Series Preview: Royals at Mariners

Two groups of adult men will assemble tonight, tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday. These men will do something that looks quite a bit like baseball. They’ll be paid to do so, even. Meaning they really are two professional baseball teams, even if your eyes tell you otherwise.

The Royals (the moveable object) visit Safeco Field to take on the Mariners (the stoppable force) in a four game set that could be looked back on as one of those “oh, sure, we HAD to sweep the Royals” moments come next June’s draft.

• Graphical Explorations

When the Mariners began play in 1977, the Royals were still in their first decade but were already really good.

They were embarking on the middle season of a three-year stretch where they made it to the ALCS. Unfortunately, the Yankees were better and beat them all three times. Two years later, in 1980, they’d get past the Yankees only to lose to the Phillies in the World Series. It wouldn’t be until 1985 and one more ALCS loss that they’d win the whole thing.

It’s hard for people my age to remember just how good they were, because we were little kids back then.

The Mariners were pretty good for a similar stretch from the mid-90’s until the early 2000’s. Of course, there were only two ALCS berths and zero World Series berhts for the M’s.

Now, both teams are lousy and have been for some time. Each have promising farm systems (the Royals’ being easily superior) and each hoping to take another step forward in 2012. But this is 2011 and the rules say they have to play even though they’d probably both rather be fishing.

• Pitching Matchups

Come on Vargas, this has got to be the team you start to right yourself against, right? Right?

Jeff Francis isn’t amazing was a good, cheap pickup for a team who needed those things.

Saturday will be Michael Pineda‘s second to last start of the season. Watch it. Enjoy it. Miss it.

I think I’ll watch the cooking network on Sunday.