M's 2, 102-W Indians and Kluber, 1

.

.... for the best game recaps, take off and cruise the 'net.  For the Crunch on why the game played out 2-1, check SSI's posts and comments threads.  This morning Dr. D can only heat the pot up, for others, though; the Denizens will have to fill the pot with the potatoes.  Got other stuff goin' on.  So just the whitest parts of the chicken breast to start:

.

EDWIN DIAZ

As Bill Krueger pointed out, the day will come when Eddie can go 0-1 with a fastball on the black.  When that day comes, it's lights out.  That'll do for us too.  When Diaz can routinely paint an 0-1 advantage, we'll relish a long long series of victory celebration type saves.

Image: 

Can the M's Poach a Series?

.

What's not easy, is to poach enough series to total 90 wins.   

:- )

.

VEGAS ODDS

If the M's can poach game 1, then they probably WILL take the series, of course:  even if the Indians had a full 2:1 shot of winning each game after -- and very few MLB games feature 2:1 odds -- they'd still only have a 44% chance of coming from behind to take a series.  The team that wins game 1 is the favorite to win ANY 3-game Major League series.  Even if the #1 team played the #30 team and botched Game One, they could expect to lose the series, playing it out from that position.

Unfortunately for the M's, the Indians have baseball's #1 starting rotation.  Or, at least that's what Dr. D has read in three or four authoritative sites.  

Image: 

The Day Before

.

ICHIRO

Is fretting about losing his eyesight, runs the narrative, but ... ah ... that means from 20/12 to 20/18, not to 20/60 youse mooks.  (Actually mook.)  It's not like he's Ricky Vaughn out there!

Tuesday he looked good:  swing totally vintage, seemed to see the ball out of the pitcher's hand well, had a line-drive single to RF off a LHP that carried too far and took the RF's glove off, a BB, a K on three "hurry the game up" strikes and a popup.  Took one ball off the wall and zipped it back in, hitting the cutoff man in the stomach.

He's only had 10 AB's with a 2:5 EYE -- plus a few minors games as Matty pointed out -- so he's in the first week or two of camp.  If Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Jayson Werth be the alternatives, I'm stoked to see what Ichiro's got in the twin tanks.  As of midnight they were going to wait and see how he felt (after the beaning and then the running around) as to whether to activate him.  Obviously they'd love to get the crowd pumped up Thursday.  If they DL Ichiro, they add .... Taylor Motter?!  I guess that's pretty cool.

Image: 

A dumb comparison at 1B/DH

.

I asked G-Money if 'Bach's truncated followthough, and blurry-fast launch reminded him of AD.  ... and somehow, some way he found this drop-dead gorgeous vid of Mr. Mariner.

Cindy and I were sitting in the 3rd deck, a section all to ourselves, when Alvin Davis arrived and it was the same thing:  7 2B, 7 HR in the first 50 AB's against stunned AL pitchers and his mama had told him it is better to die at childbirth, boy, then to swing at a pitch outside the strike zone.

Image: 

...And another dumb comparison at SP3

.

THE MARINER HOF:  HEREIN LIES A TALE

You kids probably think that Jamie Moyer threw ERA's of 2.18.  He did not.  He pitched his game as perfectly as it can possibly be pitched, and THAT one you can believe.  He hit the mitt with his 88-MPH fastball as often as any pitcher hit it who ever lived; he had a wipeout David Wells bloop 11-to-5 curve, and he had a fadeaway changeup that is one of the best changeups baseball has ever seen.

He had it all.  And he delivered it perfectly, with tremendous braininess and strategy.

Image: 

One-Offs, 3.26.17

.

DAN VOGELBACH'S HERE!

The M's site proclaims the victory we all craved, "Prospect Daniel Vogelbach on Mariners Roster."  How does the Mainframe process this?  In other words, what is jemanji's own pickles-and-aiki baseball take on this situation?

There are several ways this will develop:

1) He won't play for ten days, get 3 PA's or something, and will get sent back down.  This depends on Scott Servais' prejudices about 'Bach's visually unkempt baserunning and defense.  Call this 40%.

Image: 

The King Will Come

Hey Denizens!

Doc has been wondering why I've gone AWOL, bless his heart. So, here I go and offer an opposing view regarding Felix and Opening Day. Now, I have absolutely no argument with Jemanji, who I consider my sensei in all things Mariner (did I spell that right?). This alternative serves to offer a heart perspective to the contrary. I want Felix on the mound, mostly for personal reasons. 

Image: 

Cubs 3 .....

.

Two more games till they count!  We are undefeated, untied, unscored upon.... and we got Ichiro!  And if all that were not baseball-beauty enough, we've got Mike Scioscia calling this dismal Shohei Ohtani game "a great outing."  Those guys down there in LA are taking on some water 'neath decks.  Check their ERA's after you sort by K's.

Anyway, here's how the Cubs game looked, short and to the crux of the matter:

....

Image: 

Pages

Subscribe to Front page feed