I give up!

Between school and work, I can't find the time and energy to keep this up.

If you'd like to follow the 2001 season on your own, check out the following links:

Retrosheet's 2001 Mariners page
Retrosheet's League Leaders for any given day (change the date in the URL to whatever date you want)
Recaps from the Seattle Times archives (search for Mariners, and the dates you want), CNNSI (again, you have to change the date and teams in the URL to the day you're looking for. This game, in which the M's clinched a playoff spot, has Tampa Bay Right Fielder Randy Winn throwing out Stan Javier in a force play at second), and ESPN.com (they changed their URL format in the middle of the season, but you can use this format, and it will forward you to the new page).
Finally, I used Baseball Reference for a ton of things, including Historical Standings for any date.

P.S. If anybody wants to take over this blog, let me know, and you can have the URL, and the few links already set up from Mariner Musings, Leone for Third, Dead Reckoning, and Monk Mojo's Mariner Link Machine. Post a comment, and it will be emailed to me.

Sunday, June 3, 2001 (W: SEA 8 - TB 4 43-12)

The M's set a franchise record today with their 11th straight win, defeating Tampa Bay 8-4.

Most of their damage came against reliever Travis Phelps, against whom they scored five runs in the seventh inning.

Boone hit his eleventh HR, a two-run shot in the third, setting a new Mariner career record for HR's by a second baseman. This was his 27th of his M's career. The previous record holder...

...

...

Joey Cora!

Harold Reynolds only had 17 in Seattle.
Julio Cruz had 17 as a Mariner, although one was as a DH.
Luis Sojo had 14 with the M's, but six were as a shortstop, one was as third baseman, and there was even one as a left fielder.

Freddy pitched 7-1/3 innings to pick up the win. He's now 6-0. This was his 32nd career victory; he's tied with Baltimore's Sidney Ponson for most career wins among active pitchers under 25.

Kaz picked up his league leading 23rd save.

With Lou Piniella in Tampa until Friday because of the death of his father-in-law, interim manager (and regular bench coach) John McLaren rested Ichiro the only way he could: by DHing him. In the third inning, Ichiro showed he wasn't planning to rest, getting a hit, then stealing second before Boone's HR. Ichiro has now reached base in 37 straight games, tying Edgar (who didn't play today, sitting out with a bruised left foot, after fouling a ball off it last night) for the longest active streak in the majors.

Since it's Sunday, there's quite a few interesting articles in the Times I thought I'd point out:

Shigetoshi Hasegawa, the Japanese relief pitcher for the Angels, believes that pitchers from Japan face a significant risk of injury because of their Japanese workload and strength and conditioning regimes. I wonder what Kaz has to say about that.

Another article attempted to write down baseball's unwritten rules, which are in the news quite a bit lately, after San Diego catcher Ben Davis's bunt to break up Curt Schilling's perfect game. In my opinion, Davis was right, in a close game, to do whatever he could to get on base, and bring the tying run to the plate. And, as far as I can tell, he's not a very good hitter (.299 going into that game), so the bunt was the right move. He just better hope none of the D-Backs ever become his manager. I have a friend who was at that game. He was justifiably upset when Davis bunted.

It's also nice to see a fan cost index article in the mainstream media that says, "[I] discovered that $180 could cover a family of 14 if you stretched the dollar hard enough." I've probably been to 60 Mariner games in my life, and never paid for parking, and never sat in seats that cost more than $5. Of course, I've only been to Safeco twice. My dad always bought a big bag of peanuts across the street from the Kingdome (and he always would buy another nice warm bag from Rick the Peanut Man if he happened by). Now, I sit in $6 pavilion seats in LA (and I unfortunately have to pay $6 for parking unless I carpool and split it), I sit in $6 outfield seats in the big A; I love sitting behind the bullpen and messing with the players. I'll buy a (Super) Dodger Dog and a Coke, but I don't need a $6 beer! (And, I must admit I do usually buy a program once per stadium per season.)

Minor league updates:
Tacoma's Dennis Stark is second in the PCL in ERA (2.17)
Tacoma's Juan Thomas is second in the PCL in RBI (47)
San Antonio's Willie Bloomquist is struggling; his average is down to .249
First year San Bernardino pitcher (formerly an outfielder) Rafael Soriano went seven shutout innings Monday, giving up only three hits, one walk, and recording eleven strikeouts!
Wisconsin's Jamal Strong is hitting .353, third in the Midwest league, his OBP is first at .478, and he's second in SB's with 35. He was called up to San Bernardino on Friday.

Saturday, June 2, 2001 (W: SEA 7 - TB 4 42-12)

Sorry I've been so bad about posting. I have a midterm coming up, and I'm slipping behind on homework, and work sucks. But, that's no excuse. I'll try to catch up a day or two at a time.

The M's came from behind once again tonight, as Paul Abbott gave up two quick runs in the top of the first before the Mariners struck back with five in the bottom of the first off of Tampa Bay starter Ryan Rupe. Each team tacked on two more runs in later innings for a final score of 7-4.

The tenth win in a row for the Mariners, tying a franchise record set in 1996, started off ugly with a first inning two-out two-run home run by Greg Vaughn. However, the Mariners' first 7 batters reached base in the bottom of the inning, plating five runs.

Congratulations to Brian Fuentes for making his major league debut a success, coming on with two runners and no outs in the top of the seventh, and getting two quick outs before giving way to Jose Paniagua.

Kaz got his 22nd save.

In the sixth inning Hal McRae was ejected for arguing a fan interference call. Ichiro leaped for a Russ Johnson drive in foul territory, and probably would have caught it, if not for an idiot fan who reached out and caught the ball. The umpires called Johnson out, judging that Ichiro would have made the catch. McRae didn't agree. Some day, some fan will cost a team a big game due to something like this, and hopefully then fans will learn that they're paying to watch the game, not be a part of it. Anybody lucky (or wealthy) enough to score front row seats in any section should respect the game and it's friendly confines, or not get the privilege of sitting so close to the action.

Larry Stone wrote a good article in today's Times pointing out that the Mariners are not doing it by "Pitching and Defense" as many would have you believe. In fact, while their pitching is great, at third in the AL in runs allowed, their hitting is first. When people tell you that pitching and defense is what wins games, remind them that you still have to hit, and the M's are doing that pretty well. They're now leading the Twins by 6.5 games for the best record in the majors.

Former Mariner Glenallen Hill was waived yesterday by the Angels after hitting only .136 in 66 AB.

Friday, June 1, 2001 (W: SEA 8 - TB 4 41-12)

Jamie Moyer picked up his 7th win tonight, leading the M's to an 8-4 victory of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The Mariners have now won a season-high nine straight. The club record is ten in a row, set in September of 1996.

Seattle scored a quick two in the bottom of the first, on a double by Boone. Tampa Bay kept the game close, breaking up Moyer's no-hitter on a blooper that McLemore, playing left field, appeared to catch, and eventually scoring two in the fifth on a two-run double by their Right Fielder, Randy Winn.

The bullpen was the hero for the M's tonight, as Jose Paniagua, Arthur Rhodes, and Jeff Nelson combined for 4 shutout innings that allowed the Mariner bats to pull away from the D-Rays.

The crowd of 41,094 put Seattle's home attendance over 1 million in their 26th game, the fastest ever in Seattle. In 1997, the M's took 27 games to reach seven figures (and that was in the "ugly Kingdome that nobody wanted to see a game at").

Thursday, May 31, 2001 (W: SEA 2 - BAL 1 40-12)

Aaron Sele won the 100th game of his career to extend his unbeaten record to 8-0 with a 2-1 victory over the Orioles.

Kaz got his 21st save.

Cal Ripken hit his third HR of the season off of Sele in the 7th, an upper-deck shot to left for the 420th of his career, earning a standing ovation from the M's crowd. (John: To be honest, I can't find anything online about someone throwing it back, but if they did, that was stupid!!!)

Al Martin robbed journeyman catcher Greg Myers of a HR with a leaping catch against the wall in front of the M's bullpen. Maybe Martin read my post about bringing in Matsui to play left in 2003 and decided to actually try on defense. He's no Gary Sheffield (whose surrounding area in LF should be named "The Laziest Place on Earth"), but I rarely see Martin go all out for a ball.

McLemore and Ichiro each got their 17th SB of the season tonight. McLemore, who started his first game in CF tonight (adding to his list of 2001 starts at LF, SS, 2B, and 3B), is 17 for 17 in SB attempts. Ichiro has been caught 5 times.

Most importantly tonight, it was the seventh Buhner Buzz Cut Night. I'm sure Jason Michael Barker of Strikethree.com was there in full regalia, along with 6,245 others who got in free by shaving their heads, including Helyn Nelson, 77, who was the oldest person to have her head shaved, and one of 122 women.

Cha Seung Baek, in single-A San Bernardino may need Tommy John surgery. Although he was signed as a free agent out of South Korea in 1998 (for first round money), he's the latest in Mariner minor league disappointments. Twelve of the past fourteen number one picks for the M's are still playing baseball, but none for the Mariners: Ken Griffey Jr. (1987), Tino Martinez (1988), Shawn Estes (1991), Ron Villone (1992), Alex Rodriguez (1993), Jason Varitek (1994) and Jose Cruz Jr. (1995) all play for other teams. Gil Meche (1996), Ryan Anderson (1997) and Baek are injured. Matt Thornton (1998) and Ryan Christianson (1999) are still in the minors. Sam Hays, taken last year in the third round with the team's first pick, has yet to play.

Screw the draft. Why pay these kids a ton to sign if they just end up getting hurt or sucking? I say we draft guys and don't sign them, or give away the picks as compensation for free agents who can help now. Or, sign fat guys who are no good but are cheap. Why waste money on draftees? Look at this 2001 team; we didn't need a draft for this!

Or we could draft better players.

Norm Charlton went on the DL yesterday after straining his groin on Tuesday. LHP Brian Fuentes was called up to replace him.

I'll keep trying to catch up with more posts tomorrow.

Wednesday, May 30, 2001 (W: SEA 12 - BAL 5 39-12)

Another day, another win. Are we getting spoiled expecting this?

John Halama started for the M's and pitched a solid six innings for the win. That's good enough for me after his last start.

Bell, Olerud, and Boone all hit HR's for the M's, who broke the game open in the eighth against the young Ryan Kohlmeier. Baltimore had hoped Kohlmeier would develop into a closer, after picking up thirteen saves last season as a rookie and six more this season before BJ Ryan took over a few weeks ago. Kohlmeier gave up six runs in only one third of an inning tonight.

Cal Ripken was 1-4, with a sac fly in the top of the first to put the O's ahead.

McLemore had 4 SB's.

The M's are now 39-12. Griffey and A-Rod's teams, the Reds and the Rangers, have 39 wins combined.

A note of interest: For the first time, all three three-generation families were represented in today's game, with Bret Boone and David Bell on the field for the M's and Jerry Hairston, Jr. on the field for the O's. All three players' fathers and grandfathers played in the majors.

Jay Buhner ran for the first time in quite a while today; only about 60 yards, but it's a good first step on his rehab from plantar fasciitis.

Edgar's beard watch: It's starting to itch. His wife doesn't like it. I give it four more days before Edgar breaks out the razor.

A longer All-Star article in today's paper gives more voting details. Edgar's in 1st among DH's, Ichiro's 2nd among OF's (only 41 votes behind Manny Ramirez) with no Japanese votes counted, Olerud is 2nd at first, Boone is 2nd at 2B, Cameron's 6th among OF's.

Tuesday, May 29, 2001 (W: SEA 3 - BAL 2 38-12)

I'm back. I apologize for going on vacation just as I was starting to get a few visitors. Hopefully some of you have returned.

Lesson learned: Never start a blog right before a vacation.

A sort-of related note: In doing this, I've gained quite a bit of respect for those who post daily. All you bloggers/journalists who have daily deadlines, wow! It's really nice to know I can quit this any time I get bored with it -- but I'll try not to. Unless my counter doesn't move for a few weeks at a time, I'll keep posting.

Back to the blog:

Another win tonight for the M's, as they beat the O's 3-2 behind a strong seven innings by Freddy Garcia. Garcia is now 5-0, one of only two opening day starters still unbeaten (the other is Philadelphia's Omar Daal, who went 4-19 last season, but is now 6-0).

Kaz picked up his 20th save. McLemore hit his 4th HR.

Ichiro got the GWRBI (I miss that stat from the back of my Topps baseball cards in the late-80's) with a single in the 5th to up the score to 2-1. He also made a few great catches to save runs, including one to end the game.

The first All-Star balloting results were released today. Ichiro is second among AL outfielders, behind Manny Ramirez (who went 0-4 last night to drop below .400 for the first time since May 4). However, Manny hasn't yet played in the field this season, so I'd argue he should be on the ballot as a DH, like Edgar.

Good article in today's Times about Ray Fosse, who played for the M's in 1977. The article discusses the infamous play in the 1970 All-Star game, when Pete Rose ran over Fosse in a play at the plate.

My opinion: Baseball's just a game. It's entertainment. The All-Star game doesn't mean anything. It's an exhibition. Go out, play hard, have fun, but don't end anybody's career. I think Rose crossed a line with this play. In the heat of competition, I don't know what I would have done, but the play, and Rose's subsequent comments, just don't sit well with me.

Remember: Baseball is entertainment. The players are entertainers. That's all it really is.

As long as I'm discussing my All-Star game opinions, here's another:

Every team should have a representative. If you're like me, a Mariners' fan, you endured a few years of poor teams. As a kid, if Harold Reynolds didn't have a chance to pinch run for somebody or Mark Langston didn't have a chance to come in as a LOOGY, I wasn't about to watch the game. As an adult, I've learned to appreciate the game no matter who the players are (I can go to the park down the street and watch a little league game and enjoy it), but as a 10-year old, I was watching for one thing: Harold Reynolds. This creates interest for the local fans in the local players, especially when the team sucks. I don't even care if they don't play. When I was a kid, I would watch just to see them sitting on the bench or in the bullpen.

Bob Finnigan has an article in today's times about the next Japanese star, Kazuo Matsui, who will be eligible to come across the Pacific for the 2003 season. He could become the first Japanese infielder to play in the majors, but scouts believe he projects better as an outfielder, with "the strongest arm in Japan." According to the article, he's as fast as Ichiro. Wouldn't you love to see a 2003 outfield of Matsui in left, Cameron in center, and Ichiro in right? They'd probably steal 150 bases, with an 80% success rate!

On vacation...be back soon

Sorry everybody. I'm on vacation, and I thought I'd get a chance to post, and I haven't had one (or I'm just lazy, I'll let you decide). I'll try to make a monster post soon.

Monday, May 28, 2001 (W: SEA 13 - KC 3 37-12)

If you had Paul Abbott in the "First Mariner Pitcher to Throw a Complete Game in 2001" Pool, you're a winner.

Paul Abbott pitched the first complete game of his career today, and the first of the M's season, as the Mariners won 13-3, to reach 25 games over .500 for the first time in their history. The Memorial Day Monday game completed the 4-game sweep of the Royals.

Ichiro robbed Mike Sweeney of a HR with a leaping catch in the bottom of the fourth. The next batter, Jermaine Dye, went the other way, with a HR over the wall in left. Later, Sweeney got his revenge, as he smashed a ball over Mike Cameron's head, out of the park in center. The Royals' final run was scored during a shaky ninth by Abbott. However, the veteran pitcher worked out of the jam, and completed the game in an economical 119 pitches.

The M's will be home tomorrow night, for the first game of a season-long twelve-game homestand. Cal Ripken and the Baltimore Orioles will start rookie Willis Roberts against Freddy Garcia.

Sunday, May 27, 2001 (W: SEA 5 - KC 4 36-12)

The M's squeezed out another one tonight, as Sasaki blew a save in the bottom of the ninth, but the M's pulled it out 5-4 after an eleventh inning rally.

Former Mariner David McCarty hit a solo shot off of Sasaki with one out in the ninth to send the game into extra innings.

In the eleventh, the M's played small ball, as Edgar singled, pinch runner Charles Gipson advanced to 2nd on a John Olerud single, and Bret Boone sacrifice bunted the runners ahead. The Royals elected to walk Ichiro to load the bases, and Mike Cameron came through with a deep sacrifice fly to center that Gipson scored on.

Norm Charlton worked a perfect tenth and eleventh to tally the victory.

With the victory, the M's are now 24 games above .500 for the first time in team history, and they're 21-5 on the road (kinda makes you wish a ceiling tile would fall, so the M's could play on the road all the time -- sorry, I live in LA, I don't care if I get to see them live at Safeco).

Raul Ibanez watch: Sasaki K'ed Ibanez, pinch hitting for the catcher again, this time in the bottom of the 9th. Ibanez is now hitting .143.

The M's are now 4-0 since Wednesday, when I got my Sports Illustrated with Ichiro on the cover. Jinx? What Jinx?

Cleveland lost, Minnesota won, so we're now four games up over Minnesota for the majors' best record.

Bob Finnigan had an article in today's Sunday Times about Olympic Hero Ryan Franklin. Despite his great performance this season, including Friday's career high 5-inning stint, the team has no plans to move him to the rotation, since Gil Meche and Ryan Anderson are on track to join the starting staff next season.

The same article mentions a few more former Mariners playing for the Royals: the "orignal Suzuki," relief pitcher Mak(oto), and tonight's starting second baseman, Wilson Delgado, who was traded from the M's back in May of 1995, along with Shawn Estes, for Solomon Torres, who is now out of baseball after being released by the Expos in January.

Finally, the M's are #3 in MLB for attendance, behind league leader Colorado (in LAST place in the NL West) and the Giants.