A Modest Proposal

Can we call the World Series the "MLB Finals" at this point, please? The reason being that, since 1994, their have been exactly ZERO teams outside of the United States in the so-called "World Series" If Major League Baseball wanted to make it a true "World Series", they should make the country that is number one in the world according to the International Baseball Federation [for example, the Cuban National Team or the best team in the Japanese League] the team that the MLB team has to face in October. I'd rather see this than the format that MLB currently has in place, where it's one team from the American League & one team from the National League.

My Evaluation of Jerry Dipoto

I really am pleased with Mariners General Manager Jerry Dipoto.
I know there are many Mariners fans that aren't too pleased with the trade of Taijuan Walker for Jean Segura, but I must admit I'm one of those that was wondering when Taijuan was going to "reach his full potential" and if he was going to do it at the speed we needed him to given our situation, which is to win now. Not only do I believe it was time to move on, I personally believe that Jerry got a pretty decent deal out of him. The Mariners have a legitimate shortstop in Jean Segura, now.
But like the majority of Mariner fans, I wasn't too thrilled with the shortstop the Mariners had last season in Ketel Marte either..
I know that time will tell on all these acquisitions, but I'm THRILLED that the Mariners have a GM that does things to fill the gaps that the team had last year. A player like Danny Valencia, for example, will help greatly versus left handed pitchers. Jerry Dipoto's seeing needs and ACTUALLY DOING SOMETHING to fill them.
There was a time not long ago that I was wondering why the hell Mariner management wouldn't get rid of the dead weight to bring in star players.. NOW the Mariners have a GM that can work quickly.
But Jerry's not done... he hasn't spent any cashola...yet! My next guess is that he'll pay A LOT OF $$$ for a starting pitcher. Perhaps a damn good one. He knows the hole he made by getting rid of Walker, so I'm thinking he'll fill it soon.

So... as I see it, the Mariners offseason to-do list consisted of:
Get rid of Chris Iannetta & that racist catcher [Steve Clevenger], add Carlos Ruiz as the catcher [Check!]
Remove Franklin Gutierrez [as much as I hate to say it], Adam Lind & Dae-Ho Lee.. add Valencia [Check!]
Remove Marte, add Segura [Check!]
Next up: Remove Walker, add ????
So far, nothing but plus signs in my eyes & I can't see Dipoto reversing course... It's not in his DNA to reverse course, at least from what I've seen from him since he first took the job as Mariners GM at the end of 2015.

The Bizarre Similarities between Nomar Garciaparra & Corey Seager

It was announced this morning that Los Angeles Dodgers Shortstop Corey Seager was named the 2016 Rookie of the Year Award Winner. I just want to point out some of the bizarre similarities between this young superstar & my favorite baseball player of all-time, Nomar Garciaparra:

1. They both won Rookie of the Year [Nomar won his in 1997 while playing for the Boston Red Sox]

2. They both have a brother who played in the Seattle Mariners organization [Nomar's younger brother Michael & Corey's  two Older Brothers Kyle & Justin]. In fact, Nomar was almost a Seattle Mariner himself in 2010, but instead chose to sign a 1-day contract with Boston & retire as a member of the Red Sox organization.

3. They both played for the Dodgers. Nomar played for them from 2006-2008 & Corey will play for the Dodgers until at least 2022, as that is when his contract expires & is then therefore eligible to sign with any other team in Major League Baseball.

4. Corey & Nomar both had a statistical value of over 6 Wins Above Replacement [WAR] for their respective teams in their rookie seasons.

5. They both wear #5 as their jersey numbers.

 

My Family's Connection to the 2016 World Champion Chicago Cubs

I just want to congratulate the Chicago Cubs for winning their first World Championship since 1908. They deserve it, the city of Chicago deserves it and, most importantly, my whole entire family deserves it.

Why is that?

My family & I have a personal connection to the Chicago Cubs as my Grandfather, Douglas Roy Hailey, played catcher & occasionally pitched for a Cubs Minor League Affiliate a LOOOONG time ago. But his promising career was tragically cut short after he blew out his arm & knees throwing a ball while crouching down behind home plate during a practice game at Wrigley. The funny thing is, though, the scout who signed him [I couldn't find the scout's name anywhere] mistakenly wrote "Roy Bailey" on my Grandfather's 1st Professional Baseball contract, which was worth $1,000, which was a lot of money for a Minor League Player back then. In the scout's defense, my Grandfather was called by his middle name "Roy" in those days by his parents. Below is a picture of my Grandfather Douglas, courtesy of the Society for American Baseball Research [SABR].

Sweet Lou

The Seattle Mariners were eliminated from postseason contention this past week for the 14th consecutive year! Not only is that pathetic in this country, it's pathetic even by foreign baseball standards, as the Yokohama Bay Stars of the Japanese League made their 1st Playoff appearance in 11 years, so that means that the Mariners have the longest baseball playoff drought in the World! But that is besides the point of this entry, I want to write about the man who was the head of the 1995, 1997, 2000 & 2001 Mariners playoff teams: Sweet Lou Pinella.

Lou Pinella was, is, and always will be, the greatest manager in Seattle Mariners history. Lou managed with a lot of attitude,

players on both sides loved him & of course he had the guts of a burglar when the game situation called for it.

Of course I would be stupid to not mention that Lou threw the best tantrums I have ever seen a baseball manager have, outside of the late Billy Martin, who managed & heavily influenced Lou when he was a star for the New York Yankees. Lou provided Major League Baseball's Archives with more tirades than anyone. For example this one from his 1st year as Mariners manager...

Lou's 1st ejection as Mariners Manager

Finally, my favorite Lou tirade didn't come from on the field, it came during an interview. In 1998, a young, brand new reporter for FOX Sports Net Northwest named Rich Waltz had the very unfortunate task of interviewing Lou after pitcher Bobby Ayala blew a 5 run lead at the Kingdome (Sorry I don't remember who they were facing, I think it was Detroit...) Oh, and did I mention this was Rich Waltz's 1st day working for the Mariners? He asked Lou what he thought of Ayala's performance, and well...Lou just EXPLODED in anger! He started swearing like crazy. It was AWESOME!!!!!!! But wait! There's more! Rich had to give the tape to Executive producer Mark Englebrekt, who just laughed & according to Rich, said "Get used to it.". The next afternoon, after pitcher Paul Spoljaric blew a 7 run lead, Rich Waltz had to go back to Lou's office after the ballgame & here is how that conversation went down...

Lou Pinella: ARE YOU GONNA TALK ABOUT THE GODDAMN F***IN' BULLPEN AGAIN????!!!!

Rich Waltz: No Lou I am not going to talk about the bullpen again...

In other words, I guess he learned his lesson.

Players of the Past: Rickey Henderson

The 1st time I saw Rickey Henderson was when he played for the Seattle Mariners [in 2000]. At that point in his career [at age 41], he was already the All-Time Leader in Stolen Bases with over 1,000, he had 74 career Leadoff Homeruns [the 2nd closest is Brady Anderson, with 43!]. Those credentials cannot be denied. But their was just one flaw in Rickey Henderson's career: He was one arrogant baseball player. But, he had the ability to back it up. Nobody in the history of Major League Baseball could drive a pitcher more crazy than Rickey Henderson could. For instance if Rickey reached 1st base via a base hit or getting hit by a pitch, he'd steal 2nd base on the next pitch & steal 3rd on the next one! I think he stole 3rd base more often than he stole 2nd base! He was just an incredible athlete.  He played not only with the Mariners, but for every other team in the league. He even played in South Korea in 2005! But my favorite Rickey Henderson story was when he was with the Mariners in 2000:

During the playoffs that year, the Mariners were in New York to face the Yankees [who Rickey had played for in the '80's] & Rickey was checking into the team hotel. But he didn't check into the hotel under the name "RICKEY HENDERSON" he checked under the name "RICHARD PRYOR". Yes, Rickey Henderson checked under the name of the legendary comedian who, at that time, had been DEAD for 4 years!

I TOLD YOU SO!!!!!

BREAKING NEWS: The Toronto Blue Jays have acquired Starting Pitcher Francisco Liriano,  outfielder Harold Ramirez & catcher Reese McGuire from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for pitcher Drew Hutchison. I am not going to say I told you that Reese McGuire may be traded to another team. But, to steal a line from sportscaster-turned-political analyst-turned-sportscaster Keith Olbermann: I TOLD YOU BUT YOU DIDN'T BELIEVE ME!!!!! WHY DIDN'T YOU BELIEVE ME???

But seriously, how stupid are the Pirates? I said that Reese McGuire would be the 2nd coming of Jason Varitek back in my very first entry on this blog. But I do understand that Francisco Liriano has had a terrible season [a 5.46 Earned Run Average] this year & the Pirates wanted to get Liriano's salary off their books, but the Pirates, realistically, have NO SHOT at making the playoffs, unless the Cubs' Billy Goat Curse shows up & the Cubs lose 20 consecutive games AND the St. Louis Cardinals lose 10 consecutive games. There is NOTHING to gain in trading Reese McGuire. In three years, when the Blue Jays have McGuire behind the plate as their starting catcher & is their team captain [like Jason Varitek was to the Boston Red Sox], the Pirates will look like idiots for trading him for a mediocre pitcher [like the Mariners did back in 1997 when they traded Varitek for Heathcliff Slocumb!] & will be thinking what might have been...

Reese McGuire