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The Seattle Mariners are simply pooped. They are plumb tuckered out. They are, many people figure, past their prime. They are in their golden years.
The Mariners are just waiting around for the rebuilding to come and blissfully whisk them away.
It's too bad, really, because the Mariners have so much going for them: rabid fans, rich market, beautiful city, great stadium and all the Starbucks lattes they can gulp down.
But the Mariners, let's face it, stink right now. Oooo, are they bad. And this is not just me talking.
"Everybody is playing like [doo doo]," second baseman Bret Boone said
the other day.
"We are missing at all levels," manager Bob Melvin said.
In reality, the Mariners have been on their last sea legs for a couple of years. Back in the final stages of the Lou Piniella era, he recognized it. The ex-Mariners' skipper watched helplessly as the Mariners failed in the 2001 playoffs and faded in the stretch in '02. Piniella lobbied hard for better bench players. Better subs, you see, can give all those old guys who play every day a break.
Piniella didn't get his guys, but Melvin did and the Mariners still faded last year. They finished three games behind Oakland despite having a four-game lead as late as Aug. 19.
This season, the Mariners started their fade shortly after loading up the trucks at the end of spring training. They were swept, at home, by the re-energized Anaheim Angels in their first series of the year. Seattle wasn't swept in a series last season until August.
A month into the new year, the Mariners sit at the bottom of the American League West -- a place that is foreign soil to them. Seattle hadn't spent more than seven straight days in the AL West pit since 1998. As a weekend series with the Detroit Tigers begins Friday, the Mariners have spent 22 straight days in last place.
Who's to blame? Well, the pitching hasn't been anything special lately, but it's better than last-place-in-the-West pitching. No, if you're into pointing fingers, blame the Mariners' problems on the hitters.
Leadoff man Ichiro Suzuki clearly is not the Ichiro won the AL Rookie of the Year and MVP awards in 2001 with a .350 batting average, a rookie-record 242 hits and 56 stolen bases. He is hitting .258 these days and only has four stolen bases. He's been caught twice. On the Mariners' current road swing that started by being swept by the Texas Rangers, Ichiro is hitting .192, including a 1-for-13 non-effort as the Mariners lost two of three in Baltimore.
It's not all Ichiro's doing, of course. Boone is hitting .258. Center fielder Randy Winn, .211. New shortstop Rich Aurilia has zero home runs in 82 at-bats. Longtime designated hitter Edgar Martinez, as steady as they come among DHs, has hit one home run, matching the total of 35-year-old first baseman John Olerud.
Seattle is tied for 24th in runs scored. It's 22nd in batting average (.257) and 27th in OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage). It's not good.
The Mariners have the same steady starting rotation that carried them through all of last season: Jamie Moyer, Freddy Garcia, Joel Pineiro, Ryan Franklin and Gil Meche. They are not producing the quality starts they did in 2003, and their 5.27 ERA ranks in the bottom half of the AL. But without an offense to speak of, and a bullpen that has been shaky (5.43 ERA, 13th in the AL), how well the starters do hardly matters. Garcia has gone through the seventh inning in three of his four starts without allowing a run. He's 0-1 in those games.
The window of opportunity for a team -- just about any team -- is limited. The Mariners were the wild cards in 2000 and then won 116 games the next year -- before they were beaten by the Yankees in the AL Championship Series. They won 93 games in 2002 and '03 but didn't make the playoffs either year.
The Mariners are saddled with the 12th-highest payroll in the game -- almost $73 million. They are the second-oldest team, with an average age of 31. Only the payroll-bloated Yankees are older (31.8).
Seattle is eight games under .500 for the first time since 1998.
"It is a tough road now," Boone told the Seattle Times recently. "We've been calling this a poor start, but how much longer is it just the start to the season? When does the start blend into the long road of the season?"
It's a good question. A real good one.
I don't think the aging Mariners really want to hear the answer.
Well, onto the happy E-Bag ...
All the discussion generated by whether Barry Bonds is the greatest player in history is good for baseball and an interesting exercise. One statistic that is overlooked is the career total bases record. The Top 10 reads like a "Who's Who" of the greatest to have ever played. Hank Aaron's record of 6,856 career total bases is untouchable. Aaron is 722 total bases ahead of the No. 2 hitter, Stan Musial, and 1,552 ahead of the active leader, Bonds. In other words, Bonds would have to have five more years at his career average of 331 total bases to have a chance at Aaron. -- John K., New York
Good one, John. We had some debate on this in the office. I think it's a legitimate stat but, like all stats, it has its limitations.
For sure, it's an accurate measure of who can flat-out mash the ball. I agree, total bases shows how good Aaron was, beyond just his homers. And I agree again that Aaron's record for total bases won't be reached by Bonds, or probably anyone else.
But a lot of that huge lead is due to the respective length of careers. Not all of it, but a good deal of it. Aaron played 23 seasons. Bonds is in his 19th. Aaron is third on the all-time list with 3,298 games played. Bonds entered this season having appeared in 729 fewer games. That's 4 1/2 years worth of games.
Aaron is, not surprisingly, the all-time leader in extra-base hits with 1,477. But Bonds started this season fifth on that list, about 200 extra-base hits behind. If Bonds plays this year and two more, he might be able to catch Aaron in extra-base hits -- might, considering Bonds has averaged more than 70 extra-base hits a year over the past 10 seasons. Bonds actually ranks well ahead of Aaron in slugging percentage, another power statistic.
As far as total bases go, you have to remember that Bonds is hurt by walking so much. Walks aren't included in total bases. And Bonds will become the most-walked man in history this year. He already has about 700 more walks than Aaron. Bonds simply hasn't had as many chances to mash.
I like this stat because it shows how dominant Aaron was, and it helps show how dominant Bonds continues to be. But you can't measure one player against the other without taking a lot of other stats into consideration.
I'm just curious. I'm on a nerdy baseball message board, and everyone there prides themselves on being so cerebral. Literally, to the point where I'm getting hate mail ... I didn't realize baseball was so SERIOUS. Really, though, what the hell? What about baseball makes "purists" believe it is so much more than just a game people play with a ball and a stick? -- Ryan Lawson, Burlington, Ontario
Man, you're a lamb in a lion's den, huh? A burger in front of C.C. Sabathia. A dollar bill in front of Carl Pohlad. You're a razor aimed at Johnny Damon's mug. You don't stand a chance. Yeah, Ryan, there are those who would rather crunch numbers, talk about probabilities and discuss theorems than actually watch a game. There are people out there who take all this new wave of baseball analysis waaaay too seriously. Which, to me, is fine, as long as they don't knock those who simply want to sit back and have some fun with the game. My advice: Don't hang with the stats dogs unless you can chow down with them.
A-Rod leaves the Mariners, and they win 25 more games without him than with him. He joins Texas and they go straight to the cellar. He leaves Texas and goes to the Yankees. Now Texas is winning, and the Yankees are losing. Is A-Rod responsible for holding these teams back, or is he just unlucky and always in the wrong place at the wrong time? -- Rhett, Hardin, Mont.
If it seems like too easy of an explanation, Rhett, it probably is. The Mariners, as you know, won 91 games in A-Rod's last year in Seattle. The fact they won 116 the next -- I don't think you can pin that on A-Rod's departure. Ichiro came aboard (with money, in part, that they saved from not paying A-Rod), and the Mariners had four pitchers who won at least 15 games. And I'm sure you know about the pitching problems the Rangers had while A-Rod was in Texas. I think Rodriguez is in the perfect place right now, at least for him, and as the season progresses, we'll see that. He'll thrive in New York, and the Yanks will win a lot of games. The Rangers will be better, too -- as long as they continue to work on getting some decent pitching.
When is Jim Duquette going to stop the madness and fire Art Howe? It's been long overdue. He was brought in because he took Oakland to the playoffs in three consecutive years. The talent level on the A's was (and still is) far better than what we have here in N.Y. My opinion is that Mookie Wilson has been waiting patiently in the wings for many years now, and he would be a perfect fit in the manager's shoes. Let's give him the ball. -- Steve O'Connor, Long Island, N.Y.
It's too early to rip on Howe. That was a mess last year, and it wasn't Howe's doing. The Mets will be better this year. They're better defensively, and I think they'll hit the ball better. They may even make it to .500. Anything better than that and people ought to be throwing a parade for Howe.
Obviously hitting won't be a problem for the Orioles but how do you see their pitching staff holding up over the course of the season? -- Jimmy, Miami
I don't. Sidney Ponson looks like an injury waiting to happen. Eric DuBose, Matt Riley, Erik Bedard and Kurt Ainsworth are all awfully green to count on for a whole season. And I think the Orioles' front office knows it. They're rebuilding. That may be a scary word, but any building at all in Baltimore is welcome.
I'll preface this by saying that I'm a big Bonds supporter. I think that you have to take most character assessments you get about him with a grain of salt. Bonds doesn't like the media, and while it is their job to be professional and unbiased when writing about him, that is easier said then done. -- Steve, Toronto
Steve, you're right.
The media's portrayal of Bonds, for the most part, has been harsh. And a lot
of that stems directly from his treatment of reporters and their ilk. But take
this with a grain of salt, or don't: He's not a nice guy to many people. And
I'm talking even those who don't have anything to do with the media. If all
you care about is what he does on the field, fine. No worries. Enjoy watching
him. But, please, don't flop to the other side and think that Bonds is Mr. Warm
and Fuzzy just because you believe the press might be biased. It's simply not
true.
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