TERRY MOSHER
The Seattle Mariners’ disastrous baseball season isn’t the worse season being had in baseball, which is hard to believe but is true. Baltimore, which lost 115 games last season is on pace to lose 113 this season.
Man, you have to work hard to be that inept.
In contrast, the Mariners are on pace to lose 98 games. If they try just a little harder they can make it to 100. Toronto, Detroit and Kansas City are all worse than the Mariners and in the National League only the Marlins have a shot at 100 losses.
If you are a glass half-full person, the future looks better for the Mariners. Their AA club, Arkansas Travelers, has the best Texas League record at 43-25 and has a 6.5 lead in the North Division.
Arkansas is where the Mariners have stashed most of their top prospects. Catcher Carl Raleigh, 6-3, 215 pounds, hit 22 home runs in Modesto of the California League in 82 games before being promoted recently to Arkansas. He’s a switch hitter who hits the snot out of the ball and is a good defender.
First baseman Evan White is a qualify defender who at 6-3, 205 is also a snot hitter. He has 11 home runs with the Travelers. Kyle Lewis is a 6-4, 210-pounder who is healthy for the first time in a long time and plays centerfield extremely well and is a doubles kind of guy.
The Mariners No. 1 draft pick last year, 6-6, 225-pound Logan Gilbert, pitched for the Travelers for the first time since being promoted from Modesto and had a qualify outing, striking out eight and allowing two hits and two runs in 5.1 innings.
Justin Dunn, 6-2, 185, has whiffed 102 in 81.1 innings with 24 walks
Justus Sheffield, 6-foot- lefthander, has righted himself after being demoted from Tacoma and has a 1.62 ERA in six starts with the Travelers.
It’s going to take awhile for this young talent to arrive in Seattle. I would think the 2021 season you will start to see the benefit of general manager Jerry Dipoto’s step-back decision this year. I covered the Mariners for nearly 30 years for the local daily newspaper and it is my contention that you build a successful franchise from within, which has been rare for this franchise in recent times. Now it is doing it and with patience you will see it pay off.
In order for this to succeed you have to have that patience and consistency within the organization. Hire your people and let them do their job knowing it will take time. That is the key to success.
You know, pro football is pretty simple and difficult at the same time. You need a good coach that hires people better than him as assistants, get a quality quarterback and build a deep and talented offensive line and then stack enough crazy defensive guys on that side of the ball to slow down opponents.
Yeah, you have to be crazy and tough to play defense in the NFL. Its fun watching those guys play, although deep down I know they are contributing to their own future health problems by playing with reckless abandonment. As I have said many times before, the pro football game has outgrown its rules and is so violent that I shake my head why anybody would want to play this way. Almost every game somebody is carted off the field, strapped to a gurney.
But to be success in this violent sport you have to have these crazies, guys like Earl Thomas who plays out of his freaking mind. Without more than a few of them, you can’t consistently win, although having a good QB and offensive line really helps offset a leaky defense.
One of the best college offensive lines I saw was the 198 Washington Huskies that had Bainbridge’s Don Dow, Paul Coty, Rick Mallory, Eric Moran and Pat Zakskorn along with tight end Willie Rosborough on it. They just overpowered teams and led the Huskies to 10-2 record (Washington State upset them 24-20, costing them a third straight trip to the Rose Bowl).
That’s it for today.
Be well pal.
Be careful out there.
Have a great day.
You are loved.