Archive for June, 2004

The gang at USS Mariner likes the trade … a lot, and that works for me since I know nothing about prospects in the White Sox system.

But about Freddy, this will be my favorite memory:

It was 6:00 am on September 10, 2003. My wife and I, and our two kids, were walking through Sea-Tac to get in line at the United Airline check-in counter. The airport was pretty quiet on this Tuesday morning. As we approached the check-in area, I saw a group of people up ahead, and as we got closer, one of them looked very familiar.

“Honey – look! Freddy Garcia!” She didn’t recognize him at first, but then agreed with me that it was him. He was there with his girlfriend and two other guys who appeared to be friends of his visiting from who-knows-where.

I was wearing a Mariners polo shirt, but you’d have to look closely to see the team logo. Sean, who was 5-years-old at the time, was wearing his John Olerud t-shirt which looks like a Mariners uniform. Sean was, bar none, the biggest 5-year-old fan the Mariners have ever had. We got in line behind their group, and Freddy was facing our way chatting with his friends.

The Mariners had lost the night before. I don’t remember the opponent or the score, but I remember it was a game they pissed away and we heard on the Seattle news that they’d stayed late in the clubhouse for a players-only team meeting that apparently lasted quite a while after the game. Freddy had been having an awful season, and the team was will into the midst of their second consecutive late summer swoon … quickly falling out of 1st place and out of playoff contention. It was, in short, not a happy time to be a Seattle Mariner.

I’m not the type to interrupt famous people in situations like this, so we didn’t say anything. We didn’t need to.

Freddy smiled as he noticed Sean’s shirt, and interrupted his friends. He walked straight over to Sean and held out his hand. He probably said “Hello”, but I was too busy enjoying the mile-wide grin on Sean’s face. Freddy eventually shook all our hands and said hello, then rejoined his friends ahead of us in line. We were thrilled with the experience and the joy in Sean’s face. I remember thinking about the situation of the game the night before, and thinking that Freddy must’ve had about 3-4 hours sleep at best, and still took the time to shake hands with a 5-year-old fan. Just awesome.

A minute or two passed and Freddy’s friends were called to the counter. As they gathered their things, Freddy came back again to shake our hands one more time — a Seattle Mariner taking a moment to recognize a fan. We said “thanks” and “goodbye” and off he went with his group.

He was having such an awful season to that point that we’d been calling him “Freddy Loser” for several months. We haven’t called him that since.

Good luck Freddy Winner. Hope we see you back in a Mariners uniform in 2005.

Eric Degerman of the Tri-City Herald has a nice story about Bucky Jacobsen and the waiting game he’s in for a call-up to Seattle.

“Part of me still wonders, not when, but if?”

———–

“In Fresno, they put your height and weight on the scoreboard when you come up to bat and they had my same height and weight when I signed out of college,” Jacobsen said. “I was 6-4, 220. I laughed at the catcher when I saw that said, ‘Yeah, 220 in my bra.’

“I’m about 270. And really fast,” he joked.

———–

“I don’t care if I’ve got 50 home runs; I don’t think I should take Edgar Martinez’s job.”

Good article. Sounds like a good guy. Hope he gets a shot soon.

Tacoma News-Tribune: Is teen phenom second coming of Jack Sikma? Sonics hope so … Jack Sikma? Jeez, let’s not put too much pressure on the kid or anything.

This is what the NBA Draft has come to. We draft a high school kid and hope that maybe, just maybe, he’ll someday be as good as Jack Freakin’ Sikma.

The Blazers made no bones about their love for Sebastian Telfair. And they obviously decided they wouldn’t be able to get him at 22 or 23, so they got him at 13 — much too early according to all the experts. The kid looks very gifted with the rock in his hands. Great passer. But he’s a kid. Without a track record. And he’s 6-foot tall or shorter. Will he be ready to contribute next season? Probably not. Would the 6-foot-or-less, non-kid-with-a-winning-track-record Jameer Nelson be ready to contribute next season? You bet. I like Nelson. I’d have liked to see him in Portland.

As for the other guys — Khryapa and Monia and the South Korean in round 2 — no clue.

Jack Sikma just loves Robert Swift, the 7-foot high school senior that didn’t work out for anyone yet was picked at 12 by the Sonics. The Boston Celtics also loved him, though considering their recent draft history, that’s not an endorsement of Swift’s ability by any means.

The Sonics roster being what it is (pretty much full), and the draft being what it was (pretty much crap) meant there was no way anyone of immediate value was going to arrive in Seattle soon. I shudder to say it, but the Sonics probably did about as good as they could have.

Remember it could’ve been worse: they could’ve ended up with Andre Iguodala. Thanks to the 76ers for taking him at 9. He’ll be the most unproductive pick of the draft.

9-7, Texas. 18 innings.

The Mariners have dropped the first two games of this series to fall 10.5 games out of first. They came into the series having won 9 of their last 13 games and moving up 5 games in the standings. Optimism was everywhere. As the series in Texas started, the M’s front office announced they’d know by July 1st if the team was in the race or out of it — if they’d be trade deadline buyers or sellers.

This series, then, is huge. Having lost the first two games, this game is huge.

It’s the bottom of the 16th inning as I type this. The Mariners and Rangers are tied 7-7. Texas has a man on 1st and one out.

A Rangers win today will likely be the knockout punch on this entire season.

… is tomorrow, and the Sonics have a decision to make — but not about that pick. That’s decision #2. The Sonics have to decide if they believe Brent Barry is coming back. If he’s not, the 12th pick becomes a lot easier — you have to find a replacement for him.

But if he’s coming back, not so easy. Unless you’re picking in the top 2, this draft pretty much sucks. The Sonics are loaded with mediocre big men and — if Barry is back — they’re loaded with 2s and 3s (Barry, Lewis, Murray, etc.). None of the big men available at #12 will be worth a dime for several years. You don’t need any 2s or 3s, and you just picked a PG last year in Ridnour. They have 11 guys under contract and 3 draft picks. So if Barry is back, this pick is basically useless.

Verdict: if they think Barry will be back, trade the pick and save the money you’d have to spend on a guaranteed 3-year deal for someone who isn’t gonna see much PT.

Phil Jackson goes. Shaq wants a trade. Kobe wants to test the free agent waters. And now this: Gary Payton exercises his option to return next season. Can the news get any worse?

In his notes/rumors column today, Gammons writes that “someone who knows” says Jamie Moyer would waive his 10-5 trade rights if he were being traded to the Yankees or Red Sox. Can’t blame Jamie for wanting a shot at a World Series, and if the Mariners decide they’re a seller this summer, they owe it to both Jamie and Edgar to ask if they want to be dealt to a contender, and where. And if they say “no”, they deserve to stick around.

I believe Jamie would want to go. His ties aren’t quite as deep in Seattle as Edgar’s. I also believe Edgar would want to stay. He’s always been the loyal type and I can’t picture him turning his back on the team to chase a ring … even if the team wouldn’t look at it that way.

Oh, and Gammons also has more on the Garcia rumors. He also floats a 4-for-1 deal where Garcia goes to the Dodgers and we get 4 prospects.