Mariner Meandering

Things looked up immediately. Fred Lewis hit a solo shot to start the game (1-0), and Sandoval slashed a base hit. (Looks like they're starting to take Randy Johnson's advice about batting practice.) Ishikawa singled, continuing his hitting dominance (5-6 w/ 2HRs at that point). We only managed to get that one run, but the promise was exciting. This is the first inning, when the opposition is at its best and freshest quality of play.

In the field, Velez played a drag-bunt perfectly. The pregame mentioned that Bochy quite likes Velez, despite the fact that everyone else thinks the battle for 2B is between Frandsen (again, poor guy) and Burriss (a prodigy, in my opinion). Velez showed why: he has an intangible characteristic of providing what the moment needs, not what fantasy owners want to see. Zito had an uncharacteristic 1-2-3 inning. So endeth the first inning.

Scheirholz led off with a single. Uribe got hung up on stretching a 2B, but no one covered 2B in the pickle, with an RBI double. 2-0. We ended the scoring there, but Zito showed himself able to handle it--and he should be able to by now, in any case. The scoreboard tweaked, and Jon joked that "it's kind of a surprise to see Zito still in here in the 7th inning." My amusement was multi-fold. Zito was still clean after two, when he was replaced. Apparently, he's been having "pitching accountability" all winter with Brian Wilson, The Animal. I knew Brian was good for the team in more than pitching. Zito may impress me now, with some time.

The unfortunate next tidbit is Bowker coming in... only to try to make a spectacular catch (from lack of a decision) and error it up. I say "unfortunate" because this kid has been trying to make the team very intentionally (and did make it last year, thanks to our franchise record of callups). He just needs more time. And Travis is a much better player (Kuip called 'Kawa a "natural first baseman", and I agree). That was all to notice for the 3rd inning.

In the 4th, Velez and Holm combined for a great end to the Mariner end. The rest of the inning seemed like the title of this post.

Zito had been replaced in the third inning, and that was all she wrote. For Martinez in the 4th, things were forgettable. Two runners, a single basehit and an error: the score tied. A fantastic diving catch from Andres Torres turned management heads (since it was his first play), but the run scored anyway. 3-2, SEA. Frandsen made the same kind of beautiful play at 2B and the bleeding stopped.

Rowand managed a leadoff double in the 7th, and Bocock replaced him as a pinch runner. Downs, a young kid, sac flied Bocock to third, and it paid off when a passed ball made the jog to home easy. 3-3. Uribe, unfortunately, pushed the good luck and the OF threw him out trying to stretch a triple. Holm, facing two outs, had little steam and popped out. But, once again, sparks of teamwork-batting showed themselves.

The sparks repeated in the eighth. Frandsen doubled, and Sandoval singled him home. Happy Day: 4-3. Chipping away at a lead is good, people. It makes sure (a) the other team doesn't see the lead being lost, (b) our motivation keeps moving in a positive direction, and (c) an intricate team mentality is built, that contributes beyond the field, to commradery and season morale.

Alex Hinshaw, whom I do like, unfortunately blew it. The first two batters had 2-0 counts and belted the next pitch. Hinshaw seemed to learn his lesson a bit, and took the next batter to 0-2 instead. That batter grounded out; but that batter was the diamond in the rough. The next one repeated the previous batters instead and belted another--thankfully the runner didn't score (which was bad news for that runner, I assure you). A valiant effort by Burriss at short couldn't stop that runner making up for his poor earlier performance, another single followed and eventually Hinshaw's place on the team was moving further and further down the pine.

Matos was given the ball, threw one pitch, and cut all of the slack. Nevertheless, damage finished; 6-4, SEA.

Conor Gillaspie, our recent high draft pick who actually played in the last month of the season last year (got a single off Dan Haren, hint-hint), took an AB though nothing came of it. Matt Downs managed a double, however. Kuip immediately voiced my thoughts, "Now it's time to see who this kid is." He got the tying run to 3B earlier, and kept the glimmers a-goin' for the 9th. Nothing else did, though.

FINAL
S.F. - 4
SEA - 6

Just as an aside, I absolutely love that Dave Flemming gets plugged in for promos during the broadcast... without being in the booth. Jon and Duane appreciated having to address him as if there, and pointing that out, as well. It's always nice to see that class and dry wit are inherent to calling the team's games. :)

The Boys That Showed Up: Velez, Downs, Lewis, Zito (thanks Brian).

Clarity in Office

Will Clark is now an official rep.

Just in case y'all were still unaware. Too bad it's a "minor role", but that will do if it's the first step in the process of getting a former player to run the team. Thank God someone's paying attention...

-Michael

A Royal Mess

Randy Johnson is slowly figuring out what all the other quality pitchers have on our team. You can pitch quite well; but when you do you can be quite sure that the offensive production and the fielding will tag-team to help you lose low-era games.

At least Sanchez got some work; he'll need it due to Lowry's forearm, which apparently is still twinged. (For the record, let it be known that when Noah injured himself last year at this time, popping that tendon, I knew it was a career-breaker.) Most the rest of the pitching happened to be people I'd never heard of, except for Sadler. Hence, the final score (which the announcer for MLB.com sped over at the end of the game, not without reason).

The single greatest highlight: Posey showed for an AB in the 9th. He made a unnoticeable out, but that's not the point. The point was that even on a day like today, that single AB reminded me of all the new boys getting ABs and pitch-ins so far, already. It is the best part about our new ownership: Hope ariseth in the farm system, and it's actually getting a shot in ST right away.

FINAL
K.C. - 6
S.F. - 1

History in Spring

The good news is that this was the first-ever meeting of S.F. and L.A. in the spring in 30 years. Seriously. The Dodgers used to be in Florida. FLORIDA. Really. Who practices on the East Coast of the United States when playing on the West Coast of the United States. Dodgers. That's who. ;) Jon teased Ken Levine by saying he was "once a well-known radio broadcaster, and now works for the Dodgers". Ken Levine caught it. Jon said, "well, it's the Dodgers; what do you expect?" Jovial, but classic. I did hear from guest Charlie Steiner that the Dodgers extended the contract to Manny Ramirez (for those of you following big-name signings). I'd be happy to see we do not get him.

Some notable players: Ishikawa and Aurilia.

The bad news is that it was just spring training. It was entertaining, but our pitching and eventually the Dodger fielding just blew up. 6-0 L.A., then we took advantage of backup fielding and cut it to 6-4. Then 6-5. Next 10-5, though Velez made a fantastic throw from the outfield behind 2B (he also hit well after finally coming in). Of our recent bullpen signings, Howry did well and Affeldt--well, I hope Affeldt was just trying to fine-tune a particular pitch in a particular location, because they lit him up. I'll spare you the rest of the details:

FINAL
L.A. - 16
S.F. - 7

Oy.

WELCOME BACK KAWA!

The first things I shall tell you is that today is Ash Wednesday.

The second thing I shall tell you is that you should immediately have the theme to "Welcome Back, Kotter" in your head, and I'm about to tell you why.

Spring Training is upon us, thank GOD. The voice of Jon today was almost as good as an old friend returning after years of silence. Everyone did mostly well.

-Lincecum's first pitching AB was a K.
-Renteria's first AB was a 2B
-Scheirholz's first AB was a 1B
-Ishikawa's first AB was a RBI 1B

But that was not all that 'Kawa did. Oh no. The man who "has problems against lefty pitching" was 3-3, 2 HRs, and 4 RBI. Hello? Did you hear that?

You know who else hit like Ishikawa, who performed like him regularly, who came up through our own system as a surprise, and played 1B? Will Clark. Will Clark, people. I'm not making predictions, but I have always enjoyed watching this kid. He's humble, hard-working, and dedicated to the franchise. That's all I have to say.

Welcome back, 'Kawa. Welcome back.

FINAL
SF - 10
Cleveland - 7