Mariners Win, Remind Fans Baseball Is Fun

Alex was totally right – I was working on a recap!  Thank you for the kind words, Alex.  You are good at graphs, and I am not.

Today I decided to skip the intro I usually like to do and get to the meat of the story: a Mariners victory.  I usually set up a victory with some sort of anecdote or story that loosely relates to the game.  I usually set up a loss with some sort of allegory or satire.  Not today, folks, not today.  Today made me forget, even if only for a moment, that the Seattle Mariners were swept in three games over the weekend.  It’s games like these that remind me that, yeah, it pays to be a sports fan.  And tonight, it was great to be a Mariners fan.

I have to preface that I was on the road, so I was listening to the game.  Although to some, listening to baseball games on the radio may be antiquated, I enjoy it.  There’s something special about it, something unique.  Things are different with Dave gone, but that’s another story for another today.  Tonight is about those special and unique things.  Firstly, Mike Carp‘s homerun.  Good golly.  Usually, off of the bat, you can tell when it’s a no-doubter.  The trajectory, the batter’s reaction, and of course, the pitcher’s reaction.  You just know it.  Rick Rizzs made my night with this call:

"“Swing and a drive!  Deep to right-field!  Going back – Holy Smoaks! (sp?) Goodbye, baseball!  Off of the Hit-It-Here Cafe – no!, wait!  Over the windows!  Into someone’s SOUP!”"

At that point I lost it – are you kidding me?  Dustin Ackley tripled in Ichiro Suzuki to tie it, and then this?  Watching the replay now, for sure, it landed it someone’s soup.  I’m going to make a diagram of how improbable that is eventually, but for now – that’s just nuts.  What a memory for that person.  I imagine a soup bowl is probably able to hold two or three baseballs, so the chance that something like that is pretty slim.  And they get to keep the go-ahead homerun ball!  Secondly, what a memory for the fans.  Matt Pittman on the post game show brought up that, he hadn’t seen anyone hit it that far in a while.  He deferred to Shannon Drayer, but he quickly remembered it was Randy Winn.  Randy Winn hit a grand-slam off of the H.I.H. Cafe.  That was his memory.  Now, he’ll get to say he remembers when Mike Carp hit the go-ahead homerun and it landed in a bowl of soup.

I think I’ll let my colleagues take it from here!  Via Alex Carson:

"“FWIW, nice to see the dugout erupt and the excitement as Carp high-fives. Must be tough near September 18.5 back.”"

On further examination, the dugout is really excited after that blast.  Most notably, Mike Carp.  His smile reaches from ear to ear.  How could it not?  That sort of excitement is what the fans come to see, and that’s what the players live for.  Secondly, Felix.  Felix Hernandez.  He’s one of the last people to high-five Carp, but when the video is live, watch it closely!  They have a secret handshake.  Some sort of grasping of the fingers before the hug.  Now, Felix is the King.  We know this.  He is the star of the Seattle Mariners.  The fact that Felix Hernandez and Mike Carp have some sort of irregular handshake is amazing.  Million-dollar man, meet rookie.  Rookie, meet million-dollar man.  It’s sort of unreal when you put it into perspective.  It’s things like these that make me appreciate this game a whole lot more.  Now, via Keith Myers:

"“That is why Carp will be successful in the Majors. Not the HR, but because he studied the scouting reports and Ackleys AB”"

It wasn’t like he had seen Hisanori Takahashi in a prior at-bat.  It wasn’t like he had taken a pitch.  First pitch swinging!  A slider inside, and he pummeled it.

I realize now I’m talking a lot about Carp.  There’s a lot of things to be excited about!  Since I’m on the subject, what happens to Justin Smoak when he comes back?  Multiple people have touched on this subject, but I have another viewpoint.  It saddens me to think this, but it may be a possibility.  Maybe there isn’t room for all the youngsters on our team.  Do you think anyone on this team is unmovable?  Does this up the trade-value for Carp during the off-season?  It seems counter-intuitive, since the Mariners need bats, but it’s a possibility.  A sad possibility, because I enjoy watching all of the rookies play.  Next year, they won’t be rookies.  Next year, they’ll be major league baseball players with one year of service time under their belt.

Did you know Casper Wells is a converted pitcher?  I didn’t know that.  That’s not surprising, watching the laser-beam he threw to gun down Peter Bourjos.  I mean, stop and read that sentence.  Casper Wells threw out Peter Bourjos trying to stretch a single into a double.  Peter Bourjos is The Flash.  The time it takes for me to wash my hands, he can make it to the nearest Papa Murphy’s, bake the pie, and eat the whole thing.  He’s fast.  That was an amazing play.  Kudos to everyone who has said his defense isn’t something that hurts him.  Now we can say his arm isn’t something that hurts him, either.

It was a great game to listen to.  I know anyone who watched it, or listened to it, or enjoyed it live had a great time.

Tomorrow, Anthony Vasquez gets the start for the Mariners.  Read the above sentence about Bourjos.  Now watch Vasquez throw a baseball.  Perspective is a funny thing.