Something occurred back in the 1990's that I think bears repeating...
The Seattle Mariners had a ridiculously good hitting team in the mid to late 90's. They had Ken Griffey Jr, Edgar Martinez, Jay Buhner, Alex Rodriguez, etc. But they were a ridiculously horrible pitching team. Actually, they had three good pitchers who were not just good, they were three of the best in the league while they were with the team: Randy Johnson, Jamie Moyer & [I can't believe I'm about to write this] Jeff Fassero. However, the only problem was that these three guys were acquired in trades. Why is this a problem, you may ask? For years, the Seattle Mariners had not just a terrible track record of developing young pitchers, they were the worst. To be fair, part of that can be attributed to the Kingdome, which was a park that favored the hitters. But if that was the whole problem, then there would be no point in me writing this entry, now would it? The other [& more stupid] part was that the Mariners developed these young pitchers the exact wrong way: They rushed them up to the Majors for no good reason & these young pitchers were at fault for no good reason. The only good young pitcher they had during this time was Derek Lowe & we traded him to the Red Sox along with Jason Varitek for some busted pitching machine.
But since the Mariners moved to Safeco Field [a park that favors the pitchers] in July, 1999, the exact opposite has happened: The Mariners can develop good young pitchers [i.e. Felix Hernandez], they just can't develop good hitters, with the exception of 3rd Baseman Kyle Seager. This is something I'd like to call "The Safeco Effect". This means that no matter how much potential you have as a hitter, you will not live up to that potential in Safeco Field.
Excellent entry my son. I agree with the majority of what you write. You are a very knowledgeable young man and I respect and love the way you write. Especially when you write about my boy Seager. Keep up the informative good work. I am very proud of you.
ReplyDeleteAnd oh yeah, all the best to your mother and good friend of mine in her marriage. And good luck to Brian the other half of your "two dads" as you call us.
Go Mariners!
Excellent entry my son. I agree with the majority of what you write. You are a very knowledgeable young man and I respect and love the way you write. Especially when you write about my boy Seager. Keep up the informative good work. I am very proud of you.
ReplyDeleteAnd oh yeah, all the best to your mother and good friend of mine in her marriage. And good luck to Brian the other half of your "two dads" as you call us.
Go Mariners!