Seattle Mariners Musings

Montero Down and Out

2013-05-24T09:33:00.000-07:00

The inevitable finally happened. Jesus Montero got sent down to Tacoma to convert into a first baseman and designated hitter. Really, he's converting to anything but a catcher. Things might have turned out differently if Montero was hitting, but he wasn't, to say the least.
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Absent Ownership Only Goes So Far

2013-05-12T21:29:00.001-07:00

I haven't forgot about the Musings, I promise. Long story short, there isn't much free time for me these days with some significant commitments related to the whole "real life/career path" stacking on top of each other through mid-June. What free time I have is getting sunk into draft prep, because nothing says relaxation like pouring over a spreadsheet filled with juniors and seniors from across campuses that some day a new acquaintance in my life will be impressed I've heard of.

That's not entirely true. The college campus thing is totally true, but the free time thing is a bit extreme. I'm also catching parts of M's games here and there, until I hit my bedtime. I am also interested in the NBA for the first time since the Sonics left - thanks in large part to the idea that the Sonics might come back.*

* Though I also watched an entire Grizzlies-Thunder game, probably the first whole NBA game I've watched in at least five years

This is a baseball blog, so I won't spend much time talking about the Sacramento Kings situation, even though it is the topic I'm most interested in at the moment. Long story short, Chris Hansen wants to bring the Sonics back badly, but unlike 99% of Sonics fans as passionate as him he's got some deep pocket$$$ and a chunk of land he can build an arena on, along with plans for said arena and thumbs up from the local government (more formally referred to as a memorandum of understanding).

However, Chris Hansen's offer isn't enough to bring the NBA back to Seattle - at least yet. Seriously, the situation is crazy, and I hope you have been paying attention to it. The bidding war for the Kings is unprecedented.

Personally, I wish every sports owner had a little more Chris Hansen in their soul. Hansen seems to view a professional sports franchise as a civic entity, which is rare in today's more corporate sports world.

In fact, a part of me wants Chris Hansen to somehow take over the Seattle Mariners.

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SeaDog Pressbox Podcast

2013-04-17T16:29:00.001-07:00

I was on with fellow Mariners fan and all-around good guy Eric Wahlquist for the SeaDog Pressbox Podcast. They will be doing weekly Mariners podcasts, and I doubt this will be my last time joining him for the show. Enjoy!

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Opening Road Trip Decent, All Things Considered

2013-04-08T06:30:00.000-07:00

Chicago is a house of horrors for the Mariners. It makes some sense. U.S. Cellular Field is the antithesis of Safeco Field. It's among the most home run happy ballparks in the majors, and a team built with Safeco in mind will probably always look out of place against the White Sox on their home turf.

Still, it was too predictable that Dayan Viciedo would hit a walk-off home run in the tenth inning. I wasn't even disappointed, not because it wasn't disappointing, but because I had already resigned myself to the outcome. It came as no surprise. Boo.

Viciedo's home run was the difference between a winning and a losing road trip for the Mariners, and it is about the most sour note the road trip could finish on. All things considered though, this road trip was neither good nor bad - which as far as I'm concerned, is ultimately good.

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Jumbo Wagner's Record Total Destined to Last

2013-04-07T07:30:00.000-07:00

I dabbled in card collecting as a child, starting around 1996 or so. I sporadically bought packets in check-out aisles (and by bought I really mean I threw them in with whatever my Mom was already buying). I remember one year, maybe 2000 or so, Score made the wrappers so thin you could see through them. I would stretch the wrapping as much as I could to see if I could get a glimpse of a Mariner behind the allegedly opaque veneer.

My card collecting faded away with MLB Showdown, a short-lived modern version of Strat-o-matic baseball. I enjoyed Showdown, although got frustrated with how limited cards were. I wanted to be able to play players at any position, have hitters pitch, etc. So I started working on my own card game. I even put card stalk on my Christmas list one year to get some needed supplies, and to my surprise Santa listened.

I haven't bought any baseball cards in at least a decade, but they have been back at the front of my mind as of late. The T206 "Jumbo" Honus Wagner just sold for $2.1 million at an auction. T206 Wagners are far and away the most valuable baseball cards on the planet, and no other card will ever rival them. A recent 30 for 30 short tells about their value much better than I could in the same space it takes to embed the video:

The Jumbo Wagner is the first baseball card to sell for more than $2 million at an auction, a breath-taking pile of cash to trade for a really old hunk of cardboard originally stuffed in a pack of cigarettes. There's something incredibly American about the whole thing. However, a closer look at the $2.1 million says something else. The baseball card industry is almost dead.

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2013 Minor Leaguers Under the Radar

2013-04-04T10:50:00.000-07:00

The minor league baseball season opens up tonight, and the Mariners announced their affiliate rosters yesterday. Click here for all the rosters. Or, alternatively, you can scan top prospect lists to know who to keep tabs on, and also keep reading on as I pick a hitter and pitcher under the mainstream radar on each team:

Perfect Problem

2013-04-03T06:00:00.000-07:00

Yu Darvish nearly pitched a perfect game last night. Here's the evidence that he wasn't perfect:

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Perfect games haven't quite become common place, but they are more common now than ever before. There had never been more than one perfect game in a season before 2010. Last year, there were three. For some perspective there weren't any perfect games from 1968 to 1981, a stretch of over a decade. Yu Darvish nearly pitched the sixth perfect game in the last two seasons, plus two games (and that total doesn't count the one Armando Galarraga lost on a blown call at first base).

On some level, perfect games are fluky. They are extreme outliers by definition, with them being perfect and all. Looking for patterns in extremes is a bit destined for failure for a number of reasons (sample size being one of the biggest). Still, it certainly seems like there is something about the modern game that allows for more perfect games. I decided to look for an explanation.

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2013 Preview: The Case for Contention

2013-04-01T09:21:00.002-07:00

The blogosphere lights up with season previews on this day, and why not? It is Opening Day. I ought to continue to knock out this major paper that my future career and livelihood depends on, but I have enough time to say a few words about how the next 162 games will hopefully turn out for the Mariners.

The 2013 Mariners are a bona fide sleeper team. They need a few breaks to contend, but not that many. Allow me to make my case.

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Maurer a Mariner

2013-03-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

This month promised to have lots of commitments outside of blogging, and it did not disappoint. Part of me hoped that the Mariners would make me feel better about this by silently waltzing through spring training in a bland, unassuming manner.

Early on the M's hitters were dinger-happy, and they are yet to stop. No Mariners team has hit more dingers in spring training than this one, for what it is worth.

Today the Mariners announced the juiciest news yet: Brandon Maurer made the starting rotation.

I haven't heard any of Maurer's starts on radio, or seen him pitch on TV (much less in person). I, like every blogger and most reporters, have no knowledge of all the work Maurer does behind the scenes too. I have no real good angle to provide insight on this decision - but I do have a blog about the Mariners, so there shall be an opinion.

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Confessions of a Die Hard Fan

2013-03-15T23:22:00.000-07:00

First off, I'd like to say that I am not Tim and I hope that doesn't disappoint you loyal readers. My knowledge of baseball—and most subjects—is inferior to his, but when Mr. Chalberg invited me to write for his beloved blog, I was honored. I've been reading SMM for a few years now, and as it's one of my most trustworthy and interesting sources of baseball-related information, I'm a bit nervous about seeing my own name among its posts. But enough of that. My flattery is probably embarrassing this blog's aforementioned creator, so I'll get on with it.

My name is Ben and I've been a Mariners' fan since the legendary 1995 season, when Seattle was ecstatic with the spirit of 'Refuse to Lose.' Like Tim, baseball and the Mariners have been of a part of my identity since I first heard names like Ken Griffey, Jay Buhner and Randy Johnson. I played baseball growing up on Bainbridge Island, Washington and spent many summers listening to the voices of Dave Niehaus and Rick Rizzs while sorting my thousands of baseball cards in countless three-ring binders. It was around this time I declared Field of Dreams my all-time favorite film—big surprise. I worked at a fledgling (and eventually, bankrupt) baseball statistical analysis company as a teenager, sold t-shirts at the Mariners Team Store during one summer in college, and even got to be a broadcaster for the PLU Lutes for a couple of seasons. Now, I work as a teacher in Hong Kong and have spent the last six months working with grade school kids on beginner baseball after school. I have my own blog all about my life out here, and it's called A Mariners Fan in Hong Kong. Ironically, after nearly two years, this will be the first post to appear there that mentions anything about the Seattle Mariners.

Tim asked me to write here after I posted on my own blog about wanting to branch out from my usual topics of travel, teaching and cultural observations. I wasn't sure what to write at first, and to be honest, I'm still not sure where this is going to go. Nonetheless, I feel I have a lot to say considering I haven't written much about the topic that consumes my brain on a daily basis. The biggest question regarding baseball for me personally is this: What is it about the sport that has made it so important to myself, Tim and millions of others?

I can't speak for Tim or the legions of baseball fans around the globe, but I can at least try to sum up why it's essentially the only part of my life that's just as present as it was eighteen years ago, excluding my family. As yet another season is two short weeks away, it seems appropriate to delve into the very bests parts about the game so dear to my heart.

Working with six-year-olds in my job, I've come to notice that they can be like goldfish, forgetting much of what happens to them on a daily basis. For example, "What did you do this weekend, Daniel?" "Ummm...I don't remember." So my vivid memories of Edgar Martinez' Double and the ensuing euphoria eighteen years ago become even more meaningful due to the young age I was at the time. This strong emotional connection to the game is part of what makes baseball so special. I've been nearly brought to tears watching old highlight movies of Cal Ripken's record breaking streak or Luis Gonzalez walk-off bloop single in 2001. These weren't even players on my favorite team but just watching them, and knowing the context of the moment, I can truly feel the power of the event.

Some may call this irrational but I prefer John Sexton's term, ineffable. He uses this word as a foundation of his recent book Baseball as a Road to God when finding similarities between religion and baseball. The word doesn't simply mean 'impossible to explain' or 'unknown'; it means, according to Sexton, something we do know profoundly but is just too overwhelming to properly define. To some, this is a copout to really digging deeply into the psychological draw to the game but I personally like this ineffable description. Or perhaps this quote from Tom Hanks' character in A League of Their Own can capture it. “Baseball is what gets inside you. It’s what lights you up, you can’t deny that.”

"America's Pastime" has been held on a pedestal by countless authors, moviemakers, journalists and musicians. This mythical nature is certainly a big part of the appeal. But part of the game's intrigue comes from the opposite end of the spectrum. Instead of approaching ballparks as cathedrals, hosts to countless heroes and villains, one can take the game under a microscope. Study its intricacies like the living organism it is. If ineffable is the first word, the second word is: statistics.

Another memory I have of my earliest days of baseball fandom was asking my dad and other grownups to explain to me what 'AB', 'ERA', 'HR' and all these acronyms on the back of my baseball cards meant. I eventually found the answers and have been studying the numbers attached to them ever since. As I got older and started to become aware of the changes in the game, I embraced sabermetrics, though again, my knowledge is at a very basic, Moneyball-level. Bill James is my Charles Darwin, and the knowledge he's devoted his life to sharing is as revolutionary as it is provocative as it is complicated. Baseball has its division between old-school and new-school and while I fall into the latter category, I get annoyed by both sides at times. The old schoolers call the sabermetricians geeks who've never known what it's really like to play the game. The new schoolers sometimes reduce baseball's magical moments to intangible flukes that distract from the cold, hard facts and equations. For me, and I know Tim will agree, the grandeur and the statistics are not enemies, they are complementary. Like yin and yang. Or science and religion! After all, many of baseball's most hallowed moments come from statistical records being broken.

To try to reel this meandering Marlin in, let me segue into my third and final reason for my love of baseball. Though I can get frustrated by the people whose opinion is miles from mine, e.g. managers, reporters or even friends, these endless debates are an integral part of the fun. Who is the best second baseman of alltime? Should the All Star Game decide home field advantage in the World Series? Why did the Mariners trade John Jaso for Michael Morse? Should Edgar Martinez be in the Hall of Fame? Why have there been more perfect games pitched in recent years? Which team has the best uniform? And on and on and on. For many, these questions mean next to nothing. It's the way I feel when my English colleagues discuss European football: no attachment whatsoever. But to those of us who have had baseball as a contant in our lives since before we lost our first baby tooth, it's these debates and conversations that give us common ground, a community of sorts, for even though we disagree, we both care so much about the topic at hand.

Early spring is among the best times for baseball fans. Everyone can feel optimistic about the near future, no matter what their team might be. When the Mariners commence the season on April 1st, I'll be somewhere near Kunming, China on my spring vacation, trying yak butter or steam pot chicken. No one there will speak much English, let alone know anything about baseball, but it'll be another season nonetheless and once I find Wi-Fi, I'll be temporarily transported back to the world of the Bambino and UZR, knuckleballs and grand salamis. To slightly modify a song from the musical Shenandoah, "Baseball ain't a state like Maine or Virginia, baseball is a state of mind." And that is why I like, no, love, no, live for baseball.

2013 Mariners Commercials

2013-03-13T18:20:00.000-07:00

The Mariners unveiled their 2013 commercials today, complete with a new slogan for the year - "True to the blue." The slogan is neither bad nor good in my book, but the commercials are worthy additions to the anthology of M's ads. In fact, do you want to know how big of a deal today's release was? The Catholic church elected a new pope in their wake. 'Nuff said.

Below are the new Mariners commercials, ranked in reverse order of how much I like them. See if you agree or disagree with me (although, quite frankly, there is no way to argue that my top two are the top two this year. They are head and shoulders above all the others.)

6. The Lineup

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The most interesting thing to me about this commercial is that it probably goes down as the raciest ad to date in Mariners history. I wouldn't go as far as calling it inappropriate, but by Mariners standards it is past what I am used to seeing out of their image and brand.

5. One Wish

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I feel as if this ad tries to punch a little fun at all the losses the past few years. I'm not sure why they cut the final wish off mid-sentence (avoid a jinx?) The ended with Raul is quite nice though. I feel like this ad could age disgracefully if the M's flounder, thanks to the ending.

4. Fan Mail

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The creators/directors missed an opportunity in this commercial. Eric Wedge is a stealthy supporting actor. It's his responses to King Felix that made Larry Bernandez an all-time classic. His banter with Felix and "little Larry" last year also made that commercial work. Why didn't this ad have Wedge stop Ackley in the clubhouse hallway, and give him a chance to deliver his deadpan "you've got to be kidding me" line for the year? In fact, why couldn't Ackley and Wedge have some sort of contest where they see who can be more emotionless with their delivery of lines?

3. Focused & Relaxed

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The silk pajamas are pretty awesome, although I think I would have cast someone different in Seager's role. The only problem is that just about anyone else in Seager's role would seem like the butt of the joke with all the terrible hitting we've seen in the past - oh, I guess decade or so at this point :( Now that I think of it, I feel like Morse's personality would have filled out the silk PJs better, and Seager could have worn the zen t-shirt.

2. Hottest Thing in Town

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King Felix delivers another strong effort. Kudos to the M's for not running Larry Bernandez into the ground, and going in a different direction this year. My favorite part of the whole commercial is how shot after shot shows the San Diego Padres suffering. The Mariners and Padres will be better interleague rivals yet! My only qualm with this ad is that there is no Felixing. I am surprised and a bit disappointed that Felixing is nowhere to be found in any of the commercials this year.

1. The Wise Ol' Buffalo

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I saw some photos of the buffalo hit Twitter as the Mariners filmed commercials, so I had high hopes for whichever commercial featured it. This one did not disappoint. The ad is random, clever, and somehow fits the personalities of Wilhelmsen and Ryan (at least how I imagine them as a fan with a Mariners blog).

Overall, I like this group of commercials. It seems like a few get played much more than the rest every year, and I know which ones I hope I see the most.

Spring Dingers Almost Meaningless

2013-03-03T07:30:00.000-08:00

If you are an optimist, the word "almost" probably jumped out at you in the title.

The Mariners have hit more home runs than any other team in spring training so far. The Mariners made a concerted effort to beef up their offense with some power hitters, so the early onslaught seems like a promising sign.

I decided to see if spring training dingers have translated into regular season dingers in recent history. Below are team home run totals in spring training vs. team home run totals in the regular season for the past four seasons, 2009-2012. I stopped in 2009 for no great reason; it gave me over 100 data points and was also the season Jack Zduriencik took over the Mariners.

Here's the data (click for larger image):

Correlation coefficient: 0.18

The data points look more or less like a random blob with perhaps a slight upward trend. The correlation coefficient confirmed what is obvious to our eyes - there is a slight positive correlation (suggesting teams that hit more home runs in spring do hit more home runs in the regular season), but it's impossible to stress slight too much. Barely any of the variation in regular season home runs is explained by spring training home runs in theory.

I got to thinking about the Mariners situation though. They go from playing in the warm, dry air of Arizona to the cool, damp confines of the Pacific Northwest. I wondered if park factors were obscuring a more noticeable trend in the data.

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Dramatic Transaction Reenactments - Episode 3: The Prodigal Trio

2013-02-28T06:00:00.000-08:00

Perhaps you have never seen the first two episodes of Dramatic Transaction Reenactments, because the last episode was created over two years ago. They are back though, with a touching recounting of the three-way trade that brought Mike Morse back to the Mariners. It's quite a bit shorter than previous DTRs, and maybe some day I will come up with a more powerful ending, but for now enjoy 1 minute and 40 seconds of how I dramatically interpret the Morse trade going down:

Mike Morse Trade by Tim Chalberg on GoAnimate

Animated Presentations - Powered by GoAnimate.

Does Loe Have a Look in his Eyes?

2013-02-26T06:00:00.000-08:00

I listened to my first Mariners game of the year on Sunday, which was awesome. The first action I catch is always soothing and refreshing to my baseball-starved ears. It was even nicer that the Mariners battered an aged Freddy Garcia and dispatched the Padres handily.

I also caught some of the pre-game show, where Rick Rizzs asked Eric Wedge about Saturday's ballgame. In particular, he asked about the pitchers, which included Taijuan Walker and Danny Hultzen looking quite good, not to mention starting rotation candidate Blake Beavan rolling out a new-look windup with success.

Yet the pitcher that Wedge described as most impressive was Kameron Loe. I'm dead serious. Wedge couldn't get enough of the action on Loe's sinker. Wedge talked about that more than Hultzen throwing seven pitches (all strikes) in an inning of work that included two strikeouts. He about talked about Loe's sinker more than the easy 97 miles per hour that Walker popped on the radar gun.

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I'm Finished Being Productive For A While

2013-02-24T12:40:00.001-08:00

Major League Baseball has added lots of classic highlights to their online video database. What a beautiful excuse to relive the double.

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Enjoy your Sunday.

Imagine Blake Beavan as Rainiers Closer

2013-02-21T06:00:00.000-08:00

An interesting metamorphosis may have happened in Baltimore near the end of the regular season. We will get confirmation this season. Tommy Hunter starting throwing really, really hard. Below is a graph of Hunter's average fastball velocities in every appearance his whole career to date. Notice the spike at the tail end:

image from Fangraphs

Hunter made the majors only a year after the Rangers made him a supplemental first round draft pick. He looked like a solid starting pitcher, but then he didn't seem to progress. Hunter was eventually traded to the Orioles last offseason, where it was expected he would begin to bounce between AAA and the majors as an insurance policy at the back end of a rotation. He had been, in essence, pigeon-holed as a replacement-level innings-eater.

Then Baltimore stuck Hunter in the bullpen, and his velocity increased about 6 miles an hour. It took his average velocity from the 90-91mph range, to 96-97mph. The spike completely changed the nature of Hunter's fastball, which in turn changed his approach. He can overpower hitters he used to have to out think.

Tommy Hunter may or may not have everything to do with Blake Beavan. I'd like to find out if Beavan can follow Hunter's example or not.

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SBG 1913 on Religion

2013-02-19T06:00:00.000-08:00

I am always combing the internet for free stuff. Most of it is trash, but every now and then a gem can be found - particularly when looking for content where copyright rights have expired. This is the perfect batch for hidden gems; things are free and readily available simply because they are so old!

Such is the case with the 1913 edition of Spalding's baseball guide. It can be found for free on the internet in all sorts of formats. This is part two of an ongoing series in which I will investigate excerpts of this hidden treasure.

Spalding's Baseball Guide - 1913: on religion

The Bible is the Spalding book of rules for the game of life. James B. Sullivan, beloved by all athletes, gave me these rules for athletes: "Don't drink, use tobacco, or dissipate. Go to bed early and eat wholesome food!" The boozer gets out of the game as certainly as the bonehead.

I have interviewed scores of the most noted players. Every one had a religious training. Many are church members. All avoid old-time drinking, as our fathers did smallpox.

Mathewson belongs to the high type now generally being duplicated. He is a modern masculine Christian. Base Ball demands brains as well as brawn.

Joe Saunders, the Cheaper/Older Jason Vargas

2013-02-16T13:01:00.001-08:00

The Mariners pulled a neat trick with their starting rotation this offseason that has not received enough attention. The moves received attention separately, but together the Jason Vargas trade and Joe Saunders signings are worth thinking about.

Vargas was traded to the Angels for Kendry Morales in a deal that made good sense for both sides once the Angels signed Josh Hamilton. Morales gives the Mariners offense, Vargas gives the Angels a pitcher they needed to round out their rotation. Both players were eligible for arbitration one final time before free agency, so financially the swap was a great combination.

Morales agreed to a contract with the Mariners for $5.25 million. Vargas agreed to a contract with the Angels for $8.5 million. Advantage (financially), Mariners - although Vargas left a significant question mark behind in the starting rotation.

The Mariners have since signed Joe Saunders to a $7 million contract, with an option for next season worth $6.5 million. He is a southpaw that relies on a change-up to get batters out. On the surface he sounds a bunch like Jason Vargas, except he will cost $1.5 million less.

I took a closer look at the data to see how comparable Saunders and Vargas are. Similar might not be a strong enough word. They might as well be each other.
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He's Ours

2013-02-13T19:34:00.000-08:00

There are 175 million more reasons that Felix Hernandez is a Seattle Mariner as of this afternoon. The deal is official, and was even signed at a public press conference, so there can be no doubt - Felix Hernandez is Mariners property for the next seven years.

To quote some local independent artists who just went triple platinum, this is (blank)ing awesome.

Jack Zduriencik simply said about Felix, "he's ours," and there isn't a better title for this post. Z's quote is literally true, but more importantly speaks to the heart of what was at stake until today, and why this deal was historic and inevitable at the same time.

When I watched the replay of King Felix's press conference, I saw a young man who knows he has it good, and has no interest in finding out if the grass is greener anywhere else. I was struck by how Felix talked about the Mariners, Safeco Field, and the city of Seattle. He described how supportive the fans are of him, how awesome the King's Court is, and how exciting it is to pitch in Safeco Field - as if his physics-bending change-up wouldn't play well anywhere else. Felix would be loved wherever he pitches, but that doesn't seem to be the way Felix thinks. Felix knows that Seattle loves him, and he knows that he loves Seattle. Maybe he would like it elsewhere, but why tempt fate?

Wouldn't we all like to believe we know when we have it good, and we cherish good things when we have them?

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Mariners Attempting to Make Newsworthy News

2013-02-10T13:44:00.000-08:00

Other real-world responsibilities pulled me away from baseball most of the past week and a half. Looks I didn't miss much until the past few days. The Mariners have been reportedly busy without much to officially show yet. Frankly, that doubles as a description of their whole offseason. In case you need an update going into spring training (starts Tuesday!), here you go:

Maybe Felix Hernandez is about to sign a huge contract. Ryan Divish at the TNT has a nice summary blog post up today with the latest grumblings about some sort of elbow problem that might be a reason King Felix and the M's haven't agreed to a 7-year, $175 million deal that was reported a few days ago. My guess (pure speculation) is that they found some sort of normal wear-and-tear that would be expected of a workhorse like King Felix, and perhaps also explains his gradual dip in velocity over the last few seasons. The Mariners want Felix, and Felix wants to stay with the Mariners. Maybe the deal includes some sort of injury clauses, but my prediction is that it gets done. I'm so sure of it I still named my fantasy baseball league after King Felix this season.
Maybe Joe Saunders is about to sign a modest contract. I feel like there has been speculation about Saunders for the better part of a month now. The speculation strengthened the last few days to reports that a deal is in place, pending a physical. Saunders will essentially replace Jason Vargas, and on paper there is a very good chance that his impersonation is a dead ringer. I also love the idea of Saunders crushing his former team, the Angels, but we will have to see if that happens.
Kelly Shoppach officially signed a deal, and the Mariners DFAd Shawn Kelley to make room for him. I am not in love with this move, but it is rather minor so it is hard to have much emotion about at all. Shoppach is the backup catcher, Kelley was a middle reliever. I feel like the Mariners could find similar backup catchers by offering minor league deals with invites to spring training, thus saving Kelley or someone else for another month. Seems a bit to me like the Mariners spent more than they needed to get Shoppach, and gave up more than they needed to at this point.
Jon Garland was given a minor league contract with invite to spring training. Welcome this year's Kevin Millwood to camp! Garland isn't quite as much of a grizzled veteran, but he pitches to contact and got lost in the off-season shuffle because he did not pitch at all last season. I think Garland is better than fellow revival project Jeremy Bonderman, which makes him in my view closer to a dark horse than a long shot to grab the fifth spot in the M's starting rotation.

Spring training starts slowly, but it will be nice to talk about something besides all the things maybe or maybe not happening. It's time to play ball, or at least have pitchers and catcher play games of catch that replace clips of amazing squirrels on local sports broadcasts.

SBG 1913 on Foul Language

2013-01-31T17:08:00.000-08:00

I am always combing the internet for free stuff. Most of it is trash, but every now and then a gem can be found - particularly when looking for content where copyright rights have expired. This is the perfect batch for hidden gems; things are free and readily available simply because they are so old!

Such is the case with the 1913 edition of Spalding's baseball guide. It can be found for free on the internet in all sorts of formats. This is part one of an ongoing series in which I will investigate excerpts of a hidden treasure.

Spalding's Baseball Guide - 1913: on foul language

It has ever been the policy of the GUIDE to stand for clean and high class Base Ball. Twenty per cent. more women attend ballgames than ten years ago. Eighty per cent. more women spectators are likely to attend games five years from now. To encourage their attendance every effort should be made to eliminate all disgraceful conversation on the field.

As a general rule two good reasons may be advanced for disputes on the part of players.

First: Desire to "cover up" the player's own blunder.

Second: General "cussedness."

MLB, MLK, and the XX Chromosome

2013-01-21T06:00:00.000-08:00

Martin Luther King Jr., if he were still alive today, would have some things to say about baseball. I don't know exactly what he would have to say, but he'd have something to say. His birthday is an ideal day to pause and take a look at Major League Baseball from more of a social justice perspective. Steroids are a hot topic again in the wake of the great Hall of Fame non-vote, but there are other uncomfortable truths in the game today.

One thing King would certainly have something to say about is the shrinking black population in the majors. Only 8.5% of MLB players on opening day rosters in 2012 were black, which is half the rate that were black in 1959 when the Red Sox became the last team to integrate after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier (source of that fact is in the hyperlinked USA Today story).

I have it in my mind to investigate the shrinking black population in some depth one of these days, but for now I will just say it is an interesting, and I believe complex, trend. My hunch is that whatever is contributing to the modern disappearance of black baseball players happens before MLB scouts ever get eyes on players*. This doesn't diminish or dismiss the problem, but it changes the nature of the discussion. I have no idea if MLK would agree with my line of thinking, and it is too bad that he isn't around to weigh in.

*I know this is cryptic, but unpacking this idea really is a post of its own.

I will link to a good MLK post about black ballplayers if I find one. I am actually more interested in talking about women with this post. There is a gender barrier in baseball that simply should not exist at this point.

A Visualization of Team Italy

2013-01-18T03:00:00.000-08:00

The Mariners have nine players on various World Baseball Classic rosters. I perused the names and countries without many surprises, until I came to one.

Brian Sweeney is playing for team Italy.

I had never thought of Sweeney's ancestry until this afternoon, but he piqued my interest. I simply did not expect him to be a part of any WBC roster, much less Italy's. The option wasn't within my realm of possibilities.

I wondered who else was on team Italy, and one thing led to another. Below is a map plotting the birth cities of everyone on team Italy:

View Italy WBC in a larger map

I'd think that Italy makes a horse shoe around New York city if I didn't know better. Sweeney was born in Yonkers, NY, so he fits right in.

There are 15 other nations besides Italy in the upcoming World Baseball Classic. I bet a handful of them have player birthplaces that leave similar geographic footprints.

Fun fact: Italy enters the WBC ranked ninth in the world in baseball.

Why, Of All People, I Should Be Pumped for Mike Morse

2013-01-16T21:52:00.001-08:00

The Mariners traded for Mike Morse in exchange for John Jaso. Here are full details of the three-way trade, but from the M's end, it was Morse for Jaso.

I really should be excited about this deal. Allow me to explain.
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Justin Upton's Rejection a Shame

2013-01-12T11:10:00.002-08:00

Justin Upton rejected a trade to the Mariners a couple days ago. This is the biggest news of the whole offseason for the Mariners, which sums up how the offseason has felt. The Mariners seems to have options, but none of them seem to happen.

The rumored package to get Upton was headlined by Taijuan Walker, and filled out with Charlie Furbush, Stephen Pryor, and Nick Franklin.

Basically, I whole-heartedly agree with Dave Cameron's analysis. This was a fair trade for the Mariners. It would have hurt to see Walker leave, but great to see Upton in the M's lineup. Trades are trades, not free acquisitions of talent. A team loses something to gain something else.

This deal made incredible sense for the Mariners, particularly in light of who is on the roster right now.
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