Mariners Crawl Out of the Coffin

Mariners Crawl Out of the Coffin

SLOPS TO Mr. CUST - Wedge sat him down again, this time against a mediocre RHP.  Wedgewas rewarded by 12 hits from 8 different hitters, notably the DH, Adam Kennedy.

The M's got down 2-0 early .... and then ripped off 7 consecutive runs.  The scoreboard progressed like this:

  • 0-2
  • 2-2
  • 3-2
  • 4-2
  • 7-2

I felt like I was watching the Big Red Machine with Don Gullett on the mound :- )

RELEASE JACK CUST RIGHT NOW.

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PROPS TO DR. K'S 1st-INNING K CHART - Again Thursday, 3 K in the first inning, 2 in the second, 1 in the third, and then three the rest of the way.

Pineda has not given up a home run in his first 125+ batters and again today, there was nothing CLOSE to the warning track.

I'm not sure where this will end.  They go up, the first time through the lineup, take legit swings ... and get combusted.  Nothing left but one uncharred ankle with shoe still on it.

So then they protect the plate and all hope of HR's are gone.  What's the endgame on this?

Pineda with 4 victories in April.  The countdown to 20 W's is on...

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PROPS TO JUSTIN SMOAK'S DOUBLE - It was on the warning track in CF at Detroit, to the right of the 420' sign.   Austin Jackson looked like Randy Moss on a deep route trying to chase it down, but he got nowhere near its landing place.

As Blowers immediately noted, the crosswind was 20-25 mph, and cut the ball down a lot.  In a dome it would have been 440 to center.  Don't ever remember any specific "double" with that much hang time.

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PROPS TO THE BEST TWO-MAN NICKNAME SINCE DIZZY AND DAFFY - I like "Kong" for Pineda.  That one should stick, King and Kong.  However, the PC media will probably unjustifiably rule the nickname to be contaminated by inappropriate overtones.  Perhaps we can persuade them to use a tilde on Pineda's surname and consider him strictly Latin.

If I'm Michael Pineda, you are more than welcome to call me and Felix King-Kong, and baseball history is littered with nicknames that are far more blunt...  Alas, baseball's ultimate Two-Person Nickname may never see the light of day...

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PROPS TO A MESSAGE SERIES - The M's won 7-3, 10-1, and 7-2.  Afterwards, the Tigers shook their heads admiringly at the rotation, at Ichiro and Smoak and Figgins, and simply tipped their caps:  "They had our number."

This wasn't Pascal's Triangle and balls rolling through.  No way no how.

The Mariners played better in three games, deserved to win three games, and did win three games.

Props to everybody who risked being called a homer, and who insisted that this club has too much going for it to --- > quit in April.  I'm blinkin' glad that they didn't quit.   Here's to you, Eric Wedge.

..........

There are several Mariners I'd rather watch hit than Jack Cust, notably Adam Kennedy, Luis Rodriguez, but also including Michael Saunders.

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SLOPS TO THE DOGHOUSE - Mike Wilson is slugging .600, .700 in AAA, in limited AB's.  

As Bill James would ask:  if you are not going to allow this guy a chance when the time is right, that's fine.  But!, then why is he here?

I don't mean, "You should give him a chance."  I mean, "you should cut him and get him out of the organization."

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Mike Wilson is like 28 years old or something; letting him "groove in" for 2011 is irrelevant at his age/arc.  He's a journeyman who has been stalled-out and rotting at his level of development for years.  

He was the #26 Mariner in two spring trainings, including one three years ago.  The Mariners have a calamity at DH.  The glove position that is open is LF.

Would like to know (1) what Wilson's personality disorder is, or else (2) why this man is not released.

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BABVA,

Dr D