Seattle Mariners Game 4: Baltimore 7 Seattle 4

You can't win them all. At least that's what they say. I don't know who they are but I agree with them. Baseball teams just aren't going to go 162-0, they aren't robots. It isn't so much losing that hurts, it is how we lost this one.

Let's get a few things straight here. The Orioles aren't exactly a powerhouse. In fact some would go as far to call them the AAA team of baseball. Now I am not saying they don't have good players on their team because they do. The problem is that they have a lot of young, inexperienced guys that are trying to find their way in the big leagues. They have a mediocre pitching staff at best. These are the teams that the Mariners need to beat. But I digress. So many things were wrong in this baseball game tonight, starting with the pitching.

I would say that the #4 and #5 guys in a pitching rotation should be expected to pitch about 5 inning ball on most nights. Anything else from them is icing on the cake. One of the things I feel is one of the strengths of the Mariners ball club is the depth in their starting rotation. Washburn and Batista are solid guys to have at the back end. Guys that should guarantee you 12-14 wins each on the season. Washburn was nowhere near being solid tonight. He was terrible against a not very good Baltimore team. He threw WAY too many balls which led to him having thrown over 60 pitches through only 2 innings. His final line on the night was 5 innings pitched, 6 hits, 3 earned runs, 1 walk and 4 strikeouts. Sure he only gave up 3 runs, but he looked terrible doing so. Never mind the fact that when we did take the lead at one point he went right back out the next inning and handed it back to the Orioles. My overall feeling on Washburn's performance tonight...

The bullpen did not fare any better in this game. Baek came in to pitch the 6th inning and gave up 2 hits, 3 earned runs coming off of 2 home runs by Mora and Payton. Rowland-Smith came in for the 7th inning and couldn't do much of anything useful as he gave up 2 hits and 1 earned run. Pitching as a whole was just gross tonight. My overall feeling on the bullpen tonight...

Let's not put it all on the pitchers though. The hitters didn't do much of anything either. Aside from Beltre and Sexson (he is going to get going, I can feel it) both hitting 2 run home runs tonight everyone else was pretty much useless. Although Lopez did have another good game as far as hits go, he was 2 for 3. How about Ichiro swinging at crap on a 3-0 pitch and popping it up. Or Ibanez swinging at a 3-0 pitch (with no one out) and grounding into a double play. Both of them are veteran hitters and should know better than that. Frustrating. And never mind Wilkerson trying to steal second base with Vidro at the plate. For starters Wilkerson should not be stealing bases, he is just not a fast runner. He was out by a mile and to make matters worse Vidro struck out on the play. Strike em out throw em out!! Could we have made it any easier on the Orioles pitching tonight. Former Mariner Adam Jones was 1-4 on the night while the other former Mariner George Sherrill got the save. My overall feeling on the offence all night long...

Game 2 of this series is supposed to get underway tomorrow at 7:05 pm ET but with rainy weather scheduled in the Baltimore area for much of the weekend who knows if the games will end up getting played. If the game does go ahead though Miguel Batista will start for the M's and Adam Loewen for the Orioles. Lets hope the guys show up for the game tomorrow and not put us through another frustrating night.

Seattle Mariners Game 3:Mariners 4 Rangers 1

Always nice to start the season off on a good note. Carlos Silva was outstanding in his first start as a Seattle Mariner. 7 innings pitched, 3 hits, 1 earned run, 3 walks and 5 strikeouts. Not a bad night for a guy who is eager to win the loyalty of the Seattle fan base. Silva signed a big contract with the M's this off season, a contract a lot of people thought was way too much for a guy of his abilities. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. But I really believe Silva will surprise a lot of people and thrive in a pitchers ball park like Safeco Field in Seattle. Add to that the outstanding defense he has behind him, I think he will do just fine.

So much has been said about Jose Lopez and whether he will be the real deal or not this season. Two years ago he was at the all star game but then last year he struggled with consistency and practically disappeared in the second half of the season. He is an outstanding defensive player and I really believe with his head in the right place he is in for a great year. He is off to a good start and hit his first home run of the season in this game, a 3 run shot off of Rangers starter Jason Jennings. DH Jose Vidro also hit a solo home run.

With JJ Putz on the DL with his rib injury, starter Miguel Batista stepped up and closed out the game. He did a great job. I am confident that our bullpen and occasionally Batista will be able to pull through for us until JJ is back and healthy. The more confidence the M's can have in them means JJ doesn't have to rush back from this injury.

Yesterday was a travel day for the team who is now in Baltimore for a 4 game series starting tonight at 7:05 PM ET. Will be interesting to see how both Jones, Bedard and Sherrill react to their first games against their former teams. I would imagine Jones is eager to show Seattle what they gave up.

Seattle Mariners Game 2:Rangers 5 Mariners 4

Well that was a disappointing loss...

Felix pitched well last night. Not the dominating stuff we have seen but good enough to give his team a chance to win. 7 innings and 0 earned runs isn't anything to scoff at. Add to that all the defensive plays to make up for it when he got himself into jams.

I thought for sure we were in the clear when we went into the 9th inning with a 4-3 lead. Us Mariner's fans are used to JJ coming in and shutting it down. Thunderstruck....remember? Well thunder struck alright, just not the way we wanted. He ended up giving up a 2 run home run which ended up being all the Rangers needed. We went on to lose 5-4.

Now we probably didn't deserve to win anyways given the fact we had 12 hits and 5 walks in the game and managed to only score 4 runs. My bigger concern though was that JJ blew a save in only the second game of the season. His first blown save last year didn't happen till the 92 game of the year or something like that. I just knew it didn't seem right.

Sure enough the bad news came today. JJ has been put on the 15 day disabled list. Something about his ribs and cartilage. Tough news for the M's, it will be interesting to see how they handle it.

Tonight Carlos Silva is starting for the Mariner's in the final game of this 3 game series against Texas. I am looking forward to his first start as a Mariner. I think he brings a lot more to the table than people realize. Hopefully the M's can pull out a win tonight and win this opening series.

Game 1 is in the books. Mariners 5 Rangers 2.

I waited months for last nights game to arrive. Everyday I wished it was March 31st. Finally it arrived, I was afraid that I would be let down and all my excitement and expectations would be somehow squashed. Well they weren't squashed and I loved every minute of last nights game.

The team intro's always give me goosebumps and Dave Niehaus throwing out the games ceremonial first pitch and saying "that's ball one" was priceless.

I will admit I was a wee bit nervous about how Erik Bedard would handle his first home start as the ace of the Mariners pitching staff. So much was made of his spring training stats down in Peoria, Arizona. I will admit they weren't pretty. His ERA was high and he was giving up home runs as if they were nothing. But it was spring training and in my opinion means nothing as far as Erik goes. Bill Krueger said it best last night when he was like "Erik isn't trying to make the team." And it is true. Erik went into this season as the Mariners ace regardless of what he did in spring training. Overall I was happy with Erik's performance last night. His curve ball was virtually unhittable. He was throwing mid 90's even with the cold weather in Seattle last night. His pitch count was a little higher than I think we all would have liked and after only 5 innings came out of the game having thrown 106 pitches. The umpires stingy strike zone certainly did not help matters but at the end of the night what mattered the most is that he only gave up 1 run and 3 hits through those 5 innings. He kept his team in the game.

The bullpen was outstanding last night. Sean Green showed last year was not a fluke and Eric O'Flaherty was just outright good last night. Of course when it is the 9th inning and J.J is coming into the game you know most likely he will come in and shut it down and lock up the win. There is a reason why they play Thunderstruck when he enters the game. He brings thunder alright, and I LOVE it. It doesn't get any better than watching JJ strike out the last batter of the game.

It would have been nice had the offence woke up BEFORE the 6th inning. But at least they woke up. They scored 2 in the 6th inning and then 3 in the 7th. It was nice to see Jose Lopez have a big night going 2-4 with 2 RBI's. The M's need a big season from guys like him. Felix goes for the Mariners tonight. If Felix starts this year off the way he did last season we could be in for a great season from him. The addition of Erik Bedard to this team allows Felix to just do what he does best and that is pitch. No pressures anymore of being that number 1 guy. The picture below is from the night Felix almost threw a no hitter against the Red Sox. He ended up with a 1 hit complete game shutout. Chris and I were at that game and he was amazing. Let's hope the King reigns tonight.

Play Ball

I have been waiting for today ALL winter long. I have been waiting to hear the cracks of the bat as the hitter crushes the ball into left field. The sounds of the ball thudding into the catchers mitt as the pitcher fires a 98 mph fast ball past the batter for a strike. The sounds, the smells and the sights. All of it is like one really late Christmas present that I cannot wait to open.

Of course I am speaking of opening day for the Seattle Mariners. They kick off their season tonight against the Texas Rangers at home. Opening day at Safeco Field. I wish I was there to see them take the field for the first time this season. But since I am not I am happy with the next best thing, watching the game on TV and letting Dave Niehaus bring the game to life for me as if I were there myself.

I am excited to see Erik Bedard take the mound tonight for the first time as a member of the Seattle Mariners. Forget his Spring Training ERA kids, this guy has some serious skill. Hopefully he is lights out tonight. And if not, let's not get too worked up about it because he is going to be something special for us this season.

So much promise for this team going into this season and I can't wait to see how it unfolds.

Little under two hours till game time. WOOOHOOOO! Let's go M's!!

PLAY BALL!!

Aside from my mother in law Linda probably one of the biggest things that sucked me into loving baseball and most importantly the Seattle Mariners was listening the voice of the Mariners Dave Niehaus. Such a big part of being a sports fan for me is listening to the announcers. The truly talented and amazing ones will suck you right in, they will make you feel like you are right there in the game yourself. In my opinion Niehaus is only second to the voice of the Edmonton Oilers Rod Phillips. Phillips is the hall of fame play by play guy on Oilers radio. There are nights when I would rather listen to the game on the radio than listen to the TV announcers. He is amazing. Feel free to click HERE for a little taste of Rod. No one says "HE SCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORES!!" quite like Rod. But I digress...

Dave Niehaus has been the voice of the Seattle Mariners since the very first pitch back in 1977.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnradio/player?context=audio&id=3254660

Little did people know back then that he would become one of the greatest of all time. It takes a special person to be able to sit there and capture every moment for you as if you were at the ball park yourself. Those of you who think baseball is boring and has no excitement you are oh so wrong. Listening to Dave Niehaus call a game is all the excitement you need sometimes. One of my favorite calls made by Niehaus is his famous grand slam call. A grand slam for you out there who are baseball virgins is when a HR is hit with men on all 3 bases. NO ONE calls it like Dave does. Click on the link below to hear for yourself.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnradio/player?context=audio&id=3254664

"Get out the rye bread and mustard Grandma it is grand salami time!!"

Perhaps the greatest moment in Seattle Mariner's history was in the 1995 playoffs when Edgar Martinez hit a game winning double against the New York Yankees. It is this play alone that they say literally saved baseball in Seattle. What makes this moment even greater is listening to Dave make the call.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnradio/player?context=audio&id=3254662

" I don't believe it, it just continues. MY OH MY!"

For some more audio of some of Dave's great calls click on the links below...

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnradio/player?context=audio&id=3254658

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnradio/player?context=audio&id=3254642

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnradio/player?context=audio&id=3254671

Why you ask am I telling you all this? Well, after being nominated year after year Dave finally was given the honor of winning the Ford C. Frick award which recognizes broadcasters who make major contributions to baseball. Niehaus will receive his award and be inducted into the broadcasters wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York on July 27, 2008.

Congratulations Dave, we look forward to seeing you in Cooperstown this summer.

Smyth Gets Obliterated by Johnson

I have been trying to post some YouTube stuff lately but for some reason it doesn't seem to be working. So I guess I will just have to post the link and you will have to go all the way to YouTube yourself if you want to see the video.

Last week the Colorado Avalanche were playing the Los Angeles Kings. Ryan Smyth who had 2 goals on the night was totally obliterated by Kings D man Jack Johnson. Scary stuff. When Ryan hit the ice you could have heard a pin drop in that arena. How he walked away with only a mild concussion is beyond me. More proof in my opinion that the guy IS made of steel.

Get well soon Ryan!!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=37W2YWl2NkU