Clay Moyle and son Caleb
I decided to knock out a quick article concerning a number of random sports-related thoughts going through my mind as the three-day weekend approaches.
First, it looks like I really jinxed poor old Raul Ibanez when I wrote an early July article about how likely it appeared he would set a new single season home run mark for ballplayers over the age of 40. At the time, Raul had hit 22 home runs in the Mariners first 89 games and looked like a sure bet to establish a new record.
Ted Williams has held the record for over 50 years now as a result of hitting 29 dingers at age 41 in 1960. Remarkably, the Splendid Splinter also batted .316 in what turned out to be his final season.
Well, since I wrote that article about Ibanez, his production dropped way off and he’s only hit three more home runs over the teams’ next 45 games. Unless he rediscovers that early season stroke and goes on a tear over the remaining 28 games it looks as though Williams mark will remain in place after all.
Meanwhile, the Mariners record stands at 61-73 after 134 games, a winning percentage of only .455. They finished 75-87 (.463) last year and many had hoped some of the younger players might have breakout seasons this year, and their play with the addition of free agent acquisitions Michael Morse (traded today to Baltimore), Kendyrs Morales and Ibanez would produce better results.
While the play of some of the younger players such as Michael Saunders and Justin Smoak has proved disappointing, nobody else has knocked our socks off. The performances of others, including Kyle Seager, Brad Miller, Mike Zunino, and Nick Franklin until recently, have provided some hope for the future.
After struggling mightily earlier in the year and looking like he might just end up being a major bust, I see Dustin Ackley has hit over .400 for the month of August the last time I looked. Hopefully he’s finally turned the corner and will begin to realize the expectations the Mariners had of him when they made him the second selection in the 2009 draft.
Taijuan Walker
The Mariners gave promising rookie pitcher Taijuan Walker his first professional start against the Houston Astros today (August 30) and he performed exceedingly well, allowing just two hits and an unearned run.
It would sure be nice if a couple of their highly touted minor league pitchers actually pan out and team with Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma to give the team a more formidable pitching staff going forward.
While the Mariners’ season is painfully winding down, it should be fun to turn our attention to the fortunes of the local football teams. The Seahawks have looked awfully impressive during the preseason and there seems to be every reason that they’ll live up to all the preseason hype and prove to be one of the stronger teams in the NFL.
They should be a lot of fun to watch and seem to have more depth than I can remember in a long time, maybe ever. Regardless, I’m hopeful, they’ll be able to avoid the injury bug and they won’t have to rely upon that depth.
Obviously, the one guy they really cannot afford to lose to injury is their promising young quarterback Russell Wilson. I’m hopeful we’ll get a chance to watch Percy Harvin in action before the season is over.
Boy does the new Husky stadium look beautiful as a result of the completion of its renovation. It’s hard to imagine a better setting for college football. I’m really looking forward to watching the game between the Huskies and Boise State on a big screen television tomorrow. I don’t follow them as closely as I do the Seahawks, but I anticipate that they’ll be an entertaining bunch to watch this year as well.
I’m not soccer fan, but since my son plays the sport I took he and his friend over to the Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila this past Monday where we watched their second team battle the Vancouver Whitecaps second team. Or, I should say the boys watched while I read a book I brought along. I just can’t get into soccer and really only bring myself to watch the game when my own son is running around on a field playing it.
That said, I have to say the Starfire Sports Complex is awfully impressive. It’s comprised of a number of full size outdoor fields, including one with covered grandstand and seating for 3,000 along with an enormous 80,000-square foot Athletic Center Building housing two indoor fields, locker rooms, team meeting and film study areas, and numerous other features on the main floor alone.
The second floor includes a performance training center, retail store, restaurant, café and other amenities. There were an awful lot of fanatical soccer players and fans roaming around the complex that night and it appeared to be an outstanding breeding ground for the sport.
I’m still missing my Seattle Supersonics and wish we had some idea as to when we’ll get an NBA franchise here again. Opening night is only about two months away and as much as I love basketball I just can’t get too excited about the upcoming professional season without a team in Seattle.
Still debating whether or not I want to shell out funds for season tickets to Seattle University Redhawks basketball games this coming season. I’m told they are supposed to have some promising new blood, but I’ve heard that before, and last year was the least enjoyable of the three seasons I’ve purchased tickets for.
Then again, the ticket prices are pretty darn reasonable for awfully good seats in Key Arena, and along with the team playing over on the UW campus the Redhawks are probably the best option in terms of basketball entertainment in town during the absence of professional basketball.