Watching the Mariner’s beat the Oakland A’s yesterday was one of the best baseball experiences of the year for me. It was turn back the clock day at Safeco and after a scorcher on Saturday the weather was more in line with traditional Seattle weather‐ cool, cloudy and perfect for baseball. The game was a high scoring, back and forth affair that ended with JJ coming in to finish the final three A’s batters with eight pitches. There were all sorts of great parts to the game. One was watching Ichiro hit his 1500th career hit. Another was watching Houston Street get punished for walking Vidro. There were also some parts to the game that were not fun to watch. Raul continued to demonstrate that he was not born to play defense. Washburn struggled the whole day, getting hit hard starting in the first; he was not fooling anyone. Here is a little quote from ESPN:

Washburn allowed baserunners in four of his five innings and also hit a batter. He threw 90 pitches and failed to get one groundout. Washburn is a mediocre pitcher who is dependent on defense and luck. It should never be a surprise when he gets lit up. That he is the No. 2 pitcher in Seattle’s rotation is a testament to the staff’s weakness.

This brings us to the point of this post. I think that as the Mariner’s make a run at the Angels for The AL West John Mclaren needs to light a fire. I get the impression from the team that the M’s clubhouse is place for team building and a place where the team can all feel safe and secure that despite their performance on the field, they need not worry because their job is safe; a great example of unconditional love. My opinion is that it is time for some tough love. I am of the opinion that a little competition may be just what the doctor ordered.

Earlier this year Hargrove sat Big Sexy (Richie Sexson) after he refused to get a hit, this is the type of move I think Big Mac needs to make. I understand that he may be nervous with the Angels coming to town and want to ride the winning vibe after taking three out of four from the A’s, but I say this is the perfect time. Put the team on notice that their position is not a given and that production matters. I would love to see some people have to fight a bit for their jobs. Some of those people would be: Ibanez, Guillen, Washburn, Weaver, Ramirez and Sexson. I know these are some of the big boys on our team, but I think it would do them some good. I would love to see a hungry Adam Jones come up and play a little left field and see how Raul reacts. I would love to see Feierabend brought back up to take Ramirez’s place in the rotation for a week and see how that shakes things up. How about letting Big Ben play first for the Angel’s series? It is time to move. Although the M’s won yesterday is was not because they dominated, they didn’t. The team looked downright defeated after Swisher came in and cleared the bases with a double to give the A’s the lead. The spark came after Big Sexy was thrown out and Broussard came in to replace him. Big Ben went yard to set things right and the Mariner’s rolled.

We are a streaky team, everyone knows this. I say we play to it. We don’t win because of the production of our big names, save for Ichiro of course, but rather because the guys feed off of each other. This is one reason why retaining Ichiro was so essential to the long term viability of the club. He sparks the momentum, but one man does not a team make. Ichiro needs guy behind him that are going to bring him around to score. I think the upcoming series with Anaheim is going to be a pivotal point in our season. We are on the brink and a strong series could really make the difference for the rest of the season, we need this. Play to win Mac, get these guys going!

This entry was posted on Monday, July 30th, 2007 at 12:58 pm and is filed under Baseball, MLB, Seattle Mariners. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.