=== News & Notes ===

Have you seen this MLB link, bro'?  Kewl 5-minute chill before a ballgame.

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Ichiro is 401 hits ahead of Junior and 3 hits behind Edgar.   After the road trip, Ichiro will have hit safely more times than any Mariner you ever watched.  Lonnie.  We're talking to you.

Ichiro's a lock for 3,000 MLB hits and we presume that his NPB + MLB hits will exceed Pete Rose's.  And he played in Safeco.  Do you unnerstand who you're watching here?

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Felix' ERA in "1st games of his season" is 1.36 lifetime.  On Opening Days, he has 33 K's against 0 home runs.

Felix' April ERA of 2.66 is #3 among active pitchers ... #2 being Brandon Webb, #4 being Cliff Lee.

Interestingly, Felix has 154 K's in 159 April innings.  Remember, SSI covets Felix evolution to a 9-10 strikeout pitcher, which would occur if he started throwing 2-strike pitches to miss bats instead of hit them.

Consistency?  Felix recorded QS in 30 of 34 games last year, the most since Bret Saberhagen's 30 back in ... 1989.  The year before, I think SSI pointed out his 24-for-25 QS run and, coincidentally, the M's stat crew has been emphasizing his QS percentage since.

Felix is tied with Randy Johnson for most Mariner Opening Day wins:  2.  Bill James used to say he judged franchises by what their career leaderboards looked like...  Tampa Bay's career HR leaders list looks a little different from the Yankees'.  :- )

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The Mariners hit .254 / .324 / .401 this spring; their opponents were just a tick better.  The M's ERA was 4.40, their opponents' 4.51.  

The highest OBP's were from Dustin Ackley and Chone Figgins, both around .450.  If the M's were going to get .450 OBP's, I'd just as soon it be from those two.  And Smoak.  But Smoak had his .450 OBP* last September...

Eric Bedard led the spring club with 3 wins; the ERA leader was Michael Pineda; Jack Cust led with 4 HR and 14 RBI.  

I remember when the spring training leaders used to be AA players, Mancho Bernhardt or somebody. And it'll be fun to watch Cust against Oakland.

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=== Bullpen ===

If the M's are up 4-2 going into the 8th, I'll be rooting for Wedge to leave Felix in there.

The 'pen's going to be pretty white knuckle for a while, and this is a game I'd hate to blow.  Win this game, and you're at least 1-2 going into Texas with Bedard-Pineda-Felix.   Man, what if they were 2-1 going into their Big Three...  :sigh:

In terms of the way guys were throwing, I kinda liked Wright and Ray late in Arizona. ... Brandon League allowed 1 ER and a .200 AVG over his last 6 appearances.

Felix hands the ball to League, 2 runs up, I'll be reasonably comfortable.

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BABVA,

Dr D