What went wrong with the 2010 Seattle Mariners?

How could a team like the 2010 Mariners with two Cy Young Winners, two surefire Hall of Fame hitters and a $130 million dollar payroll lose 101 games? I'll tell you three reasons why:

1. Cliff Lee didn't want to be here and sulked until he was traded to Texas for Justin Smoak in July

2. Ken Griffey Jr. retired mid season due to age and ineffectiveness

3. The 2010 Mariners (except for Ichiro, of course) couldn't hit. They scored only 513 times in '10. That's just pathetic.

Ichiro & the All-Time Hits Record

It's been said that no one will break Pete Rose's record of most career base hits of 4,256. Ichiro won't get there with his MLB stats, but if you combine his MLB career stats and Japanese career stats, it gets very interesting and very close. Ichiro was already 27 when he made his MLB debut in 2001 and now, as of 2014, he has 2,832 MLB hits and, if you add in his 1,200 career hits in Japan, he has up over 4,000 hits! It sure would've been interesting had Ichiro played his entire career in the States...

The 3 Most Hated Seattle Mariners of All-Time

The Seattle Mariners have had popular players in their history (Ken Griffey Jr., for example). But they have also had unpopular players. That's the topic I will be talking about this week. Here are the three most hated Mariners ever. DISCLAIMER: Heathcliff Slocumb is not on this list because I already mentioned him in a previous blog entry...

3. Chone Figgins

Why is Chone Figgins on this list? He was signed for 4 years and $30 million to be our second best hitter behind Ichiro. Figgins hit  .259 in 2010, .187 in 2011 and .184 in 2012 before he was released. YAY!!!

2. Bobby Ayala

Ayala pitched for the M's from 1994-1999 and pitched poorly. The only reason he was on the team for that long was because he was dating Manager Lou Piniella's daughter Annie.

1. Alex Rodriguez

Alex Rodriguez is not only hated in Seattle, he's also hated in Texas. He signed with the Rangers for $252 million and they went bankrupt! They traded him to the Yankees. He is a disgrace to the game of baseball.

The Unlikely Scenario: The Miraculous Comeback of Pedro Martinez & the 1999 Boston Red Sox

Despite being a diehard Red Sox fan, I just want to be fair to their World Series opponents, the St. Louis Cardinals. If the St.Louis fans have faith, the team will be fine. Why? If the Red Sox collapse in dramatic fashion (unlikely, but possible!) like the 1999 Cleveland Indians did versus the Boston Red Sox by losing the American League Division Series (ALDS) after leading the series two games to none then the Cardinals will be in good shape. The series began on October 9th, 1999 (10.9.99) at Jacobs Field in Cleveland. The starting pitchers for Game 1 were Pedro Martinez for the Red Sox and Bartolo Colon for the Indians. In 1999, Pedro Martinez had the best season for any pitcher in baseball history (dating back to World War I), as he had twenty three wins and four losses in 29 games pitched. Unfortunately, Pedro left the game in the 5th inning with a back injury and the Red Sox had to use Derek Lowe, who was battling a blister on his right middle finger and, not surprisingly, the Indians won the game 3-2 and took a 1-0 series lead. In Game 2, Boston had another injured pitcher, Bret Saberhagen, (who had resurrected his career more times than Jesus at that point!) pitching against Charlie Nagy of the Indians. The Red Sox took a 1-0 lead in the top of the 2nd inning thanks to a homerun from my all-time favorite Red Sox player, Nomar Garciaparra. But in the bottom of the 3rd inning, Saberhagen's elbow gave out but he toughed through it...poorly. He gave up six runs and never got out of the 3rd inning and was replaced by Robinson Checo, who was equally as bad as Saberhagen...and Checo was healthy! He gave up five runs and hit two guys. The Red Sox didn't have a chance in Game 2 as they lost 11-1. Cleveland was on the cusp of going to New York to face the Yankees in the ALCS. But, then the series shifted to Boston at historic Fenway Park. The Red Sox somehow won Game 3 by a score of 9-3, even though Nomar Garciaparra was given the night off as Manager Jimy Williams thought the Sox were done for the year! The next night, the Indians pitching collapsed. Their starter, Bartolo Colon, who had pitched for eight innings just three nights before, didn't even make it out of the 1st inning in Game 4 after giving up seven runs! Steve Reed didn't help either, giving up eight runs. The Red Sox scored 23 runs in the game and it was no contest after the 2nd inning. The series shifted back to Cleveland. But, if the Boston Red Sox wanted to complete their unlikely comeback, they would have to do it WITHOUT Pedro Martinez, who had been slated to pitch that night, but his back acted up again just minutes before the start of the game. So they had to go with Saberhagen (who had started Game 2). Cleveland went with Nagy (who also started Game 2). The results were poor for both sides as neither pitcher made it past the 3rd inning. Saberhagen's elbow gave out (sarcastic shocker!) and Nagy was ineffective. After Cleveland had gained an 8-7 lead at the end of the 3rd inning, the Red Sox tied it up in the top of the 4th thanks to a surprising homerun by 5 foot 6 inch tall center fielder Darren Lewis. In the bottom of the 4th, Pedro Martinez came in (IT'S A MIRACLE!!!!!!!!!). Cleveland countered with 19 year old Brockton, Mass. native Shaun DePaula. Both pitchers were on top of their game. But Cleveland Manager Mike Hargrove took DePaula out in the 7th and brought in Paul Shuey, who gave up a three run homerun to backup left fielder Troy O'Leary. The sad part was that Cleveland didn't even get a HIT off Martinez. After Saberhagen's replacement, Derek Lowe, left the game after the 3rd inning because of a chronic blister and poor performance, Cleveland didn't get a hit from that point on! The Red Sox had just completed their comeback and shellshocked the baseball world beating Cleveland by a final score of 12 to 8! Cleveland Manager Mike Hargrove was fired by the Cleveland executives mere hours after the end of the game.

Before I end this entry, I would like to answer the question: Why not talk about the 2004 ALCS between the Red Sox and Yankees when the Yankees collapsed? The reason is because the Cleveland series is less known other than in Cleveland and Boston, as there is hardly ANY footage of this series outside of those two cities.

2014 Seattle Mariners Roster Predictions

If the Seattle Mariners want to win anything in 2014, they will have to keep all of their young players and have them play the whole season and keep them healthy so they can be productive members of the team. If they do that, then they will very likely be in the race for a spot in the Playoffs.

Here's my hopeful 25 player roster for the 2014 Seattle Mariners:

First let's start with the pitching side of the team, along with an interesting fact about each player:

Starting Pitchers:

1. Felix Hernandez

"King Felix" is easily the best pitcher in the league, if not all of baseball...and he's still getting better!

2. Danny Hultzen

Danny Hultzen was the 2nd overall pick in the 2011 Baseball draft by the Mariners.

3. Taijuan Walker

Some scouts say that Taijuan Walker is going to be BETTER than Felix Hernandez one day.

4. Hisashi Iwakuma

Hisashi Iwakuma was named the 2008 Rakuten award winner (The award is the Japanese equivilant of the Most Valuable Player award here in the U.S.)

5. James Paxton

James Paxton went to High School with Miami Marlins Right Fielder Giancarlo Stanton.

Relief Pitchers:

Tom Wilhelmsen

Tom pitched for the Mesa Solar Sox in the independent Golden Baseball League in 2007.

Charlie Furbush

Charlie once pitched for the Detroit Tigers.

Lucas Luetge

Lucas is from Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.

Stephen Pryor

Stephen was part of the 10th combined no-hitter in Major League Baseball versus Los Angeles Dodgers in 2012. He also won his first career game that night.

Danny Farqhuar

Danny Farqhuar was acquired from the Yankees for Ichiro...so he better be good!

Chance Ruffin

Chance throws 104 Miles Per Hour

Brandon Maurer

Brandon was named Southern League Pitcher of the Year in 2012

Now the projected lineup:

1. Brad Miller (Shortstop)

Brad doesn't wear batting gloves.

2. Nick Franklin (2nd Base)

Nick went to the University of North Carolina (UNC) with Kyle Seager and Dustin Ackley.

3. Kyle Seager (3rd Base)

Kyle was once a second baseman.

4. Kendrys Morales (Designated Hitter)

Kendrys is from Fomento, Cuba.


5. Abraham Almonte (Right Fielder)


Abraham was acquired from the Yankees in a trade for pitcher Shawn Kelley.

6. Justin Smoak (1st Base)

Justin was originally drafted by the Texas Rangers.


7. Mike Zunino (Catcher)

Mike Zunino was drafted with the third pick in the 2012 Draft.


8. Michael Saunders (Left Fielder)

Michael grew up in Vancouver.


9. Dustin Ackley (Center Fielder)

Dustin was the second pick overall in the 2009 Draft


Backups: Xavier Avery(Outfielder), Jesus Sucre(Catcher), Carlos Triunfel (2nd Base/Shortstop) and Raul Ibanez (Emergency Catcher/1st Base/Outfielder/Designated Hitter)

1993 World Series Game 6: Philadelphia Phillies vs. the Toronto Blue Jays

If someone were to walk up to me and say "What World Series game would you want to go to that happened before you were born?" I would tell them: Game 6 of the 1993 World Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Blue Jays. Why would I choose this game? Look and see how many players on both teams who had or later became members of the Seattle Mariners franchise. Some were more known(John Olerud and Rickey Henderson) than others (Dave Hollins, Ed Sprague). That game is also known as when Joe Carter hit just the second World Series winning homerun.

Here is the homerun: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zBetduLEv0&feature=player_detailpage#t=70

Why the Seattle Mariners will be playoff contenders in 2014 and beyond

Despite the slow start, the Seattle Mariners will be playoff contenders in 2013 because of these two reasons:

1. Harang and Saunders won't be in Seattle for much longer



Taijuan Walker



The two weak links in the Mariners pitching staff, Aaron Harang and Joe Saunders, will not be with the team for much longer, as the Mariners have Taijuan Walker, James Paxton and Danny Hultzen waiting in the minor leagues right now. But once Walker, Hultzen and Paxton are in the Majors, they will be there for good!

2. Mike Zunino

The third overall pick in the 2012 draft, Zunino is the Mariners catcher of the future. He is clearly ready to play at the Major League level and should snag the starting catching job from Jesus Montero, a catcher who can't catch, and Kelly Shoppach, a catcher who can catch, but strikes out far too often. Zunino should be in the Majors anytime. Zunino has Montero's hitting potential and Shoppach's good defensive abilities. Zunino also gives the Mariners a good young hitting catcher, something they haven't had since they traded Jason Varitek to Boston back in 1997.


Mike Zunino