«§ea‡‡£e®Mariner§» 09/09 - 09/15

CORRESPONDENT REPORT

Game Date  Team Decision Record Win      Loss   Save 


143   09/09   @TEX  L 7-12  84-59   Reyes     Halama   

144   09/10   @TEX  L 2-3   84-60   Rodriguez Pineiro  Cordero

145   09/11   @TEX  L 3-4   84-61   Cordero   Rhodes 

146   09/12   @TEX  L 3-7   84-62   Park      Franklin  

147   09/13   @OAK  L 0-5   84-63   Zito      Valdes    

148   09/14   @OAK  L 0-1   84-64   Hudson    Moyer   

149   09/15   @OAK  W 6-3   85-64   Pineiro   Harang   Sasaki

£ºCA£ PER§PEC‡IVE

• Certain Players Have a Charisma that Transends Team Performance - Sosa, Bonds, Mcgwire, Guerrero, Martinez, Schilling – to Energize and Excite a City Beyond the Mid-Summer Marathon That Is the BaseBall Regular Season. Rodriguez, Much Like Retired IronMan Cal Ripken, Is a Very WorkManLike Player Who Eerily Resembles His Idol In His Aesthetic Approach to the Game and His Reserved Demeanor. The Rangers Had Better Hope Wins Ensue In Short Order as Players Like Ripken and Rodriguez Don’t Exactly Excite an OtherWise Unenthusiastic Fan Base. Micheal Jordon Transcended Team, City, League, and Country with His Amazing Skill, Breath Taking Aerial Artistry, and Fiery On Court Demeanor. A Player Like Jordon Adds Value to His Team With His Athletic Ability and His Drawing Power. Jordon, However, Was a League Wide Phenomenon Who Impacted Financial Sectors Across the World. The NBA Great And His Billion Dollar Affect on The Global MarketPlace Was Studied and Termed 'The Jordan Affect', to Illistrate The Manner In Which a True SuperStar Athlete Can Impact Local, National, and International Economies. When Jordon Rolled Into Town, Ticket Sales Went Through the Roof. Merchandizing Was Tied to League Popularity, and Jordon Led the League to UnBelievable Heights. The Notoriously Frugal Jerry ReinsDorf Opened His Purse Strings For Two Athletes – Albert Belle and Mickael Jordon – and Found When His Chicago White Sox Failed to Compete, That Certain Players Do Not Justify the Amazing Cost there On Field Statistics Warrant. In a New Era Of Revenue Sharing, Luxery Tax, and Salary Cap, Teams Now Have to Make Decisions On Age, Ability, and Most Importantly Star Power. Certain Player Have It { Derek Jeter, Mike Piazza, Jason Giambi, Sammy Sosa, Ichiro Suzuki, Curt Schilling, Alfonso Soriano, Nomar Garciaparra, Vladimir Guerrero } and Certain Players Do Not { Carlos Delgado, Randy Johnson, Mike Hampton, Mike Sweeney, Alex Rodriguez }. Texas Attendence for the 4 Game Series Was Poor With 18,066 on Monday, 19,115 on Tuesday, 23,470 on WednesDay, and 19,211 on Thursday for an Average of Nearly 20,000 a Game for a Summer Closing Series With a Premiere American League West Opponent.

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• The Spoiler, The Salvation, The Last Stand. The Rangers And Former Mariner Alex Rodriguez Have Made One Final Effort to Salvage an OtherWiise Horrendous Season Before Flying Off to to some Far off Island to Contemplate the Harsh Reality Of a One Man Wrecking Ball In the Form Of 250 Million Less Dollars Available for Signing Quality Pitching. The Mariners Remember a Day When Home Runs Were More Plentiful than Wins. The Mets Have Found That Throwing Money at Former All-Stars Can Be a Recipe for Disaster. At Least the Rangers Found a Quality BallPlayer, Because Rodriguez is Definitely Not Going to Excite the Fans Like Sosa, Mcgwire, Guerrero, Or Even Griffey In His Prime. Part of the Reason Rodriguez Never Found His Place in Seattle Is Because Griffey Dwarfed Him With His OutGoing Personality and SuperHero On Field Acrobatics.

• The First Game of the Ranger Series Was a 12-7 SlugFest as One Would Expect With a Team That Spent a Teams Worth of Money on One Offensive Poition Player. The Remaining 3 Games of the Series Were SomeWhat Suprisingly Low Scoring Affairs. On the Surface, It Would Seem That Seattle Disappeared Under the Pressure of a Must Win Situation. However, Upon Closer Inspection, The End Result Is Not Entirely Unexpected. Texas has won 22 of its last 34 games since the All-Star Break, while the Mariners Have Only Won 30 Games Since the Break with a Recent 6 Game Losing Streak Through the Last Game of the Oakland Series. Since Coming Back From the DL August 23, Chan Ho Park Has Not Allowed More Than 3 Runs In Any Start and Has Won 5 Consecutive Games and Lowered His ERA by a Almost One Full Point. The Fact Seattle Was Swept By Texas on the Road is More of a Surprise, As Sierra, Olerud, Suzuki, and Cameron Have all Had Drastic Disparities In Production at SafeCo Field In 2002 Versus Road Average and Production. The Mariners Have Not Fared Well Against Kenny Rogers , However, as the South Paw Has Baffled Seattle with a 4-0 Record and a 1.75 ERA Over 8 Games Started the Past 3 Seasons. Seattle Had Not Faced Recent September Addition Colby Lewis and His 95 MPH FastBall as He Proceeded to Make His First Major League Start a Memorable One Pitching 7 Innings, Alowing 6 Hits, 2 Earned Runs, and Striking Out 3, Eventually Taking a No Decision in the Process. The Mariners had Only Faced Park, the Former Dodger Ace, Once Prior { 1-1 with a 2.92 ERA }. Francisco Cordero Was Also a Nice Addition for Texas, and Since Being Inserted In the Closers Role, has Seen His ERA Drop from 8.59 to 1.85 while Converting 8 of 10 Save Opportunities. Cordero Has Been Almost Unhittable Since May { He Allowed 7 Earned Runs, 5 Earned May 14 At Chicago } and Has Only Surrendered One Earned Run In his Last 26 Games Over 31 2/3 Innings of Work. Cordero Has a .031 ERA Over the Same Frame of Reference and Is a Nice Sleeper At the Closer Position for 2003.

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• September, 19, 2002 - the Mariners and The Rangers Became the 31st Pair of Teams to Play In 4 Straight Extra Inning Games. The Mariners Won the First Three Games of the Series, all in Extra Innings. No Team In Major League BaseBall History Has Been Able to Win 4 Straight Extra Inning Games, and The Mariners Missed The Record Books With a 10 Inning Loss To Texas to Close the Final Meaningful Series of the Season for a Seattle Team that Was Still Mathematically Eligible for Post-Season Play.

• August 12, 2001 – Junior Spivey Collected His 2nd 5 Hit Game In 26 Career Starts. Spivey Became the 5th Player in the Past 50 Years to Collect 2 5-Hit Games In a Rookie Campaign. After a Spectacular 42 Stolen Base Effort for High Desert in 1998, Injuries Kept Spivey off the Diamond for the Majority of the 1999 and 2000 Seasons, Derailing the 27 Year-Old 2B and His Progress Through the Organizational Ranks. Star Date 2002, Junior Spivey Is Now Arguably the DiamondBacks Most Valuable Every Day Player with 13 HR, 71 RBI, a .304 Average, 11 Stolen Bases, and Excellent Range Around the Middle of the Infield.

• Nomar Garciaparra Became the 13th Player In Modern BaseBall History to Accumulate 200 Hits in his Rookie Season. Ichiro Suzuki Became the 14th to Accomplish the Feat with a Rookie of the Year Campaign in 2001 as He Torched American League Pitchers and Became the 1st Player to Have 2 Twenty Game Hit Streaks In the Same Season Since Juan Gozalez in 1996. Tony Oliva and Richie Allen are the Only Rookies to Collect 200 Hits in the Same Season – 1964 – and only 3 Players Have Done it Since: Kevin Seitzer { 1987 ROY / 207 Hits }, Nomar Garciaparra { 1997 ROY / 209 Hits }, Ichiro Suzuki { 2001 ROY / 242 Hits }. A Total of 14 Rookies have Collected 200 Hits in their Rookie Campaign.

• Greg Colbrunn became the First Player Since 1979 { George Brett } to Hit for the Cycle with Multiple Home Runs. A Rare Accinplishment, Unussual as the Number of At Bats in a Regulation Game would Ussually Preclude a Batter From Getting the Last Hit to Complete the Cycle. The DiamondBacks Jumped All Over Young Left-Hander Oliver Perez and the Padres with 5 Early Runs Through 4 Innings. Colbrunn Racked Up 6 At Bats and Actually Struck out But Still Managed to Go 4-6 with 4 Runs and 4 RBI. Brett Accumulated 7 At Bats { 5 Hits } in a 16 Inning Affair Against Baltimore in Achieving His Multiple Home Run Cycle. Colbrunn Became the 2nd DiamondBack to Hit for the Cycle. Luis Gonzalez Hit for the Cycle July, 5 2002 Against the Astros.

• October 3, 1990 – George Brett Won His 3rd Batting Title With a Season Ending .329 Average and Also Led the American League with 45 doubles. Brett’s 1990 Batting Title Christened the Royal Great as The Only Player to Win Batting Titles in Three Different Decades { 1976, 1980, 1990 }. Brett Brett’s 1976 Batting Title Was Won By One Point { .333 to .332 } Over Team Mate Hal McRae when his Fading RainBow Bounced Over the Head of Twins OutFielder Steve Brye Which Allowed Brett to Lumber Around the Bases for an Inside-the-Park Home Run. McRae Later Makes It Known to Media Followiing the Game that He Believes the MisPlay is Deliberate, and McRae Accuses Brye and the Twins With Conspiring to Shift the Balance of the Title toward White Reign. Brett Was Inducted Into the BaseBall Hall of Fame In 1999.

• José Hernández Remains One StrikeOut Short Of the Major League Record of 189 Set By Bobby Bonds In 1970. Hernandez Faced StrikeOut Specialist Octavio Dotel Late In the Game and Was In Position to Tie Bonds with 2 Strikes and a Nasty 97 MPH FastBall On the Inside Half. Hernandez Managed to Get Some Wood on the Ball and Hit a Weak Fly to Right Field. The Milwaukee Fans Erupted In Boo As Hernandez ‘Failed’ to Produce a Record for the Bleacher Creatures. Hernandez Is a Marginal Player On a Bad Team Who Happens to Have a Long Swing that Produces Long Fly Balls. Hernandez Could Regress Considerably In 2003. Bump Him Down the Depth Chart, Especially if He Finds a Platoon Role In the Brewer Infield, as Serious StrikeOut Artists { Cory Snyder, Pete Incaviglia } Can Slide Down HIll In a Hurry. Hernandez Will Also Kill In OB%, Average, and Team Moral.

•‡RAN§AC‡ION§ / DI§AB£ED £I§‡

• For a Complete List of All Recent September Additions, Visit the Mariner Team Roster Page at The Major League BaseBall Team Site.

• Sep 18, 2002 – Mark McLemore Had Surgery to Remove Bone Chips From his Elbow and Will Miss the Rest of the 2002 Season. Super Utility Man Desi Relaford Is Playing At a High Level and Will See 5 or More Starts A Week at 3B and LF. Relaford Has Value as He Has Some Speed, Can Play Both Middle Infield Positions, May Also Qualify at 3B & OF, and Has Been Able to Hit For Nice Average in Limited Playing Time.

• Sep 18, 2002 – Lou Piniella Reported That His HamString and Back May Prevent Him From Fully Participating In Any Kind Of On Field Antics In the Mariners Next Series Against The Angels. Sweet Lou Was Ejected in the 9th Inning By C.B. Buckner Almost Immediately Upon Arriving on the First Base Area of the Diamond. Buckner Smirked, Crossed his Arms, and Stuck a Statuesque Pose as Piniella Threw His Hat Before Launching a Few CareFully Selected Obscenities at the Restrained Buckner. Piniella Suffered the HamString Injury While Sprinting From the DugOut and Strained His Back While Attempting to Remove an UnCooperative First Base From It’s Resting Place. Further Injury May Have Occurred During One of Two First Base Tosses.

• Sep 18, 2002 – Kazuhiro Sazaki Appears to Be Reasonably Healthy, As His FastBall Hit 92 Against Texas WednesDay Night at SafeCo Field. His Arm May Not Be Sound Enough for Back to Back Outings, but Look for Sasaki to Close When Necessary. Sasaki Had Surgery On his Right Pitching Shoulder Before Signing with Seattle in 2000. Sasaki Should Not Be Pressed Into Action Unless Healthy as Seattle has Arthur Rhodes Who Can Close If Needed. Look For 'King Arthur' to Get a Few More Save Opportunities Should They Present ThemSelves Over the Final 10 Games of the Season. Rhodes Has The Best Pure Stuff on the Team and Can Dominate When He Commands His CurveBall. Rhodes Is Always a Top 100 Pitcher In Leagues that Include Holds, and Can Help with His Overall Dominance In ERA & WHIP, and His Ability to Scavenge Additional Wins & Saves.

MINOR £EAGUE PLA¥ER PRO§PEC‡U§

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• By Dave Darling: The Rankings Have Been Broken into three groups: hitters parks, pitchers parks and neutral parks Also, if you'd like to see how three superstars might fare in all 30 major league parks, check out "What they might have hit in . . ." by Fantasy Source Expert David Srinivasan. Also Check The Dave Darling Archive For Other Fantasy Information and an Insider Edge. David Srinivasan The Sporting News Archive Listing.

PITCHERS PARKS

1. San Francisco, Pacific Bell Park
2. San Diego, Qualcomm Stadium
3. Los Angeles, Dodger Stadium
4. Seattle, Safeco Field
5. Oakland, Network Associates Coliseum
6. Detroit, Comerica Park
7. Florida, Pro Player Stadium
8. New York, Shea Stadium
9. Baltimore, Camden Yards

NEUTRAL PARKS

• Toronto, SkyDome (For Artificial Turf Divers AKA Sinker-Ballers)
• Atlanta, Turner Field (Start Your 1-3 Starters)
• Chicago Wrigley Field (When The Wind Is Blowing In)

£ºNG GºNE £UMßER ©º

• £ºNG GºNE £UMßER