Game One: Through the looking glass

Game 1 of 162 is in the books, and it was ... weird. Fans in the stands, but only 9,000. Marco on the mound, but also Jeff Nelson and his tiny tiny strike zone behind the plate. Kevin Gausman pitching for the opposition as if he were Juan Marichal. And the Mariners coming back from 5-0 and 6-1 to win 8-7 in the 10th inning, a 10th inning in which free baserunners were used because reasons.

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Posted in Mariners, Game Notes; Tagged Opening Day, Marco Gonzales, Bullpen, Evan white, San Francisco Giants  |   Posted on April 2, 2021 at 7:08pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Baseball for first-graders

The 2021 baseball season started yesterday, and from Miggy's home run in the snow to the Mariners' eighth-inning comeback against the Giants (which our closer gave back on four pitches in the ninth), there was much joy in Mudville, particularly after last year's pandemic-shortened, fan-free season. But a few things could still use fixing. I'll start with the easy one first.

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Posted in Columns, Caught Looking; Tagged Rules, Rob Manfred, Opening Day  |   Posted on April 2, 2021 at 6:12pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Opening Day roster shuffling

Game 1 of the 2021 season commences tomorrow night at 7:10 down at TMP as Your Seattle Mariners take on the San Francisco Giants. Six weeks of spring training is over and it's time to get down to brass tacks. There are a couple of unexpected wrinkles in the club's opening 26-man roster, making tomorrow's group just slightly different than previously expected.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Opening Day, Injuries  |   Posted on March 31, 2021 at 6:09pm   |   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.

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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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Season delayed

Well, that was fast.

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Posted in News, MLB; Tagged Opening Day, Spring Training  |   Posted on March 12, 2020 at 7:25pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Age of uncertainty

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

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

The Mariners have already played their first games of the season, having defeated the Oakland A's in two contests in Tokyo, but tomorrow they resume action when the other 28 Major League teams open their seasons. The home opener begins a four-game series with the Boston Red Sox, the only visit of the year for the defending World Series champs.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Opening Day  |   Posted on March 27, 2019 at 3:50am   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Game 2: Curtain Call

We didn't know when the game began that Ichiro was calling it quits. That news came a few innings in. Kyodo News had the story and those of us keyed in to Twitter started getting the alerts. The ESPN broadcast caught up to us a bit later, and for half the game or so half the drama was how was Ichiro going to leave the game.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Ichiro Suzuki, Opening Day  |   Posted on March 21, 2019 at 11:44pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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One Down, 161 to Go

Konbanwa, baseball fans. Are you ready to pull another all-nighter for Game 2 from Tokyo tonight/tomorrow morning (game time 2:35am PDT)?

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Posted in Mariners; Tagged Opening Day  |   Posted on March 20, 2019 at 9:20pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Next Year is Here

Winter is over. Well, not technically, but hey, it was nearly 80 degrees today in Seattle (in your face, Miami!) and tonight the Mariners take the field for the first official game in the 2019 championship season. Or tomorrow night, or tomorrow morning, based on your time zone. It's complicated. Temporal mechanics and all. Anyway, come 2:30am PDT the Tokyo Dome will be abuzz with excitement when the Oakland A's take the field as the "home" team against our Seattle Mariners.

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Posted in Mariners, News; Tagged Opening Day  |   Posted on March 19, 2019 at 8:03pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Meet the Mariners

With Opening Day only ... let's see, carry the one ... 27½ hours away in Tokyo, it's time to get familiar with the 2019 Seattle Mariners. Who are these guys? With so much change form the 2018 roster will we recognize even a handful?

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Posted in Mariners; Tagged Opening Day, Players  |   Posted on March 18, 2019 at 10:55pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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Game One: Random Thoughts

Game 1 of 162 is in the books, and it was a nailbiter win for Your Seattle Mariners against the Cleveland Ethnically Insensitive Caricatures. Some random observations:

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Posted in Mariners; Tagged Opening Day  |   Posted on March 30, 2018 at 2:39pm   |   Permalink   |     |  
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