Quiet offseason ends with another Mariner self-immolation

Greetings, baseball fans. There hasn't been a lot of activity here on GrandSalami.net over the winter—none, really—but Spring Training is here and the 2021 season looks like it'll get started more or less as usual after last year's COVID-19-disrupted parody of a campaign. It's not that there hasn't been material to cover or discuss during the offseason; just because Seattle General Manager Jerry Dipoto didn't go on one of his trading binges doesn't mean everything stayed completely static. But there were other things going on—a critical election campaign, more pandemic drama, an attempt to violently overthrow the American government by...

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Posted in Mariners, Columns, News, Around the Horn; Tagged Contention, Kevin Mather, Front Office  |   Posted on February 25, 2021 at 6:09pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Contention is the goal

A few days back I posted this piece evaluating the Mariners after the 2020 mini-season with an eye toward readiness for 2021. As usual, the post got linked to some of the Mariners fan groups on Facebook, and as usual, more people remarked on it there than here onsite. Considering the attitude of some of those people, I'm OK with that. There are a lot of haters on Facebook.

See full post: "Contention is the goal"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Jerry Dipoto, Contention, Bullpen  |   Posted on October 1, 2020 at 6:54pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Who to root for?

The postseason has begun and the Mariners are once again nowhere to be seen. What's a Seattle baseball fan to do? In this wacky year of expanded playoffs, most us will pick a team (or a succession of them) to ride with through the World Series and make the best of it. But whom to choose...?

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Posted in MLB; Tagged Postseason  |   Posted on September 29, 2020 at 5:49pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Mini-season ends with Mariners not ready for 2021

With today's loss to the AL West Champion Oakland A's, the Mariners officially finished their part in 2020’s wild and wacky baseball season. It went about as expected, overall, with some interesting surprises and familiar frustrations, serving its purpose as an evaluation/on-the-job training ground for some players while failing miserably at that task for others. So, you might say the goals were a little different, but in the end it was just another Mariners season, done before October and watching other clubs play for titles. Even in crazy 2020, when you have to be really bad to miss the playoffs.

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Posted in Mariners, MLB; Posted on September 28, 2020 at 2:43am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Game notes — 9/22/20

Happy fall, everyone. Well, "happy" adjusted for 2020, anyway.

See full post: "Game notes — 9/22/20"...

Posted in Mariners, Game Notes; Tagged Houston Astros, Ljay Newsome  |   Posted on September 22, 2020 at 11:51pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Manfred threatens to continue expanded playoffs past 2020

The current Commissioner of Baseball, Rob Manfred, is "a fan of the expanded playoffs." He's repeatedly spoken about expanding the playoff format, even before this season, and said during a Hofstra Universtiy event that "there’s a lot to commend [the 2020 postseason format] and it is one of those changes that I hope becomes a permanent part of our landscape."

See full post: "Manfred threatens to continue expanded playoffs past 2020"...

Posted in Columns, Around the Horn; Tagged Rob Manfred, Postseason  |   Posted on September 17, 2020 at 7:57pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Postseason to be held at neutral sites, Manfred wants fans (and their wallets) in attendance

Commissioner Rob Manfred's office has announced an agreement between Major League Baseball and the MLB Players' Association on neutral locations for this years Division Series, League Championship Series, and World Series. While the first round of playoffs will still be held at the higher seed's home ballparks, the latter rounds will be contained to southern California and Texas.

See full post: "Postseason to be held at neutral sites, Manfred wants fans (and their wallets) in attendance"...

Posted in News, MLB; Tagged Schedules, Postseason  |   Posted on September 16, 2020 at 2:45am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Giants series relocated

The Mariners' two-game series against the San Francisco Giants that was slated to begin tonight has been postponed one day and relocated to San Francisco due to abysmal air quality in Seattle. This was done after complaints were lodged by players, principally from the Giants, but also from the Seattle side.

See full post: "Giants series relocated"...

Posted in Mariners, News, MLB; Tagged Schedules, Rob Manfred  |   Posted on September 15, 2020 at 6:55pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Game notes—9/12/20

Well, yesterday's opener of the three-game set in Phoenix didn't go as expected—the dreadful Diamondbacks managed to get a win with outstanding pitching of their own while Seattle's Yusei Kikuchi had a first inning full of meatballs that got smacked before settling down into a fine several innings after. Tonight it's fellow lefty Justus Sheffield against the cellar-dwelling Snakes and I'm trying another of these notes/observations-as-I-watch posts. Because it's a pandemic and the air outside is a think hellish blanket of particulates and probably carcinogens, so what else am I going to do this evening?

See full post: "Game notes—9/12/20"...

Posted in Mariners, Game Notes; Tagged Justus Sheffield, Arizona Diamondbacks  |   Posted on September 12, 2020 at 9:03pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Goodbye Mallex?

The Mariners today have outrighted Mallex Smith from their satellite training facility off of the 60-player pool of available personnel for 2020. On paper, he is now assigned to Triple-A Tacoma. The move was not, apparently, made to clear a spot on the 60-man list for someone else.

See full post: "Goodbye Mallex?"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Transactions, Mallex Smith  |   Posted on September 11, 2020 at 4:29pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Status Report

We've now passed the two-thirds mark in the 2020 miniature schedule, and so far Your Seattle Mariners have done a fairly OK job in achieving their goals in this bizzaro-not-really-a-season. There's been good, there's been bad, and because this is the Mariners, you know there has been ugly. But on the whole they've done all right; thanks to the pandemic and the short schedule and the lack of minor leagues and all the rest, 2020 has been first and foremost about evaluation. Winning will resume as a priority next year (fingers crossed).

See full post: "Status Report"...

Posted in Mariners, Columns, Around the Horn; Tagged Scott Servais, Bullpen  |   Posted on September 9, 2020 at 5:58pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Game notes—9/5/20

Another edition of Notes While I Watch the M's, hopefully less stream-of-consciousness and more cogent-observational-insight. But we'll see.

See full post: "Game notes—9/5/20"...

Posted in Mariners, Game Notes; Tagged Texas Rangers, Jake Fraley, Justus Sheffield  |   Posted on September 5, 2020 at 11:37pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Kikuchi, M's sink Rangers to 10 games under .500

After a few days of unscheduled respite, the Mariners took the field to host the Texas Rangers Friday night and made them look like, well, a really bad baseball team. Yusei Kikuchi had one of his better starts in this abbreviated season, holding the Rangers to just two hits over six innings to earn the win.

See full post: "Kikuchi, M's sink Rangers to 10 games under .500"...

Posted in Mariners, Game Notes; Tagged Yusei Kikuchi, Texas Rangers  |   Posted on September 5, 2020 at 4:46am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Opt-outs and COVID cases

Below is the current list of major league players who have opted out of playing in 2020 due to concerns over the coronavirus, plus a list of players who are known to have been infected with COVID-19. This list will obviously grow and evolve as preseason training camps progress, and we will update it as needed to keep current.

See full post: "Opt-outs and COVID cases"...

Posted in News, MLB; Tagged COVID-19  |   Posted on September 5, 2020 at 2:39am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Mariners add outfielder for reasons(?)

Seattle general manager Jerry Dipoto added a player to the Mariners' major-league roster today by claiming outfielder Phil Ervin off waivers from the Cincinnati Reds.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Transactions  |   Posted on September 3, 2020 at 6:31pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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M's postponed until Friday and other news bits

In addition to tonight's and tomorrow's games between the Mariners and the Oakland A's being postponed, Thursday's contest has also been pulled form the schedule. This doesn't appear to be because the Oakland crew has had any further COVID-19 issues beyond the one case that was revealed on Sunday; rather, it seems to be more of a logistical issue for the A's coupled with extra caution. Instead of traveling to Seattle, the A's will go home to Oakland and prepare for their series with San Diego, scheduled to begin Friday.

See full post: "M's postponed until Friday and other news bits"...

Posted in Mariners, News, MLB; Tagged Transactions, Schedules  |   Posted on September 1, 2020 at 6:39pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Trade deadline recap and the new state of the M's

The wild and wacky 2020 mini-season, with its expanded playoff structure and small-sample-sized skewing of performances, made for some interesting wheeling and dealing over the last few days. With 2020's oddly timed August 31st trading deadline now behind us, what interesting conclusions can we make?

See full post: "Trade deadline recap and the new state of the M's"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Trades, Transactions, Jerry Dipoto, Future M's  |   Posted on August 31, 2020 at 11:10pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Another trade, plus COVID hits the West and postpones next games

Seattle general manager Jerry Dipoto swung one last trade as this afternoon's MLB trading deadline hit, sending reliever Taylor Williams to San Diego in exchange for a player to be named later.

See full post: "Another trade, plus COVID hits the West and postpones next games"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Trades, Transactions, Oakland A's, San Diego Padres, COVID-19, Taylor Williams  |   Posted on August 31, 2020 at 7:11pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Trade Completed

Well, that didn't take long.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Trades, Transactions, San Diego Padres, Austin Nola  |   Posted on August 30, 2020 at 8:26pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Trade winds blowing

Having already made one deal ahead of tomorrow afternoon's trading deadline—Taijuan Walker to the Blue Jays for a player to be named after the season ends—the Mariners find themselves fielding calls from contenders desiring other Seattle valuables.

See full post: "Trade winds blowing"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Trades, Transactions, Rumors  |   Posted on August 30, 2020 at 6:27pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Game notes—8/29/20

Well, I'm a little late to the party tonight, but here we go with the M's and Angels on about an hour's delay. Justus Sheffield going for Seattle against Dylan Bundy, who pitched a complete-game 2-1 victory against hte M's earlier in the year.

See full post: "Game notes—8/29/20"...

Posted in Mariners, Game Notes; Tagged Los Angeles Angels, Justus Sheffield  |   Posted on August 29, 2020 at 10:36pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Doubleheader game notes—8/27/20

With yesterday's game against the Padres called off due to righteous social outrage, today we have a doubleheader. It's a 2020-style doubleheader, which kind of blows—each game will be only seven innings long—but, in the vernacular of the day, it is what it is.

See full post: "Doubleheader game notes—8/27/20"...

Posted in Mariners, Game Notes; Tagged San Diego Padres, Ljay Newsome, Bullpen  |   Posted on August 27, 2020 at 4:01pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Walker traded

The Mariners have agreed to a trade that will send starting pitcher Taijuan Walker to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for a player to be named later.

See full post: "Walker traded"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Trades, Transactions, Taijuan Walker  |   Posted on August 27, 2020 at 9:08am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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No game tonight

Tonight's game between the Mariners and the San Diego Padres has been postponed.

See full post: "No game tonight"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Posted on August 26, 2020 at 5:34pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Game notes—8/25/20

Let's try another live-ish blog of a game. These haven't been as interesting as I'd hoped when I've done them for prior contests, and I'm not sure what the best format for such things is, but what the hey, one more shot at it here.

See full post: "Game notes—8/25/20"...

Posted in Mariners, Game Notes; Tagged Marco Gonzales, San Diego Padres  |   Posted on August 25, 2020 at 6:33pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Halfway through

Believe it or not, we are now halfway through the season. With a miniaturized 60-game schedule, 2020 was always going to feel weird, and it's been interesting to notice how both expectations and attitudes about the campaign have evolved as that weirdness settled in.

See full post: "Halfway through"...

Posted in Mariners, Columns, Around the Horn, Game Notes; Tagged Future M's  |   Posted on August 23, 2020 at 11:45pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Better late than never: Fraley promoted

It took them until the season was half over, but the Mariners have finally promoted outfielder Jake Fraley to the team. He is slated to start tonight in right field in Seattle's game against the Texas Rangers.

See full post: "Better late than never: Fraley promoted"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Transactions, Jake Fraley, Dylan Moore  |   Posted on August 22, 2020 at 4:32pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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More roster moves

The Mariners made another pair of roster moves today, placing relievers Erik Swanson and Taylor Guilbeau on the injured list with muscle strains. To fill their spots, the club has activated veteran reliever Yoshihisa Hirano from the COVID-19 injured list and recalled left-handed pitcher Aaron Fletcher from the satellite camp.

See full post: "More roster moves"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Transactions, Bullpen  |   Posted on August 21, 2020 at 6:04pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Vogey DFA'd, Mallex to taxi squad

The Mariners made a series of roster moves upon their return home from their 1-7 road trip, giving them a slightly different look as they prepare to take the field at TMP tonight against the Dodgers.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Daniel Vogelbach, Transactions, Mallex Smith, Jake Fraley  |   Posted on August 19, 2020 at 4:35pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Back to normal

So, yesterday's aberration was apparently just a one-time deal. In this afternoon's game between Your Seattle Mariners and the Los Angeles Dodgers, formula returned:

See full post: "Back to normal"...

Posted in Mariners, Game Notes; Tagged Marco Gonzales, Los Angeles Dodgers  |   Posted on August 18, 2020 at 11:24pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Breaking the format

Well, that was...weird.

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Posted in Mariners, Game Notes; Tagged Bullpen, Los Angeles Dodgers  |   Posted on August 17, 2020 at 11:55pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Still going

The GSAU virtual season that did its best to substitute for the real deal while everything was shut down due to the pandemic hasn't been updated here since shortly after the real season began, but that doesn't mean it's done with. There hasn't been time to keep up the almost-daily game stories and such since real baseball returned, but we will be updating the virtual season in chunks as we press on.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Still going"...

Posted in Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on August 16, 2020 at 1:35am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Nancy and the Heart Attacks

There's a lot that's different about this Mariners season from last year. A lot. From leaguewide (and nationwide) changes related to the pandemic to the Mariner-centric issues with young players getting big-league playing time. But one thing that is thud far exactly the same is the revolving door in and out of the Seattle bullpen.

See full post: "Nancy and the Heart Attacks"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Bullpen  |   Posted on August 15, 2020 at 9:18pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Game notes—8/14/20

The Mariners are back in Houston already. Weren't they just there? Well, this sort of thing happens even in in standard-type seasons, so with this year's wacky west-only schedule it's no surprise that such things happen. At least it was on the same trip as a stop in Dallas-Ft. Worth. Efficiency!

See full post: "Game notes—8/14/20"...

Posted in Mariners, Game Notes; Tagged Yusei Kikuchi, Houston Astros  |   Posted on August 14, 2020 at 5:54pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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The 2020 M's: Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, one pitching change at a time

If last night's series finale with the Texas Rangers gave you a feeling of déjà vu, well, it's probably because you've seen this before. The 7-4 loss to the Rangers pretty much followed what we can now call a template for your 2020 Seattle Mariners. It hasn't played out like this in every game, but since leaving Houston after the opening series of the season, the formula goes like this:

See full post: "The 2020 M's: Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, one pitching change at a time"...

Posted in Mariners, Game Notes; Tagged Scott Servais, Bullpen, Texas Rangers, Erik Swanson, Taylor Williams  |   Posted on August 13, 2020 at 3:37am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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COVID updates and miscellany

Will the St. Louis Cardinals play baseball again in 2020? Since a COVID-19 outbreak among their squad became known, the Cards have been in limbo, with all of their games since July 29th postponed. Though no new cases of the virus have cropped up in the last couple of days, they remain quarantined for now. Major League Baseball currently plans on the Cardinals taking the field again starting this Friday against the White Sox in Chicago and potentially playing a makeup doubleheader tomorrow against the Detroit Tigers. We'll see.

See full post: "COVID updates and miscellany"...

Posted in MLB; Tagged Injuries, COVID-19  |   Posted on August 12, 2020 at 5:55pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Game Notes—8/11/20

The Rangers are not tempting fate again with their roof, it's closed tonight. No heat-carried homers for you!

See full post: "Game Notes—8/11/20"...

Posted in Mariners, Game Notes; Tagged Texas Rangers, Marco Gonzales  |   Posted on August 11, 2020 at 6:12pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Game Notes—8/10/20

Not-quite-live from the brand-new ballpark in the DFW Metroplex, the Mariners are taking on the Texas Rangers for the first time in 2020. Rookie Justin Dunn on the mound against veteran Kyle Gibson. Both teams with struggling offenses and iffy bullpens. Only one will win! Let's see how things unfold.

See full post: "Game Notes—8/10/20"...

Posted in Mariners, Game Notes; Tagged Texas Rangers, Justin Dunn  |   Posted on August 10, 2020 at 7:32pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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M's make minor moves

The Mariners made a couple of minor transactions today ahead of their game tonight in Arlington, Texas. They are:

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Transactions, Injuries, Bullpen  |   Posted on August 10, 2020 at 3:39pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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8/9/20 Notes after the fact—M's upset Colorado

It was a beautiful day in Seattle and, harkening back to the days of the Kingdome, the Mariners played under a roof. Because of a ridiculous protocol that says closing the roof on lovely days is preferable to installing some sort of shade canopy over the seats behind the dugout for the benefit of players seated there for social distancing purposes. Why? I'm going with laziness. You may have other theories.

See full post: "8/9/20 Notes after the fact—M's upset Colorado"...

Posted in Mariners, Game Notes; Tagged Scott Servais, Bullpen, Justus Sheffield, Colorado Rockies  |   Posted on August 9, 2020 at 9:56pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Game notes—8/8/20

I'm a little bit behind schedule today, so this is not a live-blog. Not that it matters as y'all tend to see these well after the fact anyway. Can the M's rebound against the super-tough Rockies? Two untried young pitchers starting us off, so who knows what to expect. Here we go:

See full post: "Game notes—8/8/20"...

Posted in Mariners, Game Notes; Tagged Scott Servais, Colorado Rockies, Nick Margevicius  |   Posted on August 8, 2020 at 9:39pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Game notes—8/7/20

Back to watching live, some notes and observations from tonight's Mariner game against Colorado, as it happens (though you're likely reading this after the fact)! Yusei Kikuchi on the mound for Seattle, looking for his first win in start number three. Looks like Crawford and White both getting the night off, at least to start off.

See full post: "Game notes—8/7/20"...

Posted in Mariners, Game Notes; Tagged Yusei Kikuchi, Colorado Rockies  |   Posted on August 7, 2020 at 7:00pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Game notes—8/6/20

Again not watching this one live; it's getaway day for the Angels and I had stuff to do this afternoon. But, since we live in the future, I can watch it now and do my notes and observations after the fact. Onward!

See full post: "Game notes—8/6/20"...

Posted in Mariners, Game Notes; Tagged Scott Servais, Taijuan Walker, Los Angeles Angels  |   Posted on August 6, 2020 at 11:48pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Game notes—8/5/20

I missed last night's game (gee, too bad), but tonight is a Marco Gonzales night, so even though I cannot watch live, I will take in the entire thing on DVR-delay and do a not-really-live-but-same-basic-result blogging of the action. Let's snap this four-game losing skid, OK? Onward—DVR: Engage!

See full post: "Game notes—8/5/20"...

Posted in Mariners, Game Notes; Tagged Marco Gonzales, Scott Servais, Los Angeles Angels, Taylor Willams  |   Posted on August 6, 2020 at 12:24am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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News bites: 8/4/20

A few items from the day to pass along:

See full post: "News bites: 8/4/20"...

Posted in Mariners, News, MLB; Tagged Kendall Graveman  |   Posted on August 4, 2020 at 4:15pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Game notes—8/3/20

Just when it looked like things might start going the Mariners' way, the Oakland A's come to town and take three of four, with the last one being both the most and the least irritating. Quite the simultaneous feat!

See full post: "Game notes—8/3/20"...

Posted in Mariners, Game Notes; Tagged Oakland A's, Justus Sheffield, Scott Servais, Bullpen  |   Posted on August 4, 2020 at 12:21am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Cardinals' COVID outbreak grows

The St. Louis Cardinals are the new Miami Marlins. Today's coronavirus test reporting, from tests performed over the weekend, bring the Cardinals' total number of infections up to 13 (seven players, six coaches and/or support staff among the traveling party).

See full post: "Cardinals' COVID outbreak grows"...

Posted in News, MLB; Tagged COVID-19  |   Posted on August 3, 2020 at 2:51pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Game notes - 8/2/20

Some thoughts as I watch Sunday's game between the Mariners and the Oakland Athletics:

See full post: "Game notes - 8/2/20"...

Posted in Mariners, Game Notes; Tagged Rules, Oakland A's, Kendall Graveman  |   Posted on August 2, 2020 at 2:40pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Game notes - 8/1/20

Observations and brain droppings as I watch Saturday evening's tilt against the Oakland A's:

See full post: "Game notes - 8/1/20"...

Posted in Mariners, Game Notes; Tagged Bullpen, Yusei Kikuchi, Oakland A's  |   Posted on August 1, 2020 at 6:29pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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COVID updates, etc.

Another day, another postponement in Major League Baseball. As was the case yesterday, tonight's game in Milwaukee between the hometown Brewers and the St. Louis Cardinals has been bumped due to more positive test results for COVID-19. One St. Louis player, two coaches, and a staff member traveling with the team tested as infected, in addition to the two Cardinal pitchers that we learned yesterday had tested positive. None of the six Cardinals consented to make his identity known.

See full post: "COVID updates, etc."...

Posted in News, MLB; Tagged COVID-19  |   Posted on August 1, 2020 at 5:18pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Game notes: 7/31/20

Musings and observations on tonight's home opener, a 5-3 win over the Oakland A's:

See full post: "Game notes: 7/31/20"...

Posted in Mariners, Site issues, Game Notes; Tagged Oakland A's, Taijuan Walker  |   Posted on August 1, 2020 at 2:36am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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More COVID cases puts season in (more) jeopardy

Another coronavirus case among the Miami Marlins and two COVID-19-positive test results from the St. Louis Cardinals were made known today, bringing the Marlins' total number to 18 players and two coaches and causing enough concern with the Cardinals for MLB to postpone their game tonight against he Milwaukee Brewers.

See full post: "More COVID cases puts season in (more) jeopardy"...

Posted in News, MLB; Tagged Rob Manfred, COVID-19  |   Posted on July 31, 2020 at 6:39pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Game notes—7/30/20

A few random thoughts/observations from tonight's 8-5 Mariner win over the Angels...

See full post: "Game notes—7/30/20"...

Posted in Mariners, Game Notes; Tagged Marco Gonzales, Los Angeles Angels  |   Posted on July 30, 2020 at 11:35pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Minor Notes

Just a few items for the day:

See full post: "Minor Notes"...

Posted in News, Site issues, MLB; Tagged COVID-19  |   Posted on July 30, 2020 at 2:50am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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M's show some life in win vs Angels

Tonight's game against the Los Angeles Angels was an interesting one to watch. The Mariners won it, for one thing, which is always more fun than the usual. But it also had a lot of the good and a lot of the bad that we can expect to see as this weird mini-season unfolds.

See full post: "M's show some life in win vs Angels"...

Posted in Mariners, Game Notes; Tagged Scott Servais, Los Angeles Angels, Kyle Lewis, Justin Dunn, Taylor Williams, Bryan Shaw  |   Posted on July 30, 2020 at 2:03am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Reality Bites

I am genuinely surprised. The blowback on MLB generally and the commissioner's office specifically over the Miami Marlins' COVID-19 outbreak has actually resulted in Commissioner Manfred taking the Marlins off the schedule for the time being.

See full post: "Reality Bites"...

Posted in Columns, Around the Horn, MLB; Tagged Rob Manfred, COVID-19  |   Posted on July 28, 2020 at 5:12pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Marlins outbreak further illustrates Manfred's faults

As posted this morning, the Miami Marlins are in the midst of a COVID-19 outbreak. Since posting that article, test results from late last week came back and seven more Miami players and two coaches had positive results for the coronavirus. The personnel involved were not identified. The Marlins' opponents over the weekend, the Philadelphia Phillies, underwent supplemental testing today and both the Phillies and the Marlins postponed their scheduled home games this evening.

See full post: "Marlins outbreak further illustrates Manfred's faults"...

Posted in News, MLB; Tagged Rob Manfred, COVID-19  |   Posted on July 27, 2020 at 11:40pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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"MLB’s worst nightmare"

Pay particular attention to the transaction wires today. Specifically, the Miami lines. Look for anyone going on the injured list for "unspecified reasons." Check the Phillies, too.

See full post: ""MLB’s worst nightmare""...

Posted in Columns, Around the Horn; Tagged Rob Manfred, COVID-19  |   Posted on July 27, 2020 at 2:15am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Pence, Kikuchi power M's to 8-2 win over Jays

Hunter Pence put the Mariners on the scoreboard with a 1st-inning three-run homer against the Blue Jays today at TMP and Yusei Kikuchi pitched six scoreless innings as Seattle cruised to an 8-2 win over Toronto.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Pence, Kikuchi power M's to 8-2 win over Jays"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on July 26, 2020 at 11:57pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Between COVID-19 and short preseason, pitchers start dropping like flies

The first few games of 2020 are in the books, and we're just starting to see how both a short preseason training camp and holding games during a pandemic is hurting various teams' rosters.

See full post: "Between COVID-19 and short preseason, pitchers start dropping like flies"...

Posted in News, MLB; Tagged Injuries, COVID-19  |   Posted on July 26, 2020 at 7:44pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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M's win in Houston, hell dips below freezing

The Mariners hadn't won a game in Houston since 2018, but the pulled one out today. Barely. By the skin of their teeth.

See full post: "M's win in Houston, hell dips below freezing"...

Posted in Mariners, Game Notes; Tagged Scott Servais, Kyle Seager, Houston Astros, Kyle Lewis, Taylor Williams, Yusei Kikuchi  |   Posted on July 26, 2020 at 6:30pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Mariners double up Jays 6-3, Marco wins 11th

Shed Long blasted a long two-run homer and drove in another run with a tie-breaking sacrifice fly to lead the Mariners to a 6-3 victory over the Blue Jays today at TMP.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Mariners double up Jays 6-3, Marco wins 11th"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on July 25, 2020 at 9:17pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Game two: as it happens

Tuning in to Game Two of the mini-season from the cesspool of the Gulf, Houston, Texas. Observations:

See full post: "Game two: as it happens"...

Posted in Mariners, Game Notes; Tagged Scott Servais  |   Posted on July 25, 2020 at 2:45pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Game One thoughts

What do you know. The season really did start. Three weeks ago I'd have put money on it not starting, but then I should have had more faith in the abilities of Commissioner Manfred and the other Major League Baseball powers that be to ignore anything that might get in between them and money. Pandemic, shmandemic.

See full post: "Game One thoughts"...

Posted in Mariners, Columns, Around the Horn, Game Notes; Tagged Opening Day, Marco Gonzales, Scott Servais  |   Posted on July 25, 2020 at 2:39am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Blue Jays rout Mariners 17-1

Justin Dunn probably regrets not calling in sick today. The Mariner rookie was coming off a stellar performance his last time out, a six-inning, 11-strikeout game versus the NL East-leading Mets, and with an extra day of rest wanted to pick right up where he left off tonight against the Blue Jays.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Blue Jays rout Mariners 17-1"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on July 25, 2020 at 1:19am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Opening Day is here

Whether it's a good idea or not, opening day is happening, and it's happening today. Empty stadiums, masks in the dugout, broadcasters working from home, it's the weird and wacky 2020 mini-season, for as long as it lasts.

See full post: "Opening Day is here"...

Posted in Mariners, News, MLB; Posted on July 24, 2020 at 3:36pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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16-team playoffs a go for 2020

It's official, as of about three hours ago—which is also three hours before the first pitch of the truncated 2020 season—the playoffs will include eight teams per league this year, assuming a postseason is played at all.

See full post: "16-team playoffs a go for 2020"...

Posted in News, MLB; Tagged COVID-19  |   Posted on July 23, 2020 at 4:02pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Mariners take rubber match from Orioles

The Mariners took advantage of a shaky Orioles bullpen in coming from behind to beat Baltimore 8-5 today at Camden Yards.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Mariners take rubber match from Orioles"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on July 23, 2020 at 3:33am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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As opening day nears, questions still remain

After much delay we're finally here. In this bizarre age of coronavirus and leadership by idiots, all of the hemming and hawing over schedule length, pay scales, health protocols, et cetera, is over; all of the logistical puzzles have been solved and the troubles are all behind us, so we're set for games to—

See full post: "As opening day nears, questions still remain"...

Posted in News, MLB; Tagged Rob Manfred, COVID-19  |   Posted on July 22, 2020 at 9:37pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Mariners score a baker's dozen to pummel Orioles

Jake Fraley homered and Daniel Vogelbach went 4-for-6 in the Mariners' 18-hit barrage of the Orioles tonight, as Seattle cruised to a 13-4 win in Baltimore.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Mariners score a baker's dozen to pummel Orioles"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on July 21, 2020 at 8:02pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Mariners firming up roster in advance of Opening Day

For good or ill, Major League Baseball will open its truncated 2020 season this week, and the Mariners are getting ready.

See full post: "Mariners firming up roster in advance of Opening Day"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Bullpen  |   Posted on July 20, 2020 at 8:01pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Mariners clip Mets to regain first place

The M&M boys won a game in New York today, but not the ones New Yorkers might remember. Instead of Mantle and Maris, today's 4-3 Seattle victory over the Mets was thanks largely to Marco and Mallex.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Mariners clip Mets to regain first place"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on July 19, 2020 at 9:35pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Orioles snap 18-game losing streak, beat M's 3-2

The Baltimore Orioles sent their top pitcher to the mound tonight to get back in the win column. After losing 18 consecutive games, Baltimore finally came out on top as John Means went eight strong innings to beat the Mariners 3-2.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Orioles snap 18-game losing streak, beat M's 3-2"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on July 19, 2020 at 9:35pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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More 2020 logistics as MLB rolls the dice with 2020

Make of this what you will—the District of Columbia gave the Washington Nationals an exemption to its COVID-19 isolation policy, saying players may forego the 14-day quarantine if they become infected so long as they restrict themselves to Nationals Park and their residences/hotels for the two-week period, while the Canadian federal government has denied a similar exemption to the Toronto Blue Jays, so there will be no games played in Canada and the Jays have to find somewhere else to call home for 2020.

See full post: "More 2020 logistics as MLB rolls the dice with 2020"...

Posted in Columns, News, Around the Horn, MLB; Tagged Rob Manfred, COVID-19  |   Posted on July 18, 2020 at 9:36pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Stroman outlasts Dunn, Mets win against Seattle's bullpen

The Mariners had a tough assignment today in New York, facing one of the National League's best pitchers in Marcus Stroman, and they came up short as the Mets won the game by a score of 5-2.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Stroman outlasts Dunn, Mets win against Seattle's bullpen"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on July 18, 2020 at 7:58pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Mariners trade for Pence, beat Mets

Carlos González had three hits and drive in two runs against Mets ace Noah Syndergaard to lead the Mariners to a 6-4 victory in interleague action in Queens, New York.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Mariners trade for Pence, beat Mets"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on July 17, 2020 at 11:46pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Updates on the folly surrounding the 2020 season

We're still a week or two away from seeing any real evidence of success or failure in Major League Baseball's coronavirus health and safety protocols, but we are seeing evidence of failure to see the big picture in other ways.

See full post: "Updates on the folly surrounding the 2020 season"...

Posted in News, MLB; Tagged COVID-19  |   Posted on July 16, 2020 at 10:11pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Hometown Dodgers help NL to All-Star victory

Dodger Stadium was filled with stars. Usually, the LA ballpark has its share of movie and television personalities giving it star power, but today it was the best of the Major Leagues and the home crowd was justly rewarded with a 5-1 National League victory.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Hometown Dodgers help NL to All-Star victory"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on July 14, 2020 at 9:53pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Camp Notes

Not much to talk about today, but here are a few notes to pass along.

See full post: "Camp Notes"...

Posted in Mariners, News, MLB; Posted on July 14, 2020 at 8:15pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Will 2020 be baseball's Titanic?

I heard the various preparations of sports leagues to resume amid the coronavirus pandemic described today as being akin to "a press release at the launch of the Titanic." It's not my phrase; I think it was Chris Hayes who coined it. But whomever gets the credit, it's certainly apt.

See full post: "Will 2020 be baseball's Titanic?"...

Posted in Columns, Around the Horn, MLB; Tagged COVID-19  |   Posted on July 13, 2020 at 8:38pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Manaea handcuffs M's as Oakland wins 4-2

Sean Manaea was dominant through six innings today as the Athletics prevailed over the Mariners 4-2. The Oakland lefty allowed four hits and walked one while striking out six.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Manaea handcuffs M's as Oakland wins 4-2"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on July 12, 2020 at 10:06pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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"Summer camp" continues, coronavirus also continues

As major league teams proceed with their preseason training camps and the truncated 2020 season's scheduled opening day approaches fast, issues with the COVID-19 pandemic refuse to be ignored.

See full post: ""Summer camp" continues, coronavirus also continues"...

Posted in MLB; Tagged COVID-19  |   Posted on July 12, 2020 at 7:33pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Mariners squeak by A's to stay a half-game up in AL West

Evan White reached base four times and scored twice in tonight's 4-3 win for the Mariners over the Oakland Athletics. 

See full post: "Virtual Season: Mariners squeak by A's to stay a half-game up in AL West"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on July 12, 2020 at 2:05am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Murphy's two homers not enough as M's lose to A's

Shed Long made a costly error in the 1st inning, leading to three Oakland runs as the A's built up to a 7-3 victory over the Mariners at TMP.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Murphy's two homers not enough as M's lose to A's"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on July 10, 2020 at 11:47pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Luzardo's great start leads A's to 4-2 victory

Ramon Laureano blasted a three-run homer into the bullpen tonight to give the Athletics a lead that held up, as Oakland beat the Mariners 4-2 in Seattle.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Luzardo's great start leads A's to 4-2 victory"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on July 9, 2020 at 11:49pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Gonzales wins 9th as M's sweep Orioles

Marco Gonzales has found a way to prevent his relief from blowing wins for him: finish the game himself. Seattle's ace threw his league-leading sixth complete game tonight as the Mariners defeated Baltimore 5-2, sweeping the series and sending the Orioles to their twelfth straight loss.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Gonzales wins 9th as M's sweep Orioles"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on July 8, 2020 at 9:45pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Fraley leads Mariners to 7-2 win vs. Baltimore

Jake Fraley homered in the 6th inning tonight, breaking a 1-1 tie and sending the Mariners on their way to a 7-2 win over the badly-slumping Baltimore Orioles.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Fraley leads Mariners to 7-2 win vs. Baltimore"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on July 8, 2020 at 3:42am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Sheffield masterful in win vs. Orioles

Justus Sheffield was dominant against the Baltimore Orioles tonight, throwing eight shutout innings, walking none and striking out 11 en route to a 3-1 Mariner victory.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Sheffield masterful in win vs. Orioles"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on July 6, 2020 at 10:17pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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It just continues

My, oh my.

See full post: "It just continues"...

Posted in News, MLB; Tagged COVID-19  |   Posted on July 6, 2020 at 6:36pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Phillies beat Seattle 5-4 in extras

Andrew McCutchen connected for a home run into Edgar's Cantina in the top of the 12th inning today at TMP to give the Philadelphia Phillies a 5-4 comeback victory against the Mariners.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Phillies beat Seattle 5-4 in extras"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on July 6, 2020 at 12:38am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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The reward of a functional society

Preseason training camps are in session and the season is still scheduled to begin in less than three weeks, but Major League Baseball's preparations for play in the age of COVID-19 are proving to be, well, less than robust.

See full post: "The reward of a functional society"...

Posted in Columns, Around the Horn, MLB; Tagged COVID-19  |   Posted on July 5, 2020 at 9:18pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Kikuchi falters, Phillies win 5-3

The Philadelphia Phillies took advantage of an uncharacteristically wild Yusei Kikuchi tonight at TMP, scoring three runs in the 1st inning and making them count, hanging on to beat the Mariners by the score of 5-3.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Kikuchi falters, Phillies win 5-3"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on July 4, 2020 at 10:26pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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More players test positive for coronavirus

More players have been reported to have had positive COVID-19 tests as training camps get underway. All-Stars Freddie Freeman, D.J. LeMahieu, Salvador Pérez, Miguel Sanó, and Aaron Nola are among today's new additions to the list.

See full post: "More players test positive for coronavirus"...

Posted in News, MLB; Tagged COVID-19  |   Posted on July 4, 2020 at 5:02pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: White leads M's to victory against Phillies

Evan White drove in Austin Nola with the winning run in the bottom of the 9th inning to give the Mariners an exciting walkoff victory against the Philadelphia Phillies.

See full post: "Virtual Season: White leads M's to victory against Phillies"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on July 3, 2020 at 9:30pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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The dominoes start falling

As preseason training camps open up, the coronavirus test results come in. A reported 31 positive tests came in the initial screenings as payers reported to their home ballparks this week, including Cleveland's Delino DeShields Jr., San Diego's Tommy Pham, and Texas' Brett Martin, all of whom approved their result being made public. This in addition to previously known infections, such as that of All-Star Charlie Blackmon and two Rockies teammates and 11 Philadelphia Phillies.

See full post: "The dominoes start falling"...

Posted in News, MLB; Tagged COVID-19, Summer Camp  |   Posted on July 3, 2020 at 7:14pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Manfred steps in it again and the COVID IL gets its first of many uses

Commissioner Rob Manfred went on the Dan Patrick radio show yesterday and metaphorically stepped on another rake to whack himself in the face. In discussing the lengthy and ultimately pointless so-called negotiations with the players' union—and the animosity created by them—Manfred said this: "The reality is we weren’t going to play more than 60 games no matter how the negotiations with the players went."

See full post: "Manfred steps in it again and the COVID IL gets its first of many uses"...

Posted in News, MLB; Tagged Rob Manfred, COVID-19  |   Posted on July 2, 2020 at 7:03pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Mariners drop series finale to Boston 4-3

The Mariners concluded their latest road trip in Boston today, dropping the final game to the Red Sox by a score of 4-3. Rafael Devers doubled and scored what turned out to be the winning run in the 6th inning.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Mariners drop series finale to Boston 4-3"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on July 1, 2020 at 11:32pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Murphy leads M's to victory in Boston

Tom Murphy led the charge as the Mariners squeaked by the Red Sox tonight 4-3. Murphy drove in all four runs, hitting a two-run homer over the green monster in the 2nd inning and doubling in two runs in the 4th.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Murphy leads M's to victory in Boston"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on June 30, 2020 at 10:43pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Designated Dumbness

The weird 2020 faux-season is scheduled to begin in a few weeks, and considering its various rule alterations and pandemic protocols, one issue continues to rankle me like no other, because it threatens to last a lot longer than this bizarre year of coronavirus: The "universal DH."I loathe the designated hitter rule. It was a bad idea when the American League implemented it in 1973 and it's bad today and it'll be bad tomorrow. It should not be made universal, it should be metaphorically burned with fire until no trace of it remains.

See full post: "Designated Dumbness"...

Posted in Columns, Around the Horn, MLB; Tagged Rules, Rob Manfred, Designated Hitter  |   Posted on June 30, 2020 at 8:36pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Players start opting out as COVID-19 continues to rage

As tomorrow's deadline for players to report to preseason training camp approaches, four major league players have announced they will be opting out of the 2020 season due to concerns over the coronavirus.

See full post: "Players start opting out as COVID-19 continues to rage"...

Posted in News, MLB; Tagged COVID-19  |   Posted on June 30, 2020 at 5:40pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Kikuchi dominates Red Sox as M's win 2-0

When the Red Sox last saw Yusei Kikuchi, on April 12th, they tattooed him for six runs. Today, a different story altogether. The Mariners' Japanese southpaw shut out Boston for eight innings despite giving up seven hits, pitching out of trouble on several occasions to give Seattle a 2-0 victory.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Kikuchi dominates Red Sox as M's win 2-0"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on June 30, 2020 at 12:08am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: M's blow lead in the 9th, win anyway

Yoshi Hirano was on in the 9th to close out a win for Marco Gonzales, but the Tampa Bay Rays had other plans and Kevin Kiermaier took Hirano deep for a game-tying home run and the Mariners would have to play on until they could win it 6-5 in ten innings.

See full post: "Virtual Season: M's blow lead in the 9th, win anyway"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on June 28, 2020 at 10:08pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Rays sink Mariners 9-1

The Mariners' bats apparently arrived in Florida with holes in them. Tampa Bay starter Brendan McKay and relievers Anthony Banda and Colin Poche combined to strike out 14 Seattle batters tonight as the Rays routed the M's 9-1 at the former Suncoast Dome.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Rays sink Mariners 9-1"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on June 27, 2020 at 6:50pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Mariners lose first game of road swing to Rays 5-1

Tyler Glasnow had the Mariners tied in knots tonight. The Tampa Bay right-hander struck out ten Seattle batters in 71⁄3 innings on the way to a 5-1 Rays victory.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Mariners lose first game of road swing to Rays 5-1"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on June 26, 2020 at 10:32pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Even in a short 2020 season the schedule will be f-ed

I wasn't in favor of Interleague play when it started, in 1997. I knew then that the novelty of it would wear off in a few years and that it did nothing good for the game, in fact it detracted from the All-Star Game and the World Series. (These things remain true, by the way.)

See full post: "Even in a short 2020 season the schedule will be f-ed"...

Posted in Columns, Around the Horn, MLB; Tagged Schedules  |   Posted on June 26, 2020 at 6:30pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Rangers blank M's to snap streak; Seager traded

Lance Lynn, whose been a thorn in the Mariners' side for a few years now, pitched a gem for the Rangers tonight as Texas beat Seattle 4-0. The loss snaps the Mariners' eight-game winning streak.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Rangers blank M's to snap streak; Seager traded"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on June 24, 2020 at 11:29pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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The COVID factor

Commissioner Rob Manfred has spoken: Major League Baseball will open a truncated season on July 23rd, with a preseason training camp to begin July 3rd after players report no later than July 1st. The season will last 60 games and end September 27th. So sayeth the almighty Rob.

See full post: "The COVID factor"...

Posted in Columns, Around the Horn, MLB; Tagged COVID-19  |   Posted on June 24, 2020 at 7:00pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: M's feast on Texas pitching, win 8th straight

The Mariners took advantage of one of the American League's worst pitching staffs to continue their offensive explosion, scoring ten runs against the Rangers to beat their division rival 10-3.

See full post: "Virtual Season: M's feast on Texas pitching, win 8th straight"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on June 23, 2020 at 7:26pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
1 Comment

Details begin to emerge for 2020 changes

The players' union and Commissioner Rob Manfred's office have given up on arguing over economic matters for now, but they are still ironing out protocols for health and safety in the theoretically-upcoming abbreviated 2020 campaign. Some of those protocols will translate to rule changes on the field in the interest of player safety.

See full post: "Details begin to emerge for 2020 changes"...

Posted in News, MLB; Tagged COVID-19  |   Posted on June 23, 2020 at 5:25pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Mariners beat Texas, extend win streak to 7 games

Tom Murphy and Mitch Haniger each homered and drove in three runs in the Mariners' 9-3 defeat of the Texas Rangers tonight at TMP.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Mariners beat Texas, extend win streak to 7 games"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on June 22, 2020 at 9:00pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Commissioner announces 2020 season will commence

So. You know all that arguing and wrangling and bad blood being spilled and hostility being ginned up between ownership and the players' union over the past couple of months? Yeah, that was for nothing.

See full post: "Commissioner announces 2020 season will commence"...

Posted in News, MLB; Tagged Rob Manfred, COVID-19, Players' Union  |   Posted on June 22, 2020 at 7:10pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Fraley, Walker shine as Mariners complete sweep of Royals

Taijuan Walker struck out a season-high nine batters over eight strong innings and Jake Fraley went 3-for-4 with a home run to lead the Mariners to a 2-1 win over Kansas City and extend their winning streak to six games.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Fraley, Walker shine as Mariners complete sweep of Royals"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on June 21, 2020 at 7:19pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Mariners shut out Royals, win 5th in a row

Nick Margevicius pitched six strong innings and Mitch Hanger launched a late home run to help the Mariners to a 4-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Mariners shut out Royals, win 5th in a row"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on June 21, 2020 at 12:19am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Mariners win 4th straight, take over first place

The Mariners kept up their winning ways tonight at TMP, defeating the Kansas City Royals 5-2 behind a solid start from rookie pitcher Justus Sheffield. Every Seattle batter in the lineup reached base again tonight, via hit or walk.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Mariners win 4th straight, take over first place"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on June 20, 2020 at 12:59am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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MLB closes spring facilities, season negotiations stalled again

Surprising absolutely no one who's been paying attention, multiple major league clubs have reported COVID-19 infections among their players and staff and apparent outbreaks in their spring training facilities. MLB today ordered all spring facilities closed again, after several clubs shut down complexes on their own.

See full post: "MLB closes spring facilities, season negotiations stalled again"...

Posted in News, MLB; Tagged Rob Manfred, COVID-19, Players' Union  |   Posted on June 19, 2020 at 10:31pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: M's clobber Royals 9-2

Yusei Kikichi went eight strong innings and the Seattle offense continued its impressive consistency to lead the Mariners to a 9-2 drubbing of the Kansas City Royals.

See full post: "Virtual Season: M's clobber Royals 9-2"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on June 18, 2020 at 10:04pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
1 Comment

Virtual Season: Mariners sweep Astros, close to 1 GB

Evan White and Kyle Lewis each hit home runs and eight of nine Mariners in the lineup had hits as Seattle beat the Houston Astros 7-4.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Mariners sweep Astros, close to 1 GB"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on June 17, 2020 at 10:17pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Latest on 2020 negotiations

Well, Commissioner Manfred's tactics seem to have backfired on him, as his office has resumed negotiations for a new agreement to open a 2020 campaign. It's not all good news, though it does appear that a deal will be struck now that the league has given up on trying to reduce player pay beyond the pro rata agreement already made in March.

See full post: "Latest on 2020 negotiations"...

Posted in News, MLB; Tagged Rob Manfred, COVID-19, Players' Union, Designated Hitter  |   Posted on June 17, 2020 at 6:06pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Mariners edge Astros 3-2

Taijuan Walker pitched six strong innings and Kyle Lewis hit his first home run of the year to help the Mariners clip the Houston Astros 3-2 in Seattle.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Mariners edge Astros 3-2"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on June 16, 2020 at 10:33pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Keep digging that hole

A little more than a week ago, I wrote that the Commissioner's office and the MLBPA needed to stop digging as they fell further and further into the hole they were creating for themselves with the general public. They didn't take my advice, of course, and today we have Commissioner Rob Manfred essentially threatening to pull the plug on a 2020 season that wasn't likely to happen anyway because of made-up offenses committed by the players' union.

See full post: "Keep digging that hole"...

Posted in Columns, Around the Horn, MLB; Tagged Rob Manfred, COVID-19  |   Posted on June 15, 2020 at 9:32pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
3 Comments

Virtual Season: Angels trounce M's to snap winning streak

Dee Gordon gave the Mariners an immediate edge with a leadoff home run today, but the Los Angeles Angels weren't fazed as they came back to wallop Seattle 10-1.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Angels trounce M's to snap winning streak"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on June 14, 2020 at 8:34pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Minor league life, getting drafted, and being a whole person

I became a big fan of pitcher Dirk Hayhurst because of his writing. The former minor- and major-leaguer, who had brief, middling stints with the Padres and Blue Jays, has written four books—all of them excellent—about his time in baseball. He also spent some time as an on-camera commentator/analyst with Sportsnet and TBS. He's a brilliant, thoughtful, articulate person with a lot of insight into the culture and the business of baseball.

See full post: "Minor league life, getting drafted, and being a whole person"...

Posted in MLB; Tagged Dirk Hayhurst, Podcasts  |   Posted on June 14, 2020 at 7:32pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: M's survive bullpen implosion to win 6th straight game

The Mariners opened up a big 8-0 lead over the Angels tonight, then saw that margin narrow to one run when LA plated six runs in the 8th against ineffective Seattle relief pitching. But in the end, the M's prevailed in Anaheim by a score of 8-7.

See full post: "Virtual Season: M's survive bullpen implosion to win 6th straight game"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on June 13, 2020 at 10:29pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
1 Comment

Commissioner's Office fans flames of discord once again

It boggles the mind. Really. The actions taken by the office of the Commissioner of baseball, representing the ownership groups of the 30 major league clubs, in the ongoing "negotiations" with the MLB Players' Association regarding a potential truncated 2020 season, have been unbelievably foolish.

See full post: "Commissioner's Office fans flames of discord once again"...

Posted in Columns, Around the Horn, MLB; Tagged Rob Manfred, COVID-19, Players' Union  |   Posted on June 13, 2020 at 8:24pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Kikuchi leads M's to fifth straight win

Daniel Vogelbach and Mitch Haniger homered and Yusei Kikuchi went seven strong innings as the Mariners beat the Los Angeles Angels 6-1 for their fifth consecutive victory.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Kikuchi leads M's to fifth straight win"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on June 12, 2020 at 9:09pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Mariners sweep Jays with 5-0 shutout

Marco Gonzales went the distance to earn his first shutout and league-leading fifth complete game of the year as the Mariners defeated the Blue Jays 5-0 tonight in Toronto.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Mariners sweep Jays with 5-0 shutout"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on June 12, 2020 at 12:08am   |   Permalink   |     |  
1 Comment

Virtual Season: White leads M's with three extra-base hits in 6-4 win

Evan White was just a single shy of the cycle in leading the Mariners' offense to a 6-4 win over the Blue Jays tonight in Toronto. The rookie first baseman doubled in the 3rd inning, homered in the 4th, and tripled in the 9th. He scored twice and drove in three runs.

See full post: "Virtual Season: White leads M's with three extra-base hits in 6-4 win"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on June 10, 2020 at 11:51pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: M's open series in Toronto with unusual game

The Mariners' series opener against the Blue Jays in Toronto featured some oddities, including an inside-the-park home run and a game-ending pickoff.

See full post: "Virtual Season: M's open series in Toronto with unusual game"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on June 10, 2020 at 12:14am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Mariners at Blue Jays play-by-play "broadcast"

Behold the latest GSAU experiment: a radio-style play-by-play account of this evening's game between the virtual Mariners and the virtual Toronto Blue Jays from the Rogers Centre in virtual downtown Toronto. Please to enjoy.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Mariners at Blue Jays play-by-play "broadcast""...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on June 9, 2020 at 5:44pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Mariners best Marlins in 2-1 pitchers' duel

Yusei Kikuchi and Caleb Smith matched wits today in Miami, each putting up zero after zero on the scoreboard through six innings of work. It was only when the bullpens got involved that either side was able to push anything across, and Seattle got two to manage a 2-1 win over the Marlins.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Mariners best Marlins in 2-1 pitchers' duel"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on June 7, 2020 at 10:21pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Bullpen blows it for Marco, Fish win in 12

Jonathan Villar delivered the third of four consecutive hits for the Marlins off of Yoshi Hirano in the bottom of the 9th inning to wash away a two-run Seattle lead, and then Corey Dickerson drove in the winning run in the bottom of the 12th as Miami defeated the Mariners 6-5 today in south Florida.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Bullpen blows it for Marco, Fish win in 12"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on June 6, 2020 at 10:04pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Stop digging!

When you find yourself stuck in a hole, the first rule of thumb is to stop digging. Sadly, the Commissioner's Office, Major League club owners, and the Major League Baseball Players' Association can't seem to put down their shovels.

See full post: "Stop digging!"...

Posted in Columns, Around the Horn, MLB; Tagged Rob Manfred, COVID-19, Players' Union  |   Posted on June 6, 2020 at 6:46pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Seager leads M's in 6-0 win over Miami

Kyle Seager had three hits and Taijuan Walker pitched seven strong innings to lead the Mariners in a 6-0 shutout of the Marlins tonight in Miami.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Seager leads M's in 6-0 win over Miami"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on June 5, 2020 at 10:45pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: 5-run 4th gives Yankees 7-5 win over M's

Giancarlo Stanton connected for a three-run homer in a big 4th inning for the New York Yankees, leading them to a 7-5 victory over the Mariners in Seattle.

See full post: "Virtual Season: 5-run 4th gives Yankees 7-5 win over M's"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on June 4, 2020 at 12:28am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Yankees power their way to 7-3 win vs. M's

Nick Margevicius surrendered four solo home runs to the Yankees tonight and was chased after just four innings as New York cruised to a 7-3 victory in Seattle.

New York set the tone early on, as leadoff man Brett Gardner greeted Margevicius (1-2) with a 450-foot home run on the third pitch of the game and Giancarlo Stanton topped that with a 453-foot bomb later in the inning.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Yankees power their way to 7-3 win vs. M's"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on June 2, 2020 at 9:12pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: M's shut out Yankees 4-0

The Mariners took advantage of a wild pitch and an error to score two 1st-inning runs against Gerrit Cole and the Yankees, then added two solo home runs later on to defeat New York 4-0 tonight in Seattle.

See full post: "Virtual Season: M's shut out Yankees 4-0"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on June 1, 2020 at 11:51pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Gonzales wins 5th as M's beat Braves 7-2

Mallex Smith tripled in the bottom of the 1st inning to extend his hitting streak to 13 games and scored the first of seven Mariner runs as Seattle topped the Atlanta Braves at TMP.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Gonzales wins 5th as M's beat Braves 7-2"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on May 31, 2020 at 11:38pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Mariners outlast Atlanta, win 4-3 in extras

Tom Murphy singled home Carlos González in the bottom of the 11th inning to give the Mariners a 4-3 walk-off victory over the Atlanta Braves tonight in Seattle.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Mariners outlast Atlanta, win 4-3 in extras"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on May 30, 2020 at 9:39pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Atlanta blows out Mariners 17-2

The Mariners had an early 1-0 lead, but before long the visiting Atlanta Braves showed the TMP crowd just what kind of game it was going to be. The Braves plated eight in the top of the 2nd inning and kept on going, eventually reaching 17 runs to crush the M's by a 15-run margin behind an excellent outing from pitcher Mike Foltynewicz.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Atlanta blows out Mariners 17-2"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on May 29, 2020 at 8:53pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Mariners take series in Detroit with 8-5 win

Miguel Cabrera went 5-for-5 today but that wasn't enough for the Detroit Tigers, as they fell to the Mariners 8-5. Nick Margevicius got the win with six innings of two-run ball while Dee Gordon led the offense with three hits and three runs scored.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Mariners take series in Detroit with 8-5 win"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on May 28, 2020 at 8:13pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: M's score four in extras to beat Tigers

Dee Gordon and Mallex Smith combined to score the tying and winning runs for the Mariners tonight as they came back to defeat the Tigers in Detroit, 4-2.

See full post: "Virtual Season: M's score four in extras to beat Tigers"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on May 27, 2020 at 10:37pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Mariners fire hitting coach Laker, hire Perry

Tim Laker has been fired as the batting coach for the Seattle Mariners as part of the team's efforts to change its offensive philosophy. Laker had been the team's batting coach since 2019. According to team officials, Laker's dismissal was tied to the on-field performance of Mariner hitters during his tenure, specifically the prevalence of strikeouts and a swing-for-the-fences mindset among some players.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Mariners fire hitting coach Laker, hire Perry"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on May 27, 2020 at 9:01pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Manfred, owners give themselves black eye in 2020 negotiations

Stop me if you've head this before, but Rob Manfred is incredibly bad at his job. I mean, picture the worst job you can imagine a commissioner of baseball doing, then multiply that by a factor of five and you might get close to just how bad the man is at the job he's contracted to hold until 2024.

See full post: "Manfred, owners give themselves black eye in 2020 negotiations"...

Posted in News, MLB; Tagged Rob Manfred, COVID-19  |   Posted on May 27, 2020 at 6:07pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Bullpen, offense fail Gonzales as M's lose to Detroit 4-2

Jonathan Schoop and Miguel Cabrera each hit RBI doubles in the bottom of the 8th inning tonight to give the Detroit Tigers a 4-2 victory over the Mariners, spoiling yet another winless quality start from Seattle ace Marco Gonzales.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Bullpen, offense fail Gonzales as M's lose to Detroit 4-2"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on May 26, 2020 at 11:32pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Mariners top Yanks in slugfest, split series

Playing through an intermittent drizzle at Yankee Stadium, the Mariners traded leads with the home team this evening, eventually prevailing over New York 10-8.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Mariners top Yanks in slugfest, split series"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on May 25, 2020 at 9:38pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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If I were Commissioner

There is a lot of disagreement among baseball fans. Is the DH a good thing? (Answer: no.) Is it better to hit 50 home runs or bat .350? (Answer: .350.) Do newfangled sabermetric stats like WAR mean anything? (Answer: sort of.) Views on these and many other topics big and small will differ and be fodder for arguments in the bleachers until the end of time.

See full post: "If I were Commissioner"...

Posted in Columns, Around the Horn, MLB; Tagged Rules, Rob Manfred  |   Posted on May 25, 2020 at 1:51am   |   Permalink   |     |  
4 Comments

Virtual Season: Yankees homer their way to another win over M's

Justus Sheffield was hoping for a better result against the team that traded him away. Despite a strong six innings, the Seattle rookie took the loss in a 5-2 comeback win by the Yankees in New York.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Yankees homer their way to another win over M's"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on May 24, 2020 at 5:53pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Yankees use homers to come back, beat M's 4-3

Luke Voit hit two home runs and Miguel Andújar added a solo shot of his own to account for all four runs scored by the New York Yankees today in their 4-3 defeat of the Mariners.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Yankees use homers to come back, beat M's 4-3"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on May 23, 2020 at 8:30pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Mariners club Cole, Yankees in 7-0 win

Daniel Vogelbach homered twice and Yusei Kikuchi struck out nine Yankees over seven innings as the Mariners shut out New York 7-0 tonight in the Bronx.

All seven of Seattle's runs scored via the longball. Vogelbach launched a two-run shot down the left-field line in the 1st off of Garret Cole (5-4), which Jake Fraley followed up with an opposite-field blast of his own to give a 3-0 lead to Kikuchi before he even took the hill.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Mariners club Cole, Yankees in 7-0 win"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on May 22, 2020 at 7:09pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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The next team to relocate

The Major Leagues have been pretty stable over the past few decades. Though there were plenty of threats by a few ownership groups, the only team to shift from one home to another in nearly 50 years was the Montréal Expos, who moved to Washington to become the Nationals in 2005. But for a stretch of time, teams were hopscotching all over the country.

See full post: "The next team to relocate"...

Posted in Columns, Around the Horn, MLB; Posted on May 21, 2020 at 11:52pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
5 Comments

Virtual Season: M's use running game to give Gonzales a win vs. Nats

The Mariners broke with tradition and scored big in a game started by Marco Gonzales, starting with three runs in the 1st inning and ending in an 8-2 win over the defending World Champion Washington Nationals.

See full post: "Virtual Season: M's use running game to give Gonzales a win vs. Nats"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on May 20, 2020 at 10:01pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
1 Comment

Virtual Season: Mariners blow lead, come back to win at Washington

Carlos González delivered a clutch RBI single in the top of the 10th inning tonight to give the Mariners the winning margin in their 6-5 victory against the Washington Nationals.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Mariners blow lead, come back to win at Washington"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on May 19, 2020 at 7:00pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Social media, the virtual season, and the baseball-less summer

It's hard to keep a baseball website active when there's no baseball being played. There's not even the sort of offseason "hot stove" stuff going on, the only current events to cover are the latest dumb ideas coming out of the Commissioner's office.

See full post: "Social media, the virtual season, and the baseball-less summer"...

Posted in Site issues, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged COVID-19  |   Posted on May 18, 2020 at 8:13pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
6 Comments

Virtual Season: Bats come alive as Mariners beat Detroit 9-6

Jake Fraley, Dee Gordon, and Evan White each had three hits in a 9-6 Mariners win over the Detroit Tigers today in an offensive display that was a welcome sight for Seattle baseball fans.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Bats come alive as Mariners beat Detroit 9-6"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on May 18, 2020 at 2:04am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Commissioner's Office issues another half-baked plan for 2020

Another week, another silly conversation about starting up the 2020 Major League Baseball season. It was already tiresome, but I guess we'll keep doing this.

See full post: "Commissioner's Office issues another half-baked plan for 2020"...

Posted in Columns, Around the Horn, MLB; Tagged COVID-19, Rob Manfred  |   Posted on May 17, 2020 at 9:19pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
1 Comment

Virtual Season: Mariners' comeback falls short as Tigers win 5-3

Jeimer Candelario hit two home runs to lead the Detroit Tigers to a 5-3 win tonight against the Mariners at TMP in Seattle. The Detroit third baseman, who now has seven longballs on the season, went deep to break a 1-1 tie in the 6th and hit a two-run shot in the 7th.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Mariners' comeback falls short as Tigers win 5-3"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on May 16, 2020 at 10:21pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
2 Comments

Virtual Season: Boyd, Tigers spoil fine outing from Kikuchi

Matthew Boyd has been a bright spot in a dark early season for the Detroit Tigers, and he showed why with 6²⁄₃ shutout innings against the Mariners tonight in Seattle. With help from relievers Buck Farmer and Joe Jimeñez, Boyd put an end to the Mariners' four-game winning streak as the Tigers took the opening game in the series, 4-0.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Boyd, Tigers spoil fine outing from Kikuchi"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on May 15, 2020 at 9:09pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Gonazales victorious in 2-1 pitchers' duel

The Mariners once again failed to give Marco Gonzales much in the way of run support, but this time Seattle's ace was able to make do with what he had. Thanks to Mallex Smith's 5th-inning double, the M's had just enough offense to give Gonzales a 2-1 win over the Oakland Athletics and a series sweep for Seattle.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Gonazales victorious in 2-1 pitchers' duel"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on May 14, 2020 at 11:05pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
2 Comments

Virtual Season: Gordon's four hits lead M's to 8-4 win vs. A's

Dee Gordon led the Mariners in a 14-hit attack as Seattle beat the Oakland A's tonight 8-4 at TMP. Gordon's four-hit, three-RBI performance helped make a winner out of Taijuan Walker (5-2), the Seattle starter who had fallen behind 4-3 when the A's mounted a three-run, two-out rally in the 5th inning. Walker survived the frame by getting Stephen Piscotty to ground out and breezed through the 6th and 7th before being relieved for the 8th.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Gordon's four hits lead M's to 8-4 win vs. A's"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on May 13, 2020 at 8:20pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
3 Comments

Virtual Season: Mariners win pitching duel with solo homers

Oakland's Frankie Montas and Seattle's Justus Sheffield took part in a good old-fashioned pitchers' duel tonight at TMP. Both hurlers were on their game, pitching efficiently and briskly as the A's and Mariners fought to put any runs on the board, with the Mariners emerging as 2-1 victors.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Mariners win pitching duel with solo homers"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on May 12, 2020 at 9:45pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
2 Comments

Empty talk of starting season continues among owners

My screed from last week about the ridiculousness of these "plans" to start the 2020 season remains true, but the Commissioner's office and MLB ownership groups continue to put forth proposals to get things going. Today they formally approved this idea and have submitted it to the players' union.

See full post: "Empty talk of starting season continues among owners"...

Posted in News, MLB; Tagged COVID-19  |   Posted on May 11, 2020 at 7:39pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Murphy's three homers rescue M's in Houston

Tom Murphy capped a come-from-behind effort by the Mariners today by belting his third home run of the game into the left-field seats in the 9th inning against the Astros.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Murphy's three homers rescue M's in Houston"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on May 10, 2020 at 9:48pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Astros score late to beat M's 7-5

Designated hitter Abraham Toro blasted a two-run home run in the eighth inning at Minute Maid Park tonight to give the Astros the winning margin in a 7-5 defeat of the Mariners.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Astros score late to beat M's 7-5"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on May 9, 2020 at 8:16pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Greinke outduels Marco, gives Houston 1-0 win

Zack Greinke struck out 14 Mariners over eight innings tonight and George Springer provided a solo home run to give the Astros a 1-0 victory over Seattle tonight in Houston.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Greinke outduels Marco, gives Houston 1-0 win"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on May 8, 2020 at 11:10pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Mariners beat Osuna, Astros in 10

Patrick Wisdom hit a go-ahead solo home run and Daniel Vogelbach drove in a pair of insurance runs in the 10th inning tonight to give the Mariners a 6-3 victory in Houston.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Mariners beat Osuna, Astros in 10"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on May 7, 2020 at 7:52pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Plans for a new Opening Day are foolhardy

Sigh. It's like there's a new one every week now: A "plan" to start the Major League Baseball season in some fashion amid the coronavirus crisis.

See full post: "Plans for a new Opening Day are foolhardy"...

Posted in Columns, News, Around the Horn, MLB; Tagged COVID-19  |   Posted on May 6, 2020 at 10:07pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Oakland bats score 10, embarrass Mariners

Justus Sheffield did not have his good stuff this afternoon. The rookie southpaw served up eight runs on seven hits and five walks in just two innings against the A's in today's 10-4 loss in Oakland.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Oakland bats score 10, embarrass Mariners"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on May 6, 2020 at 3:32pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: A's clobber Graveman, beat Mariners 8-3

A thirteen-hit attack that included a mammoth 465-foot home run propelled the Oakland Athletics to an 8-3 victory over the Mariners at the Oakland Coliseum tonight. Seattle starter Kendall Graveman lasted four innings in taking his fourth loss.

See full post: "Virtual Season: A's clobber Graveman, beat Mariners 8-3"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on May 5, 2020 at 9:32pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Kikuchi leads Mariners over A's 5-1

Through eight innings, the M's and A's could get very little going at the plate with starters Yusei Kikuchi and Sean Manaea putting up zeroes except for single runs by each side in the 3rd. Seattle got on the board with a solo home run by catcher Tom Murphy, while the A's plated one when Marcus Semien singled in Stephen Piscotty from second base.Kikuchi (5-2) went the distance, giving the Mariners back-to-back complete games—a rare feat in today's game. He walked none and struck out seven, getting through the game with an economical pitch count of 109.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Kikuchi leads Mariners over A's 5-1"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on May 4, 2020 at 9:54pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Marco, Dee lead M's in 6-3 win over Astros

 Marco Gonzales has been a hard-luck starter for the Mariners this season, but not on this day. Staked to an early lead, Gonzales went the distance against a powerful Houston lineup to secure a series split with the Astros.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Marco, Dee lead M's in 6-3 win over Astros"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on May 3, 2020 at 10:45pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Astros' homers, defense beat Mariners 4-3

Carlos Correa robbed Dee Gordon of a base hit in the 9th inning tonight that would have tied up the Mariners' score against the Houston Astros. Instead, the Astros held on to win by a score of 4-3.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Astros' homers, defense beat Mariners 4-3"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on May 2, 2020 at 11:59pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Mariners shut out Astros 3-0

The Houston Astros used a trio of homers to score all four of their runs and defeat the Mariners 4-3 in ten innings tonight in Seattle. Domestic abuser Roberto Osuna (1-1) got the win for Houston with two scoreless innings of relief.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Mariners shut out Astros 3-0"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on May 1, 2020 at 8:21pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Across the Parallel Universes

As regulars here at GrandSalami.net are well aware, we're running a virtual 2020 season (the GSAU), playing as the Mariners in a simulation taking place via the computer game Out of the Park Baseball 21. Well, it's not just us—plenty of people are using games like the Playstation game MLB The Show to play out fantasy 2020s, including some big-league players. But at least two other sites are running OOTP virtual 2020 sims, The Athletic and Baseball-Reference.com. How do they compare? Do OOTP sims differ much from one to the other?

See full post: "Across the Parallel Universes"...

Posted in Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on May 1, 2020 at 3:55am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Astros' Tucker homers in 10th as Houston beats M's

The Houston Astros used a trio of homers to score all four of their runs and defeat the Mariners 4-3 in ten innings tonight in Seattle. Domestic abuser Roberto Osuna (1-1) got the win for Houston with two scoreless innings of relief.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Astros' Tucker homers in 10th as Houston beats M's"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on April 30, 2020 at 9:12pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Mariners survive 9th-inning errors, edge Angels 4-3

31,000+ fans at the ballpark by Elliott Bay saw high drama in the 9th inning tonight, as the Mariners threatened to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory yet ultimately prevail by a score of 4-3 against the Los Angeles Angels.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Mariners survive 9th-inning errors, edge Angels 4-3"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on April 29, 2020 at 11:49pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: M's fail Marco again, lose to Angels in 10 innings

Marco Gonzales pitched another fine game for the Mariners tonight at the ballpark by Elliott Bay, and once again he has nothing to show for it, as the Angels came back to defeat the M's 5-3 in ten innings.

See full post: "Virtual Season: M's fail Marco again, lose to Angels in 10 innings"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on April 28, 2020 at 8:38pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Mariners implode, lose 10-6 in Texas

Taijuan Walker was solid through five innings today, allowing only a solo home run to Joey Gallo, and was enjoying a 5-1 lead when the wheels fell off his wagon. In just a matter of minutes, the Texas Rangers erased that cushion in the bottom half of the 6th inning on a pair of homers.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Mariners implode, lose 10-6 in Texas"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on April 26, 2020 at 11:10pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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What do you know? It's the Trivia Challenge Mark II

While we continue waiting out the COVID-19 hiatus, why not indulge in a little baseball quiz-taking? In the spirit of last year's Mariner-centric Trivia Challenge, we present this year's more generalized (with plenty of M's stuff too) baseball trivia quiz. Click below to begin, then when you're done you'll be brought back here so you can tell us what you think.

See full post: "What do you know? It's the Trivia Challenge Mark II"...

Posted in Mariners, Spotlight, MLB; Tagged Trivia  |   Posted on April 26, 2020 at 12:26am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: 2-run 12th gives M's win over Rangers

It took 12 innings, but the Mariners came through to beat the Texas Rangers tonight, 5-3 in Arlington. Tim Lopes drove in Mallex Smith with the go-ahead run to break a 3-3 tie and Evan White added an insurance tally with  sacrifice fly.

See full post: "Virtual Season: 2-run 12th gives M's win over Rangers"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on April 25, 2020 at 11:59pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: M's squander opportunity, lose to Rangers in 10

Notes from around the leagueJeff McNeil went 4-for-4 with two home runs for the Mets today in New York's 9-3 win over Atlanta. The Astros have now won eight straight, having beaten the Oakland A's 5-1 tonight. They are 13-1 in Houston. On the Farm/Prospect WatchThe Tacoma Rainiers also lost in extra innings tonight, dropping their game with Albuquerque 7-6 in 11 innings. Jered Kelenic had two hits and three RBI in Double-A Arkansas' 8-3 loss to Tulsa. Julio Rodríguez went 2-for-3 as the Class-A Modesto Nuts lost to Stockton 6-1.

See full post: "Virtual Season: M's squander opportunity, lose to Rangers in 10"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on April 24, 2020 at 11:38pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Mariners win 6-3, take series with Twins

Yusei Kikuchi pitched seven innings for the win and Daniel Vogelbach clubbed his sixth home run of the season as the Mariners defeated the Minnesota Twins 6-3 today at Minneapolis' Target Field. The victory gives the Mariners their second straight series win after splitting the two-game set with Washington last week.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Mariners win 6-3, take series with Twins"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on April 23, 2020 at 11:59pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Gordon wins 2020 Hutch Award

Dee Gordon, the Mariners' second baseman and sometime-outfielder, was honored today with the 2020 Fred Hutch Award, bestowed upon a Major League player who exemplifies courage and fortitude in off-the-field community activity in the manner of the late Fred Hutchinson.

See full post: "Gordon wins 2020 Hutch Award"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Dee Gordon, Awards  |   Posted on April 23, 2020 at 11:32pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: M's, Twins trade homers in Minnesota walk-off win

Byron Buxton connected for a game-winning, walk-off home run off reliever Nestor Cortes in the 9th inning tonight at Minneapolis' Target Field to end the Mariners-Twins contest with a final score of 4-3.

See full post: "Virtual Season: M's, Twins trade homers in Minnesota walk-off win"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on April 22, 2020 at 9:35pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Walker sharp; CarGo, JP, Seager homer in win vs. Twins

Taijuan Walker took a no-hitter into the 7th inning and Kyle Seager, Carlos González, and J.P. Crawford each hit home runs as the Mariners defeated the Minnesota Twins by a score of 8-3 in Minneapolis.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Walker sharp; CarGo, JP, Seager homer in win vs. Twins"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on April 21, 2020 at 8:59pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Mariner homers enough to beat Buxton and Odorizzi in Minneapolis

The Mariners overcame a tremendous outing by Minnesota pitcher Jake Odorizzi to squeak by the Twins tonight 3-2 at Target Field in Minneapolis.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Mariner homers enough to beat Buxton and Odorizzi in Minneapolis"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on April 20, 2020 at 10:18pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Mariners take 3 of 4 in Oakland

Kyle Seager drove in two runs and J.P. Crawford hit a two-run homer to provide all the runs the Mariners needed today to defeat the A's and cap off a three-win effort in the four-game series in Oakland.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Mariners take 3 of 4 in Oakland"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on April 19, 2020 at 2:25pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Vogey awakes, drives in 5 in M's win vs. Oakland

Daniel Vogelbach drove in all five Mariner runs today as Seattle defeated the Oakland Athletics 5-1. Vogelbach had been struggling mightily, riding an 0-for-33 streak coming into today's game that saw his batting average dip to .162 and his playing time curtailed. But against Oakland starter Sean Manaea today, Vogey came up big.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Vogey awakes, drives in 5 in M's win vs. Oakland"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19  |   Posted on April 18, 2020 at 10:30pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: M's drop nailbiter to A's 3-2

The Mariners and Oakland Athletics dueled in the East Bay tonight with runs at a premium. Both Seattle starter Marco Gonzales and Oakland hurler Jesús don't-call-him-Emilio Luzardo brought their A games and made few mistakes.

See full post: "Virtual Season: M's drop nailbiter to A's 3-2"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on April 17, 2020 at 11:54pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Walker wins pitchers' duel with A's

Taijuan Walker pitched eight innings of near-perfect ball and Evan White drove in Dee Gordon with what would be the winning run for the second game in a row as the Mariners defeated the Oakland Athletics 1-0.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Walker wins pitchers' duel with A's"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on April 16, 2020 at 7:53pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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About the Virtual Season on grandsalami.net

Good afternoon everybody, wherever you may be. I hope you all are doing as well as can be expected during our time of coronavirus-enforced isolation A few notes to update you all on what we're doing here on the site with our virtual 2020 season, especially given that there are no encouraging developments in the real world that suggest we'll see a real 2020 season anytime soon, if at all.

See full post: "About the Virtual Season on grandsalami.net"...

Posted in Site issues, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on April 16, 2020 at 5:38pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Mariners beat Nats in extras

This post chronicles a virtual 2020 season played on the computer game Out of the Park Baseball 21. See the virtual opening day post for details on the setup. We’ll be updating this “season” as our coronavirus-enforced life without real baseball continues.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Mariners beat Nats in extras"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on April 15, 2020 at 12:14pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Strasburg dominates as M's lose 4th straight

Stephen Strasburg schooled the Mariners in the art of pitching Monday night at TMP in Seattle. The Washington Nationals right-hander pitched 81⁄3 innings of shutout baseball as Washington won 6-0.

See full post: "Strasburg dominates as M's lose 4th straight"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on April 13, 2020 at 11:13pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Errors, wildness sink Mariners against Boston

Dee Gordon had a banner afternoon, but it wasn't enough to overcome several defensive lapses by the Mariners as the visiting Boston Red Sox defeated Seattle 6-4.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Errors, wildness sink Mariners against Boston"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on April 12, 2020 at 5:00pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: McHugh, Gonzales duel in 2-1 Boston win

This post chronicles a virtual 2020 season played on the computer game Out of the Park Baseball 21. See the virtual opening day post for details on the setup. We’ll be updating this “season” as our coronavirus-enforced life without real baseball continues.

See full post: "Virtual Season: McHugh, Gonzales duel in 2-1 Boston win"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on April 11, 2020 at 10:30pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Red Sox get revenge, beat M's 7-1

Smarting from the drubbing they took yesterday, the Boston Red Sox took their revenge on the Mariners Friday night at TMP, clubbing three home runs en route to a 7-1 win.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Red Sox get revenge, beat M's 7-1"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on April 10, 2020 at 11:14pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Another 2020 plan that won't happen

A few days ago, Major League Baseball was discussing a 2020 season played entirely in Arizona. Today the talk is around playing a season with all teams using their spring training facilities as their home fields.

See full post: "Another 2020 plan that won't happen"...

Posted in News, MLB; Tagged COVID-19  |   Posted on April 10, 2020 at 9:55pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Mariners clobber Red Sox 8-0 behind Sheffield

This post chronicles a virtual 2020 season played on the computer game Out of the Park Baseball 21. See the virtual opening day post for details on the setup. We’ll be updating this “season” as our coronavirus-enforced life without real baseball continues.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Mariners clobber Red Sox 8-0 behind Sheffield"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on April 10, 2020 at 1:33am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Home runs are boring

Those that know me well know that my favorite ballclub of all time has nothing to do with the Mariners. Long before I became a Northwesterner, way back in the pre-Internet days, I followed the Majors the best I could from a minor-league town. We had the newspaper box scores. The NBC Game of the Week on Saturday afternoons and Monday Night Baseball on ABC. Cable TV was a novelty, but my mom splurged for it so I had access to a few "superstations" that carried National League games from Chicago, Atlanta, and New York and our local radio carried...

See full post: "Home runs are boring"...

Posted in Columns, Around the Horn, MLB; Tagged History, Smallball, Home runs  |   Posted on April 9, 2020 at 11:29pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Murphy, CarGo power M's over ChiSox

The Mariners were decided underdogs on paper for this afternoon's rubber match concluding the three-game series in Chicago against the White Sox. The palehose were starting former Cy Young Award winner and two-time All-Star Dallas Keuchel, who came into the game with an 0.79 ERA, while the M's went with reclamation project Kendall Graveman in his third start after recovering from Tommy John surgery. But it would be Keuchel that got sent to the showers early, driven from the game after just 22⁄3 innings in the eventual 11-5 Mariner win.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Murphy, CarGo power M's over ChiSox"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on April 8, 2020 at 7:27pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Kikuchi victorious in Windy City pitchers' duel

Yusei Kikuchi and Lucas Giolito locked horns in a classic pitchers' duel Tuesday night at New Comiskey Park. The Seattle lefty and Chicago right-hander traded scoreless innings through five full frames, though Kikuchi did it with more efficiency—through five, Kikuchi had thrown 59 pitches while Giolito needed 80.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Kikuchi victorious in Windy City pitchers' duel"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on April 7, 2020 at 9:31pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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2020 season to start up? Don't hold your breath

The last few days have seen some reporting that suggests Major League Baseball is preparing to start the season sometime late next month or early in June. Don't read too much into it, though.

See full post: "2020 season to start up? Don't hold your breath"...

Posted in News, MLB; Tagged COVID-19  |   Posted on April 7, 2020 at 6:38pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Mariners shut out against White Sox

This post chronicles a virtual 2020 season played on the computer game Out of the Park Baseball 21. See the virtual opening day post for details on the setup. We’ll be updating this “season” as our coronavirus-enforced life without real baseball continues.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Mariners shut out against White Sox"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on April 6, 2020 at 11:08pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Mariners take series in KC

This post chronicles a virtual 2020 season played on the computer game Out of the Park Baseball 21. See the virtual opening day post for details on the setup. We’ll be updating this “season” as our coronavirus-enforced life without real baseball continues.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Mariners take series in KC"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on April 5, 2020 at 9:36pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Crawford powers M's to extra-inning victory

J.P. Crawford homered and tripled to lead the Mariners to a 4-1 victory in ten innings over the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium Saturday. Crawford's 3-for-5 performance accounted for two runs scored and three batted in.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Crawford powers M's to extra-inning victory"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on April 4, 2020 at 10:33pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Off day stats

This post chronicles a virtual 2020 season played on the computer game Out of the Park Baseball 21. See the virtual opening day post for details on the setup. We’ll be updating this “season” as our coronavirus-enforced life without real baseball continues.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Off day stats"...

Posted in Virtual Games; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on April 4, 2020 at 12:12am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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History: This Week in Mariners Transactions

The COVID-19 crisis has all rosters frozen (again) for the time being. But with no real baseball happening (though we are doing our virtual season), we thought we'd look into the wayback machine and see what interesting moves happened in the first week of April in seasons past (plenty of boring ones will be ignored). We'll continue this sort of thing in the weeks to come.

See full post: "History: This Week in Mariners Transactions"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged History  |   Posted on April 3, 2020 at 8:09pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Royals win home opener vs. Mariners 4-2

This post chronicles a virtual 2020 season played on the computer game Out of the Park Baseball 21. See the virtual opening day post for details on the setup. We’ll be updating this “season” as our coronavirus-enforced life without real baseball continues.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Royals win home opener vs. Mariners 4-2"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on April 3, 2020 at 12:54am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Twins, Berrios blank Mariners 7-0

 

See full post: "Virtual Season: Twins, Berrios blank Mariners 7-0"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on April 1, 2020 at 8:17pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Marco, Fraley lead M's to victory

The Mariners won their third game of the season Tuesday night, scoring four runs and holding off the Minnesota Twins to even their record at 3-3. Marco Gonzales pitched six solid innings to earn his first win of 2020 while Kenta Maeda took the loss for the Twins.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Marco, Fraley lead M's to victory"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on March 31, 2020 at 11:59pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Evan White breaks the mold for M's at 1B

When Seattle General Manager Jerry Dipoto announced his “step back” plan after the 2018 season, the focus for 2019 immediately shifted to the farm system. Mariner fans quickly learned about young stars like Jared Kelenic, Julio Rodríguez, and Justin Dunn. One young player who went under the radar was first baseman Evan White. All this changed when White was signed to a six-year major league contract last November.

See full post: "Evan White breaks the mold for M's at 1B"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Evan white  |   Posted on March 31, 2020 at 6:30pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Walker strong in victory over Twins

Taijuan Walker returned to the Mariners' fold in style Monday night at TMP. The one-time prized prospect, traded to Arizona along with Ketel Marte after the 2016 season for Mitch Haniger and Jean Segura, took the hill in his second Mariner debut and pitched seven shutout innings to earn a win over the Minnesota Twins.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Walker strong in victory over Twins"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on March 31, 2020 at 3:00am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: M's drop finale to Texas, fall to 1-3

This post chronicles a virtual 2020 season played on the computer game Out of the Park Baseball 21. See the virtual opening day post for details on the setup. We’ll be updating this “season” as our coronavirus-enforced life without real baseball continues.

See full post: "Virtual Season: M's drop finale to Texas, fall to 1-3"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on March 30, 2020 at 5:45pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: Gallo, Minor lead Rangers to 4-2 win over M's

Joey Gallo smacked his second 2-run homer in as many games and Mike Minor pitched six shutout innings to lead the Texas Rangers to their second win of the season, a 4-2 defeat of the Mariners at TMP.

See full post: "Virtual Season: Gallo, Minor lead Rangers to 4-2 win over M's"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on March 29, 2020 at 2:35pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Season: M's win 6-5 in dramatic comeback

Scores from around the virtual league:

See full post: "Virtual Season: M's win 6-5 in dramatic comeback"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on March 29, 2020 at 1:13am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Virtual Opening Day

We have no baseball right now (no live baseball, anyway; some TV channels and MLB.com are providing broadcasts of old games here and there), thanks to global pandemic chaos, so to keep us entertained here at grandsalami.net I have engaged the computer program Out of the Park Baseball to provide a facsimile.

See full post: "Virtual Opening Day"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games, COVID-Void Alternate Universe; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, GSAU  |   Posted on March 27, 2020 at 9:50pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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The Longest Offseason

Today was supposed to be Opening Day across baseball. Alas, instead it's just another day in this holding pattern that will last...months? Who knows at this point. The players' union and the Commissioner's Office are struggling to come up with rules covering things like service time for arbitration and free-agency purposes and the draft in this strange year (how would you like to be the Los Angeles Dodgers, having just traded prized prospects for one year of Mookie Betts and then have that one year be wiped out and he's a free agent before he ever suits up for LA?).

See full post: "The Longest Offseason"...

Posted in News; Tagged MLB, COVID-19  |   Posted on March 26, 2020 at 8:30pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Still no baseball

Hi, everyone. Weird times we're living in, aren't they? With COVID-19 having shut down so much of our regular lives, we're all making do as virtual shut-ins.

See full post: "Still no baseball"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Transactions, Books, From the archives  |   Posted on March 22, 2020 at 8:01pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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What If...?

Nerds of a certain age may remember the Marvel Comics series "What If...?" that was published regularly in the late 1970s and early '80s, with a revival in the late '80s and 1990s. The anthology series took an event from the long canon of Marvel Comics history and turned it on its head, telling "alternate universe" stories wherein, for example, Spider-Man's Uncle Ben had lived, or Captain America had run for President. Well, let's apply that concept to baseball, shall we?

See full post: "What If...?"...

Posted in Mariners, Virtual Games; Tagged OOTP, COVID-19, What If  |   Posted on March 15, 2020 at 9:56pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
2 Comments

COVID-19 update

Events continue to unfold at high speed, but here's the latest on the state of affairs with MLB and the Mariners.

See full post: "COVID-19 update"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Spring Training  |   Posted on March 13, 2020 at 7:27pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Season delayed

Well, that was fast.

See full post: "Season delayed"...

Posted in News, MLB; Tagged Opening Day, Spring Training  |   Posted on March 12, 2020 at 7:25pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Spring Training check-in II

We're now just two weeks from Opening Day—maybe—so let's check in once more with how the Mariners are doing down in Arizona. The record is underwhelming at 6-12, but remember, wins and losses don't really matter in spring training. More important is how particular players are developing and how competition for roster spots plays out.

See full post: "Spring Training check-in II"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Spring Training  |   Posted on March 11, 2020 at 11:06pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Age of uncertainty

Opening Day is just two weeks away...maybe.

See full post: "Age of uncertainty"...

Posted in Mariners, News, MLB; Tagged Opening Day, Spring Training  |   Posted on March 11, 2020 at 9:37pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Spring Training Check-in

Having hit the quarter-pole for Spring Training 2020, let's check in with Your Seattle Mariners and see who's doing well and how the battle for various roster spots is progressing. The sample size remains small, of course; we're talking a week's worth of games in which players generally get just a couple of at-bats each. Still, it's a starting point to refer to as the spring goes on and we approach Opening Day on March 26th.

See full post: "Spring Training Check-in"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Spring Training  |   Posted on March 3, 2020 at 7:56pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Sliding scale

Dylan Moore, the utility man currently competing in spring training to reclaim his bench role with the Mariners, is out of action observing concussion protocol after an injury suffered in last Wednesday's exhibition game against the Reds. Moore clocked his head against the knee of Reds infielder José Garcia while diving into second base, attempting a steal.

See full post: "Sliding scale"...

Posted in Columns, Around the Horn; Tagged Baserunning  |   Posted on March 1, 2020 at 6:40am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Welcome to Spring

The calendar will tell you it's still winter time, but as we all know, spring begins on the first day of spring training exhibition games regardless of date. Thus, this year, spring begins in February.

See full post: "Welcome to Spring"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Spring Training  |   Posted on February 22, 2020 at 12:23am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Manfred is bad for baseball

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred held a press conference today from the Atlanta Braves' spring facility that addressed the ongoing fallout from the Houston Astros' cheating scandal. It did not go well for Mr. Manfred, for Major League Baseball, or for the concept of justice.

See full post: "Manfred is bad for baseball"...

Posted in Columns, Around the Horn, MLB; Tagged Rob Manfred  |   Posted on February 16, 2020 at 8:30pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Quit Screwing With My Game

As you may have read elsewhere, Major League Baseball is considering yet more changes to be implemented in 2022. This is in addition to the changes already enacted last year and several that will begin this coming season. And I'm getting pretty damn tired of it.

See full post: "Quit Screwing With My Game"...

Posted in Columns, Around the Horn, MLB; Tagged Rules, Rob Manfred  |   Posted on February 14, 2020 at 1:33am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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M's add players you may have heard of

The rumors proved to be true: The Mariners have reunited with onetime prized prospect Taijuan Walker.

See full post: "M's add players you may have heard of"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Transactions  |   Posted on February 13, 2020 at 6:56pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Offseason check-in

Spring Training is on the horizon for 2020 and we have yet to check in on the Mariners' doings in the offseason since they traded away catcher Omar Narváez a couple of months ago.

See full post: "Offseason check-in"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Transactions  |   Posted on February 8, 2020 at 9:41pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Trader Jerry boots an easy grounder

As we speculated about last week, the Mariners today traded catcher Omar Narváez. He was dealt to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for Class-A pitcher Adam Hill and a competitive balance draft pick.

See full post: "Trader Jerry boots an easy grounder"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Trades, Transactions, Omar Narvaez  |   Posted on December 5, 2019 at 3:59pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Early offseason odds and ends

It is not going to be an offseason like last year's for Your Seattle Mariners, with massive roster churn and a constant check of the Twitter feed to find proof of life on Jerry Dipoto when we haven't seen news of a trade in 48 hours. But there will be some tweaking, and said tweaking has begun.

See full post: "Early offseason odds and ends"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Bullpen, Evan white, Omar Narvaez, Tom Murphy  |   Posted on November 25, 2019 at 10:52pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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My Hall of Fame ballot

Ballots are cast for inducting new members to the baseball Hall of Fame by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America. I don't get a vote. But if I did, I would take the privilege seriously and try to be dispassionate in my selections. Meaning I would even vote for Jeter.

See full post: "My Hall of Fame ballot"...

Posted in Columns, Around the Horn, MLB; Tagged Hall of Fame  |   Posted on November 18, 2019 at 7:43pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Prognostication evaluation

So, how'd we do?

See full post: "Prognostication evaluation"...

Posted in MLB; Tagged MLB, Predicting the Future  |   Posted on November 18, 2019 at 6:57pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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The next wave of NPB imports

First was Hideo Nomo, in 1995 (no offense to Masanori Murakami). Then a number of pitchers, including ex-Mariners Shigetoshi Hasegawa and Kazuhiro Sasaki. Ichiro broke through in 2001, opening a modest floodgate that swept in Hideki Matsui, So Taguchi, Kenji Johjima, Kazuo Matsui, Norichika Aoki, and plenty of others. Yusei Kikuchi made the jump last season. Next season, a few more veterans of Nippon Professional Baseball may make their debuts in the Major Leagues.Star outfielder Yoshitomo Tsutsugo has already been told he'll be posted by his current club, the Yokohama BayStars, for bids from Major League teams. Seibu Lions outfielder...

See full post: "The next wave of NPB imports"...

Posted in News, MLB, NPB; Tagged Ryosuke Kikuchi, Yoshitomo Tsutsugoh, Shogo Akiyama, Japanese players  |   Posted on November 8, 2019 at 8:45pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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M's fill coaching vacancies from within

Next season will see some new faces among the Mariners' coaching staff, but not the wholesale turnover that came after 2018. Having previously announced the reassignment of pitching coach Paul Davis and the release of bullpen coach Jim Brower and third-base coach Chris Prieto, the remainder of the staff will stay on.

See full post: "M's fill coaching vacancies from within"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Coaches  |   Posted on November 8, 2019 at 6:09pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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End of season potpourri

Well, that was a fun World Series, eh? The Washington Nationals won their first championship (as either the Nats or the Expos), the Astros were denied bragging rights, and weirdness abounded—the road team won every game (unprecedented); the umpiring was comically bad at times; an assistant GM got fired; Gerrit Cole lost a game; Justin Verlander lost two games; and on a team with Cole and Verlander, the best start for Houston came from a rookie most of us had never heard of.Solid. Too bad it was one of the lowest-rated ever in terms of TV viewers. People missed out.

See full post: "End of season potpourri"...

Posted in Columns, Around the Horn; Tagged Transactions, World Series, Hot Stove League, Ron Fairly  |   Posted on November 3, 2019 at 7:18pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Game 6: Nats win despite potentially critical blown call

Well. Ask for an interesting World Series game and the baseball gods provide.

See full post: "Game 6: Nats win despite potentially critical blown call"...

Posted in MLB; Tagged Houston Astros, World Series, Washington Nationals, Umpires  |   Posted on October 30, 2019 at 12:01am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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DC duds

A great first game. A good second one until it got silly in the late innings. A decent contest, if not a really exciting one, in Game 3. And two snoozers.

See full post: "DC duds"...

Posted in MLB; Tagged Houston Astros, World Series, Washington Nationals  |   Posted on October 27, 2019 at 10:46pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Game 2: The schizophrenic game

For six innings, Game 2 of the World Series was much like Game 1: a tight, well-executed battle between two outstanding pitchers and pennant-winning defenses. With the Washington Nationals and the Houston Astros tied at 2-2 since the first inning, every hit was tense, every baserunner potentially pivotal, every defensive play important.

See full post: "Game 2: The schizophrenic game"...

Posted in Around the Horn, Columns; Tagged World Series  |   Posted on October 25, 2019 at 1:23am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Game 1: Surprising, yet as expected

Hey, that was fun, wasn't it?

See full post: "Game 1: Surprising, yet as expected"...

Posted in Around the Horn; Tagged World Series  |   Posted on October 23, 2019 at 12:58am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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World Series primer

And then there were two.

See full post: "World Series primer"...

Posted in Columns, Around the Horn; Tagged Houston Astros, World Series, Washington Nationals  |   Posted on October 22, 2019 at 3:08am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Hey, we know him

Now that the Wild Card slots are filled with the conclusion of the WC play-in games—good one in DC, dull one in Oakland—the playoffs can begin in earnest. As we tune in for the four League Division Series starting tomorrow, we may not know a lot about the teams playing; after all, we don't see those squads very often, a lot of their players are unknown quantities unless we're super-diehard baseball consumers. But some will be familiar because they used to be Mariners.

See full post: "Hey, we know him"...

Posted in Mariners, MLB; Tagged Playoffs  |   Posted on October 2, 2019 at 11:25pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Player of the year

Last week, the Seattle chapter of the Baseball Writers of America tweeted their award winners for the Mariners' 2019 season:

See full post: "Player of the year"...

Posted in Columns, Caught Looking; Tagged Daniel Vogelbach  |   Posted on October 1, 2019 at 5:51pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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2019: Actually not that bad

It's over. The long slog of the season, the Dog Days of Summer, the grind of 162 games. Done for another solar orbit. For the 18th year in a row, Your Seattle Mariners head into October as spectators for the playoffs, adding another number to their ignominious total of years as the only American League franchise never to reach the World Series.

See full post: "2019: Actually not that bad"...

Posted in Mariners, Around the Horn, Columns; Tagged Future M's  |   Posted on September 30, 2019 at 8:33pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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M's Playoff Drought Reaches 18th Year

Yeah, not exactly news. We knew it in March. Or at least by the time the Mariners turned their shocking 13-2 start into a 20-23 deficit a month later. We were 11 games over .500 on April 11 and 11 games under .500 by May 30. Quick work. Hopes dashed. See you next year. Or the year after. Or...

See full post: "M's Playoff Drought Reaches 18th Year"...

Posted in Columns, Caught Looking; Tagged Playoffs  |   Posted on September 30, 2019 at 12:06am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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No-stakes losses to Houston already lost to memory

At this point in the season, when only the very last playoff spots have yet to be clinched and most teams are just playing out the string, things take on a less meaningful aura. I mean, this is sports, and in the grand scheme of things it's all not-that-meaningful, but you get the point. In the case of the just-completed two-game mini-series between the Mariners and Houston Astros, things were even less meaningful: The Astros are already American League West division champions again and the Mariners have been rooted in last place for a while and are assured of finishing there.

See full post: "No-stakes losses to Houston already lost to memory"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Series, Yusei Kikuchi, Houston Astros  |   Posted on September 25, 2019 at 11:30pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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M's lose series to Orioles despite the unheralded greatness of Marco Gonzales

The Baltimore Orioles are, by record, the second-worst team in the Major Leagues, behind only the 4½ games worse Detroit Tigers. The Mariners had already beaten them three out of four times earlier in the summer, and coming off a sweep of the not-as-bad-but-still-not-good Pittsburgh Pirates, one could be forgiven for thinking the M's would take their final road trip of the season in impressive fashion. Instead, Seattle dropped two of three to the hapless Orioles and come home having recorded a 4-2 road swing.

See full post: "M's lose series to Orioles despite the unheralded greatness of Marco Gonzales"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Marco Gonzales, Series, Baltimore Orioles, Felix Hernandez  |   Posted on September 22, 2019 at 9:31pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Mariners sink Pirates in three-game sweep

With the season winding down and the Mariners hoping to merely avoid the indignity of losing 100 games, this final road trip to Pittsburgh and Baltimore was just what the doctor ordered. Building on their series win at home versus the White Sox, the Mariners' winning streak reached five games with the completion of a three-game sweep of the Pirates in Pittsburgh.

See full post: "Mariners sink Pirates in three-game sweep"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Marco Gonzales, Series, Interleague, Future M's, Kyle Lewis, Pittsburgh Pirates  |   Posted on September 20, 2019 at 12:26am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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M's take wacky series from Chisox

That was nuts.

See full post: "M's take wacky series from Chisox"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Series, Chicago White Sox, Kyle Lewis  |   Posted on September 16, 2019 at 7:09pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Ichiro celebration weekend

As this is being written, the Mariners are in the midst of Ichiro Weekend, three days of celebrating the career and achievements of one Ichiro Suzuki. One because, well, there are many people in the world named Ichiro Suzuki—"Ichiro" translates to "first son," of which there are lots, and Suzuki is the second-most common surname in Japan—there is and will be only one Ichiro, and he played the bulk of his Hall of Fame MLB career as a Seattle Mariner.

See full post: "Ichiro celebration weekend"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Ichiro Suzuki  |   Posted on September 14, 2019 at 10:48pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Reds series shows what to expect from next year's M's

The Cincinnati Reds are not an intimidating team, but they are Major Leaguers and just a few days ago many of the Seattle Mariners were not. So taking two of three in this Interleague matchup is meaningful, in a couple of ways.

See full post: "Reds series shows what to expect from next year's M's"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Marco Gonzales, Series, Future M's, Cincinnati Reds, Kyle Lewis, Justin Dunn  |   Posted on September 13, 2019 at 1:06am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Kyle and the Kids Take One from the Reds

I'm part of a season ticket group that meets every March to divvy up the season's games and talk about the year ahead. Mostly it's gallows humor. It's a good bunch of guys, with good humor and a deep knowledge of baseball history. I tend to buy tickets to 10 Mariner games, and last night was my last for the season. It was also the first time I ever saw the Cincinnati Reds live. I think. I grew up in an AL city.

See full post: "Kyle and the Kids Take One from the Reds"...

Posted in Columns, Caught Looking; Tagged Future M's, Justus Sheffield, Cincinnati Reds, Kyle Lewis  |   Posted on September 11, 2019 at 2:51pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Astros embarrass Mariners in 4-game sweep

Nobody expected much. It was already a mismatch on paper, with Houston sporting one of the best records in baseball as they approach 100 wins yet again, Seattle flailing along in last place on their way to 100 losses. The Astros were 12-1 against the Mariners in the season series. They had Cy Young favorites Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole scheduled over the weekend. But, you know, it's baseball in the big leagues, upsets happen.

See full post: "Astros embarrass Mariners in 4-game sweep"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Series, Houston Astros  |   Posted on September 8, 2019 at 10:28pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Mariners mauled by Cubs at Wrigley

Though it still feels a bit weird to say, the Chicago Cubs are a very good team. Meanwhile, as we are completely accustomed to saying, the Seattle Mariners are . . . not. So it's not surprising that the Cubs swept the M's in their brief two-game set at Wrigley Field.

See full post: "Mariners mauled by Cubs at Wrigley"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Series, Interleague, Chicago Cubs  |   Posted on September 4, 2019 at 12:02am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Mariners split with Rangers instead of winning series for some reason

In what was the final series played by the Mariners in the current home of the Texas Rangers (they'll open a new retractable-roof facility next season), Seattle manager Scott Servais decided to be charitable and allow the Rangers to split the four games. At least, that's one theory.

See full post: "Mariners split with Rangers instead of winning series for some reason"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Marco Gonzales, Scott Servais, Series, Texas Rangers, Erik Swanson, Daniel Vogelbach, Mallex Smith  |   Posted on September 1, 2019 at 11:04pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Yanks Use Former M's to Crush M's on a Beautiful Sky-Blue Day in Seattle

So after the M’s managed to tie the game in the bottom of the 4th with a 2-run homer by Kyle Seager that eked out over the outstretched supertall glove of Aaron Judge in right field, making it 2-2, and the teams switched sides, I wondered how long before the Yankees retook the lead.

See full post: "Yanks Use Former M's to Crush M's on a Beautiful Sky-Blue Day in Seattle"...

Posted in Columns, Caught Looking; Tagged New York Yankees  |   Posted on August 29, 2019 at 4:06pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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M's swept by Evil Empire

In three games against the New York Yankees, the Mariners were hopelessly outmatched and lost all three contests. Pitchers Tommy Milone, Yusei Kikuchi, and Justus Sheffield each served up five earned runs to the New Yorkers in their starts (or "headline game" in Milone's case), while the Yankees' starters were much sharper.

See full post: "M's swept by Evil Empire"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged New York Yankees, Series  |   Posted on August 29, 2019 at 12:16am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Marco shines in series win vs. Blue Jays

The annual Canadian Invasion came down this past weekend to see the Mariners host the Toronto Blue Jays just a week after the two teams played out in Ontario. Like in that earlier series, the M's won two out of three with the rubber match featuring a brilliant pitching performance by the Seattle starter.

See full post: "Marco shines in series win vs. Blue Jays"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Marco Gonzales, Series, Toronto Blue Jays  |   Posted on August 26, 2019 at 5:02pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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August Roster Churn

The trade deadline may have come and gone, but the roster of the 2019 Mariners continues to be fluid.

See full post: "August Roster Churn"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Future M's, Jake Fraley, Justus Sheffield, Cory Gearrin  |   Posted on August 23, 2019 at 4:39pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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M's blow sweep, but take 2 of 3 from Rays

The Mariners arrived in St. Petersburg looking for revenge, and they nearly got it.

See full post: "M's blow sweep, but take 2 of 3 from Rays"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Marco Gonzales, Series, Jake Fraley, Tampa Bay Rays  |   Posted on August 22, 2019 at 4:36pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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New Yankee Stadium

Getting back to the digression from a few weeks back, when I took off on a week-long east coast non-Mariner road trip, a look at new Yankee Stadium. This is out of order, as we went to Philadelphia before New York (and after Washington), but I still don't have my Philly photos available, so I'm shuffling the deck a bit.

See full post: "New Yankee Stadium"...

Posted in Around the Horn, MLB, Columns; Tagged New York Yankees, Ballparks, Yankee Stadium  |   Posted on August 20, 2019 at 4:32pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Kikuchi pitches shutout in series win over Jays

This was the guy.

See full post: "Kikuchi pitches shutout in series win over Jays"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Yusei Kikuchi, Series, Toronto Blue Jays  |   Posted on August 19, 2019 at 12:40am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Seager clubs Tigers as M's take 2 of 3

The Mariners needed a break, and the Detroit Tigers obliged. Seattle had dropped eight of their last nine games coming into Detroit, some by rather irritating fashion, and three against the worst team in the Majors was a welcome turn of events. It wasn't a sweep, as it was when the Tigers visited the Northwest, but the M's will gladly take two wins out of three at this point of the lost 2019 campaign.

See full post: "Seager clubs Tigers as M's take 2 of 3"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Kyle Seager, Series, Detroit Tigers  |   Posted on August 15, 2019 at 10:03pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Hey Jack Kerouac, I Think of Lopes' Homer

Last Tuesday, after Omar Narváez lined a single to right in the 7th inning, breaking up Dinelson Lamet's bid to become the first pitcher in San Diego Padres history to throw a no-hitter (the only MLB team that doesn't have one), and after the Padres scored 3 more in the top of the 8th, making it 8-0, there didn't seem to be much for a Mariners fan on a lovely Tuesday Seattle night to root for. But then baseball happened.

See full post: "Hey Jack Kerouac, I Think of Lopes' Homer"...

Posted in Columns, Caught Looking; Tagged San Diego Padres, Tim Lopes  |   Posted on August 13, 2019 at 4:13pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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M's celebrate Edgar weekend by losing three times

It was Edgar Martínez Hall of Fame weekend the last few days at the ballpark by Elliott Bay, with celebrations, giveaway goodies, and a speech by the newly-minted Hall of Famer himself on Saturday during pregame activities. The honors for Edgar were fun and, of course, well-deserved, and we look forward to next year's unveiling of the new statue of Edgar commemorating "The Double" from the 1995 ALDS that was announced on Saturday.

See full post: "M's celebrate Edgar weekend by losing three times"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Marco Gonzales, Series, Edgar Martinez, Tampa Bay Rays  |   Posted on August 12, 2019 at 5:14pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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How goes the rebuild?

This is not a good year for Your Seattle Mariners. At least, not at the big-league level, and not by the standard metric of, you know, winning. But there are other ways to gauge progress, especially when the club is in the midst of a rebuild.

See full post: "How goes the rebuild?"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Rebuild, Future M's, Jake Fraley, Justus Sheffield  |   Posted on August 8, 2019 at 9:37pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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M's snap losing streak, split with Padres

The Mariners returned home Tuesday and began a new homestand with two games against their ostensible/former Inerleague "natural rivals," the San Diego Padres, a team that has given them fits over the last couple of years. The teams split the two-game set, giving the M's a 1-7 record vs. San Diego since 2018.

See full post: "M's snap losing streak, split with Padres"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Series, Interleague, San Diego Padres  |   Posted on August 8, 2019 at 2:46am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Texas Trouncing

I left town for a week, and so did the Mariners. I think I fared better overall.

See full post: "Texas Trouncing"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Series, Houston Astros, Texas Rangers  |   Posted on August 6, 2019 at 3:46pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Beckham suspended for rest of Mariner tenure

Another season, another Mariner infielder suspended for PED use. It was announced this morning that Tim Beckham has been caught violating the MLB/MLBPA drug policy. He has been suspended for 80 games, or the rest of this season plus 32 games to start next season, assuming he gets a contract for 2020.

See full post: "Beckham suspended for rest of Mariner tenure"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged PEDs, Tim Beckham  |   Posted on August 6, 2019 at 2:58pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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I'm gonna sleep until Tuesday

Apologies. I had intended to post more frequently during my just-completed non-Mariners road trip, but circumstances—including 15-inning games, wifi failures, camera battery issues, and other stuff—hindered that plan. But I have returned now, and all the tech necessary is available and time is less restricted.

See full post: "I'm gonna sleep until Tuesday"...

Posted in Around the Horn, Site issues; Tagged Ballparks  |   Posted on August 5, 2019 at 4:05pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Nationals Park

This week's non-Mariners road trip began with two games at Nationals Park in Washington, DC. Both games were against the Atlanta Braves and both were won by the visitors, though the home Nats did make things interesting at the end of the contests.Some thoughts on Nationals Park as a facility:

See full post: "Nationals Park"...

Posted in MLB, Columns, Around the Horn; Tagged Ballparks  |   Posted on August 1, 2019 at 6:32pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Trade deadline action

Greetings from our nation's capitol, where while attending the Nationals-Braves game this afternoon grandsalami.net kept tabs on all the wheeling and dealing as today's 1:00pm PDT MLB trading deadline approached. The Mariners were involved in a couple of notable deals (one involving the Nationals, as it happens).

See full post: "Trade deadline action"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Trades, Transactions, Bullpen, Mike Leake  |   Posted on July 31, 2019 at 3:33pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Temporary digression

For the next week or so, things here at grandsalami.net might seem a little off. I am joining a couple of friends in taking a trip to see other teams in other parks, placing the Mariners on the back burner for the duration. There will still be posts and info, but some of it will be about games at Nationals Park and Yankee Stadium.

See full post: "Temporary digression"...

Posted in MLB; Tagged Ballparks  |   Posted on July 29, 2019 at 7:34pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
2 Comments

M's sweep worst team in Majors, feel good about it

Your Seattle Mariners were having, to be blunt, a miserable July. A week ago they were at 3-11 for the month, nearly the reverse of that blissful 13-2 opening run at the start of the season and about as fun to watch as wood rotting in the rain. But: This was a good week.It began with the badly-slumping Texas Rangers giving the M's their first series win since taking two of three in Milwaukee in June and continued with a gift from the scheduling gods, a four-game set against the Detroit Tigers, owners of the worst record in the big leagues.

See full post: "M's sweep worst team in Majors, feel good about it"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Marco Gonzales, Series, JP Crawford, Detroit Tigers  |   Posted on July 29, 2019 at 3:37am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Mariners manage series win against slumping Rangers

The Texas Rangers rolled into town having lost seven in a row and losers of 12 of their last 16. The Mariners began the series having lost 15 of their last 19. It was to be a clash of ciphers, and so it was, with the M's ending up winners of two out of three on the strength of the pitching of Marco Gonzales and Mike Leake.

See full post: "Mariners manage series win against slumping Rangers"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Series, Texas Rangers, Mike Leake  |   Posted on July 24, 2019 at 9:51pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Good riddance, Angels

With the merciful end of today's loss to the Los Angeles Angels, the Mariners bid adieu to their AL West rivals for the season. Due to the quirky schedules we get nowadays, there always seems to be something odd with the Angels' dates on the calendar—last year all three of their visits to Seattle were done with before the M's set foot in Orange County, for example—and this year it's that the season series is done with on July 21st.

See full post: "Good riddance, Angels"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Series, Los Angeles Angels  |   Posted on July 21, 2019 at 10:10pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Nearly Perfect

I wasn't supposed to be at tonight's Mariners-Angels game. In my season ticket group's draft, this game went to another guy, Grant. But Grant decided to head to Cooperstown to see Edgar Martínez get inducted into the Hall of Fame this weekend, so he put tonight's tix up for grabs and I said, sure, I'll take ’em, even though it is the frickin' Angels AGAIN and not even a Marco Gonzales game.

See full post: "Nearly Perfect"...

Posted in Mariners, Columns, Around the Horn; Tagged Los Angeles Angels, Mike Leake  |   Posted on July 19, 2019 at 11:58pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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California Scars

On the heels of an embarrassing sweep at the hands of the Angels down in Orange County, the Mariners were pasted good in a two-game set in the East Bay. The Oakland A's outscored the M's 19-4 in the two games, making the umpiring problem in Tuesday night's contest nothing but a footnote.

See full post: "California Scars"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Series, Oakland A's  |   Posted on July 17, 2019 at 9:52pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Angels humiliate M's in return from break

The Mariners returned to action following the All-Star break with a three-game set in Anaheim against the Angels, and it was ugly. Not only were the Mariners swept, they were also no-hit in the first game. Mike Leake had his monthly meltdown, Wade LeBlanc served up a pair of home runs in three innings, and Matt Carasiti relieved Yusei Kikuchi and predictably allowed all inherited runners to score before Anthony Bass came in and did what he does best: put runners on and take the loss in a game.

See full post: "Angels humiliate M's in return from break"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Series, Los Angeles Angels  |   Posted on July 15, 2019 at 5:53pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Jim Bouton Interview

Former Major League pitcher and celebrated author Jim Bouton died Wednesday, July 10, at the age of 80. No cause of death was reported but Bouton had been suffering from cerebral amyloid angiopathy for some time. Bouton was a member of the Seattle Pilots in their only year of existence, 1969, until he was traded to Houston late in that season, and kept a diary of his time there and with the Astros; he would turn that diary into a best-selling book, "Ball Four," released to acclaim and controversy in 1970.

See full post: "Jim Bouton Interview"...

Posted in Spotlight; Tagged From the archives, Jim Bouton  |   Posted on July 13, 2019 at 10:50pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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"Ball Four"

Jim Bouton’s Ball Four, which Major League Baseball viewed as akin to a bomb flung into their living room by a traitorous freak when it was published in 1970, has become respectable. It’s not just that The New York Public Library included Ball Four among their “Books of the Century” in 1996—the only sports books so honored—or that one of Bouton’s old teams, the New York Yankees, invited Bouton back to an Old-Timers game after years of shunning him. It’s the book itself. 

See full post: ""Ball Four""...

Posted in MLB; Tagged Books, Jim Bouton  |   Posted on July 12, 2019 at 12:22am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Trade follow-ups

I was recently asked by friend of the site Mike Putnam (hi, Mike) for some info on how former Mariners who were traded way since last season were doing as compared to the guys they were traded for. That's a bit of an involved question, really, since by this point a few guys have been traded for other guys who have since been traded for yet other guys. So, since we're in the All-Star break, this seems a good time to do a dive into it.

See full post: "Trade follow-ups"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Trades  |   Posted on July 11, 2019 at 5:00am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Mariners limp into the break with series loss to A's

Friday night the Mariners were undone by a defensive error and a poor relief choice. Saturday Marco Gonzales turned in a gem. And Sunday Scott Servais played with matches and gasoline again by using an "opener." So went the final series of the unofficial first half of the season, the Oakland A's taking two of three as we head into the All-Star break.

See full post: "Mariners limp into the break with series loss to A's"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Scott Servais, Series, Oakland A's, Openers  |   Posted on July 7, 2019 at 7:37pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Pitching failures turn series win into series loss vs. Cards

The just-completed Interleague series vs. the St. Louis Cardinals was a frustrating experience from before the first pitch of the first game, and not just because I was prevented from getting into the ballpark on time Tuesday night because of an electronic ticketing fiasco. In the greater Mariner fan universe, we were given yet another experiment with "the opener" Tuesday (and Thursday), which was enough to make one shake one's fist and scream into the void and diminish any expectations of things getting better.

See full post: "Pitching failures turn series win into series loss vs. Cards"...

Posted in Mariners, Site issues; Tagged Scott Servais, Bullpen, Series, St. Louis Cardinals  |   Posted on July 4, 2019 at 9:21pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Vogey an All-Star, new voting system underwhelms

The 2019 All-Star Game will be played a week from tomorrow in Cleveland, and Your Seattle Mariners will be represented by everyone's favorite sandwich inspiration, Daniel Vogelbach. Vogey earned his selection with a mid-year OPS of .898, 20 home runs, and 48 RBI.

See full post: "Vogey an All-Star, new voting system underwhelms"...

Posted in MLB; Tagged Daniel Vogelbach, All-Star Game  |   Posted on July 1, 2019 at 8:31pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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M's fight well in losing cause for two games, give up early in third

On the heels of their promising series win in Milwaukee, the Mariners took on the Astros in Houston for three games to remind us all why this season has been so disappointing.

See full post: "M's fight well in losing cause for two games, give up early in third"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Scott Servais, Series, Houston Astros  |   Posted on July 1, 2019 at 4:29pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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M's preview the future with solid interleague series win

Prior to the Mariners' series win against the low-hanging fruit known as the Baltimore Orioles last weekend, the club had gone 7-11 in the month of June. Taking three of four from the awful Orioles may have given the M's a morale and confidence boost, because they just won a more challenging series, taking two of three from the contending Milwaukee Brewers for their first Interleague wins of the year.

See full post: "M's preview the future with solid interleague series win"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Series, Interleague, Milwaukee Brewers  |   Posted on June 28, 2019 at 1:11am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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M's take three of four from worst team in MLB, retain semblance of self-esteem

If only the Mariners could face Baltimore pitching every day.

See full post: "M's take three of four from worst team in MLB, retain semblance of self-esteem"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Series, Yusei Kikuchi, Baltimore Orioles, Mike Leake  |   Posted on June 23, 2019 at 9:16pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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The halfway point: how's it going?

Today's 8-4 loss to the worst team in the big leagues, the Baltimore Orioles, marks the halfway mark of the Mariners' 2019 season, at least in terms of games played. 50% through the campaign, the M's sit at a fairly unpleasant 34-47, last in the American League West at 15½ games behind division-leading Houston. On the surface, this seems like a horrid season for Seattle baseball, particularly after a surprisingly strong start that saw Seattle atop the leaderboards and nearly undefeated in the first few weeks and fall hard and fast off a cliff after the stellar 13-2 early record.

See full post: "The halfway point: how's it going?"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Jerry Dipoto, Rebuild, Minors  |   Posted on June 23, 2019 at 1:27am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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M's take just one of three from team with .324 winning percentage

After another opener-fueled defeat and a blowout loss behind the ever-mysterious Yusei Kikuchi, the Mariners remembered that the Royals had an eminently beatable pitching staff and teed off on KC's erstwhile ace, Brad Keller, in yesterday's series finale to reclaim a modicum of self-esteem and halt their losing streak at two.

See full post: "M's take just one of three from team with .324 winning percentage"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Series, Kansas City Royals  |   Posted on June 20, 2019 at 5:57pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Back in California, M's win another series

The Mariners completed their latest road trip of inefficient mileage—Anaheim-Minneapolis-Oakland—at 5-4, their first over-.500 road trip since April 5-11. After taking two of three from the Angels and dropping two of three to the Twins, Seattle won the rubber match against the Athletics Sunday afternoon by a score of 6-3.

See full post: "Back in California, M's win another series"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Series, Oakland A's  |   Posted on June 17, 2019 at 1:53am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Dipoto makes eighth trade of the season, inspires plethora of puns

Adiós to the Accidental Mariner.

See full post: "Dipoto makes eighth trade of the season, inspires plethora of puns"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Trades, Transactions  |   Posted on June 15, 2019 at 10:07pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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BREAKING: Encarnación traded to Yankees

Within the last half hour, 1B/DH Edwin Encarnación has been traded to the New York Yankees. Details are still forthcoming, and a more involved post will be available later tonight. All that is known right now is that the "Accidental Mariner" is a Mariner no more, he is a Yankee.

See full post: "BREAKING: Encarnación traded to Yankees"...

Posted in News; Tagged Trades, Transactions  |   Posted on June 15, 2019 at 6:10pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Opening Arguments

The "opener." The "headliner." You may have heard these terms being bandied about lately on Mariner and other Major League teams' broadcasts or read them elsewhere in the baseball press. It refers to a fad—some would charitably call it a "strategy"—that has become increasingly popular among big-league managers this season and that has infected Scott Servais and the Mariners over the past couple of weeks.

See full post: "Opening Arguments"...

Posted in Mariners, Columns, Around the Horn; Tagged Scott Servais, Bullpen  |   Posted on June 13, 2019 at 4:05am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Mariners actually win a series

In a callback to happier times, the Mariners won a series last weekend. In taking two out of three from the Angels on their home turf in Anaheim, Seattle brought its win-loss record to 28-41—still rather pathetic but hey, a win's a win.

See full post: "Mariners actually win a series"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Series, Los Angeles Angels  |   Posted on June 11, 2019 at 2:06am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Injury update, near-trade, and the bullpen shuffle

A quick roundup of Mariner roster moves and almost-moves over the past few days:

See full post: "Injury update, near-trade, and the bullpen shuffle"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Transactions  |   Posted on June 7, 2019 at 6:40pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Mariners surprisingly competitive against former Colt .45s, but shoot themselves in the foot repeatedly

No one had much hope for success in the just-completed four-game series versus the first-place Houston Astros. The M's had just dropped five straight series with an overall 3-14 record and were looking like the 1962 Mets.

See full post: "Mariners surprisingly competitive against former Colt .45s, but shoot themselves in the foot repeatedly"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Series, Houston Astros  |   Posted on June 6, 2019 at 7:39pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Fans enjoy Edgar Martínez book signing event

Mariners great Edgar Martínez signed hundreds of copies of his new book, EDGAR: An Autobiography (co-written with Larry Stone) this evening at the Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle. The book will officially be released next week, but those at EBBC got an advance opportunity to purchase the book and have it signed by the new Hall of Famer.

See full post: "Fans enjoy Edgar Martínez book signing event"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Edgar Martinez  |   Posted on June 5, 2019 at 11:10pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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EDGAR book contest winners

Thanks to all who entered our contest to win a free copy of Edgar Martínez's new book, EDGAR! Whether you are a winner or not, we encourage you to be on hand at the Elliott Bay Book Co. tomorrow evening, Wednesday June 5th, 2019 at 6:00pm. Edgar will be signing his book, along with his co-author Larry Stone of the Seattle Times. Tickets to the signing are $28, which includes a copy of the book. Check-in begins at 4:30 and a large crowd is expected, so it's recommended you arrive early if possible.

See full post: "EDGAR book contest winners"...

Posted in News; Tagged Edgar Martinez  |   Posted on June 4, 2019 at 2:45am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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"It's bad baseball."

In dropping three of four to the Angels this weekend, the Mariners continued to look more like the Bad News Bears than a Major League baseball team.

See full post: ""It's bad baseball.""...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Series, Los Angeles Angels  |   Posted on June 2, 2019 at 10:19pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Bruce trade final

The trade we reported on yesterday involving outfielder/first-baseman Jay Bruce was completed today, with Bruce headed to join the Philadelphia Phillies. To take Bruce's roster spot, outfielder Braden Bishop was recalled form Triple-A Tacoma.

See full post: "Bruce trade final"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Trades, Transactions  |   Posted on June 2, 2019 at 8:57pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Dipoto nearing seventh trade of the season

Outfielder/first-baseman Jay Bruce may be headed to Philadelphia. According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, the Mariners and Phillies have been discussing a trade of Bruce; Passan had indicated the deal would be completed this weekend, but more recently has amended his report to say that nothing has been formally agreed to.

See full post: "Dipoto nearing seventh trade of the season"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Trades, Transactions  |   Posted on June 1, 2019 at 5:42pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Edgar Martínez's autobiography

GrandSalami.net is pleased to promote the pre-release book-signing event at Elliott Bay Book Company next Wednesday evening with the Mariners' own Edgar Martínez. The Seattle sports icon will be signing copies of his new memoir, EDGAR, several days in advance of the book's official release date of June 11, 2019.

See full post: "Edgar Martínez's autobiography"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged website, Edgar Martinez  |   Posted on May 31, 2019 at 7:58pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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M's drop another series but look less bad

The Mariners' latest homestand opened with something we hadn't seen in Seattle for a good while now: a well-played baseball victory. It was, sadly, a one-and-done phenomenon, as the next two contests against the visiting Texas Rangers went into the loss column, but in all three games there were positive take-aways to mitigate yet another series defeat.On Monday we saw the beginnings of the rebirth of center fielder Mallex Smith. Throughout the series, Smith has been the player the M's thought they were getting when they shipped Mike Zunino and Guillermo Heredia to Tampa Bay last fall: a leadoff man...

See full post: "M's drop another series but look less bad"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Series, Texas Rangers, JP Crawford, Mallex Smith  |   Posted on May 30, 2019 at 12:45am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Last-place Mariners continue descent into bottomless pit

The Mariners ended their latest road trip with a whimper today, spoiling a decent start from Mike Leake by failing to hit baseballs against the Oakland A's. Though they fell behind early on a couple of Oakland home runs, the game was close for most of it, with a score of 3-1 in the top of the seventh inning before the bullpen let it get away; it's just that the Mariners can't score runs without hitting balls over the fence.

See full post: "Last-place Mariners continue descent into bottomless pit"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Scott Servais, Series, AL West, Oakland A's  |   Posted on May 27, 2019 at 1:04am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Swept again

The Mariners are a bad team. If we didn't know it already, getting swept in this three-game series by the Texas Rangers let us know.

See full post: "Swept again"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Series, AL West, Texas Rangers  |   Posted on May 23, 2019 at 2:59am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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More roster juggling

The Mariners today made several more changes to their active roster. Infielders Dee Gordon and Ryon Healy have been placed on the 10-day injured list—Gordon due to lingering pain from being hit by a pitch in New York two weeks ago and Healy due to a lower back strain—reliever Parker Markel has been optioned down to Triple-A Tacoma, utilityman Dylan Moore has been activated from his stint on the injured list, and infielder Shed Long and pitcher Tommy Milone have been promoted from Tacoma to the big-league club.

See full post: "More roster juggling"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Transactions, Dee Gordon, Bullpen, Ryon Healy  |   Posted on May 21, 2019 at 4:56pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Dipoto makes sixth trade of the season

When reliever Anthony Swarzak entered a game against the Twins last week in Seattle, an encouraging cheer was heard in the upper deck of the ballpark by Elliott Bay: "Swarzak! Raise your trade value!"He didn't, really, despite his one scoreless inning of work, but he was nevertheless traded today. Swarzak will head to Atlanta, where he'll join a similarly middling bullpen for a team that has some potential. In exchange, the Braves are sending left-handed reliever Jesse Biddle to the Mariners.Seattle GM Jerry Dipoto has a tendency to seek out potentially undervalued players and reclamation projects, and Biddle fits that profile.

See full post: "Dipoto makes sixth trade of the season"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Trades, Transactions, Bullpen  |   Posted on May 20, 2019 at 6:42pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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OK, we can give up hope now

Remember back when the Mariners were taking baseball by storm, the early surprise in the Majors with a 13-2 record that was this close to being 15-0? Yeah, fun times. It might seem now like those days were back in 2018, but really it was just a little over a month ago. Mariner fans were riding high, thinking this whole "step back," "sort-of-rebuild year" thing was just unwarranted pessimism.

See full post: "OK, we can give up hope now"...

Posted in Mariners, Columns; Tagged Contention, Series, Minnesota Twins  |   Posted on May 19, 2019 at 11:51pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Roster juggling redux

The Mariners made yet more roster moves today, recalling pitchers Matt Festa and Ryan Garton from Triple-A Tacoma. Both will be available in the bullpen immediately. To clear space for them, southpaw reliever Zac Rosscup has been designated for assignment and alleged starting pitcher Erik Swanson was optioned to Tacoma.

See full post: "Roster juggling redux"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Transactions, Bullpen  |   Posted on May 17, 2019 at 7:04pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Roster juggling

The Mariners' active roster has seen a lot of additions and subtractions since Opening Day in Tokyo, with players seemingly coming and going several times a week, and we're due for some more before today's game versus the Twins.

See full post: "Roster juggling"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Felix Hernandez, Transactions, JP Crawford, Mallex Smith  |   Posted on May 16, 2019 at 3:30am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Mini-sweep of A's slows plunge into sadness

The Mariners returned home from a dismal road trip that saw them drop eight of ten games to the Indians, Yankees, and Red Sox and slip under the .500 mark for the first time this year. They were outscored 57-41, lost some badly and lost some barely, shot themselves in the foot a few times and were bludgeoned others. It was enough to make one wonder if these M's could ever win another series.

See full post: "Mini-sweep of A's slows plunge into sadness"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Series, Oakland A's  |   Posted on May 15, 2019 at 5:44pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Weekend musings

A few thoughts on the first two games of the Boston series . . .

See full post: "Weekend musings"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Felix Hernandez, Series, JP Crawford  |   Posted on May 11, 2019 at 9:58pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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The JP Crawford era begins

Infielders Dee Gordon and Dylan Moore both had to come out of yesterday's game against the New York Yankees due to injury, leaving the under-benched Mariners in the position of having to play someone at second base who had never played the middle infield. Moore has been placed on the 10-day injured list, Gordon has not (for the moment), but the upside of this misfortune is that Seattle's shortstop of the future can now become Seattle's shortstop of the present.

See full post: "The JP Crawford era begins"...

Posted in Mariners; Tagged Transactions, JP Crawford  |   Posted on May 10, 2019 at 3:44pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Schizophrenic Mariners leave New York in shame

The final tallies were 7-3, 5-4, 10-1, and 3-1. But the scores don't really tell the story.

See full post: "Schizophrenic Mariners leave New York in shame"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Scott Servais, New York Yankees, Series  |   Posted on May 10, 2019 at 2:29am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Dipoto makes fifth trade of the season

Seattle General Manager Jerry Dipoto made yet another trade this weekend, acquiring right-handed reliever Austin Adams from the Washington Nationals in exchange for Class-A prospect Nick Wells and cash considerations.

See full post: "Dipoto makes fifth trade of the season"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Trades, Transactions  |   Posted on May 5, 2019 at 9:59pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Don't despair (yet)

Last month I said don't get happy. The hot start for the 2019 Mariners was likely a mirage, but there was still real hope that it might not be. The offense was really cooking in the first couple of weeks and the only concerns were that the bullpen would blow up and that the defense would give way too many runs. Was it sustainable? Probably not, but still...

See full post: "Don't despair (yet)"...

Posted in Mariners, Columns, Around the Horn; Tagged Contention, AL West  |   Posted on May 5, 2019 at 9:20pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Coach Ichiro

Ichiro is back again.

See full post: "Coach Ichiro"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Ichiro Suzuki, Coaches  |   Posted on April 30, 2019 at 7:22pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Blowout Bumbling

Well. That was embarrassing.

See full post: "Blowout Bumbling"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Series, Texas Rangers  |   Posted on April 29, 2019 at 7:06pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Dipoto makes fourth trade of the season

The Mariners traded minor-league infielder Ryne Ogren to the Orioles for right-handed reliever Mike Wright today.Wright has had a spotty professional career, pitching reasonably well at the Triple-A level and poorly at the Major League level. In ten appearances this year with Baltimore, he's posted an ugly 9.45 ERA and brutal 2.025 WHIP, and last year's 5.55 ERA/1.625 WHIP in 481⁄3 innings weren't much better. At Triple-A Norfolk from 2015-2017, however, he was 17-11 with a 2.99 ERA and 1.152 WHIP (2401⁄3 IP).Perhaps GM Jerry Dipoto thinks Wright was mishandled in Baltimore and better coaching can bring his big-league performance...

See full post: "Dipoto makes fourth trade of the season"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Trades, Transactions  |   Posted on April 24, 2019 at 6:57pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Wasted efforts

Stop me if you've heard this before: The Mariners lost to the Padres.

See full post: "Wasted efforts"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Felix Hernandez, Losses  |   Posted on April 24, 2019 at 6:30pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Series win in SoCal

Having dropped six straight at home, the Mariners course-corrected on their just-concluded four-game series in Orange County, taking three of four from the LA Angels with a barrage of home-run power. This puts the M's back atop the American League West standings, believe it or not, as the Astros had some trouble with their vastly inferior Texan neighbors this weekend.

See full post: "Series win in SoCal"...

Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged AL West  |   Posted on April 21, 2019 at 8:04pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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