Welcome and The Season so Far

Questions. Yes, questions are the key. You may find yourself asking many very reasonable questions. However, the first question I will provide an answer to is this: who am I?

I am the author of this particular baseball blog. Fanball.com has vested me with the authority to pontificate from this particular vehicle. And what have I done to earn this almighty power? I applied to an ad and tricked the friendly folks over at Fanball into thinking that I can actually write a little. Which isn’t really true at all. However, beyond that, I am also a diehard Mariners fan who has stayed true to the team through the thick (AL record-setting 116 victories in 2001) and the not quite so thick (101 losses last year). As such, I have seen them through triumph and defeat; and I am familiar with many of their players through the last 15 or so seasons when I joined the family of Ms fans from the Dodgers’ doggedly faithful. What can I say? I’m a west coast kind of guy.

So now you know a bit about your host. Undoubtedly you will learn more throughout the year. Now, what is the second question that presents itself this evening? What’s the deal with the 2009 Seattle Mariners? We have seen moments of brilliance, moments of shame, and moments of mediocrity. Which is their true self and which is the alter ego? Quite honestly, I am just as confused as many others may be. I will stick to what I have told people since the beginning of the year. They have a chance to put together a solid season.

The offense lacks power, sure, but they run the bases aggressively. The Mariners rank last in baseball in on base percentage, but they are in the middle of the pack in stolen bases which means they are taking extra bases when they do get on. It also means, more singles can score runs rather than relying on home runs and doubles two categories where the Mariners are less than mighty.

And what about the arms race? Seattle began the year pitching better than just about any other team. Injuries, overwork, and a couple of slumping arms have cooled them off a bit. But the Mariners still rank near the top in the majors in both ERA and WHIP, two of the more relevant categories.

The biggest difference between the 1^st place Seattle Mariners and the version that has lost 16 of its last 23 is the winning edge. Early in the year, Seattle was finding ways to win. Now they are letting games they should win slip away.

So where does that put the team after 48 games? At 22-26, 4 games below .500 and 6 games behind the AL West leading Texas Rangers. Considering how miserably, the Mariners have played over the last couple of weeks, that’s not too bad. This coming weekend is huge for the Ms. They travel to Anaheim for a 3 game set with the AL West favorite Angels who are in second place, 3 games ahead of Seattle. This series could be a tipping point either way. If they collapse now, however, it could be a long, uphill road back toward the top. However, if the offense can put some more runs on the board and the faltering bullpen pulls back together, I still believe this team has a definite chance to stick around all year.