There are 162 games in regular season. The 2001 M's final record was 116-46.
WU TA- Nice to see a Tigers fan sound off, and nice to see the tear that thgey've been on this year. Very nice to see the club playing such good ball. They've had a good team for a few years at least, and I've wondered why their record has been so bad--narroly missing losing 120 games last year, ugh! They're better than that. Carlos Pena f*cking rocks, they've had decent pitching, and adding Carlos Guillen and Pudge Rodriguez is gonna only be good in the long-run. So far, I've just enjoyed then being able to get some of the critics off their backs. I said at the beginning of the season that Detroit and Tampa Bay were gonna make huge turn-arounds this year, and at least I was half-right--TB still sucks, though I can't figure out why--thay've got lots of talent, and made great off-season acquisitions, AND they've got Sweet Lou Piniella--what more could you want? As for you NL fave- the Giants, I think playing uder the scrutiny of the BB's steroid speculation is really beginning to crumble the squad's infra-structure--I know most people would argue that it's the intentional walks--and that has alot to do with it, but he's just being a damn baby instead of a man, and his attitudes is not helping the team, not even a little.
DANZEKE25- Thanks for the Mesa update--it is VERY typical of him to have a great year of him after he switches teams--he's just lucky like that. How many seats did they add when they built the new ballpark? Just curious. I remember when they built Safeco and imploded the Kingdome--I thought it was stupid to build a new ballpark with 20,000 less seats, they had been selling out 65,000 in the kingdome to watch the M's play. But Safeco is pretty nice, as long as you're not in the batters box, that is.
Originally posted by Clark_Kent
ED-gar, ed-gar...ICHIRO! ICHIRO!..too bad I don't watch the 120 game season..i only watch Playoff Series..and this year I think the Mariners will sink..I hope not, cuz when October comes..I'm gettin' back on the bandwagon; that is of couse if they compete..and oh, yeah! they should get Freddy Garcia, out of there!
What?!? Let me guess, they should get rid of Freddy while his market value is still high? Freddy is the team's premiere starter the past four years, not including this one, which he was placed 3rd in the rotation. He started the most games, pitched the most innings by far, posted team, and sometimes AL leading ERAs, and STARTED and WON the 2001 All-Star Game. He also has played this year under heavy scrutiny and heavier criticism as he's quietly posted another AL leading ERA for the season. Even with putrid "run support" and I use the term very loosely, and having earned a ton of No Decisions already this year because of Bob Melvin's over-reliance on his bullpen, which is nowhere near as deep as last year's. Add to that the ever-present rumor that he's trade-bait, and you've got a mistreated but rock-solid workhorse not being given the credit he's due--so if you please, a little respect for the man...
I'm glad you DO have an opinion about him, though, and it's really lovely to see so many baseball fans all over the country taking interest in the Mariners! Thanks, everybody!
I guess higher ticket prices will make up for the money generated by volume, eh? I guess one good thing about less seats in the stadium is the more intimate feel. We are alot closer now. I really like the bullpen in Safeco, the pitchers warm up about 7 or 8 feet from ya. That's pretty nifty, but also kinda creepy. I'm sure it makes the players feel alot like freak-show attractions.
God, I hope so. Mariners CEO Howard Lincoln and manager Bob Melvin are runnin' out of people to blame. I was actually surprised to hear the Edgar was returning this year, after the incident in the Mariner's dugout last fall when Edgar finally stood up to Melvin after Melvin said that the team wasn't doing the best they could as individuals. Edgar very rarely gets angry and I've never seen him yell at even another player, let alone a coach or manger. He backed up his team, and reminded Melvin that they had been busting their asses all year.
I always wondered why they hired a National League bench coach to be the new M's skipper, and now I am really irritated over the contract extension he was offered and signed last month. Very irritated. This team has gone fron being the best in baseball and amazingly inconsistent to woefully inadequate even within our own division during Melvin's tenur. I'm not saying that he's a horrible manager, but part of "management" is earning and maintaining the respect of the team, and fostering good relationships with the players to maintain the continuity of an already highly synergetic team. Melvin does not do that. He is highly critical, and thoughtlessly, or worse-- deliberately utters negative comments about the players on a consistent basis. The sort of remarks he makes are unnecessary and extremely counter-effective, and it's really taking a toll on team morale. It reminds me of when Stan Williams was the pitching coach, and the way that pitchers of incalculable numbers were sent through the Mariners' systems, used and discarded immediately after a bad outing. It happened a ton with the minor leaguers, but I watched almost as many big name pitchers get absolutely shredded and then enjoy success after their departure. I saw a ton of pitchers with literally one or just a few appearances on the mound sent away after giving up a win. Most were sent down--and the man who coached them then was Bryan Price--the M's current pitching coach. After his installation, the team's pitching became an actual, honest-to-God attribute, and the team almost instantly began to improve all around. Price's focus was the psyche--mending the mind inside the man--without which, the best mechanics and fundamentals in the world are absolutely useless.
i was at game 2 of the double header he hit a HR in game 1 and 3 walked 5 times in game 2 4 were intentional he swung once i believe maybe twice total even orioles fans were booing their own team.. i was 3rd row right on 3rd base so i was hurrasing the shit out of Melvin Mora all night it was a good time i was upset that in 12 innings bonds got 1 ab but whatever ive atleast been about 20 feet from him
I'm glad you had a good time. Did you say that Bonds took a swing on some of his unofficial at-bats? He was probably just swinging out of frustration--and to keep himself from teeing off on Mora's head.
In Mora's defense I have this to say about the intentional walks--they exist for a reason. Utilizing them is just a good move defensively. I know that people say that in Bonds' case, they're overused, but that is one of the unfortunate side effects of acheiving super-stardom via home run records. The same thing happened to Griffey jr. in the early 90's when he was the man with the sweetest swing in baseball. It was irritating to see him walk so much, but Edgar was usually up next, so, you were still gonna have to get past him--which was no easy task either.
Sounds like you had a good time, and you got good seats--I love the 3rd baseline, too.
no i meant he swung once like total in the game he didnt even need to bring a bat after the 2nd inning lol .... mora sucks too though he made a couple shitty plays there were like 5 erros in the game they played piss poor.. all though im sure they were tired from game one earlier that day which was 11 innings.. but on the IBB i dont agree they are good.. even before bonds i didnt think they should be allowed.. pitchers can allways just throw 4 balls if they are scared of them.. then they have to risk throwing a bad pitch that the batter can hit or a wild one and a runner can advance on... i used to live in seattle so i watched griffey all the time too... its a total cop-out these guys are proffessional pitchers they should be able to walk a guy without having the catcher walk away from him.. IBB should be banned limited to 1 a game or the batter should be given 2 bases
I see your point, but the pitcher throws the pitch that is called to him. The c gives the call to the p, who can shake his head if he's uncomfortable, but if he threw whatever he wanted, the catcher wouldn't be in position to catch it, and if he does it more than a couple of time in a game, or consistently when he's in a jam, then he isn't gonna be pitching for long. The manager and pitching coach are logging every pitch. So there are pros and cons from the pitching and batting sides over the intentional walk. The purpose of the title of the intentional walk is to relieve him of the official at-bat and the negative effect in would have to his average while giving him the oppotunity to still score a run for the team. I think it's an important rule, really. Negating it would cause an incomprehensible number of changes to the outcome of a game.
yea the catcher calls signals but pitchers still pick the pitch to throw and no matter what pitch it is they SHOULD be able to throw it as a ball.. IBB used to be strategy that would be used every now and then I just dont like that they are now a way to pitch to certain people.. theres no way bonds will touch aarons record now but i dunno.. it jsut seems like such an easy way out.. by the way ive played baseball for years and years (im 20) and I catch and pitched when i was younger so you dont need to explain the pitch calling process lol but i dunno i think limiting the IBB per game could be a good decision because then teams would really have to use them strategiclly rather then a simple way out.. the bottom line is without fans no one will get paid.. and when fans boo thier own team because they wont pitch its pretty bad.. fans wanna see pitches and swings not a pitcher and catcher playing catch
Hey, man, I wasn't trying to talk down to you or anything--don't take it that way, I was just illustrating the point that they have to do what they're told, like anyone who has a job. You do what you're told, or you take a hike.
If the p and c play catch and load the bases, and the next player hits a grand slam, is it boring anymore? I don't think there can really be a standard arguement for this issue.
Do you really think that Bud Selig would ever try to implement a rule change that would alter baseball so drastically? That guy is a slave to image and tradition. He backed out of that Spider-man thing in less than 24 hours stating because people complained about that--and that had nothing to do with the game.
The Dodgers and Yankees had a good series this past weekend! Currently in the West Oakland, Texas, and Anaheim (YAY!! Angels!!) are fighting tighly for first place. Rather unfortunate that the Halos DL has been increasing. But most of the players are getting healthier so is more likely they will be in more games before the All star. I really want to see Vlad, Garret, and Guillen more together in the line up. Good power hitting.
Yup. Being a Mariner fan, I fear the Angels very much. The big surprise, aside from Texas, of course, is the A's. They've been pretty steadily dealing away taleent for the past few years and haven't made any outstanding acquisitions as far as position players are concerned.
I haven't seen the Angels very much yet this year, is Brendan Donnely back yet? He's been on the DL foreva this year.