PTI on the 2 Slot
Matty:
+++ [As Ichiro goes) ...so go the Mariners.
No single player can decide EVERY game, but here's a fun fact.
When Ichiro gets no hits, the team is 1-4. :) +++
LOL on the sample size quip. Which just now reminds me, that you've been alerting us to this for a couple years now ... I'm becoming more and more convinced.
Saturday, Ichiro notices that the M's are down 1-0 ... Gutierrez on first base, TWO out, and a single might accomplish nothing. Ichiro blasts one into the power alley, base of the wall, to score Gutierrez.
Eighth inning, same game, 1-1, Ichiro on first and Griffey doubles on two hops to the CENTER FIELDER... the ball is cut off in the gap ... and Ichiro scores anyway.
It doesn't prove, but it does illustrate, that Ichiro's value is multiplied in all of these low-scoring ballgames. A Rickey Henderson or Rod Carew or Pete Rose isn't quite as important in Coors Field 1999, when the scores are 11-9. But when you are in 1-1 ties every day, a Rickey or Ichiro can simply carry you.
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OBF sez:
+++ Wak has really won me over as well! ... I still think he has room to grow (getting comfortable with and knowing when and who to pinch hit, working the umps so his team will get a few calls), but my favorite thing about him is he seems like a guy who loves to learn, and isn't in love with himself. IOW I am not overly concerned about the few areas I see where he could improve because he is the type of guy that will always be trying to get better... +++
Large, scary men will follow another man IF they believe that he is all about the survival of the drop team.
A lot of managers are even more ego'ed out than the players. Wakamatsu is about helping the players succeed. And he is so determined to do this, that he doesn't care TOO much what they like and what they don't like ::coughsilvacough::. McLaren wasn't ego'ed -- he was a bench coach for Lou, slap me silly -- but he was evidently married to the idea of gaining the players' approval.
I just love Wakamatsu's balance of so many critical leadership traits. The man is bloomin' impressive, mate.
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Anonymous:
#1 - Why was Endy Chavez not a defensive replacement for Wlad after Wlad's last at bat? In a 1-1 game in the 8th/9th, don't you want your #1, 2, and 3 OF out there - especially since your 4th best OF has already finished hitting?
1) It would have been a reasonable move. No argument there.
2) Was it "stupid" NOT to (not that you said that it was)? I don't think so. If the game's going to extras, you might need that extra guy -- say, to pinch-run and steal a base towards the winning run.
Wlad usually makes that play. I'm not sure *how much* difference there is between him and Endy in a corner OF slot; Wlad isn't Griffey or Dunn. He's a fast OF himself. And Wlad may come up and hit again.
Just as one example, in Sunday's game Chavez caught a medium fly ball in foul territory and an important runner tagged and went from 1B to 2B. Chavez has a noodle arm, and he gives back 30-50% of that range advantage in runners who take advantage of him.
I'm not saying that the sub might not have been good. But there seem to be distinct advantages and disadvantages either way.
Just my $0.02. I could be wrong. :- )
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San-Man ...
+++ Pretty much in agreement. Though, I'm still firmly in the defense-first camp.
I think it's a tiny bit disingenuous to say Wlad's defense didn't cost the game. +++
Well, not disingenuous... misleading, sure :- )
I don't care whether people think it did or didn't. I'm not trying to defend Wlad, who I now think perhaps should be swapped out for a Michael Saunders type (though not kicked to the curb). I'm just underlining how much of a problemo the bats are.
Sandy, here's an honest question, not a rhetorical question: what do you think of the fact that the M's defensive stats (on many sites) are very unimpressive?
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+++ Mariner offense:
last 28 days -- .717 OPS -- 92 OPS+
last 14 days -- .795 OPS -- 112 OPS+
last 7 days --- .849 OPS -- 138 OPS+
EVERY team, regardless of talent has good and bad days. +++
And perhaps Branyan #2, combined with Lopez' heating up, means that some of this is real...
I looooooooove the fact that the San-Man is never blinded by the glare of what's happened in the last week or two. Of such stuff a reputation is made. *Viva* the San-Man! :- )
Cheers,
Dr D