Super Bowl Update

By Kshell

Seattle proved that those who say Seattle is not a great sports city are dead wrong. On a Tuesday night game in August between the Cleveland Indians(54-68) and the Seattle Mariners(59-64) the house was packed. Over 39,000 fans came out to show support for our ace Felix Hernandez who was making his first start since throwing a perfect game. Two teams below .500 and you would have never known it while at Safeco Field. It was magical to be in that ball park that night as the Mariners of course won 5-1. Felix Hernandez didn't disappoint as he went 7.2 innings allowing only one run while striking out five. The crowd for the first time since I was in high school(graduated in June of 2004) was rocking. Every two strikes the crowd would stand up chanting "K" over and over. It was very hard leaving the ball park that night feeling negative. In fact I couldn't go to bed I was on a Mariners high for the first time in forever. You would have thought the Mariners were playoff bound with that win. That game proved that if the Mariners can build a team yes Safeco Field can be magical again. This game proved that despite many of us being annoyed with Chuck Armstrong and Howard Lincoln we still have that passion burning inside us. This game proved more importantly the fans still care about this ball club.

To honor Felix Hernandez the Seattle Mariners decided to have the greatest promotion they've had since the Buhner Buzz cut night. They extended the "Kings Court" to have the "Supreme Court" where the first 34,000 fans received a yellow "King perfection" T-Shirt while everyone got a "K" card. You knew it was going to be a special day when parking was full and instead of parking at the McDonalds for free I actually had to pay $25 for parking. I paid $80 to sit behind home plate and the place was rocking before an official pitch had even been thrown. Fredy Montero of the Seattle Sounders threw out the first pitch then took off his Mariners jersey as he had the King of Perfection shirt on then did the "Felixing" pose. Felix then took the mound as Safeco blasted Zombie Nation as the crowd started to go nuts. The place was alive and going crazy. I was taking the moment all in and hadn't planned on going to the game. Then I read Dave Cameron's column, then several other big time media guys going to the game. I decided this game was going to be more than a game so I bought my ticket at 4:55 p.m. online something I haven't had to do in forever.

The game got interesting in the 7th inning as the Mariners led 1-0. Due to a tricky hop Brendan Ryan couldn't field the ground ball for a double play as the Indians tied it up. Thankfully they ran themselves out at the plate on a failed suicide squeeze play. Hernandez then got out of the jam. In the bottom of the 7th with the game tied at one John Jaso delivered a clutch RBI double to give us the lead 2-1. Jesus Montero who Jack Zduriencik acquired in the offseason by trading away Michael Pineda blew the roof off as he belted an upper deck home run to deep left field to give the Mariners a 5-1 lead which they would win. When Hernandez got in a jam in the 8th he was pulled but not before the crowd gave him one last standing ovation. Then the crowd stayed and supported Lucas Luetge a guy Zduriencik acquired via the rule 5 draft. Luetge got out of the jam and finished the game picking up the save. We learned a lot about Hernandez this week at least I did watching him at the game in person.

When Eric Wedge came to pull Hernandez, Jaso spiked the ball as he and Hernandez have grown close. As Wedge pulled Hernandez he went over to Ryan who is having a gold glove season but made two defensive mistakes in the game to show it was all right. He gently tapped Ryan  on the cheek to cheer him up then tipped his cap to him. Then as he walked off he tipped his hate to the crowd but turned around so he tipped to everyone in the crowd showing his appreciation. The Mariners have had great players before in the past but it is very rare to have a super star who is also the leader of the team. He is the heart and soul of the team while still being one of the guys. When I went to a game in April on a Friday night they couldn't even draw 20,000 fans for a bobble head game while the dugout had no life. The dugout was alive like this was a playoff game. You take on the personality of your leader and when your leader is stoic and only about himself that reflects. Now with Hernandez here is a guy who is all about team why he never complains about all those tough losses. Hernandez is one of the guys and he also picked up his teammate Ryan so everyone in the crowd will realize Ryan has had a good year defensively.

The Mariners closed the home stand on an eight game winning streak. This will eventually end like all streaks but hopefully the passion for this team doesn't go away. Although it's more convenient to park at McDonalds for free then walk up at 6:45 p.m. for a 7:05 p.m. start time buy a $7 ticket then snipe some kickass seat cause the stadium has less than 20,000. I'd be willing to give that up for good baseball as going to games in recent years has been depressing. The team sucks and there is no energy at the games. The team in the dugout looks like they don't give a shit. This was only the second game all year I had gone to. I can support this team as they are winning with youth and good role guys. Finally Ichiro is gone, Miguel Olivo and Chone Figgins never play anymore this is a team I can back. The crowd was into it too like I said, hell I lost my voice at an August game between two losing teams. Typically you look around the stands nobody is there and the few who are aren't even paying attention or on their smart phones. I'm addicted to my phone and I left my phone in my coat pocket the whole game. I don't recall anyone trying to get on their phone too much and those who did couldn't get service cause the place was so damn packed! I loved that after the game the fans were hooting and hollering like we had won something important. For so many of us this was the one day we finally got to let out our emotions and be fans again!

This was a magical night in Safeco Field. The best game I've ever gone to. I was 10 in 1995 so I grew up with the Mariners always packing the house and being good. Sometimes you have to be humbled to appreciate things and that is what has happened. Many say I'm negative on Seattle sports but we haven't exactly had good teams in the last several years. For one night there was no being negative the Mariners atmosphere was amazing. I hope Chuck Armstrong and Howard Lincoln realize that we do still care. I hope they realize if they give Jack Z some freedom with the payroll which in turn gives us more wins we'll show up. If the team is halfway decent every fifth start with Hernandez the place should be rocking. I think it's safe to say we are no longer a crappy ball club. Is this game going to be playing in the postseason anytime soon? Who knows? One thing I do know is the passion in this city is still alive for this team.

I would love to see Felix Hernandez throw a playoff game and I would pay $1,000 if I had to just to see him pitch in the playoffs. I never thought back in 2001 when the Mariners won 116 games that would be our final playoffs. I miss caring about whether we win or lose, I miss scoreboard watching where I get excited if a team we are chasing loses or upset when they win. I miss giving a shit about this team more importantly! I really do hope Jack Z is the guy that would make life so much easier as he has proven he can find great values in guys. Eventually he will need to prove he can land that big time guy(something he has yet to prove he can do) via trade. I don't think free agency is the way to go and possibly Jack Z pulls a Michael Pineda-Jesus Montero type of trade where he trades one of Danny Hultzen, James Paxton, or Taijuan Walker for a young first baseman/elite first base prospect. This team is knocking on the door for the playoffs and should have the best starting pitching and bullpen in about two seasons for over a few years after that. The Mariners were the talk of the city in the middle of football talk and I'm proud to have been at the game. Hopefully this game is the start of something big as the fans start to come back to Safeco and we return to the days where we sell out every game regardless of the opponent or who our pitcher is. I can't wait! I'm so jacked up on the Mariners and Safeco Field was magical that Tuesday night. I can't wait until every home game is like that as that is going to be a treat especially for those younger fans who missed the 2000-2003 run at Safeco Field.

By Kshell

On this date in sports history some signficant events happened that I remember very vividly. The one event that happened was 16 years ago was when the Seattle Supersonics defeated the Utah Jazz in game seven of the Western Conference Finals 90-86 which was their first Finals appearance since 1979. I was in 4th grade and since the Sonics were going to play the Chicago Bulls I knew we had no chance so my dad and myself celebrated like we had one a title. That same school year the Mariners began the season with their magical 1995 run which saw the Mariners defeat the New York Yankees in five games. Edgar Martinez had the double heard around the northwest as Ken Griffey Jr scored the game winning run to defeat the Yankees. Sports was looking well for the northwest teams back then and on June 2nd the Sonics going to the Finals was one of the happiest sports days of my life.

Fast forward to 2010 and I was in Las Vegas, Nevada on a 10 day vacation. I was playing a lot of poker which you can see as I'm playing in a World Series sponsored sit and go(took 3rd place had chip lead got rivered back to back hands). Whenever I'm in Las Vegas with my friends I'm about having a good time and staying out late. Las Vegas is a great social city and this trip was no different than every other trip I've had down there. For whatever the reason whenever I'm in Las Vegas a major event happens in my life. The year before while I was in Las Vegas pop icon Michael Jackson had died and being in Vegas when that happened was a very surreal moment for me. Now in 2010 I didn't expect another big moment to happen. Instead I had two moments happen on the same day which was pretty crazy.

I woke up on June 2nd in the afternoon to a ton of text messages from my friends telling me that Seattle Mariners legendary outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. had suddenly retired without warning. Now there was rumors leading up to this as Griffey was struggling in 2010 hitting .184/.250/.204 on the year with zero home runs in 98 at bats as the team was experiencing a horrible season. There was no final goodbye to Griffey which was the sad part instead he retired. Griffey had retired with 630 home runs and a batting line of .284/.370/.538 in 9,801 at bats. Griffey scored 1,662 runs and drove in 1,836 runs in his future hall of fame career. Griffey had won an MVP in 1997 and finished in the top five in the MVP race in 1993(5th), 1994(2nd), 1996(4th), and 1998(4th). He was a 13-time all-star and had won 10 gold gloves. The Griffey retirement hit home to everyone in my age group who grew up with Griffey and was very sad to see the way he went out. Normally when a player of his calibar retires that is the big news of the day. Instead Griffey was overshadowed that day by a pitcher with a 26-30 record and a 4.69 ERA for his career.

Later that day I was watching the t.v. when sportscenter switched to the Detriot Tigers-Cleveland Indians game as Armando Galarraga was working on a perfect game. The Detroit Tigers had a 3-0 lead going into the 9th inning as Galarraga was three outs away from perfection. After recording the first two outs he was one out away facing shortstop Jason Donald. Donald hit a grounder inbetween second and first where Miguel Cabrera decided to snag the ball and toss it to Galarraga for the final out. As you can see Galarraga made the out but umpire Jim Joyce called the runner safe. I screamed in shock waking up my friend who I was staying with who is a night shift poker dealer on the strip in Vegas. When he saw the replay he couldn't believe it either as Galarraga was robbed of the perfect game. He would record the next batter but that opportunity to be perfect was lost forever. That story was the story that everyone was talking about on national t.v. and later on that night on the strip in Vegas at the poker tables all anyone could talk about.

For whatever reason when I go to Las Vegas major events happen. Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett die on the same day, Griffey retires same day as the perfect game was robbed by an umpire then last year when I found out I was going to be an uncle for the first time. This date in particular was special as the Sonics had clinched a trip to the NBA Finals back in 1996 and then the biggest Seattle sports legend we had ever seen retired on that same day 14 years later. June 2nd will always be a special date in Seattle sports history due to the Sonics and Griffey. I was just glad I can recall these moments so well and glad I can share those memories with you guys.

By Kshell

The Seattle Mariners just completed their 10 game road trip going 4-6 but ended it with a three game sweep at the Colorado Rockies. This week started off with back to back two game sweeps at the Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Indians before recovering with a three game sweep at Colorado. For the Mariners this week wasn't all bad as much of the young bats continue to produce on this road trip. The main problem on this trip was the pitching mainly the bullpen which blew a 4-1 lead against the Cleveland Indians on  May 16th then Brandon League blew the save in extra innings as the Mariners lost 6-5. The Mariners did recover from that tough loss with a sweep which showed that this team is mentally tough. This team is just consistently inconsistent which is the sign of a young team. The Mariners did go 3-4 this week meaning I'll talk about the good(the young hitters), the bad(the pitchers including the Mariners 1-2 punch in the rotation) and the ugly(the bullpen which has been shaky this year).

The Good:

All the good that happened this week for the Mariners happened in interleague play with the sweep of the Colorado Rockies in Coors Field. The Mariners saw their young hitting core of Dustin Ackley, Kyle Seager, Jesus Montero, and Justin Smoak all have big weeks. This week also saw Kevin Millwood show that he still does have value on this team as he threw a complete game shutout in Coors Field this past Friday night. Some of the Mariners long relievers and secondary bullpen pieces pitched well this week. Just nice this team bounce back from that horrible series in Boston where they didn't compete and the disaster in Cleveland where they blew a four run lead. The Mariners took it to the Colorado Rockies and that was led by their youngsters despite what Eric Wedge wanting more veterans these young guys need to continue to grow.

Good Hitting:

Justin Smoak: 7-25(.280), HR, run, 2 RBI's
Kyle Seager: 7-28(.250), HR, 4 runs, 6 RBI's, SB
Ichiro: 8-31(.258), 5 runs, RBI, 3 SB's
Jason Vargas: 1-3(.333), run, RBI, BB
Jesus Montero: 5-20(.250), HR, 2 runs, 3 RBI, 3 BB's
Michael Saunders: 7-27(.259), 2 runs, 2 RBI's, SB, 3 XBH's
Brendan Ryan: 5-19(.263), 4 runs, RBI, SB, 3 BB's
Dustin Ackley: 9-31(.290), HR, 5 runs, 4 RBI's, 2 SB's

Good Pitching:

Kevin Millwood: 1-0, 9 IP, CG, SHO, 0.00 ERA, 0.33 WHIP, 7 K's
Charlie Furbush: 4.2 IP, 1.93 ERA, 0.43 WHIP, 4 K's
Shawn Kelly: 4.2 IP, 1.93 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 4 K's
Hisashi Iwakuma: 4 IP, 2.25 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 4 K's
Hector Noesi: 6.1 IP, 1.42 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 5 K's

The North Carolina Tarheels connection is starting to pay off lately. For this year in 140 AB's Kyle Seager is hitting .286/.308/.486 with five home runs, 17 runs and 26 RBI's. Seager is looking like a main stay for the Mariners whether he sticks at third base or moves to short stop.

Dustin Ackley #2 hitter: Hit .221/.275/.305 in 102 PA's with just one home run, 10 runs and 6 RBI's. He had 19 K's to just seven walks.

Dustin Ackley now as a leadoff hitter: Hitting .294/.368/.456 in 76 PA's. Has two home runs, 12 runs, 8 RBI's. He has 13 K's to eight walks.

As you can see Ackley is hitting a lot better since moving to leadoff which is important for the growth of the franchise.

Bad:

The road trip ended well with the sweep but it was looking like a complete disaster before that. Felix Hernandez got rocked twice on this road trip as the Mariners went 4-6 including his worst start of the year against the Cleveland Indians when he couldn't get past the fourth inning. The Mariners still aren't beating good teams this year and seeing Hernandez getting rocked was tough to watch. The other Mariners All-Star who had a bad week was Brandon League who blew the save on Wednesday then got rough up in a mop up role yesterday. The Mariners blew a 4-0 lead on Wednesday and what made it sting the most was Steve Delabar giving up a three-run home run to Jose Lopez in the eighth inning to up the game. Yes former Mariner Jose Lopez who has since bounced around baseball hit that shot.

This week saw some good hitting there wasn't too many hitters who struggled minus one in particular in Alex Liddi who is starting to go back to his bad traits from Tacoma where he is striking out a lot. The Mariners week was bad but like I stated it was saved at the end. Just was tough seeing their two best pitchers in Hernandez and Jason Vargas have such a bad week although Vargas did bounce back against Colorado pitching well.

Bad Hitting:

Alex Liddi: 2-17(.117), 9 K's
Mike Carp: 2-10(.200), 2 HR's, 2 runs, 2 RBI's, 3 K's
John Jaso: 2-10(.200), 2 runs, 2 RBI's, K
Casper Wells: 2-10(.200), run, 2 RBI's, K

Bad Pitching:

Felix Hernandez: 0-1, 3.2 IP, 14.71 ERA, 3.54 WHIP, 3 K's
Jason Vargas: 1-1, 13 IP, 5.53 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 4 K's, 3 HR's allowed
Blake Beavan: 1-1, 9 IP, 5.00 ERA, 1.60 WHIP, 11 K's
Steve Delabar: 2.2 IP, BS, 10.11 ERA, 1.87 WHIP, 3 K's
Brandon League: 0-1, BS, 1.1 IP, 27.00 ERA, 6.76 WHIP, 2 K's

This week saw Hernandez and Vargas go a combined 1-2 having thrown only 16.2 innings with a 8.63 ERA and 1.73 WHIP with only 7 K's. The Mariners won't have too many successful road trips if those two pitch like that.

The Ugly:

The Ugly this week was the bullpen melting down and in particular this season. If a starting pitcher has a 3.60 ERA which is above average for a reliever to match that he must have a 2.00 ERA. None of the Mariners relievers have close to that. The bullpen struggled once again this past week highlighted by that Cleveland game where they blew a 4-1 lead then League blew a 5-4 lead in the 11th inning. This week in only 1 1/3 innings League allowed four runs and nine base runners. This wasn't a case of League getting unlucky as he allowed six base hits and three walks. League has been very shaky this season as has the rest of the pen. The Mariners would be wise to trade League very quickly before he loses all of his value. More bullpen blowups like this and the Mariners will be hurting. They will also be regretting how they didn't deal League sooner and acquire some pieces.

Ugly Pitching:

Brandon League: 0-3, 8 saves, 3 blown saves, 18.1 IP, 3.93 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, .275 BAA, 11 K's(5.40 K's per 9). Nothing about his stats look good at all as his ERA is high for a closer, his WHIP is really high and his K's per 9 is horrible.

Tom Wilhelmsen: 1-1, blown save, 6 holds, 21.1 IP, 3.80 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, .262 BAA, 26 K's(10.97 K's per 9).  Wilhelmsen is the Mariners top setup man and also has a high ERA for a reliever plus WHIP and BAA. At least he records strikeouts unlike League.

Steve Delabar: 1-0, blown save, 3 holds, 19.1 IP, 5.12 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, .186 BAA, 24 K's(11.17 K's per 9). What is hurting Delabar is he has already allowed six home runs as the rest of his numbers are fantastic but the ERA is unacceptable.

The Mariners aren't a good team and their bullpen is making their record even worse as they have recorded six blown saves on the year while recording only eight saves. That isn't going to cut it at all and if this group doesn't improve changes will have to be made.

Al West Standings:

Texas Rangers: 26-16, first place
Oakland A's: 21-21, 5.0 GB
Seattle Mariners: 19-24, 7.5 GB
L.A. Angels: 18-24, 8.0 GB

If the Mariners have any shot at fooling their fans into thinking they can do something this year now is the time to do it. The Mariners play host to the Texas Rangers this week for three games then the L.A. Angels for four games. The following week the Mariners travel to Texas for three games. Both of these teams have kicked the Mariners ass the last couple of seasons. Now is the time to see if the Mariners young kids are up for the challenge. This is a streaky team but boring ole consistency like taking two out of three every series is what the playoff ball clubs do. The Mariners aren't there yet and won't be for a couple of more seasons it appears.

By Kshell

The Seattle Mariners just completed a dreadful week at home which saw attendance numbers reach all-time lows while the team went 1-5. During that 1-5 stretch the Mariners saw a perfect game thrown against them. That was the first ever perfect game and no hitter thrown in Safeco Field history.  I happened to go to a game this Friday which was Ichiro bobblehead night where the first 20,000 fans received a free bobblehead. Too bad less than 20,000 fans showed up. At least I got to see the Mariners first every all-star throw out the first pitch in former outfielder Rupert Jones. In three seasons with the Mariners Jones hit .257/.333/.418 with 51 home runs and 68 stolen bases. Then the Mariners proceeded to ruin that moment by falling behind 6-0 midway through the second inning before having a perfect game thrown against them the following day. This week I'll go over the good(Felix Hernandez and Jason Vargas), the bad(the hitting) and the ugly( this lack of offense in year four under the Jack Zdurienick regime). Anyways hope you enjoy my weekly recap of the Seattle Mariners.

The Good:
Whenever you go 1-5 there isn't much good. The Mariners after that great 3-1 start are now 7-10 on the season. The positives were the pitching of Jason Vargas and especially Felix Hernandez. For all the talk about King Felix's lack of a fastball those talks died after his last dominant start which he showed that his most powerful pitch is his change up. Up 1-0 facing a bases loaded one out jam in the eighth inning Hernandez got out of the jam with back to back strikeouts on a change up. Sadly which has been a theme in his career in Seattle he didn't earn a win as Brandon League blew the save for him. Another positive this week was the long relief trio of Hisashi Iwakuma, Steve Delabar and Erasmo Ramirez. They not only pitched well but saved the rest of the valuable bullpen arms so the Mariners can survive. The hitting once again didn't get much help although two reserves who rarely played did hit well. Justin Smoak also saw his first career four hit game. Hopefully for Smoak that is the type of game that can launch his season as he has been struggling all year long.

Good Hitting:

Casper Wells: 3-7(.429), run, 2 doubles
Alex Liddi: 2-6(.333), RBI, double
Justin Smoak: 4-16(.250), run, RBI, 5 K's
Ichiro: 6-24(.250), HR, 2 runs, 5 RBI's

Good Pitching:

Jason Vargas: 1-0, 7 IP, 1.28 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 7 K's
Hisashi Iwakuma: 4 IP, 2.25 ERA, 0.50 WHIP, 2 K's
Erasmo Ramirez: 4.1 IP, 2.08 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, K
Steve Delabar: 3.1 IP, 2.70 ERA, 0.60 WHIP, 6 K's
Felix Hernandez: 8 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 12 K's

So far on the year Hernandez is 1-1 in four starts. He has thrown 29.1 innings with a 2.76 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and has 31 strikeouts. His fastball might not be as fast as it was but that is also by choice. His best pitches now are his cutter and mainly his change up. He is still an elite pitcher and fans need to stop worrying about him. He isn't the problem and is actually one of the few bright spots on this team.

The Bad:

The Mariners went 1-5 this week as attendance sank below 12,000 setting a Safeco Field record for lowest amount in a game. The Mariners got bombed in the game I went to losing 7-3 but fell behind 6-0 after two innings. On Saturday they allowed a perfect game and they simply aren't hitting the ball well at all. They began the week off by blowing a 9-1 lead against the Cleveland Indians at home as Kevin Millwood gave it up. The game I attended Hector Noesi who was in the big Michael Pineda trade got rocked and could only give the Mariners four outs. The team is still showing signs of hacking away at pitches which Eric Wedge keeps preaching to attack but at what point are they just hopelessly swinging at everything? At what point does this mess fall squarely onto Jack Zduriencik's shoulders since this is year four? Practically everyone on this roster was put here at the hands of Zduriencik and this team is terrible. The Mariners are 5-2 against the Oakland A's and 2-8 against everyone else. This year looks no different from 2010 or 2011. The pitching is decent but still not good enough. While the hitting has been downright terrible the last two weeks which ended with the White Sox sweeping them. The White Sox are now 19-3 against the Mariners since 2010.

Bad Hitting:

Kyle Seager: 4-20(.200), run, SB, 4 K's
John Jaso: 1-8(.125), HR, 2 runs, 4 RBI's, 2 K's
Dustin Ackley: 5-24(.208), 2 runs, 2 RBI's, 7 K's
Jesus Montero: 3-19(.158), HR, run, 3 RBI's, 5 K's
Brendan Ryan: 2-14(.143), 5 runs, RBI, 7 BB's, 5 K's
Chone Figgins: 3-21(.143), HR, 2 runs, 2 RBI's, 9 K's

Bad Pitching:

Kevin Millwood: 0-1, 9.1 IP, 10.61 ERA, 2.14 WHIP, 4 K's
Brandon League: 0-1, blown save, 2.2 IP, 6.75 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 2 K's, save
Hector Noesi: 0-1, 1.1 IP, 40.60 ERA, 6.01 WHIP, K

The Mariners are 4-9 since starting the season 3-1. They aren't hitting and their pitching has been rough at times too. The Mariners simply aren't making enough on the field progress in year four under Zduriencik's regime.

The Ugly:

The Mariners allowed a perfect game to Philip Humber who isn't an ace by any means. In fact in his career he has only started 30 games with a record of 12-10, 3.90 ERA and 1.24 WHIP. He is a solid pitcher but not a guy who should be putting up zero after zero on you.  The Mariners had a disasterous week seeing attendance numbers look like crap, blowing a huge lead, getting swept at home and the perfect game to a middle of the rotation guy. With the Mariners ownership trying to the block the Sonics return and the poor product on the field the fans have finally spoken. They want a winner and are tired of the gimmicks! This team needs new leadership at the top as Eric Wedge and Jack Zdurienick need to go. Obviously Chuck Armstrong and Howard Lincoln need to go or the manager/gm doesn't matter as long as those two clowns are operating this dog and pony show.

Ugly Hitting:

Seattle Mariners: Hitting .223/.274/.342 on the season. They ranked out of 14 teams in the AL: 14 in on base percentage, 13th in batting average, slugging average and OPS. 13th in home runs and walks while 4th in striking out the most. They rank 11th in runs scored basically this is the same crap we've been dealing with the last two years.

Justin Smoak: Hitting .203/.242/.322 with 17 K's in 62 plate appearances and only three walks.

Chone Figgins: hitting .215/.278/.323 with 20 K's in 75 plate appearnaces only six walks. A leadoff hitter whose on base percentage is under .300 but is striking out 26.7% of the time per plate appearance is just sickening!

Miguel Olivo: hitting .154/.170/.192 with 11 K's in only 54 plate appearances but has just one walk. Despite this piss poor stat line Wedge continues to play him even at DH in a move that makes zero sense to anyone who still cares about this team.

Ugly Attendance:

Tuesday April 17th vs Cleveland : 12,461
Wednesday April 18th vs Cleveland: 11,343(lowest in Safeco history)
Thursday April 19th vs Cleveland: 12,947( on a day when Felix was pitching)

Friday April 20th vs Chicago White Sox: 19,947(bobble head day and a friday)
Saturday April 21st vs Chicago White Sox: 22,472( beautiful Saturday after noon game)
Sunday April 22nd vs Chicago White Sox: 19,975

The fans have spoken they are tired of Jack Z's crap product he has put on the field year after year. He is a major league scout but he isn't a major league GM.

AL West Standings:

Texas Rangers: 13-3, first place
Oakland A's: 8-9, 5.5 GB
Seattle Mariners: 7-10, 6.5 GB
L.A. Angels: 6-10, 7.0 GB

This franchise needs to start getting serious about baseball or Safeco Field might have some games where the attendance drops below 10,000 fans. The fans are tired of this crap as the hitting hasn't improved at all. The hype about this team being improved was just that hype. Felix Hernandez continues to be wasted on a poorly built team that is "building" one brick at a time. Zduriencik is building this thing up much like Paul Wulff built up Washington State football. He is doing it very slowly and hopefully the next guy can lead us to the promise land. This team is a mess and this week was an absolute embarassment.

*Special thanks to my sisters boyfriend Nick Snow on two of the pictures he took. He is a great photographer and hopefully you guys get to enjoy more of his pictures.

By Kshell

The Seattle Mariners ended the week in disappointment after starting off so successful. The Mariners began the week taking three out of four against Eric Wedge's old team the Cleveland Indians in Cleveland. The offense had erupted that series but quickly went silent when the Mariners came home. The Mariners were swept by the Chicago White Sox scoring just five runs in three games. The Mariners for the week went 3-4 and two hitters who had been so red hot went ice cold this week. The Mariners are seeing youngsters Kyle Seager and Trayvon Robinson hit the ball pretty well. While Ichiro is making a late push to hit 200 hits this for the 11th consecutive season. The Mariners young pitching continues to get blown up while the pitching face of the franchise Felix Hernandez continues to pitch great down the stretch. The Mariners did go 3-4 so that means I'll talk about the good(Seager and Ichiro), the bad(young pitching) and the bad(more in depth on the young pitching).

The Good:

The week started off well for the Mariners as they beat playoff contender Cleveland Indians three out of four and had a lead in the ninth inning in their only loss. The Mariners have had some hot hitting from Ichiro who has an 11 game hitting streak and Kyle Seager who has a nine game hitting streak. The Mariners received some offense this week from the catchers position which hasn't been seen most of the year. The pitching duo of Felix Hernandez and Michael Pineda was nice to watch this week. Hernandez has been dominant in his last six starts while Pineda has had back to back quality starts. The bullpen was pretty good as four bullpen arms were on my good list which is pretty impressive. The outfield of the Mariners hit pretty well this week with Ichiro, Franklin Gutierrez and Trayvon Robinson.

Good Hitting:

Ichiro: 13-33(.394), HR, 3 RBI's, 5 runs, 3 SB's-11 game hitting streak
Kyle Seager: 13-24(.542), HR, 2 RBI's, 7 runs,6 dbls -9 game hitting streak
Trayvon Robinson: 7-22(.318), 4 RBI's, 2 runs
Franklin Gutierrez: 9-26(.346), 4 RBI's, 2 runs, SB
Josh Bard: 2-8(.250), HR, 3 RBI's, 3 runs
Miguel Olivo: 6-18(.333), HR, 3 RBI's, 3 runs - 5 game hitting streak, has hit safely eight of last nine games

Good Pitching:

Felix Hernandez: 1-0, 6 IP, 3.00 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 10 K's
Michael Pineda: 0-1,6 IP, 3.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 8 K's
Blake Beavan: 6 IP, 4.50 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 4 K's
Jamey Wright: 4.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 6 K's
Tom Wilhelmsen: 3.2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 7 K's
Josh Lueke: 3.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 5 K's
Jeff Gray: 3.2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, K, Save

Felix Hernandez last six starts: 4-2, 42.1 IP, 2.98 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 47 K's, 9.99 K's per 9.
Felix Hernandez season stats: 12-11, 200.1 IP(7.1 innings a start), 3.37 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 195 K's, 8.76 K's per 9.

I feel sometimes that fans take Hernandez for granted. He's not putting up the same numbers he did when he won the Cy Young but he is still have a pretty solid year. He has pitched over 200 innings for the fourth straight year, will strike out 200+ hitters for the third straight season in his next start. It has been sad seeing the Mariners waste Hernandez as he is pitched way better than his 25-23 record the last two seasons. I hope Hernandez hasn't spoiled fans by his greatness but I get the feeling he has.

The Bad:

The Mariners in getting swept by the Chicago White Sox scored just five runs in that series sweep. The Mariners hitting went to sleep especially two hitters in particular. The Mariners when they aren't hitting rack up the strikeouts while not drawing any walks in the process which shows they are a free swinging team. The pitching particularly the starting pitching was pretty bad this time especially the left handed pitching which saw three left handers get rocked this week. The Mariners also saw all-star closer Brandon League get roughed up once again in Cleveland as he blew his second save in Cleveland this year giving up three runs without recording a single out. The Mariners had a chance to have a successful week as they snapped their five game losing streak but instead ended the week on a three game losing streak. With the division rivals Angels coming to town things could get ugly.

Bad Hitting:

Mike Carp: 3-27(.111), HR, 2 RBI's, run, 14 K's, one walk
Brendan Ryan: 4-22(.182), 2 RBI's, 4 runs, 7 K's
Casper Wells: 1-19(.052), run, 9 K's, zero walks
Adam Kennedy: 2-12(.167), run, K, SB
Willy Mo Pena: 3-15(.200), HR, 4 RBI's, 2 runs, 3 K's

Bad Pitching:

Jason Vargas: 0-1, 12.2 IP, 6.39 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 4 K's
Charlie Furbush: 0-1, 5 IP, 7.20 ERA, 1.60 WHIP, 4 K's
Anthony Vasquez: 1-0, 5.1 IP, 8.44 ERA, 2.06 WHIP, 2 K's
Chance Ruffin: 1-0, 3.1 IP, 5.40 ERA, 1.80 WHIP, K
Brandon League: 0-1, Blown Save, 2 IP, 9.00 ERA, 2.00 WHIP, K, save

The hot hitting duo of Casper Wells and Mike Carp came crashing down this week. Those two have been overachieving as their K's to BB ratio reminds you of Carlos Peguero. For the season Carp is striking out 30.3% of the time while walking only 7.8% of the time. As for Wells he is striking out 42.4% of the time while walking only 5.4% of the time. So keep that in mind when looking at their small sample sizes.

The Ugly:

The Mariners once strong pitching staff has been pretty poor since trading away Doug Fister and Erik Bedard. The Mariners had to make some moves to acquire some offense which for the most part has improved greatly. Still, getting swept at home isn't good at all. The Mariners three left handed starters were roughed up this week. In particular two left handers have been getting rocked quite a bit lately in Charlie Furbush and Jason Vargas. For Vargas this is the third straight second half he has melted down and his pitches keep rising up in the strike zone for home runs. As for Furbush is reminding Mariners fans of another left hander Jack Zduriencik acquired from Detroit named Luke French. Furbush has had a bad habit of getting rocked around despite pitching in a friendly ballpark for left handed pitchers.

Ugly Pitching:

Charlie Furbush: 2-3, 25 IP, 6.48 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, 15 K's, .296 BAA.
Jason Vargas: 7-12, 169.1 IP, 4.52 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 104 K's, .266 BAA.
Jason Vargas second half: 1-6, 48 IP, 7.13 ERA, 1.88 WHIP, 23 K's, .340 BAA

As you can see Furbush has been horrible for the Mariners since coming here. As for Vargas this is the third straight year where he has had a bad second half, second straight year where he was terrific in the first half but horrible second half. A good left hander should thrive in Safeco Field since right handers have trouble hitting the ball out of the ball park yet these two continue to get rocked. Vargas this year at Safeco is 5-9 having pitched 99.2 innings with a 5.24 ERA and 1.35 WHIP. Which doesn't make sense since he is a fly ball pitcher.

AL West Standings:

Texas Rangers: 76-59, First Place
L.A. Angels: 72-61, 3.0 GB
Oakland A's: 60-73, 15.0 GB
Seattle Mariners: 56-76, 18.5 GB

In conclusion, the Mariners are winding down an August that saw them go 10-14 so far. Eric Wedge needs to realize the season is over and just play the youngsters even if it cost the team wins in the present. He needs to limit the workload of Hernandez who is on pace to throw over 250 innings for the second straight season. Guys like Adam Kennedy and Jack Wilson should just be DFA'd as they serve zero purpose on this roster right now. The Mariners have one more week of people following them then football season will begin which means the focus on the Mariners will shift towards the Washington Huskies, Washington State Cougars and Seattle Seahawks. The Mariners are playing hard and that is why that White Sox sweep was so depressing as that was an ass kicking for three games. I felt the Mariners had regressed big time that weekend. The Mariners play their next 10 games against division opponents. Hopefully the Mariners can close out September better than they have in July and August.

By Kshell

What a terrible week for the Seattle Mariners which saw the team lose all four games this week. To make things worst the Mariners had a lead going into the final at bat in three of those losses then were rained out in Cleveland. So the Mariners went 0-4 on this road trip and will have to make up two more games in Cleveland. The Mariners are currently on a six game losing streak which saw them lose four games in the final at bat. To say the Mariners are going through their roughest stretch of the season would be an understatement. What happened against the Baltimore Orioles was horrible as the Mariners lost two games in extra innings in which they had the lead. The Mariners still aren't hitting and the once reliable bullpen mainly Brandon League has given fans flashbacks of Bobby Ayala this past week. Like I've done in the past I'll break down the good(that was hard), the bad(way too many) and the ugly(where do I begin?).


The Good:

The good this week was again the starting pitching which saw them get three good performances of the three starts. The Mariners besides League had good pitching performances from their bullpen as well. Whenever a team goes 0-4 and isn't hitting I find myself grasping at straws to fill out the good. The hitting wasn't good as the usual suspects like Ichiro and Justin Smoak didn't kill the ball. Instead the Mariners really only had one hitter step up which was Jack Cust who appears to finally coming around.

Hitting Stars:

Jack Cust: 6-16(.375), run, 3 walks
Jack Wilson: 2-6(.333), run
Justin Smoak: 3-13(.231), HR, 3 RBI's, run, 4 walks

Pitching Stars:

Jason Vargas: 9 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 4 K's
Doug Fister: 8 IP, 2.25 ERA, 0.63 WHIP, 6 K's
Aaron Laffey: 3 IP, 0.00 ERA, 2.67 WHIP, 2 K's
David Pauley: 4 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 2 K's


The Bad:

Whenever you go 0-4 there is plenty of bad for the week. The Mariners parted ways with Milton Bradley and Ryan Langerhans but still got no production from left field. The Mariners Cy Young award winner Felix Hernandez was roughed up as well. The Mariners saw closer Brandon League have one of the worst weeks a reliever could possibly have as he blew three saves and went 0-3 this week. Dating back to Sunday League is 0-4 with a 30.00 ERA in his last four outings. The Mariners saw themselves get swept by the Baltimore Orioles then lose a heartbreaker to the Cleveland Indians in Eric Wedge's homecoming back to Cleveland. The Mariners will also have to make up some games but given the way they were playing that rain out could have been a good thing.

Hitting Bad:

Brendan Ryan: 2-12(.166), RBI, run, 2 K's
Miguel Olivo: 2-12(.166), 2 RBI's, run, 3 K's
Michael Saunders: 3-17(.176), HR, RBI, 3 runs, 5 K's
Carlos Peguero/Mike Wilson: 2-17(.117), HR, run, 2 RBI's, 5 K's

Pitching Bad:

Felix Hernandez: 0-1, 5 IP, 7.20 ERA, 2.00 WHIP, 4 K's
Brandon League: 0-3, 3 blown saves, 1.2 IP, 37.72 ERA, 5.40 WHIP, K


The Ugly:

The terrible defense and lack of hitting by the Mariners continues to be a major problem. The defense isn't making any outs unless the ball is hit right directly at them. While the hitting still isn't hitting at all on the year as the team features just one .300 hitter. The Mariners have just two regular everyday hitters who are hitting above .250 which simply won't cut it. In the American League you have to be able to hit the ball or you simply can't win scoring piss poor low totals. The closer problems of League are magnified because the team can't hit ever to blow anyone out.

Ugly Hitting:

Seattle Mariners team: .228/.302/.326 which is a terrible line for a player let alone an entire team. The Mariners currently rank 29th out of 30 teams in home runs, batting average, slugging percentage and on base+slugging percentage. The Mariners rank 28th in runs and hits while ranking 27th in runs batted in and on base percentage. So the Mariners rank in the bottom four in all of baseball in home runs, batting average, OBP, OPS, runs, hits and RBI's. That won't get the job done at all.

Michael Saunders: .171/.225/.270 with 32 K's in 111 AB's(3.5:1 ratio). Saunders makes me beg for the Jeremy Reed days in center that is how pathetic he has been. He was once a promising prospect but it appears he is destined to be quadruple A material for this franchise.

Miguel Olivo: .207/.250/.276 with 32 K's in 116 AB's with only two home runs. This is the Mariners clean up hitter.....ladies and gentlemen your 2011 Seattle Mariners.

American League West standings:

L.A. Angels: 22-19, first place
Texas Rangers: 21-19, 0.5 GB
Oakland A's: 20-20, 1.5 GB
Seattle Mariners: 16-23, 5.0 GB

The Mariners still can't hit so while it's fun to bitch and moan about Brandon League the real problem isn't going away. No matter who Wedge puts in the clean up hole odds are he will suck since Ichiro and Smoak are the only two hitters on this roster. This was a terribly ball club built by a third year general manager. Yes Jackie Z inherited a mess from Bill Bavasi but he isn't helping that mess. To date he sounds like Tyrone Willingham who made nothing but excuses about his mess he inherited while failing to mention he isn't doing shit about the mess. The Mariners hitting we all knew was going to be a disaster and Dustin Ackley better be called up soon because this is beyond pathetic. The Mariners better spend at least 40 million this offseason on hitting or the fans will continue to not show up.