Noesi Pummeled

On Saturday, Hector Noesi threw a gem, lasting 8 shutout innings.  Tonight, we wasn't able to make it out of the second as the Mariners lost 7-3 on Ichiro Bobblehead night.

White Sox (6-6)

De Aza CF

Morel 3B

Dunn DH

Konerko 1B

Pierzynski C

Rios RF

Ramirez SS

Viciedo LF

Beckham 2B

Sale (1-1, 3.09)

Mariners (7-7)

Figgins CF

Ackley 2B

Ichiro RF

Smoak 1B

Montero C

Olivo DH

Liddi 3B

Wells LF

Ryan SS

Noesi (1-1, 5.73)

Before the game started, we walked around the ballpark taking things in.  Looks like they fixed the grammatical error in the decorative "Grand Salami" quote near the Niehaus Statue.  They added an apostrophe so instead of saying "...Its Grand Salami Time" it now correctly states "It's Grand Salami Time.


We also went to Blazing Bagels near the left field entrance, I had never been there before but since it is attached to the outside the prices are much cheaper.  I got two bagels for $6.45 and my sister got a huge boxed lunch of a bagel sandwich, drink, pickle, chips, cookie, and coleslaw for $11.  I will definitely be going back there as I have been disappointed with the fare at Safeco this year.  They no longer make the garlic chicken & fries, you only receive chicken tenders and regular fries.  BOOOOOO.


Back to the game, Noesi didn't have it from the start.  Last week he was really quick between pitches, but he labored from the very first batter tonight.  It seemed like he and Montero were arguing.  I don't know what it was, but he didn't have anything!  De Aza lead off with a single, then stole a bases.  Morel walked, then Dunn hit a double to left driving in his first run of the game (he would have 5).  They loaded the bases on 1 out and got their second run via a sacrifice fly from Rios.  In the 2nd inning, he retired the first batter of the inning but then gave up 4 consecutive hits, a double, two singles, and a three run homer by Dunn to center.  Wedge yanked him after the home run.  It was disappointing as our offense was never really given a chance.  Noesi's final line:  1.1 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 2 BB, 1 K = 40.50ERA on 58 pitches!!!

One of the stories of the game is that the Mariners had runners in scoring position in each of the first four innings and could only manage one run.  Overall, we were 1 for 13 with runners in scoring position.  After opening up the 1st down 2-0, we roared right back by getting Figgins and Ackley on first and third.  Figgins had singled to shortstop, and made it all the way around to third on Ackley's single to center.  It was good base running by Figgins, once again.  But Ichiro struck out swinging and Smoak hit into a double play.  In the second inning we got runners on 2nd and 3rd with two outs but were unable to produce.  By that time we were down 6-0 and the ballgame was pretty much over.  We did squeak in a run in the third thanks to an RBI double by Ichiro.  Montero got us our second by LAUNCHING a solo homer to lead off the 6th, to dead center.  It travelled 417 feet and was his second of the year.  Ichiro picked up his second rbi of the game by driving in Ryan in the 7th.

Our Bullpen did a pretty decent job, allowing only 1 extra batter above minimum the whole rest of the game, but we were unable to overcome the damage of Noesi's ineffectiveness.  Iwakuma finally made is ML debut in the6th inning and finished off the game, allowing Dunn's second homer, a solo, to lead off the 8th inning.  There was a running joke on Twitter wondering if he even existed, since we hadn't seen a glimpse of him in the previous 14 games this season.  So there were some positives about the game, Ramirez and Iwakuma were good.  Unfortunately my optimism about the improvement in our offense this year is beginning to wane. We need to start producing!  Sure, a few of our guys had pretty decent nights at the plate but it is a team game and someone needs to step up and drive in guys when they are on base!

Montero threw out his first base runner tonight, an attempted steal by Beckham in the 7th.

An interesting note, the first 20,000 fans received an Ichiro Bobblehead.  Only 19,947 showed up to the ballgame.  My, how far we have fallen.  In the past the Bobbleheads have been gone by 5:30.   Even the classic marketing gimmicks can't drawn fans anymore!

The Mariners are now 2-3 when I attend, and 7-8 overall
Time of Game: 2:45

Figgins and Ichiro Go Yard

That's right, Figgins and Ichiro both hit homers as the Mariners and Vargas beat the Indians 4-1 in front of the smallest home crowd in Safeco history.

Indians (5-4)

Donald SS

Kipnis 2B

Choo RF

Santana C

Hafner DH

Duncan LF

Lopez 3B

Kotchman 1B

Cunningham CF

Lowe (2-0, 1.98)

Mariners (6-6)

Figgins LF

Ackley 1B

Ichiro RF

Montero DH

Seager 3B

Saunders CF

Olivo C

Kawasaki 2B

Ryan SS

Vargas (1-1, 3.44)

The story of the game was the first inning and Vargas.  Vargas went 7 strong innings, striking out seven while he gave up just one run on four hits.  The home plate umpire, Angel Campos, seemed to have a strange strike zone as there were a lot of called strikeouts, including two back-to-back by the Indians in the 4th.  Vargas struck out the side in that inning, he's not known for striking guys out.  He was really only in trouble one inning, when he loaded the bases in the 6th inning.  But, by that time he was up 4-1, and he was able to wiggle out of the jam.

Figgins gets my pick for offensive player of the game, he lead off the first inning by hitting the seventh leadoff home run of his career, first as a Mariner. It was also the first leadoff homer by a Mariner other than Ichiro since 2000, when Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson went yard.  Figgins has been a "new and improved" player.  The home run was on the 8th pitch of the at-bat.  He also had a single and a walk, and broke up a double play with a fantastic slide.  As soon as we signed him a couple of years ago I was thrilled we finally had a real leadoff hitter, for some reason they kept Ichiro in that spot and our team suffered for it.

Not to be outdone, Ichiro hit a homer run of his own just four pitches later.  It was almost as if he wouldn't let Figgins "show him up".  Everyone has always claimed Ichiro can hit a home run whenever he wants to, I guess this was proof.  Then why doesn't he do it more often?  Seager added a double, and Saunders a single in the rest of the first but we were unable to score.  We added our third run in the second inning after loading the bases with two outs.  Montero then drew a four pitch walk to score Ryan from third!

The Indians scored their only run in the third inning, Cunningham led off the inning with launched double to left that hit off the yellow line, right next to the hand operated scoreboard.  Manny Acta, the Indians' Manager, came out to argue with the third base umpire after which all four gathered together then jogged into the bowels of Safeco for an instant replay.  I HATE instant replay.  It has no place is baseball, and umpires are correct 95-99% of the time.  If it had gone over the wall, it would have sounded differently, and it would have bounced back differently.  Also, the bullpen had no reaction, they knew it was a double.  About two minutes later and the call was confirmed.  A waste of time.  NO PLACE IN BASEBALL!  A sacrifice bunt pushed Cunningham to third and he scored on a sacrifice fly by Kipnis.  And, that was their offense until the sixth inning.   The Mariners added another run in the 4th after Ryan walked, followed by consecutive singles.

Kawasaki is fun to watch, just because he exudes absolute joy.  You can tell he loves the game, and is very generous with the fans.  He had a walk in the bottom of the third and after a pick off attempt he did a pushup at first, then was caught stealing.  It is weird watching him because the swing is EXACTLY like Ichiro's.

Ackley had his first ML start at first base as Smoak was out with a tight hamstring.

It is a shame more people aren't going to games, they are a lot more enjoyable to watch this year.  I looked around about the third inning and wondered when we had turned into Oakland, I also thought back to the Kingdome days, but at least then we were covered and warm!  The smallest crowd ever was actually an away game vs the Marlins last year, but tonight counted as the smallest home crowd.

Record when I attend: 2-2
Attendance: 11,343
Time of Game: 2:47

Historic Night at the Safe

It was a long, cold, night in front of the fourth smallest crowd in Safeco Field history, 12,461, as the Mariners blew an 8-1 lead to lose 9-8 to the Cleveland Indians. It was also a game in which a couple of players had career nights, and the Mariners attained their 50,000th hit and 25,000th run in team history.

Indians (4-4)

Brantley CF

Kipnis 2B

Choo RF

Santana C

Hafner DH

Duncan LF

Kotchman 1B

Hannahan 3B

Donald SS

Masterson (1-1,  2.77)

Mariners (6-5)

Figgins LF

Ackley 2B

Ichiro RF

Smoak 1B

Seager 3B

Montero C

Saunders CF

Ryan SS

Jaso DH

Millwood (0-0, 1.50)

There were three ex-Mariners in the starting lineup for Cleveland: Choo, Kotchman, and Hannahan; as well as the son of a former Mariner (Brantley).  The game started out with Millwood in trouble, he gave up a leadoff full count single to Brantley, who ended up stealing second.  Montero was much better than the previous game in making it a close play at second.  He will continue to improve, hopefully.  Millwood got Kipnis and Choo to fly out, but walked Santana and then gave up an RBI single to Hafner.  Just like that, it was 1-0.  The Mariners went down in order in their half of the first,

Nothing truly of note until the third inning, except Smoak got the first of a new career high 4 hits in the 2nd inning, this after the Indians went down in order.  In the top of the third, Smoak got all three putouts, unassisted, broken up by a single by Choo.  Then, in the bottom of the third, our offense started to kick in.  Ryan got a walk with one out, then Jaso hit his first home run as a Mariner to right, putting us ahead 2-1.

In the bottom of the 4th and top of the 5th, 13 runs scored and 23 batters came to the plate.  It lasted around 45-50 minutes and started out epically awesome, followed by total exasperation as we wasted a seven run lead!!!  First, the Mariners.  Smoak lead off with his second single of the game on the first pitch, followed by yet another first pitch single by Seager.  Seager' hit was the 50,000th hit in Mariner history!  Montero swung at the first pitch but flew out to left for the first out.  Saunders got a single off a 3-0 count to right, and the bases were loaded!!!

Ryan, believe it or not, drew a bases loaded walk, his second walk of the game, to force in Smoak.  That run, our third of the game, was the 25,000th run in Mariner history!  In one inning we surpassed two pretty cool milestones.  Everyone was really pumped to see Jaso up with the bases loaded, as he had hit a homer in his first plate appearance.  Well, he got another RBI with his second... by getting hit by the pitch!  So we had loaded the bases and scored two runs via a walk, and a hit batter.  On the next pitch, Figgins got a sacrifice fly to center to score Saunders.  Ackley drew yet another walk, Ichiro got a two rbi single, and we had batted around.  Smoak, in his second at-bat of the inning, got his THIRD single of the game, driving in Ackley.  At this point Masterson was replaced.  Seager then hit a fly ball to left, ending the inning but not before we had pushed across six runs on five hits.  We were up 8-1, and all 12,461 seemed very confident.

The confidence and lead would not last long.  The Indians quickly roared right back with double and a single to start the inning.  Then, on what was a routine double play, Ryan bobbled the ball and couldn't get an out.  You can't assume a double play, but it was as routine as they get.  The runner scored, and instead of two outs with only one run in, there were runners on first and second with nobody out.  You can't give a ML team extra outs, no matter the score.  That was just the window/opportunity Cleveland needed.  It could have been a whole different ballgame if Ryan's head had been in the game.  He's one of the best fielders out there.  Two more singles produced two more runs and it was 8-4 with two runners on with the cleanup hitter at the plate.  He launched a three run homer to right and it was now a run run ballgame, and Millwood's night was over.  They added another run to tie it up.  In total, 13 Indians batted in the 5th inning.  The produced 7 runs on six hits.

It seemed like we were going to quickly answer back, as we got the first two batters on via a walk and an error.  But they were stranded there as Ryan and Jaso struck out swinging, and Figgins.  That was pretty much their last chance until the 9th inning.  In the sixth, Smoak got a broken bat single with two outs, his fourth hit of the night.  All singles, but a career high.  Two were hit to opposite field, and I'm hoping this means he will break out of his early season struggles.  He entered the game batting just .186.

The Indians added a run in the 7th to go up 9-8, but this was never a game in which I felt we had no chance.  In the 9th inning we nearly pulled it out thanks to a wacky play.  After Smoak was retired for the only time of the night, Seager had a fantastic at-bat with a single to right on the eighth pitch.  Montero, on the first pitch, hit what was probably a game ending double play.  However, it took a very strange hop and hit the shortstop in the face, the ball ricocheted to shallow center and Seager was at first.  There were runners at the corners with 1 out.  All we needed was a sacrifice fly, and the ballgame was tied.  Kawasaki came into the game to pinch run for Seager, and Olivo for Montero.  But Saunders was unable to get a deep fly, and there were two out.  Ryan then drew four straight balls and walked for the fourth time in the game.  That is a career high for Ryan too.  Bases loaded!!  But it wasn't to be as Jaso ended the game with a routine fly to right.  And, after 3 hours and 33 minutes, the ballgame was over.

Some promising events occurred, our offense is definitely improved from last year.  We scored 8 freaking runs!  However, it is our pitching that is going to be an issue this year.  Also, we only had one extra base hit the whole game, Jaso's single.  We should and could have broken this thing wide open. I always joke when we score a bunch of runs that we need to "save" some offense for the next game, especially because Vargas is on the mound tomorrow and the Mariners tend to not score much for him.  But, in this case, I wish we hadn't.

I would say that Smoak and Ryan with career highs were the players of the game, but Ryan's 4 walks and two runs didn't make up for his huge mental error in the 5th inning.

Oh, another record was made today but not at the game.  Former Mariner Jamie Moyer, now pitching for the Rockies, won his first game of the year.  He is now the oldest pitcher to ever win a game, at 49 years and 150 days old.  Awesome feat by a man who took the entire 2011 season off to have Tommy John surgery.

Record when I attend: 1-2
The Roof was closed the entire game.

Noesi and Montero Shine

I have attended four shutouts in a row at Safeco Field, thankfully today was the first time the Mariners had won in that span.  Today's final score was the reverse of yesterday's, as we won 4-0.  The stars of the game were traded for in the Pineda trade. 

Athletics (4-4)

Weeks 2B

Crisp LF

Reddick RF

Cespedes CF

Smith DH

Suzuki C

Barton 1B

Donaldson 3B

Pennington SS

Milone (1-0, 0.00)

Mariners (4-5)

Figgins CF

Ackley 2B

Ichiro RF

Smoak 1B

Montero C

Liddi 3B

Olivo DH

Wells LF

Ryan SS

Noesi (0-1, 21.00)

It was the first time we got to see Noesi, I had no idea what to expect as he was shelled in his first start in Texas.  He was very effective and induced a ton of popups.  Ackley alone had four of the nine. The only major trouble he got in was in the 8th inning.  He was at 88 pitches through 7 and at the rate he was going I thought he had a possibility of a complete game.  He retired the first two batters of the 8th, but then Pennington got a single up the middle and Weeks launched a double to right center.  We were lucky that it bounced over the fence for a ground rule double, 'cause Pennington was already around third ready to score.  Noesi then induced Crisp to pop up on the next pitch, and he stranded the runners on second and third.  Fantastic first outing at home, I was very impressed.  League came in to finish off the game in the 9th.

Milone faced only 1 batter above the minimum through 5 innings, that was Montero's 2nd inning full count rocket of a home run to deep center, estimated at 415 feet.  It was literally a line drive, I thought it was going to hit off the top of the wall for a double but it kept carrying.  It was his first home run as a Mariner.  That was all of our offense until the sixth inning.  There was a questionable call in the 4th in which Ichiro hit a solid stroke just past first base.  Barton was able to deflect it, but it hit the first base umpire so instead of going to the wall Barton was able to snatch it and throw to Milone covering first.  Wedge came out to argue, pointing animatedly.  It was bang bang, huge boos came from the concourse after the replay on TV, but according to twitter he was out. 

In the sixth inning we broke out for three more runs.  We loaded the bases with 1 out via a Ryan single, Figgins double, and Ackley walk.  Ichiro, not surprisingly, popped out.  So the bases were loaded with two out for the "meat" of our lineup.  Smoak has been struggling but he patiently worked a walk for his third RBI of the year.  Then, Montero came through again with a double down the right field line, it dropped right in front of our section and cleared the bases... except Smoak was thrown out at home (9-3-2) so we only got two runs on the play.  The collision at home was a little scary at first, as Smoak seemed to take some time getting up.  But he played the rest of the game so he must be okay.  Montero was the hero, his final line: 3 AB, R, 2B, HR, 3RBI

Montero quietly has an 8 game hitting streak.  I guess he has done so because they had all been singles prior to tonight.  Also, he caught his second game of the year.  We have won both games, and unlike Olivo he has done a decent job blocking pitches.  The kid is only 22, I can see Montero moving to being the starting catcher if he continues to make progress.  The Athletics did steal a base on him in the third, but the more repetitions he gets the better he will be.  Of course, he won't be one of the top notch defensive catchers out there, but his better than average offense will offset that.  Your DH should not be a 22 year old.  

I would like the add that the Saturday curse is officially broken!  Last year I attended 9 games on Saturday and we won none of them!

The Mariners are now 1-1 when I attend, 5-5 overall.
Attendance: 21,071
Time of Game: 2:29

Mariners Disappoint in 2012 Home Opener

Opening Day is full of optimism and excitement.  I look forward to new additions to the food, ballpark, and to seeing old friends.  I love singing Take Me Out to the Ballgame and counting down from 10 at the home plate entrance before they open the gates.  I love the brass band that tours the concourse, bringing that "old time" feel.  I had reason to be excited this year, as we were 4-4 on our road trip and our offense had showed some signs of life.  Well, it didn't tonight as we lost 4-0.

Athletics (3-4)

Weeks 2B

Crisp LF

Reddick RF

Cespedes CF

Smith DH

Suzuki C

Barton 1B

Donaldson 3B

Pennington SS

Colon (1-1, 5.89)

Mariners (4-4)

Figgins LF

Ackley 2B

Suzuki RF

Smoak 1B

Seager 3B

Montero DH

Saunders CF

Olivo C

Ryan SS

Hernandez (1-0, 4.40)

Unfortunately the best part of the ballgame was in the first inning and prior to that with the traditional Opening Day ceremonies.  The team trotted out on a red carpet, they had the annual "run around the bases" by a make a wish kid.  The most exciting was Mike Cameron threw out the first pitch and it was announced that he signed a contract earlier in the day so that he could retire as Mariner.  What a class act.  After he left years ago, I bought a t-shirt on sale and pulled it out of my drawer.  I'd never worn it!  It was a little big, but had to sport my Cammy attire.  There was also a nice tribute to Greg Halman before the game.  Such a loss.

Felix looked fired up in the first inning, striking out the first two batters he faced.  The rest of the game, he got into a few jams but as he learned a couple of years ago he held fast and kept us in the ballgame.  As was often the case last year, his offense failed him.  In the second inning, he struck out Cespedes from Cuba (already has hit 3 homers against us this year), then gave up his first hit to Smith who was doubled up as Suzuki ground into a 6-4-3 DP.  In the third inning the ballgame was pretty much decided.  Felix gave up three hits, walked one, and gave up his two runs before escaping.  The next inning, Oakland loaded the bases with 1 out via a double, walk, and single. But, he got out of trouble again.  It was unfortunate that we couldn't muster any sort of offense against Colon. 

Because of the way the weird opening in Japan has gone... this was the third time we've faced Colon already this year.  The first time in Japan we sucked, he lasted 8 innings of 1 run, 3 hit ball in a 4-1 loss. The second time in Oakland we roughed him up on our way to an 8-7 victory: 4.1 IP, 10 H, 7 R.  This year is was yet again 3 measly hits in 7 innings.  It started out with getting two runners on in the first, which made me think that we had a chance today with the way that Felix looked in the first.  But we scattered our three hits and was never able to get any offense going.  Really frustrating, so the last three games I have attended the Mariners have been shut out.

A positive, Ichiro is now out of the lead off spot.  Unfortunately they have him in at the third spot... but really I can't see anyone filling that role for now.  Singles hitters should be down at the bottom of the order, not in the meat of your lineup.  Another positive, my new seats on the aisle in row 7 look to be great seats!  There were a lot of people walking up and down, but hopefully that will die down with smaller crowds.

Olivo had another passed ball in the 8th.  Appalling.  It led to us being down 3-0 instead of 2-0.  But it didn't matter, I guess, since we couldn't score.

The announced attendance was 46,026 but there were noticeably empty patches in the outfield and 300 level.  Could this be due to the fact their credit card processing system was offline most of the game?  I doubt it.  More likely someone swooped in at the last minute to purchase tickets to make it seem sold out, or people decided not to go.

I got the new brisket sandwich, which was $9.75, cheaper than last year, but absolutely disgusting.  It was cold, the meat was of poor quality, and it was much less tasty than last year.  I will not be getting it again.  They did add sweet potato fries, though, so that should be interesting. 

All in all, a disappointing and frustrating night.  1 down, 80 more to go!

The Mariners are 0-1 when I attend.

2012 Preview

I'm writing this less than two weeks before the start of the 2012 season!  A lot changed, we lost Greg Halman in November.  In January, Pineda was traded to the Yankees for Jesus Montero, the young catcher we initially were going to get for Cliff Lee.  Instead, we got Smoak, Beavan, and Josh Lueke.

I like the trade for a couple of reasons... we need hitting and maybe it will get Damn Yankees off our back over Felix.  They have been in pursuit of our ace for a couple of years.  Pineda is still young, nobody know exactly what type of pitcher he'll turn into.  His sophomore year will be interesting, especially under the New York spotlight.  Same goes for Montero, not really sure what we are getting.  He is projected to be great, but it all comes down to what happens on the field.  Supposedly not that great behind the plate, but anyone is better than Olivo!

The Mariners are opening in Japan on March 28th and 29th vs Oakland.  That's right, in Japan.  I'm not pleased on many levels. These are games that will count in the standings! Exhibition games during the off season are fine, but regular season??  NO!  They are trying to make up for the jet lag/travel issues by not having another regular season game until April 6th, in Oakland.  Between the games in Japan and the "real season" we are playing a few more spring games.  I know they played exhibition games in the old days during the regular season sometimes, but this is 2012.  Let the players go out there during the off season. 

Another reason I don't like it, is that I will somehow have to avoid spoilers on the games as they are played live, in Japan, at around 2 or 3 in the morning.  Thankfully I have Tivo, but avoiding the tv/internet/radio until I get home from work is going to be daunting.

Other issues, Florida changed their name to the Miami Marlins with horribly garish new uniforms and colors. It was announced that the Astros are joining the AL West in 2013.  Are you fucking kidding me?  This is to even out the leagues at 15 teams apiece and coincides with another huge change, adding yet another wild card team for the playoffs.

Instead of 4 teams from each league making it (3 Division winners, 1 Wild Card) there will now be 5.  With 30 teams in MLB that means 1/3 will make it.  It dilutes the sanctity of the postseason, and in my opinion is done solely for ratings as you can pretty much guarantee Boston and New York will make it practically ever year.   The two wild card teams will have a one game playoff.  They should have only expanded the playoffs if they expanded the league.  They could have added 2 to the AL which would have left 16 in each league.  Split that up into 4 Divisions and each Division winner makes the playoffs.  No wild card!  Or, go back to two divisions and the top two teams make it from each division.

The realignment means that interleague games will have to go on every day.  I HATE INTERLEAGUE.  It ruins the excitement that you used to have over the All-Star game and World Series.  Okay, if they had to have realigned they could have picked someone better than Houston.  Denver seems more like an AL city than Houston. That would have been much better for us travel wise..  Or, Milwaukee should have returned to the AL.  But why did it have to occur at the same time as expanded playoffs???  By the way, MLB announced expanded playoffs are going to start this year.
They were mulling expanding instant replay but thankfully are holding off on that, for now.

Instant Replay is evil.  Baseball is an imperfect game with split second decisions, they are always talking about trying to speed up the game... yet instant replay will only take away from the flow.  I have been against IR from day one, and I will go to my grave hating it.  If you look at the replays on TV, most of the time the umpires are spot on.  The way MLB is going there will soon be robots.

For some reason MLB continues to try and ruin the game I love:  Interleague, steroids, instant replay, realignment, and expanded playoffs.  I can't imagine how I'd feel if I had been born before the DH rule came into effect.  Yet, for some reason, I keep coming back. 

Our Division keeps getting tougher.  Texas lost in the World Series for the second straight year, and added Yu Darvish, a Japanese pitcher, in the offseason.  He's supposed to be good, but there is a reason all of the best players come to MLB.  It is the highest level of baseball competition in the World and just 'cause he was successful in Japan doesn't mean that will translate here.  The Angels signed Albert Pujols to a 10 year contract and pulled C.J Wilson away from the Rangers.  I was angry with the Pujols situation.  He left the Cardinals, arguably the greatest fan base in baseball, after spending his whole career there.  There is no loyalty in sports anymore.  St. Louis must be heartbroken.  The 10 year contract is a big mistake too.  Pujols is "32" years old.  He's from the Dominican Republic.  They are notorious for fudging ages down there to attract scouts.  Some rumors are that Pujols is more in the 35/36 age range.  If that's the case, his numbers will start to decline in the next couple of years.  Remember, steroids are supposedly out of baseball now.  No miraculous feats of prowess after the age of 40 anymore.

I almost forgot, Eric Wedge announced that Ichiro is no longer the leadoff batter!  This brings me such joy, I can't express it!  Unfortunately he has been moved to the 3rd spot in the lineup.  Ideally Ichiro would bat 8th or 9th.  He has yet to prove to me that he can hit with runners on, or with power.  Supposedly he can hit a home run whenever he wants to.  Well, he's going to need to prove it.  And he's going to need to do more than hit choppers in the infield.  The first month or two should be very interesting.  Usually when I player is in decline they don't put him in the middle of the order.

We look to be an improved offensive team, but anything would be an improvement over last year.  Our big question will be pitching.  After Felix and Vargas, all of our starting spots are pretty much up for grabs, and numbers wise the Bullpen doesn't look too strong.  Time will tell.  I can tell you that I am excited by the possibilities of this year.  You can see that we are turning in the right direction.  I'm aiming between 73-75 wins.  Anything more than that and it will be above and beyond expectations.

A Day of Sadness

I woke up yesterday to read the horrible news that Greg Halman had been killed at the age of 24 at his home in the Netherlands.  His brother was arrested in the stabbing.  Words can't express what a horrible tragedy this is.  He was so promising earlier this year.  I loved his passion, skill, and the way he held himself.  Nobody knows what type of player he was going to turn into.  And now, we'll never know.  In the history books he will come across as hitting .207 in 44 career games with 2 HR and 9 RBI.  He was so much more than that.  My heart goes out to his friends, teammates, and family.  Just a horribly senseless act.  I can't recall the Mariners ever losing an active player before, it is quite a shock and left me disoriented throughout the day.

The only solace we can all take is that he was able to live his dream, if for only a fleeting moment.  Not many of us can say that.

Rest in peace, brother.

2011 and Pitcher Recap

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I wanted to see how well the starting pitchers did during the games I went to.  However, the W/L does not mean the SP necessarily picked up the Win or Loss.  It refers to the final result for the game.  As you can see, the Mariners scored only 1 freaking run in Fister's 3 starts.  Poor guy, I'm sure he's feeling much better in Detroit.

Let's compare run support.  Fister, as I stated, only had 1 run scored for him in three games, or .33 runs per game.  That's definitely at the bottom.  Bedard, traded to Boston, was given 4 runs in three games, 1.33/game.  Furbush, Vasquez, and Pineda were all even at 2.3/game.  Felix was 2.89/game, and Vargas 3.22/game.  The man with the most support was Beavan at 3.6/game.  If you take out the first game Felix pitched, the historic come from behind win, then the Mariners only scored 2 runs per game in which he started!!

To the side you will find the SP ranked from lowest to highest ERA.  This isn't the best gauge always, but is a good indication on how their totals compared.  Then I decided to take out the "outliers".  That is, a game in which they just weren't as sharp as usual.  I only did this on pitchers who had 5 or more starts, 'cause it enabled me to see trends more easily.  I removed the 4/8 game for Vargas, 4/11 game for Felix, 8/15 for Pineda and 9/27 for Beavan.  We had a 2-2 record in those games.

It looks like the top two starting pitchers duking it out are Felix and Pineda.  They are pretty even in all categories, if only Pineda had 3 more starts then it would have been really easy to pick the top guy.  Statistics wise, Pineda not only tops Felix in ERA, but also in run support, strikeouts per 9 innings (9.44 vs 8.97), and Strikeout/Walk Ratio (4.1 vs 3.58), and Walks & Hits per Inning Pitched (.95 vs 1.06).  But Felix did last deeper into the games, and like I said he had 3 more starts.  Some of the stats could have something to do with the fact that he was a rookie.  They tried not to push his innings too far, and a lot of the teams did not have scouting on him.  Felix won the Cy Young last year, he had a lot of people gunning for him.  Ask me who I want on the mound and I would pick Felix over Pineda any day.  Felix is proven, Pineda still has a few more years to develop.
It was much harder for me to compare the hitters.  We had so many injuries and roster moves that I was only able to find 6 players with at least 100 plate appearances over those 41 games: Ichiro, Olivo, Ryan, Ackley, Smoak, and Kennedy.  Carp was just under at 91 PA.  The result?  They were pretty much pathetic!  I don't know how many more ways I can prove that our offense sucked this year. 

Below you see our team hitting organized by month.  April and August were our best months, followed by May.  Remember, this is only with the top seven players mentioned above.  Doing the whole team would have been too large of a project.

Team batting by month, combining Ackley, Carp, Ichiro, Kennedy, Olivo, Smoak, and Ryan

Overall, not good at all. No single player has ever had that many plate appearances in a season.  But let's ignore that part.  Even if this had been a regular season length, 17 homers with 63rbi could be seen as a pretty poor season, akin to the seventh man in the lineup.  The .216 batting average is terrible, the 191 strikeouts vs 66 walks is horrible.  That's 2.89 (nearly 3) per walk.  We struck out 23% of our plate appearances. 

The tables above compare the 7 players.  The first organizes by On Base Percentage, Batting Average, and finally by plate appearances.  I was surprised to see how low Ackley's BA was, it seemed like every time I saw him he got a hit, or at least got on base.  I'm excited to see what he brings over a full 162 games next year.  In general I care more for On Base Percentage than Batting Average.  A good batter will have an OBP of at least 75 points higher than their BA.   A great one will be 100 or more above.  For the seven players, here is how they ranked:

1. Smoak (.116)
2. Ackley (.113)
3. Ryan (.082)
4. Olivo (.051)
5. Carp (.051)
6. Ichiro (.042)
7. Kennedy (.027)

I also like extra base hits.  I like them because if you have someone on, they are more likely to score!  I like them because the only way you can score in baseball is if your runner gets around the bases.  The faster they move from base to base, the less work the player behind them has to do.  If you leadoff the inning with a double, you can get two productive outs and score the runner without a base hit.  So, here are the players listed by the percent of their hits being extra bases.  For the team it was .067, just below the "good" threshold.

1. Smoak (61.90%)
2. Carp (47.37%)
3. Olivo (41.18%)
4. Ackley (36.84%)
5. Kennedy (33.33%)
6. Ichiro (20.51%)
7. Ryan (13.04%)

Ryan isn't really surprising, he went a really long time without an extra base hit to start the season.  OlivoSmoak's and Carp's numbers can probably be partially attributed to their lack of games played.  Overall, the "team" percentage was 34%.

Finally. let's look at the Strikeouts per Walk ratio.  The lower, the better.   As stated above, the team ratio was 2.89:1

1. Ackley (1.71:1)
2. Smoak (2.00:1)
3. Ryan (2.50:1)
4. Ichiro (2.86:1)
5. Carp (4.67:1)
6. Kennedy (6.67:1)
7. Olivo (8.00:1)

I like RBI almost more than I love extra base hits, 'cause I don't care how we get them!  Let's compare the leaders in the percentage of time a plate appearance led to an RBI.  It may not exactly be fair because the meat of your order is generally who will produce your most runs.  So, it isn't surprising that Ichiro and Ryan are near the bottom.  Olivo hit in the 3/4/5 spots most of the year, and he should be higher.  Kennedy is the real surprise.

1. Carp (13.19%)
2. Smoak (11.32%)
3. Kennedy (9.00%)
4. Ackley (7.92%)
5. Ichiro (6.29%)
6. Olivo (5.22%)
7. Ryan (3.23%)

Now, if we "weigh" all the leaders in the categories I talked about above, here is a list of the top batters for the year.  There are 7 categories: OBP, BAA, PA, BAA above OBP, XBH%, BB/K, and RBI %. 

1. Smoak
2. Ackley
3. Ichiro
4. Carp
5. Ryan
6. Kennedy
7. Olivo

The top two hitters were Ackley and Smoak.  I was surprised to see Ichiro that high, although that is attributed to being first in plate appearances and second in batting average.  He was second to last in two categories and smack dab in the middle for the other one.  Olivo was at the bottom, and we got him for his bat, 'cause his defense sure sucks.  I'm hoping we either pick up a new catcher, or Adam Moore stays healthy.

Well, that's it.  That wraps up 2011.  I'm sure I could spend months digesting and regurgitating different statistics but I think this will suffice.  2012 is right around the corner, and our kids are going to deliver (or heads will roll).

End of Year Recap

 I ended up going to exactly half of the home games, if you include the away games we played against the Marlins.  I ran short of my goal, but this was due to missing around a month because of my back injury.  From the statistics I compiled, I pretty much proved that if the Mariners scored more than 4 runs, they would win.  Their record was 12-1 when they scored more than 4 runs, which means they won 92% of the time!!!   Unfortunately, it seemed a little too difficult for them to score that many.

Mariners Record By Team Played

As you can see from the stats, I saw the Mariners play 15 different teams, 4 NL and 11 AL teams.  Since there are 14 in the American League, I only missed 2: Baltimore, and Boston.  Our record in Inter-league games was 2-4.  It isn't surprising that the top two teams I saw most frequently were from our division.  Nearly 20% of the time I hit Safeco I had the pleasure of seeing the green and gold of the Athletics, but that is helped by our positive record (5-3).  I was a little surprised that I saw the Rangers as many times as the Blue Jays, but maybe that is a good thing (1-3).

Now I will show a game of all game results organized by date played.  I will do another post on individual batter/pitcher statistics, although that is turning into a bigger venture than I thought!.  As you can see by the chart below, losses are in red and wins in black.  There are so many different ways I can rank/calculate, the options are endless and I could do 15 posts about it.  But I won't, at least for now.

The Greatest Loss was on Opening Night, as we lost by 9 runs to Cleveland.  Our Largest Win was July 1st (Game 19) against San Diego.  Interesting that the Starting Pitcher both games was Jason Vargas. 

Average attendance per game I attended was 22,798.  The capacity of Safeco Field is over 45,000.  The average time of game was 2:41.  The shortest game of the year (Game 34) clocked in at 2:04, and the longest was the historic comeback in Game 3 at 3:46.

The smallest crowd of 12,770 for Game 6 was only 4 tickets above the second smallest (Game 5).

From the table at the top of the page as well as to the left, you can see our pathetic run totals.  We scored 1 or fewer runs in 15 games.  That is over a third of all games I went to!  We won only 1 of those (Game 5), the lowest attended game of the year, and were shut out in 6 of them.  At least we threw 5 of our own!

The absolute worst day to go was Saturday. I find it hard to believe that we lost every single Saturday game I went to! But the stats don't lie, they were 0-9.  That can't be a coincidence.  It will be interesting to see if I find a similar result in 2012

I'm glad I compiled all these, it will be interesting to look for patterns year after year.

September Games Recap

The final month of the season wrapped up poorly.  I didn't keep track of food the final games, but that ended up being too hard to keep track of anyway so I won't do again next year.

Thu 9/1 LAA L 4-3, Furbush,  Baked Potato, scored, 19,453
Thu 9/8 KC W 4-2, Vargas, Pizza, scored, 14,473
Sat 9/10 KC L 4-2, Pineda, Torta, scored, 17,883
Sun 9/11 KC L 2-1, Vasquez, Cafe, scored, 20,951
Tue 9/13 NYY L 3-2, Furbush, Burger, scored, 18,306
Fri 9/16 TEX W 4-0, Beavan, scored, 17,607
Sat 9/17 TEX L 7-6, Vasquez, scored, ROOF, 22,159
Mon 9/26 OAK W 4-2, Vargas, scored, ROOF, 17,507
Tue 9/27 OAK L 7-0, Beavan, scored, 18,600
Wed 9/28 OAK L 2-0, Vasquez, scored, 20,173

Record by Starting Pitcher
Felix: N/A (6-3)
Pineda: 0-1 (4-2)
Vargas: 2-0 (3-6)
Beavan: 1-1 (3-2)
Furbush: 0-2 (0-3)
Vasquez: 0-3 (0-3)
Fister: N/A (0-3)
Bedard: N/A (1-2)

Record by Day (Overall)
Mon: 1-0 (6-3)
Tue: 0-2 (2-3)
Wed: 0-1 (3-2)
Thu: 1-1 (2-1)
Fri: 1-0 (5-4)
Sat: 0-2 (0-9)
Sun: 0-1 (0-1)

Record By Food
Baked Potato: 1-0 (2-1)
Cookies: N/A (1-1)
Pizza:  1-0 (4-1)
Gyro: N/A (3-2)
Garlic Chicken N/A (2-2)
Garlic Fries: N/A (1-1)
Kettle Corn: N/A (3-2)
Crepe: N/A (2-3)
Brisket Sandwich: N/A (1-1) 
Burger: 0-1 (0-2)
Cafe: 0-1 (0-1)
Torta: 0-1 (1-1)

Record with Roof Closed: 1-1 (3-3)
Record while Scoring: 3-7 (10-17)

Attendance:
Mon: 17,057;
Tue: 18,306; 18,600
Wed: 20,173
Thu: 19,453; 14,473
Fri: 17,607
Sat: 17,884; 22,159
Sun: 20,951
Avg Attendance:  18,666 (21,953)

Overall Score:  Opponent 33 (135) Mariners 26 (121)
Run Differential: -7 (-14)

Avg Runs Scored
Mariners 2.6
Opponent 3.33

Greatest Run Differential Win: 4
Greatest Run Differential Loss:7

Mariners total Runs Record:
0: 0-2 (0-6)
1: 0-1 (1-8)
2: 0-2 (1-4)
3: 0-1 (4-4)
4: 3-0 (5-0)
5:       (3-0)
6: 0-1 (2-1)
8:       (2-0)

Opponent:
0: 1-0 (5-0)
1:       (2-1)
2: 2-2 (7-4)
3: 0-1 (1-3)
4: 0-2 (1-5)
5:       (1-3)
6:       (0-1)
7: 0-2 (1-2)
8:       (0-2)
9:       (0-1)
12:     (0-1)

Overall 3-7 (18-23)
One Run Games: 0-4 (6-7)