Archive for July, 2006

Seattle Times’ Sports Editor Cathy Henkel reviews Shaun Alexander’s new book, Touchdown Jesus today. She admits to not being big on sports books, and then explains that the book “is not what I’d call a page turner” and concludes by saying “… the book will not be considered a classic.”

But in between she gives a real good idea what it’s about. Henkel is shocked to learn that Alexander was a virgin when he was married (good for him, I say) — but infinitely more shocking to me is the revelation that Alexander and his wife agreed not to kiss until their wedding. Whoa. Now that is some serious, serious self-control. Incredible.

On the football side, Alexander’s recollection of the “backstabbing” incident a couple seasons ago differs from what sportswriters recall. Writer Cecil Murphey explains that the publisher left a lot of stuff about that episode on the editing room floor.

“They cut that chapter down, took a lot of the anger out,” Murphey said of the publisher. “They thought it was just a footnote. But it is true with all of us, that revisionism of the past is very common. I will say that I believe Shaun is convinced that the way he told it to me is the way it was. We all tend to remember some things wrongly, but he would never intentionally lie.”

Football season has arrived. Yes, training camp = football season. Who cares that the first meaningful game is still 6 weeks away. Patience, grasshopper. For now, we enjoy what we have — namely, a training camp like none other in Seahawks’ history.

Seriously, I challenge you to read JM Romero’s Day 1 recap in the Times and not be excited….

When wide receiver D.J. Hackett fought off a defender to bring in a long pass, albeit out of bounds, teammate Nate Burleson jumped on him and slapped his helmet.

The defensive players were particularly jacked up, even newcomer Julian Peterson. When a pass went over his head for a completion and he failed to lift his arms in defense, the veteran linebacker immediately dropped to the grass for a set of pushups.

Holmgren had to tell both the No. 1 offensive and defensive units to be careful not to hit each other hard as they huddled up for the 11-on-11 team drill. And on the very first play, cornerback Kelly Herndon stepped in front of a Hasselbeck pass for an interception, creating bedlam among his defensive teammates on the field and sideline.

I am SO ready for football. And this is the first time in my life I’ve ever wanted to live in Cheney…….

G O S E A H A W K S

This isn’t a good sign. M’s #1 draft pick Brandon Morrow has been in AZ for more than a month, but has pitched only two innings. That’s what’s being reported in an AP story on the P-I Web site. Not good.

While most of the M’s other draft picks have started playing real games for real teams in the minor league system, Morrow is being babied in Peoria. But the reason why depends on who you ask.

But his right elbow has been sore this month. Morrow last week called it tendinitis, yet the Mariners say they don’t know of any injury or setback – or at least won’t acknowledge one publicly. They call it rust.

Bavasi says “We’re easing him back in. There’s no injury popping up on any injury report.” And Gary Wheelock, the M’s’ rookie league pitching coach, says “He came here with a sore elbow, and we had to back him down a little … There is nothing serious with him, and we are taking things cautiously.”

Add it all up, and it doesn’t sound real good to me.

Pac-10 media have picked USC to win the Pac-10 football race again this year, but some writers give the nod to Cal, Oregon, and even ASU. It’s the first time in three years the vote wasn’t unanimous for the Trojans.

Oregon ends up 3rd overall with 3 first-place votes. OSU, WSU, and UW are all down in the bottom half. Here’s the voting:

First place votes in parentheses
1, USC (18) 276
2, California (7) 247
3, Oregon (3) 229
4, Arizona State (1) 204
5, UCLA 145
6, Arizona 133
7, Oregon State 125
8, Washington State 96
9, Stanford 90
10, Washington 50

Nice to see some common sense from Jeffri Chadiha of Sports Illustrated on the subject of the Seahawks’ off-season and the impact of losing Steve Hutchinson. Chadiha gives the Hawks an A- grade for the off-season with this bit of perspective on the Hutch loss:

What Went Wrong: They lost Pro Bowl guard Steve Hutchinson to Minnesota. If that’s the worst thing you can say about the Seahawks, life shouldn’t be so bad this season.

Amen to that. Hey – Hutch will be missed, but not nearly as much as if we’d lost Walter Jones. There’s just no comparison.

By the way, a quick reminder that I’m still looking for some help from readers regarding Hutch, Alexander, and the NFL season previews you’re reading these days.

Oh, and I do disagree with the “A” grade Chadiha gives the Cardinals. How can you be so generous when they did nothing to improve one of the worst OLs in the NFL?

M’s designate Everett for assignment

And the heavens opened up and songs of great joy were sang……

UPDATE: They’re not done for the day, it seems. Mariners acquire Broussard from Tribe. They give up Choo, which means the team is sold on the Jones/Reed combo in CF, pending any future deals.

As for Broussard, not only is he a huge upgrade over Carl Everett as our lefty DH, he’s a great musician and, more importantly, a big U2 fan. I’m pleased.

Oh, here’s Ben’s web site.

D-Jack took batting practice Monday night in Tampa Bay wearing a No. 82 Devil Rays uniform. From the Tampa Tribune comes this:

After struggling early, he got a few hitting tips from Rays senior adviser Don Zimmer, and smashed a couple pitches to the warning tracks in left and center field.

Jackson, who shares an agent with Rays C Dioner Navarro, said he watches a lot of Rays games from his Odessa home during the NFL offseason. And if he wasn’t so busy playing football and basketball in high school, he may have tried baseball.

“I’d like to play shortstop,” Jackson said. “I’d love for people to try to run on me. Try to hit it to me and try to beat it out, I’d like to take ‘em down.”

Who knew?

Can’t say I recall the last time a Mariner was featured in the New York Times … then again, I also can’t recall the last time a Mariner was doing something as unique as Kenji Johjima. And really, this needs to be said, doesn’t it — the guy came here to play the most communication-heavy position on the field, and he doesn’t (didn’t) speak the language, doesn’t know the country and culture, doesn’t know the league and its teams/players … and Kenji Johjima has been All-Star material all season long. Chew on that, would ya?

Anyway, the NY Times chewed on it with a nice feature on our catcher, focusing on the communication angle. There’s this funny story about chatting up A-Rod last week.

Johjima not only speaks to his teammates, but he will also sometimes talk to an opponent. An example of this occurred in a Yankees game last week.

When Alex Rodriguez went to the plate, Johjima greeted him with “Hello,” then added something else in English.

“I didn’t quite get what he was saying,” Rodriguez said. “And then he pointed. I thought he was messing with me. So I looked over to Jerry Meals.”

Meals was the home-plate umpire.

“Jerry told me, ‘He says your fly is open,’ ” Rodriguez said.

And it was. The zipper was broken. As soon as he could, Rodriguez changed his pants.

With the non-waiver trade deadline fast approaching, MLB teams are on the hunt for players that will make them better. The Mariners, of course, have earned a reputation as a non-player in the late July trade frenzy that sometimes hits major league baseball. Must still be gun-shy after the Varitek/Lowe/Slocumb debacle from … was it 1997?

So, on the assumption that the Mariners are not going to pull off a blockbuster deal to improve the team by July 31st, here are five (other) ways the Mariners can improve immediately.

5. Send Adam Jones back to Tacoma. He’s a likable enough kid, and he’s shown flashes of future potential. But every ball hit to CF, whether in the air or on the ground, is a nail-biting adventure at best and a potential disaster at worst. The minute the Mariners get a lead, even if it’s the 1st inning, I’m ready for a defensive replacement. If the Mariners were out of the pennant chase in the AL West and playing for the future, I’d say keep him. But if they think they can win the division, this is no time to let a 20-year-old learn on the job. There has to be a serviceable CF out there who can be had for a 2nd or 3rd tier minor leaguer.

4. Cut Julio Mateo. He’s too inconsistent, and right now he’s more “down” than up. 6.75 ERA in his last 10 appearances … 16 hits, 5 BBs, and only 5 Ks in his last 11 IP. This is another case of “there has to be somebody better out there.” Why not take a chance on 40-year-old lefty Chris Hammond? His numbers this year aren’t as bad as they seem. In fact, a good part of his problem might’ve been playing in the offense-friendly Great American Ballpark. Hammond’s home ERA this year was 12.41; on the road, just 2.76. He had 23 Ks and only 5 BBs in 29 innings. And you can’t say this year is part of a continuing slide — he’s been money the past four years bouncing from Atlanta to NY to Oakland to San Diego.

3. Fire Mike Hargrove. Even back in the Melvin days, I always said that managers don’t lose 90+ games a year — players do. But I’m starting to join many M’s fans who blog or post on message boards on the “fire Hargrove” bandwagon. I don’t understand his decision-making. (Like today’s game — how on earth do you let Mateo, with lefties hitting almost .400 off him, pitch to David Ortiz with the game on the line in the 6th inning? Where’s George Sherrill at that point? That’s so typical of his in-game management.) I don’t understand Hargrove’s lineup assembling. (How does Carl Everett continue to hit ahead of Johjima night in and night out? How does Betancourt bat 8th and Bloomquist 2nd?)

2. Cut Carl Everett. Do it for business reasons if nothing else. The worst thing would be for next year’s contract to be guaranteed because of playing time this season. If the business reasons aren’t enough, the baseball reasons have to be. He’s been a complete bust. Speaking of which….

1. Trade Jarrod Washburn to anyone who’ll take him. One win since Memorial Day. Only one season with more than 11 wins. $37 million dollars over four years. Is this one of the worst free agent signings of all-time? Yes.

Gary Washburn has a good analysis of what’s to come as the Sonics, NBA, and Seattle officials tap dance through the next 12-16 months and determine, via their actions and decisions, what the future is for NBA hoops in Seattle. Ultimately, really, the ball is in the city’s court.

The city has the option of meeting the owners’ standards for a new or refurbished arena and has every right to force the tycoons from Oklahoma City to honor every day of the final four seasons on the lease.

The NBA realizes it will look poor on its image to snatch a team from Seattle, one of just eight cities to house an NBA team for at least 40 years. So they are not going to push for relocation. They are going to give the city of Seattle enough rope to reel the team back from extinction or hang itself.

No one is talking about it much, but I say this also impacts the Blazers’ situation. If the Sonics should leave, as I certainly expect they will, then the NBA is left with one team in the N’west — and that’s a team which also has a very tenuous future. Would Stern be happy losing both N’west NBA teams within the span of a year or two? I doubt it.

And if both teams take off, that leaves the NBA with nothing north of Sacramento and west of Minneapolis. In fact, go draw a line on a map from Sacramento to Salt Lake City to Minneapolis. You’re cutting off a pretty big chunk of the country. Admittedly not the most populous chunk, but isn’t it too big to be ignored?