M's 2 …
Which of these things is not like the others, Dept.

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Corey Hart and Kyle Seager Go All Earl-Y-Ball on the Pesky Rodent Orcs

No sooner did Matty predict (gingerly) that Corey Hart or Michael Saunders would need to make the difference, than ... Corey Hart made the difference.  What a called shot there :- )

...

There was a period in the 1960's that James wryly dubbed --- > the "ticking time bomb" era.  Teams had a rough time stringing three hits, so you just sat around and waited for somebody to hit a home run.  The ratio of boredom to excitement is sky-high.  Dr. D would rather watch Tavaris Jackson than watch Ticking Time Bomb baseball.

That said, this was precisely Earl's patent:

  • Predictably excellent pitching
  • Low scores, games loaded with tension wire-to-wire
  • Batters who pulled down his victories with exactly 12 seconds of game action (blech)

"They say managers are hired to be fired, but I was never fired from ANY job, at any level.  All it takes is a .583 career winning percentage."  Did he really go .583, career?!  That is 94.5 wins per season, every season, your whole life.  Slap me silly and call me Beimel.

...

Sabes figure that homers are nothing more than [fly balls] times [10%].  Yes and no.  As with so many excellent ideas, this one got taken much too far.

There are times -- a minority of all HR's, admittedly -- when a batter loads up, gets his pitch, gets the bat head out in front, and deliberately hits the ball in the air to his pull field with authority.  Back Leg Specials.

The jacks Wednesday from both Kyle Seager and Corey Hart =  swings where they intended to pull the ball hard in the air, deserved to pull the ball hard in the air, and did pull the ball hard in the air.

When two teams with 120 ERA+ staffs square off, you see the difference a homer makes.  "The greatest play in baseball," Earl said.  "I don't understand why people don't get it."

...

McClendon likes Mike Zunino's offense.  He is aware of the .200 batting average but "he's a dangerous hitter."  McClendon, it sez here, fully groks Earl's theories.  Corey Hart was a case in point today.

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Kendrys Morales

You guys "got it" before I did.  ... Tuesday, Kendrys loaded up on a pitch, intended to pull the ball hard in the air, deserved to pull it hard in the air, and did pull it hard in the air ... about 285 feet.   :: GAGGGG ::

As a minor but completely distinct side issue ... he was on 1B yesterday when Kyle Seager just wasted a pitch, deeeeep into the far Oakland power alley.  It took approximately three days for the CF to get over there.  Morales took off at the crack of the bat.  He barely made it to THIRD!

Watching the replay, I wondered if he is the slowest major league player I have ever seen -- much slower than Edgar or Olerud in their retirement seasons.  The dude spent his extra time off, doing something that was not P90X.  And it's costing him.  He's physically very sluggish.  And this isn't an athlete who had fast twitch to spare.

It's me, I pull the plug now.  ... Kendrys can serve as platoon 1B, playing 25% of the time.  It was a worthy idea. It didn't work out.  :: shrug ::

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Austin Jackson

FINALLY!  Two games in which Jax:

  • Was quick on the fastball, even getting the barrel out in front vs. excellent velo
  • Held up cleanly on offspeed = the vaunted "two stage" timing
  • Showed the famous ability to square up the ball onto a clothesline

He has looked terrific, for two games  Against deadly pitching.

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9-to-Make-5

When Corey Hart swatted the pitch into the LF cheaps, Brad Miller and James Jones (both filling their heinies with splinters on the day) EXPLODED off the bench in joy.  The entire dugout was jubilant.  Brad Miller spent about the next four minutes in Hart's face about it.  Some how, some way, McClendon seems to have the Mariners happy to jobshare.

The M's ability to platoon has mushroomed with the callups.  Remember, they had 1 bench player through August 31.  Thusly:

  • A backup C, unused
  • The backup SS
  • Chris Denorfia

But today, against Lester, everybody was right handed except the #3-4* hitters -- who delivered extra base hits LH-on-LH.  This from a team stacked with LH hitters.

They've even got a late-game pinch runner, and are using him, and he's doin' great.  Just like the old 1970's and 1980's National League teams, the M's get into a 2-1 game and get a runner on in the 8th, and here comes a kid to swipe second.  

James Jones is 22-for-23 in stolen bases this year, reading the pitchers extremely well and diving in headfirst from 15 feet away.  That's a good 20 extra bases to Jones', er, the Mariners' account.  Remember, sabes:  pinch run stolen bases are offensive events that you choose.  They're massively leveraged.  Pinch run stolen bases can, and do, decide ballgames.

Pennant races rox,

Dr D

Blog: 

Comments

1

I was looking over Lester's stats last night, and I could not come up with a single weakness. Equally tough against right handers and left handers, solid all season long, and not currently slumping. All the stats were pointing in the right direction, and looking very good. Ugh...it's been nice not having to deal with Cespedes this series. But UGH! A 2-1 game seemed totally in line, assuming we could come up with a run somehow.
Has Corey Hart won the DH job back with a single shot in a crucial game? When the score was 1-0, I was thinking, "Sure would have been nice to have grabbed Adam Dunn...if only to keep him away from the Orcs." That last minute pickup from those suddenly profligate A's appeared like it was gonna cost us two games. Well, if getting Dunn is smart, getting Corey Hart, a younger power hitter, has to be smarter. Right?. When's he gonna hit? IS he gonna hit.
Welcome to the race, Corey. THAT...was a hard rbi.
And Seager! No wear down this September. He was the MVP of this series, I'd say.
Finally, Rodney certainly was firing bullets today. He didn't fool with the changeup much. Just went after the hitters with gas.
Big, big, win. And we gave Ackley a day off besides!

2

Said by the Premiere League fan! This is actually my problem with soccer--not that it is too slow, but that it is too tense for too long. I'm just not willing to invest so much into a game at which I'm invariably getting a snack when the score changes and the game is won. :)

4

Matt commented yesterday (or the day) before that Hart would be one of the two absolute-true as gravity-indisputable keys for the M's to sneak in on the WC.  Mostly, I thought he was full of goo.
Shows you what I know.
(I still think Hart is basically done...but Matt was darn right today)
Kudos to the Skipper for getting Romero in against a tough lefty.  Result?  A base knock.
Is there any pitcher better in shrink up the nards close games than Felix?  When the world runs fast, his pulse rate flat lines.
Jordan, Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Tom Brady, Schilling (maybe), Reggie,  Unitas and a few more,....then Felix.
Man......Mortals don't respond that way.  The pantheon of all sport (missing a few above) does.
Special....
 
moe
 
 

5

John Madden relates that it was late in the 4th quarter, maybe the game where Oakland dethroned the Dolphins in like 1974, and he was yelling at Stabler during a time out ... Stabler gazed up into the stands, smiled, and mused "These people are sure getting a show, aren't they?"  
Madden mumbles, yeah, yeah, but later it occurred to him just how weird it was that Stabler was in training camp practice mood.
.......
Moe, I've heard sportswriters grumble that Nicklaus was overrated, though "managed to play his best golf when it mattered most."  Yea or nay?  Would be interested to hear your take on the Golden Bear.

7
okdan's picture

I'd like to add Russell Wilson to that list :) The guy's heart rate lowers in the biggest moments. Never seen anything quite like it.

8

Jordan and Bill Russell and Tom Brady managed to play their best when it mannered the most.  Does that dull their accomplishments or sharpen them?
That is a huge part of the definition of athletic greatness, isn't it?  If you wilt when the pressure is the greatest, how can you be one of the greats?
Nicklaus won 18 majors and finished second another 19 times.  Tiger Woods has finished 2nd in 6 of them.  He's won 14.
I mention Woods because he's the guy modern sportswriters most frequently mention as the real "greatest ever."
Sorry modern sportswriters, it isn't even close.
 
 

9

Reminds me of the story of the 1989 Super Bowl. 49ers were down by three with the ball on their own 8 yard line and 3:20 left on the clock. Timeout. The team was tense and on edge. Joe Montana was not. He nudges one of his offensive linemen and points into the stands "hey - isn't that John Candy?" Instead of spending the timeout stressing or thinking about their next drive, team spent it debating if the fat man in the first row across the field is John Candy or not. In the Superbowl! The time out ended, Montana broke the huddle and drove the team down the filed for the winning TD with with 34 seconds to spare. The nickname Joe Cool was born.
Some folks are just wired different than the rest of us.

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