on really. I saw Jimerson get a hit and also get caught in a run down, Jeremy Reed also had a sweet bunt base hit. After the game, I went and talked a little with Jimerson, Bryan LaHair and Rob Johnson. I also went to the West End to see my favorite waitress Dusty and ponder a little bit about this homestand. Winning two of three would be acceptable, but taking three of three should be expected. No Paavy, no Maddux, and the Padres are reeling and scuffling offensively, plus Seattle has Bedard and Felix going. They need to win all three. Here's my story from today's paper, which includes stats to prove that the Mariners aren't the worst team offensively in baseball, although there were times it felt that way. Also I should have posted this earlier because I got an e-mail from our sister paper, "The Olympian" but I just forgot because I was trying to write my story... anyway, the Mariners have a small jurisprudence issue. It's far from anything major indeed, but in the interest of fairness, I am running it to make sure nobody ever accuses me of having favorites (though we all know I dislike everyone equally).
Categories: Answers to your questions
• 1 comment
Thursday, May 15th, 2008
Posted by Darrin Beene @ 03:48:50 pm
With the Mariners enjoying their first day off in 16 days, here's a scouting of this weekend's opponent, the San Diego Padres. Here’s a reason to get excited about the return of interleague play: The Mariners get to face the San Diego Padres for three games. The Padres limp into this series having lost three of their last four against the Chicago Cubs and now own the worst record in the majors at 15-27. Their weak offense produced just 12 runs in those four games against the Cubs. Worse, their pitching – the supposed strong point of this team – gave up 27 runs in the series and ranks just 19th in the majors in team ERA at 4.25.
Categories: Answers to your questions
• 5 comments
Wednesday, May 14th, 2008
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 11:29:12 am
4:43 -- EVERYBODY!!! PUT ME IN COACH I'M READY TO PLAY!!! TODAY!! Miguel Cairoooooooooooo with a single to give the M's the lead. Of all the people to give Seattle a lead the last person I never thought it would be Cairo. 4:16 -- I was right Washburn is now warming up in the bullpen. Also it looks as though Jose Lopez might have hurt his wrist when he collided with Balentien. To his credit, Balentien didn't budge which also makes him better at breaking tackles than Shaun Alexander..... thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week. 4:07 -- Now that JJ is in, here's a refreshing thought. ONly Cha Seung Baek remains in the bullpen and Jose Vidro is on the bench. I think we might see Batista or Washburn ambling out to the bullpen. 3:52 -- EVERYBODY!!! PUT ME IN COACH I'M READY TO PLAY!!! TODAY!! -- Miguel Cairo with a huge double play on the bunt. 3:43 -- A squandered opportunity there. Runner on third and less than two outs and Wlad can't get one out of the infield. 3:35 -- Huge catch for Wlad. Maybe this playing shallow thing is paying off. 3:26 -- Wow, Sean Green not looking so good and gives up back-to-back singles. Mac spent part of the pregame meeting talking about not wanting to let runners go first to third on a single, but Balentien was very cautious making sure he fielded it cleanly, probably looking to avoid what happened to him last night. 3:18 -- Carlos Silva left the game with lower back tightness. 3:08 -- Be honest, how many of you thought the Mariners were going to blow that one? I know I wasn't the only one. The M's come up with big double play to get out of the inning. 3:03 -- Brandon Morrow with two walks, he really battled Shelton, who had a fantastic at-bat. but it shows that Morrow still doesn't have much confidence in his secondary pitches, because he never threw them. We now have Arthur Rhodes coming in to face Mariner killer Ramon Vazquez. 2:50 -- Silva is hurt and we're not quits sure what he did. I'll let you know as soon as we find out. 2:42 -- Yuni with a go-ahead double that he thought was a bomb and even went into his trot. If he sprints from the beginning, he gets a triple. 2:36 --- Wow, the Mariners get two breaks in one inning. First a throwing error by Vazquez and then Hamilton badly misjudging Clement's fly ball to center that led to an RBI triple. That was Clement's first major league triple - for obvious reasons, and the fifth of his career. HE actually had three last year with Tacoma. 2:28 -- just who is this master of pitching named Scott Feldman, who is dominating the Mariners. Well, was born in Kailua, Hawaii. He is 1-1 this season with a 4.07 ERA. In his brief career, he's 2-6 with a 4.34 ERA. Though you wouldn't know it today. 2:07 -- Mariners get a run on a Lopez double to left, good hustle by Raul to score from first. But the Mariners still have just three hits off of Scott Feldman. 1:53 -- I know some of you aren't like me and don't arise too early unless it's absolutely. So here's John McLaren's lengthy interview with Mitch Levy. It's pretty honest and interesting. 1:32 -- Wow the umpires huddle and get one right. Ichiro clearly made that catch and the reason we know this is that he argued with the ump about it. More importantly he didn't have to dive to do it.  Center fielder Ichiro Suzuki makes a sliding catch on a ball hit by Texas Rangers' Ramon Vazquez during the second inning today in Arlington, Texas. Originally Chad Fairchild ruled it as no catch. 1:25 -- I'm about an inning behind. I was still trying to wrap up my pregame stuff and get it on the web. One thing to note from the first inning -- McLaren said that they were concerned with runners advancing from first to third on base hits, so he was going to have the outfielders play a step or two more shallow. This is notable since, Michael Young's RBI double sailed just over Balentien's head. The play at the plate seemed relatively close, but they never showed replays on the local Fox sports affiliate here. Was it really that close, or am I just grasping at straws?
Categories: Game Updates
• 7 comments
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 11:23:23 am
Good Morning Mariners' fans. A little too early of a start for a pregame post, since I got to the field and went straight down to the clubhouse. I got up a little late because I spent a few hours writing my little 3 a.m. postgame rant. I guess you could say I was miffed a little with this team. I guess that's what happens when you cover 12 straight losses. But as John McLaren said eariler in pregame, "It's a new day today." Anyway here's my game story from today's paper. We sat with a couple scouts during lunch and there was interesting comments. One of the scouts, who works for the Yankees, said this .... "If you want see a team that takes the field every night waiting to lose, that's them." Really? That's not a good thing. He also said he thought the umps have squeezed Mariners' pitchers lately. When I asked him about Joh's receiving skills, he thought they were fine. But said that the pitches need not get caught up in who's catching them and instead worry pitch to pitch. "I always believed the less they think the better. Let the catcher do the thinking." The other scout, who's scouted for 50 years, didn't have much good to say about the Mariners pitchers, especially the whole idea of pitching to a particular catcher. "Just shut up and pitch the damn ball, you're getting paid 12 million dollar to do it," he said. "It's that simple. Everybody has a damn excuse these days." I'm not certain if he spent the morning yelling at little kids to stay off his lawn. But what he said had some truth to it. Let's take care of a few questions....
Yo, Squid. I actually had that as my lead and most of my story written and then Joh had to go muck it up by hitting that game-tying home run. So then I wrote my lead around that really believing they were going to win. Unfortunately that didn't happen either, and I started over again with the Morrow thing. Funny story though, when Joh walked to the plate, I actually said this to Baker and Andreissen, "I'll buy the first five rounds at the bar if he hits a bomb." I didn't have to buy five, but I did buy a few.
Joh is not breaking in a new mitt that I know of. He has several of the red gloves and he always takes great care of them. But he has dropped a few catchable balls recently. But Jamie Moyer used to say that Joh wasn't a great receiver and that his tendency to drop pitches over the plate and poor pitch framing skills cost pitchers strikes and outs. Look, Joh isn't Johnny Bench and he isn't Pudge Rodriguez or Russell Martin, but he isn't Mike Piazza or Javy Lopez either. But a closer breakdown of his defensive skills is something I'm looking into.
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 02:11:02 am
 Looking... Still looking ... I guess we'll just have to manufacture some. I guess this team is hitting better, I guess this team is sticking together, I guess this team is on the verge of breaking out, I guess this is still a good team. At least this is what Raul Ibanez told us earlier tonight. It still feels like a guess to me. What do I know? I've only had to be around them nearly every day since February 15. I want to believe what Raul says. I think he wants to believe it. But at the end of the day, I don’t know if any of it is inherently true. Let me preface this rant by saying that I picked this team to win the division. Not because I’m a homer, or just to play to readers. I really thought that with the acquisition of Erik Bedard they could contend with the Angels. But now the Mariners have the worst record in the American League. So if you're looking for sunshine, cookies and good feelings stop reading because this team is in last place right now, and it shouldn't be. Look I won't pretend that you empathize with me and my plight to talk to baseball players on a daily basis. It’s not as great as you think it is, and conversely it’s not as bad as sometimes writers make it sound. Whether Felix acts like a complete child means little to you. I know because of the emails and comments I received when I wrote something about Bedard and his attitude toward the media. But don't you see that something as simple as Felix making a timely effort to come out and speak tonight to the media about a second mediocre start, instead of blowing off a quality and hardworking Mariners' staffer, who asked very politely for him to come out and talk, is small reminder of the bigger picture? Am I mad that I stood for 45 minutes to talk to Felix? Hell yes. But I had these thoughts well before this. Sometimes it seems to me there is an allowance of a lack of accountability in this organization for certain members of management and certain players. Granted there are more exceptions than there are suspects. JJ Putz has never ducked an interview that I've seen. The only time I thought he might be hiding out, he was actually getting treated for a rib injury. And his crew in the bullpen is solid and upstanding on most occasions. Carlos Silva and Miguel Batista have been nothing but professional. Richie Sexson has been one of the best guys to about standing up for himself and the team all season. Even Jarrod Washburn, who views much of the media skeptically even more after this week, understands his professional duties, and can be very interesting and engaging. Another good example tonight is Raul Ibanez, who is like Edgar and wants to do his postgame workout every night. Yet, he still comes out when asked and answers questions, even if it's about his own mistakes, much like tonight. Although, he loathes to talk about himself or speak for the team as a whole, Raul understood that because nobody else was saying much, that as one of the veterans on the team, he needed to. Heck, even Jose Lopez admitted to costing his team the game on Monday night. He didn't duck and hide. As we approached to talk to him, he knew exactly what we were going to ask and he manned up and took it. No fault, no blame. Just stand there accept fault and move on. There are others, that go in this list and others that headline the other list. Now don’t misunderstand me. Do I think that the players try hard when they go out there? Absolutely. These guys would have never made it to the big leagues if they weren't highly competitive and intense. And even once they get here, I think they are so ingrained to hate losing that they always go out and play to win (it would be frightening if I ever thought they didn't). I believe that once anybody that steps on the field wearing a Mariners uniform cares. They care. They want to win. But winning, or at least being around a winner, is the easy thing. It’s when you’re losing, or things aren’t going right, when a player’s true convictions come out, and also his true professionalism. It comes down to acceptance and accountability, and sometimes I don't like what I see in either category with this Mariner team. Certain unwritten rules and responsibilities limit me from saying exactly how it is. But know this, the Mariners as of today are a flawed team. And the responsibility for this situation can be found in many people, perhaps the least of them is manager John McLaren, who was given a dysfunctional team unable to overcome certain things, without his control. Can it be fixed? Yes, the team has talent and enough character to do so. But not under current conditions. But this doesn't have to be permanent. I keep searching for positives and they are there. But right now, they aren’t readily apparent.
Categories: Answers to your questions
• 3 comments
Tuesday, May 13th, 2008
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 05:14:06 pm
Yes, I know there was no pregame blogging, with exception of a press release from the Mariners. My apologies. We sat in the clubhouse a little longer than usual trying to get some stuff for out notebook for the paper, and I didn't come back and blog. Not much going on... I talked to former Mariner and last night's hero Ramon Vazquez and Ryan Rowland-Smith about their on-field conversation that featured the use of the F-word as noun, verb, adjective, interjection and possible an adverb. Neither made too big of deal about it. Basically they both thought the other was staring them down. Vazquez said he wasn't trying to stare at Rowland-Smith, but the radar gun beyond him and Rowland-Smith said he thought Vazquez was glaring at him so he glared back, it's amazing how one little thing can spark something. Not much else was going on, let's get to the updates, I'll post some other stuff throughout the game. 9:52 --- And an error by Wlad Balentien which costs them a run, and basically another run by allowing another runner to advance to third. And now the M's are down three. Anybody think they are coming back from three runs down in the ninth two nights in a row? Umm no. 9:37 --- Another nice catch by Josh Hamilton robbing Joh of a double and perhaps saving a run, and perhaps a win. 9:20 -- Well, that was interesting..... Raul drops a ball and it leads to a run eventually. 8:50 --- Joh comes up with a clutch double to left. He's starting to swing the bat pretty well as half the starting pitchers cringe every time he gets a hit. 8:14 -- Another walk? What is Felix channeling his inner Freddy Garcia. 8:08 -- Umm, I thought the Mariners hit lefties well? 7:54 -- It appears that Barry Bonds may have bigger things to worry about than playing this season. I'm thinking no team is going to pick him up this season. 7:45 -- Nothing like a little 1-2-3 double play to bail Felix out of a bad inning. 7:40 -- Gerald Laird with a single to score a run. I realize it was tough play, but I think even Raul would admit he should have caught that ball that resulted ina double for Brandon Boggs. 7:34 -- An opportunity squandered by the Mariners. I would have kept having Johjima bunt.I don't care what he did in the last at-bat of the night. 7:21 -- Columnist Dave Boling writes about Bill Bavasi in today's paper. You can check out his column here. And since we try to be an interactive newspaper. You can vote on whether Bavasi should be fired here. 7:12 -- Adrian Beltre commits his seventh error of the season with an "ole" play at third. Perhaps if he wore a cup, he might want to get in front of the ball more.
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 04:19:40 pm
I knew he was a good guy, and if you need proof, check out this press release. From the Seattle Mariners.. MARINERS CATCHER KENJI JOHJIMA "ASSISTS" KIDS AT RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE Catcher will donate to the Seattle House every time he helps get an opposing player out
Categories: Answers to your questions
Monday, May 12th, 2008
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 04:06:22 pm
GAME THOUGHTS START HERE: oh and the Mariners pitchers have walked 13 batters this game. I don't know who's happier right now Jose Lopez or Erik Bedard. 10:13 -- Wlad with a monster two-run home run to left. To cut the lead to 10-8. It's not an impossible comeback, but not an improbable one either. THey just need to keeping getting guys on base. 10:06 -- And that's going to be the ballgame barring a miracle. Lopez fails to make a routine play with two outs and the flood gates open for four runs in the seventh. All four runs in teh inning are unearned. 9:57 -- Hmm, it seems that Ryan Rowland-Smith and Ramon Vazquez are both quite able to use the F-bomb effectively. You don't need to be a lip reader to know that, the big Aussie isn't saying G'Day Mate to Vasquez. There is some bad blood between these teams. I don't know what happened to my earlier posts but they are gone. Anyway, Jeff Clement hits a lead-off double for his first multi-hit game of the season, and he later scores on Yuni's double. But the Mariners fail to take the lead as Ichiro strikes out with one out and a runner on third. 8:23 -- thanks to our stats guru - Victor Yoshida - our Asian version of the Schwab, I've been informed I haven't covered a win since April 26th. That's for you Snydro 8:13 -- Cha Seung Baek woarming up, he may want to keep his head up. He might get hit by a baseball. Another single and it looks like Capt. Personality is out of here. 8:11 -- Back-to-back bombs, and they weren't short. REmember when Bedard said he thought giving up home runs were really funny when they go really far. I guess he found those last two funny, or maybe not. And another ball off the fence. Remember that lead I was reminding Bedard about, it's gone. 7:50 -- If the wind isn't blowing, that ball Clement's hit would have gotten over the head of the right field. 7:40 -- Another run for Texas, does Bedard know he used to have a four-run lead? 7:25 -- Does Bedard know that he has a five-run lead? 7:18 -- Five runs in the first inning, I can't believe what I just saw, I also sat down below for the first two innings, just to get a different perspective and get out of the press box. This isn't a bad place to watch a game. NEED A REASON TO HATE/RESPECT DEREK JETER? From the SF Chronicle....
LINKAGE: * The Mariners are not the only team in the AL West to lose a few games in a row. Seattle Texas
Categories: Answers to your questions
• 14 comments
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 01:44:50 pm
 Look I’m not trying to be overly pessimistic. But as I try to type, while being wedged into the middle seat of three hour coach flight, I can’t help but be realistic, because it seems “HEAVY” doses of realism are either leaning on me or bumping my shoulder from each side at this point. The level of discomfort and claustrophobia I feel right now is like what Erik Bedard feels when he sees the media heading toward his locker after a start. That’s what I get for not using the e-check in. So for all the good feeling that we are feeling from yesterday’s win that snapped a five-game losing streak – let’s not forget that the Mariners went 2-5 on this last homestand. And the five losses in between the win in the first game and the last were overwhelming displays of punchless hitting, inconsistent pitching, questionable decision making by both players and John McLaren and just an overall lethargy and confusion. Maybe if I wasn’t a state of total discomforting pain right now, I could be a little more forgiving, but it just isn’t happening right now. Hitting: C Positives: Jose Lopez continues to hit the ball well, Ichiro Suzuki’s tradition of getting hot in May seems to be continuing, Raul Ibanez’s perfect swing on a 3-0 pitch and Adrian Beltre suddenly not blindly hacking at every pitch served up whenever there is a runner on base. Negatives: Jeff Clement continues to struggle and the strikeouts are a concern, because he’s just not that type of hitter. I heard KJR’s Jason Puckett and Ian Furness discussing moving Clement to the No. 2 spot behind Ichiro. It’s not a horrible idea. It would take some pressure off Clement to produce and drive in runs. But the only thing that would give Seattle three lefties in a row, that could be detrimental late in the innings against a team with a good left on left pitcher, especially with a limited bench because of Richie Sexson’s suspension. Although when they are hitting well, Ichiro and Clement can hit lefties as good as they can hit righties, if not better. Pitching: C Negatives: Me having to sit through Miguel Batista’s start on Tuesday which was simply the most mind-numbing, painful, boring and frustrating 2 2/3 innings of my life. Also the business of Jarrod Washburn and Kenji Johjima not agreeing on pitch selection and strategy is ludicrous. Who’s fault is it? Both. Washburn can shake off Johijima, and Joh has been in the league for long enough and with this team to figure out how the game should be called. Defense: B Management: C Positives: Giving Raul the green light on 3-0 on Sunday, which produced a home run that landed in somebody’s soup in the Hit It Here café. Sitting Yuni Betancourt for a day and delivering a message that having four awful at-bats in one game won’t go unnoticed. Negatives: Every time Greg Norton steps up and gets a hit for the Atlanta Braves, it makes me want throw something, usually in Bill Bavasi or Miguel Cairo’s direction.
Categories: General
Posted by Darrin Beene @ 01:15:58 pm
 Interesting story in today's Dayton (Ohio) paper, written by Hal McCoy, on the Mariners checking out Junior. Enjoy:
Categories: Answers to your questions
• 2 comments
Sunday, May 11th, 2008
Posted by Don Ruiz @ 10:33:23 am
Final: Obviously a happier clubhouse in the afternoon than it had been in the morning.
4:10 -- It sure looks easy when the big three of offense, starting pitching and relief pitching are working for you. Miguel Batista got his third win, the offense got its most runs since Monday, and Arthur Rhodes, Sean Green Rob Morrow and J.J. Putz made it stand up without undue suspense. A nice -- if chilled to the bone -- crowd of 30,346 looked on. 2:20 -- Raul Ibanez just gave the Mariners a 3-2 lead with a two-run, 443-foot shot to right ... one of the real power shots I've seen here for quite a while. 2 p.m.-- Mariners just loaded the bases with no outs and ended the inning with no runs: Wladimir Balentien hit into a 1-2-3 double-play and Yuniesky Bentancourt grounded out. It's Chicago 2, Mariners 1 heading into the third. 1:25: White Sox 2, Mariners coming to bat. By the way, players from both teams are wearing pink wrist bands, pink necklaces and pink ribbons -- and many are using pink bats -- in honor of Mother’s Day and breast cancer awareness. Major League Baseball Charities has committed $50,000 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure through the “Going to Bat Against Breast Cancer” program. Fans also can purchase their own personalized pink bats at www.slugger.com, with $10 from each purchase going to Komen for the Cure. And while I'm at it, happy Mothers' Day to any moms reading the blog today. 1:05 -- We've had the anthem. The roof remains closed. It is cooooold. Time to play ball. 1 p.m. -- No big news out of our meeting with John McLaren today ... unless you consider Jarrod Washburn working on a split-fingered pitch to be big news. Otherwise, the conversation today was mostly devoted to "mood" ... how the team is dealing with losing 10 of 11 games. McLaren admits to a tension in the clubhouse, which he believes could be showing up from players trying too hard A few of his quotes: "I’ve been in better times in my life, I can tell you." "They’re frustrated and there’s some tension in the clubhouse, which I think is what it is. ... There hasn’t been a whole lot to feel good about for a long time." "We’ve gone through a lot here. As a positive I hope its bringing us together as a group. We’re sticking together. We know we’re the only ones who can get ourselves out of this. There’s not an easy remedy. I can tell you the guys have probably been working too hard. With that said, that’s probably a positive step because they’re working at it. I think this is probably more of a mental grind than it is mechanically hitting." Noon: Today's Mariners lineup 1. Ichiro, cf Pitching: Batists (2-4, 5.66) 11:55 a.m. -- A slight drizzle has begun, and the Safeco roof has closed. Trivia quiz -- How many games the roof is closed in a typical 81-game home season. (Closed means closed for all or part of the game.) 10:30 a.m. -- It's cool and cloudy at Safeco Field, but the roof is open. Today's 1:10 p.m. game against the White Sox concludes what has been a dreadful homestand for the Mariners. They play Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in Texas -- the team that got this homestand off to its nasty start -- and then return home Friday for the start of interleague play with three games against the Padres. I'm heading down to the clubhouse -- also presumably cool and cloudy. And if I'm reading correctly Mr. Divish will join in with the blogging as the day moves along.
Categories: Answers to your questions
• 2 comments
Saturday, May 10th, 2008
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 11:08:20 pm
Yuck. I need a few hours, and a few cocktails to process my thoughts. But I'll post tomorrow from Casa De Divish. Don Ruiz has the game. Here's a few quotes to leave you with.... “It wasn’t a designed play or a double steal,” Manager John McLaren said. “We had taken the green light off of Willie, but Dotel was slow to the plate and we told him to go ahead go.” “Ichiro saw the ball in the dirt and that’s when he took off and the ball came right up to Uribe and he threw home,” McLaren said. “We’re trying to stay aggressive, but it didn’t work there.” “Given the situation, there’s a high probability that the last out of the inning was going to be made at second base, but that’s something that must not happen,” Ichiro said through translator Ken Baron. “If there is an out to be made, it must be made at home not second base.” “Please watch the video and find out because I’m going off feelings of the situation and I’m kind of into the moment,” he said. “It’s tough a call, so it’s hard for me to say, but that’s the reason we have umpires,” Ichiro said. “Bloomquist is always running,” Guillen said. “We just got lucky. We caught the play at the right place at the right time. This game’s crazy.” “A loss is a loss let’s be honest, but there was a few games there we didn’t have anything,” McLaren said. “Tonight I could tell there was something there, we had some fire and some enthusiasm even when we were losing 6-0.”
Categories: Answers to your questions
• 1 comment
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 07:33:17 pm
9:32 --- wow that was not good, all the way around, they get lucky that Bloomquist doesn't get nailed at second but they weren't satisfied and just made the third out at home. 9:30 --- I wonder if the pitching coach just asked Dotel, umm, why did you walk Bloomquist to get to Beltre. Why? Why? 9:25 -- It would have been nice if that were Greg Norton at the plate instead of Cairo. But Norton's probably busy winning a game for the Braves tonight. Ichiro's walk-up music is Fergie's "London Bridge" I wish I were making this up, but unfortunately I'm not. Tonight's attendance --- 33,078 9:05 --- Well three runs in one inning, you can't really complain. But it's surprising what you can grow accustomed to settling for. 8:59 --- That was a pretty good walk for Clement. He's been struggling and could have easily chased that pitch away, but he drew a walk instead. The Mariners actually have something going here. We now have Octavio Dotel in the game.... 8:52 --- Beltre comes up with a big single up the middle, scoring two runs. Coming into the game he was hitting .118 with runners in scoring position. 8:48 --- And that one at-bat kind of sums up why Willie hasn't won an every day starting job. Ichiro didn't even hit that ball that crisply. Anderson almost made another great play, interesting baserunning moves for CAiro there. 8:29 --- It's now 7-1. I can't wait to get down to the clubhouse for postgame comments. 8:18 --- THE MARINERS SCORED, THE MARINERS SCORED!!! Adrian Beltre with a solo homer to right-center. Now they need just five more. 8:12 --- The Mariners have one hit. A Kenji Johjima single up the middle. 7:44 --- A double and then a home run to Carlos Quentin. It's now 6-0. Any bets on if the Mariners can come back? Hmm. How many people changed the channel off the game already? 7:37 --- Yes Raul should have caught that. I can hear the keyboards over at the USS Mariner and Lookout Landing going into highspeed right now. 7:30 --- I got a late start on my game thoughts, and now it is already over. Well, basically it is. I mean Brian Anderson just crushed a 3-run homer to dead center, and the Mariners have never come back and won a game in which they've trailed by two runs or more this season.
Categories: Answers to your questions
• 5 comments
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 06:50:13 pm
We talked briefly with Richie Sexson, who will be replaced in the line-up tonight by Miguel Cairo. Apparently, Jose Vidro's back is still bothering him some. And Vidro believes he strained the back playing in the field in New York. Here's some of Richie's quotes...
Here's today's line-up. Betancourt is getting the day off to get a rest, but also because he's swinging at anything and everything that's being throw to the plate. So that means Willie Ballgame is in the lineup tonight.
Ichiro CF Here's some links... * Here's my game story from today's paper. * And here's my game notebook that talks about Richie * John Lackey's return to the Angels is nearing. * So is Eric Chavez's to the A's * The Rangers pitchers have carried them as of late... I can't believe I just typed that sentence. Of course, two of those games came against the Ms.
Categories: General
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 03:44:39 pm
From the Mariners' press release.
Categories: Answers to your questions
Friday, May 9th, 2008
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 07:34:38 pm
Let's get to it. 9:06 -- Another loss is looming..... Thome absolutely crushed that 3-2 pitch off of Silva. 8:45 -- Silva is at 91 pitches, but there doesn't appear to be too much activity in the bullpen. 8:37 -- Great play by Balentien. Do you honestly think Brad Wilkerson could have made that play. 8:14 -- That's typical Mariners luck, Sexson scalds a ball to center and Brian Anderson makes an unreal catch against the wall. He was running so fast you could hear him hit the wall all the way in the press box. 8:03 --- MY GOD, THEY'VE DONE IT, THEY'VE SCORED A RUN!!!!! thank you AJ Pierzynski and you're shoddy catching skills. The scoreless inning streak ends at 24 8 p.m. -- Game notebook is all filed, so we can get some game updates rolling. But its not like there's anybody out there on the net right now. I know if I wasn't covering the game, I'd probably be watching it in a bar or not at all. After all it is Friday. Yes, the Mariners are down 3-0 after Silva had a momentary lapse of control, but today is a new day and I'm trying to remain more positive. It may only last a few innings, but who knows. 7:33 -- Not much going on early, but the Mariners have a runner on third with less than two outs thanks to some aggressive base running by Adrian Beltre. Richie comes to the plate and draws a very large round of applause -- that isn't a common thing.
Categories: General
• 6 comments
Posted by Ryan Divish @ 05:27:55 pm
Sorry for no earlier posts, but I was up rather late last night trying to get find a way to put add beeps into my audio so I could post it on the blog, but I couldn't figure it out. We know that Sexson has been fined and suspended for six games. He isn't speaking with media on the situation, having been advised by the players' union not to speak until after the appeal hearing. As to when that will actually take place, no one is quite sure because it's a matter between major league baseball and the player's association so the Mariners have little to do with it. It happens independently of the Mariners. Still, manager John McLaren said they have some evidence and some other information that was said after the melee that could help Sexson get his suspension reduced. As to what, McLaren wouldn't say. Sexson is in the lineup tonight. Anyway, here's my game story from last night's debacle. * Here's my game notebook that led with Jeff Clement and his hitting struggles. Want to see how the opposing team's paper covered it? * Here's Evan Grant's story from the Dallas Morning News. * Jeff Wilson from the Ft. Worth Star Telegram, filed this story. * This is interesting.... this blog posted transcripts of what Rangers announcer Tom Grieve said about Sexson during the fight. Here's a sample...
* Rangers pitcher Kason Gabbard refused to talk about the situation last night after the game, but he talked today, and here's his comments. * HEre's another story about the situation. * It appears that Brad Wilkerson has found work. Here's today's lineups ... White Sox Mariners
Posted by Darrin Beene @ 03:12:38 pm
Mariners: Carlos Silva (3-1, 4.20 ERA) Did you know? Silva has the longest current errorless streak among all active pitchers at 151 chances. He has not made an error since May 27, 2004. White Sox: Jose Contreras (2-3, 4.08 ERA) Against the Mariners: This is Contreras’ fifth start vs. Seattle. He is 2-2 with a 4.18 ERA with an impressive 22-4 strikeout-walk ratio. Did you know? Contreras has recorded at least 10 wins and made 30 starts in each of the last four seasons.
Categories: Answers to your questions
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Mariners Insider
Ryan Divish has been with The News Tribune since 2006, covering the Tacoma Rainiers and high school sports. Divish played baseball at Dickinson State University and also earned a journalism degree from the University of Montana. You will find news, observations, anecdotes, analysis and photographs on this blog. The purpose is to keep readers informed, but also give them a feel for the team and its players, and a place to go to read about baseball. Category
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