Tag Archives: Seattle Mariners

Wedge’s Last Stand? Mariners Manager Will Bat His Worst Hitter First

A franchise with 24 losing seasons in 35 years is bound to have its share of questionable managing decisions. But Eric Wedge’s pronouncement yesterday that he is installing Chone Figgins as the team’s leadoff hitter sets a new precedent.

Figgins

Chone Figgins was not just the worst hitter on the Mariners last year. He was not just the worst hitter in baseball. Last year, Chone Figgins was the worst hitter in baseball in the past twenty seasons. Not since 1992 had a hitter accumulated 300 plate appearances and posted an on base plus slugging percentage below .500, as Figgins did in 2012.

Yet, according to Wedge, Figgins will bat first in the order, where he will accumulate more plate appearances per game than any other hitter on the team. The Mariners’ leadoff hitter since 2001, future Hall-of-Famer Ichiro, has been dropped to the #3 spot in the order; another odd move, since #3 is typically reserved for a power hitter, not a singles machine like Ichiro.

Probably you are already wondering: “Does Chone Figgins own pictures of Eric Wedge walking Aurora Ave. in high heels and a crop-top?” One struggles to find a less outlandish explanation. Wedge contends that Figgins will perform better in the leadoff role, where he batted while having more successful seasons with the Los Angeles Angels. But if Wedge really believes that Figgins’ decline is due to his moving out of the leadoff spot, wouldn’t moving Ichiro be risking a similar collapse?

The root of all this evil is money. Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik signed Figgins to a four-year, $35-million contract before the 2010 season, the first and so far only major free agent signing of Zduriencik’s tenure. The Figgins signing has been only slightly less disastrous than the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. After posting a .789 OPS in his final season in L.A., Figgins dropped to .646 in his first season with the Mariners, then collapsed to .484 last year. The Mariners, a 85-win team the year before Figgins’ arrival, have won no more than 67 games in a season with Figgins. Yet to declare the Figgins’ signing a failure now would imperil Zdurienck’s job and–since a new general manager often hires a different manager–Wedge’s as well.

There has been a great deal of discussion on the M’s blogosphere about the sunk cost fallacy–that the Mariners are throwing good money after bad in starting Figgins. Sort of. What’s really going on is a cousin of the sunk cost fallacy, the endowment effect: “People place a higher value on objects they own than objects that they do not.” Everyone else in baseball sees one of the worst hitters in the league, but the Mariners hold onto hope that, after two years of disastrous performance, Figgins might bounce back. Leaving aside the question of Figgins’ $9M salary, which the Mariners will pay no matter where he starts, Eric Wedge should be asking himself–if Chone Figgins was not on my team, and was available for free, would I acquire him and have him bat in the leadoff position? Obviously, Wedge is not asking that question.

Figgins, for his part, argues that he is ideal in the leadoff spot because he is a “battler”: “I may not get two hits in a game, but I may have two walks and two runs scored.” The truth is, in 242 games as a Mariner, Figgins has had two walks and two runs scored only four times.

The previous leader for Mariner managerial malpractice, Maury Wills, made headlines in 1981 when he ordered Kingdome groundskeepers to illegally expand the batters box. However, Wills can be excused due to his later admission that he was addicted to cocaine at the time. It’s a pretty low bar to drop below, but Wedge appears to have done it.

Will Runless Mariners Be Fishing for a 285-Pounder?

Safeco Field, behind the CLink (Photo: MvB)

Today is the first day that major league baseball teams can sign free agents who played for other teams last year. There are few teams that need other teams’ players more than your Seattle Mariners.

In 2011, for the second consecutive season, the Mariners scored fewer runs than every other team in major league baseball, averaging just 3.43 per game. Runs, in baseball, being what business consultants call a “key success factor,” this is something the team needs to fix.

So the Mariner fan’s lustful eye immediately turns to the jewel of the 2012 free agent class, Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder. The youngest player ever to hit 50 home runs, Fielder already has 230 in his career–and, at 27, is just entering what are generally considered the prime seasons of a hitter’s career. Despite his 285-lb frame, Fielder is not prone to injury, having played at least 157 games in the past six seasons. And he is the full hitting package, combining power with the ability to get on-base. The Mariners haven’t had a hitter like Fielder since Edgar Martinez’ prime years. Not coincidentally, the Mariners haven’t made the playoffs since Edgar Martinez’ prime years.

Fielder will be insanely expensive. The Phillies’ Ryan Howard signed a 5-year, $125-million contract last season, and Fielder is a better and younger player. A $30-million-per-year deal is probable. (Perhaps certain new Central District restaurants will lure Fielder, a vegetarian, to Seattle).

Fielder isn’t worth it–not for the Mariners, says USS Mariner’s Dave Cameron. Cameron argues that the Mariners’ are so talent-deficient, adding one player doesn’t make them a contending team. Cameron advocates a blockbuster trade for the Reds’ Joey Votto–who will make just $9.5 million next season.

The big question is, how much money do the Mariners have to spend? The payroll has hovered around $95 million for the past three seasons, and with attendance declining, the recession continuing, and 1/3-minority owner Chris Larson’s financial struggles, it’s difficult to imagine that you’ll see payroll increase. The Mariners already have $59.5 million committed to current players–to seven current players. As a major league roster consists of 40 players, that gives the M’s around $35 million to sign 33 more players–spend $30 million on Fielder and he’ll have to play alongside volunteers.

Of course, Mariner ownership may be willing to bump up payroll as an investment to staunch the team’s declining attendance (the 2011 team drew less than two million fans, the lowest number in 16 years). We can’t know, the organization is notoriously tight-lipped.

More likely than not, the Mariners will follow the strategy of the past few seasons–acquiring less-coveted players and hoping for a rebound season. It’s a strategy that has worked in the past (Bret Boone, Jose Guillen), but has flopped the past two years (Casey Kotchman, Jack Cust, Eric Brynes). One intriguing candidate along these lines is Carlos Beltran, who slugged .525 in his first full season since 2008. At 34, he’s on the downside of his career, but he would represent an immediate upgrade to the offense. One thinks of Lance Berkman, another stellar hitter on the decline, who signed a one-year contract before the 2011 season and helped lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a World Series title.

Ichiro Suzuki (Photo: MvB)

What does the Mariners’ map to a 2012 World Series title look like? There are a lot of seemingly unfordable rivers and impenetrable forests. The M’s will need a rebound season from Ichiro, who is due to make $18 million. They will need a breakout season from their melange of young hitters–Mike Carp, Justin Smoak, Casper Wells. And they will need an unexpected bounce-back season from whatever veterans they sign in free agency. Plus the pitching to continue being stellar.

Still, when I found out I was getting an upgrade on my season tickets (two sections closer to home plate, two rows down) on Thursday, I pronounced myself “excited.” Excited for what, I’m not sure. Despite the dismal decade I and other Mariner fans have endured, hope seems to be a renewable resource.

Mariner Fans Feeling Spurned by Their Exes

Yuniesky Betancourt - Still Not Good

Much gnashing of teeth has occurred in the Mariner fan community over the number of former M’s on teams in baseball’s playoffs–16 of them, more exes than any other major league team.

“Hey,” the thinking goes, “if we’d just held on to all those guys, we’d be in the playoffs, too!” This thinking is wrong.

Most of the ex-Mariners in the playoffs are below-average players. Sure, Yuniesky Betancourt is a playoff-caliber shortstop–if he’s got Prince Fielder and Rickie Weeks to his left. With Jose Lopez and Richie Sexson? Not so much.

In fact, a good chunk of these post-seasoning ex-Mariners were on the same team–six of them* were on the 2008 Mariners, who lost 101 games and finished 39 games out of first place.

Some of the best Mariner teams had their share of below-average players. The ’95 Mariners gave former Brewer Alex Diaz and former Ranger Doug Strange their only tastes of post-season play. Perhaps the same Milwaukee and Texas fans who are enjoying their team’s post-season runs were gnashing similarly back then.

Fact is, you can pile up all the role players you want–there’s no substitute for talent, something the Mariners sorely lack, especially among position players. Stat time! The statistic “Adjusted OPS,” written as “OPS+,” standardizes a player’s hitting stats according to the park and league he played in. The average hitter is 100.

Among 2011 Mariner regulars, only 2B Dustin Ackley and 1B Justin Smoak were above average (remember, this is adjusted for park factors, so no using Safeco Field’s expansive outfield as an excuse). And Smoak’s 104 OPS+ is really an underwhelming figure when you consider that, as a first baseman, he is expected to be a better-than-average hitter.

Yuniesky Betancourt’s 2011 OPS+? A dismal 75. Even the 2012 Mariners’ shortstop, Brendan Ryan, posted a better number. So, on the bright side, the Mariners do have players worthy of post-season play–if (big if) they can scare up some decent teammates for them.

Once the post-season ends, the free agent and trading season begins–and we’ll all see what Mariner brass does to bring good baseball back to Seattle.

*Adrian Beltre, Raul Ibanez, Arthur Rhodes, J.J. Putz, Willie Bloomquist, Yuniesky Betancourt

It was Twenty Years Ago Today: A SunBreak Roundtable on Nirvana and Nevermind

This week marks the twentieth anniversary of the release of Nirvana’s Nevermind, the album that, almost in spite of itself, altered the pop-culture firmament forever and eternally put Seattle on the musical map (there’s a dose of hyperbole that’d make Kurt Cobain revolve in his grave).

We at the SunBreak thought it’d be nice to commemorate Nevermind’s release with a roundtable chat about the record, the band that created it, how that music affected us individually, and some of the strange and funny things that were happening in Seattle at the time.

Seth: Of course, I bought Nevermind. Played air drums along with Dave Grohl; that great fill just before Cobain’s two-note wail at the start of “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” We all did. When Nirvana appeared on Saturday Night Live, it was like the Mariners had won the World Series. As I’ve written before, you have to remember that, pre-Cobain and pre-Ken Griffey Jr., Seattle was not cool. Nirvana helped make it so.

Tony: I bought Nevermind the week it came out, on cassette, at the late great Mercer Street Tower Records. Like everyone else, I played the hell out of it. You couldn’t have picked a better target demographic for the album than my grubby, long-haired ass. Cobain was exactly two months older than me; he was a fellow southpaw; and I, too, escaped from a sleepy backwater town (Spanaway, WA to his Aberdeen) that had no use for square pegs who preferred The Ramones to Journey.

MvB: I remember hearing the album so much–it followed you around Seattle, those chords crashing out of cars, apartment windows, in cafés–I never bought a copy, until years later it was one you could get for 1 cent from the Columbia Music Club.

Tony: Nevermind’s universality totally gob-smacked me when it first came out. Punks listened to it. Goths listened to it. Camaro-driving heshers listened to it. Preppies listened to it. Track-suited B-Boys blasted it out of boom boxes. Hell, I saw a fifty-something cowboy—he looked like a member of George Jones’ backup band—at a Northgate stoplight in ‘92, in a dilapidated Ford truck cranking “Breed”. MvB’s right: You couldn’t escape it.

Clint: In high school in CA at the time, I loved “Smells Like Teen Spirit”–the song and the video–immediately. Still, it was a while before I sprung for the CD. I was already a Pearl Jam fan, but was still more into NWA and Ice Cube than rock. That changed in a hurry as my interest in PJ and punk cheerleaders got me into Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, et al.

Tony: Yeah, there’s no denying the impact of the monster hook that made “Smells Like Teen Spirit” such a hit, but those two quietly-menacing guitar notes that thread through the verses are what really get me when I listen to it today.

MvB: Now whenever I hear Kurt sing “a mulatto,” I think of Larry David’s confusion over the term in Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Josh: I was fondly remembering Nevermind when it reached driving age and voting age; as well as when its swimming baby reached important developmental milestones. Why didn’t they hire that kid to emcee the EMP cover/tribute night?

Clint: After a shift at Wal-Mart one day in mid-1992, probably, after much contemplation of Nevermind‘s questionable front cover and creepy monkey back, I wandered to the electronics department and bought the CD, saving 10% with my employee discount. (Though the company hadn’t yet wielded its pro-censorship power, if memory serves, it had hosted family- and mullet-friendly Billy Ray Cyrus at the store that year. Luckily, I had the day off and missed the whole pathetic parade.)

Josh: I also remember someone at summer camp switching my copy of the CD (with the SECRET BONUS TRACK) for his (without the extra song). Sneaky bastard.

Clint: I got a copy with “Endless, Nameless” hiding behind a good chunk of silence, too. I remember thinking the disc was done and then jumping when that last number kicked in–many times.

MvB: I could go on all day about the before-times. I was informed that Kurt used to score his heroin at the Jack in the Box across the street from the Vivace Roasteria. But I was told that by the Kinko’s employee who also said he’d slept with him. Anyway, it seemed like you couldn’t go to a restroom on Capitol Hill at the time without disturbing someone taking a “break.” The B&O smoking section was full of thin young men with unwashed hair who had a suspicious amount of cigarette burns in their clothing from nodding off.

Meanwhile, up the street on Broadway, the boys from REM would be downing some alfalfa concoction at the Gravity Bar, with its weird, inverted-cone café tables that smacked your knees as you tried to scoot closer. I can’t remember if I ever saw Kurt around, but I did run into Kim Thayil in my dorm (which is odd because he was going to UW and I was at Seattle U).

Josh: Remember how we all thought that that weird Gravity Bar would eventually come back once the Broadway Market renovations were finished? Or was that just a story that they floated so that the wheatgrass dependents wouldn’t turn anarchic and tear the place down brick by brick?

MvB: Wheatgrass people will fuck you up.

Seth: Due to Seattle’s draconian Teen Dance Ordinance, a Seattleite who turned 15 in 1991 (i.e. me) first saw Nirvana the same time you did–on MTV. Granted, I was not a kid with his ear to the ground of the local music scene. I was in the throes of my classic rock phase, and owned more Supertramp than Soundgarden.

Tony: Those were dark days, Seth. Some of us here were lucky enough to be legal drinking age (barely) before Nirvana exploded. My first live show at an honest-to-God 21+ club in the late eighties? The Flaming Lips at the long-deceased Vogue nightclub. It was back when they rocked like the Replacements on really potent acid. Nirvana opened. I remember hearing Cobain and company tear through their cover of Shocking Blue’s “Love Buzz,” thinking, “These guys might have hit the magic formula to turn the Sub Pop sound into gold.” That was the phraseology we used to describe grunge, before it really had a name.

MvB: Prior to Nevermind blowing up, a friend had the chance to book them for Seattle U’s spring mixer, after a gig had fallen through and they were available–but Nirvana was deemed not a good fit.

Seth: Possibly there were some more adventurous kids with fake I.D.s or rock-band boyfriends. But most of us were no more able to see Nirvana live than we were to see the Beatles, at least before Cobain and Co. hit it big.

Tony: Again, I was lucky. My second and last time seeing Nirvana live was courtesy of MTV’s Live and Loud New Years’ Eve Concert in 1993. I worked as a PA on the show. Talk about being able to go on forever about something, MvB: That was a truly surreal experience. Pearl Jam were supposed to headline the show, but they allegedly threw some sort of diva huff and bailed out. Nirvana became headliners by default. The Breeders opened up the concert, and they took forever tweaking their equipment: Kim Deal fussed interminably over their guitar sound. Nirvana set up in minutes, plugged in, and roared. Loudly.

The set and staging were so showbiz. A Steadicam crane recorded the crowd-surfing and stage-diving house, and the lighting was arena-slick. Cobain stood at the center of all of that gloss, coaxing obscene levels of feedback from his guitar and screaming so intensely that I was sure his pipes’d burst. A large fan kept blowing Kurt’s hair around, and it made him look like some reluctant, scruffy slacker prophet on a mountaintop. And damned if Grohl and Novoselic didn’t drive that rhythm section into the ground.

During Nirvana’s cover of David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold the World,” Kim Deal came out to the floor, and I couldn’t help but watch her as she watched the band play. She was smiling a sort of awestruck but aware smile—like she was fully cognizant of the fact that she was seeing something special and fleeting. And of course, in a few months Kurt Cobain took his own life.

Clint: Nevermind’s an awesome album, but I still think In Utero has it beat. I also still think whatever would have come next would have been even better.

Mariners’ Brendan Ryan Clowns Oakland A’s with “Infield Triple”

You just don’t realize how important some things are until you forget to do them. Change the oil. Back up the hard drive. Raise the debt ceiling. Or, in baseball, guard the bases. The Oakland A’s got a harsh lesson in this unspoken fundamental yesterday when Brendan Ryan executed the “just don’t stop running” strategy that is usually only effective in T-ball.

In the first inning, Ryan reached first base safely on an infield single deep in the hole behind third base. Then, noticing that A’s 2B Jemile Weeks had ranged far over toward first base in anticipation of an errant throw, and that SS Eric Sogard was ambling slowly back to his position from the leftfield grass with his head down, Ryan took off for second base. A’s 3B Scott Sizemore ran to cover the base, but arrived too late to even get a throw. Sizemore then dropped his head, failing to notice that he’d left third base uncovered. Ryan took off again, and slid into third without a throw. (Watch the play for yourself here.)

Those Safeco Field fans who’d been paying attention went wild with delight, and even stoic M’s manager Eric Wedge cracked a smile from the dugout.

Ryan then scored the first run of the game on Mike Carp’s double. The Mariners won 4-2, and now, just one week after losing their 17th consecutive game, are one win away from sweeping a three-game series against Oakland.

Rick “The Peanut Guy” Kaminski, Proof There Are No Small Roles, Only Small Actors

Rick Kaminski, the longtime Mariner peanut vendor who died Tuesday night, had one of the easiest jobs imaginable: Step 1: Alert baseball fans to proximity of peanuts. Step 2: Distribute peanut bags to baseball fans who desire them. Step 3: Accept payment from fans, distribute change if necessary.

There’s nothing to it. Unless you do what Rick did. Make one of those steps fun.

Rick (it was always “Rick”) developed the ability to throw bags of peanuts behind his back with incredible speed* and accuracy. “Hands up,” he’d always call to first-timers, who otherwise would misjudge Rick’s throws and end up with a face full of exploding peanut bag. Repeat customers didn’t get the warning. They’d signal Rick–subtly, like buyers at an auction–from as far as 30 feet, as a test of his accuracy. He’d fire immediately. I never saw him miss.

*A Mariner scout once timed Rick’s toss at 72 mph.

Rick’s banter was fast like his throws–in a couple of ways. He talked quickly, in a high-pitched, slightly-nasally voice, and he didn’t shy away from a little flirty talk with the ladies. He’d sometimes make comments that are likely not in the Mariner Vendors Handbook–never lewd, mind you, but if you were following the thread, not G-rated either. Rick was an individual.

And that’s why he was beloved. Not the speed of his peanut throws, not his banter, not his 34 years of service. It’s that he was unique. It’s that he took something boring and made it into something joyful. That’s called art, folks. He turned his job into art.**

**Theater, I suppose, if we must categorize.

Genius creative director Michelle Crum has posed this question: “Why is boring always the default mode? What if fun was the default?” Rick made that “what if” a reality for Safeco fans. We all have jobs with varying degrees of automomy, varying degrees of difficulty. But if Rick could bring joy to as dull a job as vending peanuts, we can all default to fun sometimes. If you want to remember Rick right, toss a LOLcat into your next Powerpoint presentation. Huck an Office Space reference in at the staff meeting. Do a little dance. Sing a song. Wear purple.

Here’s what some other people are saying about Rick:

“It’s a sad day for sports fans across the Puget Sound region. Even when the Mariners hurlers were shaky, Rick’s long tosses were right down Broadway. Rick loved his job and his customers loved watching him perform. We will all miss Rick’s smile, his enthusiasm, and his behind-the-back and over-the-head peanut deliveries.” –King County Executive Dow Constantine

“Rick was a fixture at Seattle sporting events for as long as I can remember. His speed and accuracy with a bag of peanuts was matched by his quick wit and smile. He always seemed happy to see you, even if he was meeting you for the first time.” –Mariners President Chuck Armstrong

“Rick the Peanut Guy is just one of those characters that can’t be replaced. As corny as it sounds, hearing the news that he died was like losing a part of my youth.” —Sunny Wu, Sports & Food

“Just heard the sad news about Rick the peanut man, used to watch his athleticism from the dugout! RIP.” —Former Mariner pitcher Ryan Rowland-Smith.

“When you saw Rick–and you always saw Rick–you knew you were going to get a flawless performance, executed with good humor. You couldn’t be so sure about the Mariners, but the $1 or $2 or $3 or $4 or $5 to nab a bag of peanuts from the Peanut Man (depending on whether we’re talking about the early Kingdome days or the late Safeco days) was always money well spent.” —Larry Stone, Seattle Times

Photo by Mark Sobba, via Flickr