Mediocre is the byword for Seattle Mariners Baseball. It's almost as if a curse had been placed by a northwest voodoo doctor causing the team to play down to some lower grade no matter what the management does. We set the record for wins. Ichiro Suzuki set the record for hits. We've had Edgar Martinez. Ken Griffey Jr, Randy Johnson, and Alex Rodriguez. I was present in the Kingdome for the magical comeback win over the Yankees in 1995, at Safeco Field the day Ichiro broke the hits record, and for the Felix Hernandez perfect game. I have sat in the nosebleed sections above third base, and marveled at Jamie Moyer's eighty mile per hour fastball and his change-up that people swung at before it even got halfway to the plate. And yesterday, on my annual birthday ball game, I watched them strand fourteen runners in scoring position and lose the game to Detroit 5 to 4. They lead the league in that category.
What I have not seen is a pennant. Not one American League Championship since they came into the league in 1977. I believe Seattle is the only major league team that has never won a title. Even the Marlins have won the series for Pete's sake. I grew up a Giants Fan. My sisters still are and they laugh at the Mariners. My friend Mary Helen Gallagher was so frustrated by the team she called the Front Office from her assisted care facility in Port Angeles, told them she had been patient and asked them to get to the World Series before she died. They failed at that. She's with the Angels now and I don't mean the Anaheim Angels.
This year, management brought us not one but two big bats to match our good pitching rotation. Last year's acquisition, Robinson Cano is batting fifty points below his average. Nelson Cruz is the one offensive bright spot, but the rest are batting below their averages, and no matter how many of them walk or reach on errors or hit their way aboard they are left at the bags most of the time. I don't expect to join Mary Helen, wherever she is. If there is a Hell, I'll be there watching the Mariners strand runners.
P.S. I stole the line about the Angels from Steve Goodman's The Dying Cub Fan's Last Request.. It's one of the best baseball songs ever.
What I have not seen is a pennant. Not one American League Championship since they came into the league in 1977. I believe Seattle is the only major league team that has never won a title. Even the Marlins have won the series for Pete's sake. I grew up a Giants Fan. My sisters still are and they laugh at the Mariners. My friend Mary Helen Gallagher was so frustrated by the team she called the Front Office from her assisted care facility in Port Angeles, told them she had been patient and asked them to get to the World Series before she died. They failed at that. She's with the Angels now and I don't mean the Anaheim Angels.
This year, management brought us not one but two big bats to match our good pitching rotation. Last year's acquisition, Robinson Cano is batting fifty points below his average. Nelson Cruz is the one offensive bright spot, but the rest are batting below their averages, and no matter how many of them walk or reach on errors or hit their way aboard they are left at the bags most of the time. I don't expect to join Mary Helen, wherever she is. If there is a Hell, I'll be there watching the Mariners strand runners.
P.S. I stole the line about the Angels from Steve Goodman's The Dying Cub Fan's Last Request.. It's one of the best baseball songs ever.
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