Take That, Dr. D
I/O: On the day that D-O-V laments the 74 OPS+, Griffey bombs the M's into the lead and Ichiro's grand slam collects 10 team bases in one swing.
Crunch: :- ) Am only too glad to see a game in which the M's ram my shtick back down my throat, and here's hopin' they do it about 153 more times...
Even sweeter to see Jered fold under the pressure and fumble the ball that opened the floodgates. Console yourself with another doob, pokey.
If, with Ichiro, the M's claw and scratch their way to a teamwide 100 OPS+, they can challenge... perhaps now that the three-backup-OF's plan is history, they'll do precisely that...
As mentioned above, what the M's braintrust needs to do is keep a very keen eye on that offense. If it drops below league-average, as Dr. D expects that it will if Gutierrez and Chavez continue to start, then they need to address it.
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I/O: Endy Chavez continues not only to hit well, but also to look like a hitter.
Crunch: As long as he's hitting .394, he's a starting player, no argument.
For the moment, I'll probably continue to project him for the 75 OPS+ that he's compiled in 2,300 plate appearances, as opposed to the 120 OPS+ he has this year in thirty-odd PA's. But if he finishes the year at .394, or even .392, I'll be only too glad to reverse myself.
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Chavez' HR Wednesday was a true Funk Blast, probably the funkiest HR swing I've seen. But hey, Little Ichiro is taking a mighty wallop at every pitch and catching the top half of the ball almost every time. The little dude is locked in. Give 'im credit.
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I/O: Jaka replaces RRS after only one start.
Crunch: This kind of sheer agility looks s-t-r-a-n-g-e from our perch in Young Frankenstein's tower. After ONE start, they noticed that RRS can't defend himself out there? Where are the four games they use to confirm their suspicions? For that matter, where are the eight games they use to prove that D-O-V doesn't influence them? ;- )
The quotes that came out Wednesday are definitely those that you hear associated with phantom injuries -- being on the safe side, RRS being frustrated about it, it's only a muscular thing (read: routine postgame stiffness), hopefully I get to play after the 26th, etc.
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Jakubauskas gets the nod? Yowch. They're trying to make Dr. D fall in love. It won't work, we assure you.
Jaka has had wonderful command USED SPORADICALLY. Am going to be awfully eager to see what happens if he gets into a rocking chair over a 100-pitch span.
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Jakubauskas-for-RRS, in mid-April, is a Detectovision.com-friendly decision if we've ever seen one the last four years. I wish it were an 8K/game pitcher that we were staking our rep on :- ) like we did on Lincecum and on Morrow's early promotion .... but hey. We'll take what we can get. The current regime only leaves so much room for suggestions.
We don't say that Jaka's a guaranteed star. But I do like his chances to run a 4.35 ERA starting right now. And am not sure which other #7SP we'd say that about.
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I/O: Torii Hunter's view from field level, via Larry Stone:
Torii Hunter had a great quote in the Angels' clubhouse that reflects the fact that the Mariners are starting to impress their opponents.
"They look different than last year,'' said Hunter. "They look hungry. They've got new life with Griffey, and they still have Ichiro.
The "Master Plan" Wok speaks of, in my view most fundamentally meant a change in the culture from losing to winning . It turned out to be more complex than D-O-V thought it would have to be. It has involved at least five or six separate tactics, one of which has been Griffey's and Sweeney's presences.
That change also happened much faster than D-O-V thought was possible. In ST, Griffey growled at the Ichi-reporters "that was last year," and apparently it actually was.
Chuck Knox and Lou Piniella changed losing Seattle cultures within the space of one year, but Zduriencik and Wakamatsu seem to have done it between games (#162 last year and #1 this year). Remarkable, and of course Griffey is a huge part of it.
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I/O: Ichiro returns with a 10-base hit.
Crunch: Ichiro was born to play on a winner.
On SOOOooooooo many levels, Ichiro was born to play on a winner. That double back- and head-slap that a beaming Griffey game him, after the 10-base parabola, symbolized everything that Griffey has done for this clubhouse and that Ichiro will do for the W/L column.
Ichiro gets along poorly with teammates who lose 100 games and finger-point at the players better than they are. He got along very well with the 116-win types.
The 2007-08 finger-pointing was one of the most shameful things I've seen in 30 years of watching baseball, but in 2009 it's ohwell whatever nevermind. Time for Ichiro to resume his rightful place as the HOF leadoff hitter for a team that wants to win.
Because of the poison excised, Ichiro's return may be the very sweetest note in a week-and-a-half of ... um, FUN ... baseball.
You Go Wok,
Dr D