2014 Seattle Mariners

[Sports Hernia]

Nope not mad because of 2004, I'm mad because of 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and what I've seen so far in 2014. It's the combo platter. I don't know why that is so difficult to comprehend. ... And judging by the empty seats I'm not the only one that is unhappy with the mariners org.

Yes it's only April, no one is denying that. ...but with this offense is bad as it is, they have to be pretty flawless to win games. Who besides Cano and Seagar are proven run producers in this offense?

You can keep polishing turds and hoping they turn out to be diamonds, that's your prerogative, but it shouldn't be difficult to understand when others don't share your rosy outlook of the 2014 Seattle Mariners.

Who knows, maybe you'll be right (and honestly I hope you are because that means another winning team) and you can come back to us and say "see, told ya so!", but as I betting man I suggest you don't bet on that.

 

[Uncle Si]

Noones polishing anything...I'm just saying there is a whole lot of moaning in here about an 11-14 team in April. If they're 6-8 under .500 on June 1 then sure. It hasn't been pretty but no one expected us to be more than .500. Not that far off really.

Offense needs to be better for sure.

I've been going to Ms games since 1979. One decade of poor play is nothing.

 

[Smelly McUgly]

So much whiny negativity in this thread...its not even May ffs

Anyways that was cool.

Crappy Smoak and crappy Ackley setting the table for Seager. Rodney with an easy 9th.

Good win.

Oh, stop it. You said you were out for awhile earlier in this thread.

Anyway, crappy Smoak and crappy Ackley are still crappy unless you love small sample sizes.

I can't appreciate a nice win?

Beats the pillow biting post after post on here.

By the way...25 games is still a small sample size.

You can appreciate whatever you'd like, my friend. I'm just reminding you of when you "gave up" on following the team, at least for a little bit.

We don't have just 25 games of small sample size on Ackley or Smoak or Saunders. We have seasons' worth of data.

 

[Uncle Si]

I didn't give up..just let go a bit. I was pretty excited for the start of the season. The 8 game losing streak sucked.

I'm not defending the players (and Smoak and Ackely were very strong in September last year.. Or one of them was).. Just saying theirs wiggle room for hope. (Until its summer and nothing else is going on. If we suck then I will be sad)

 

[Sports Hernia]

Noones polishing anything...I'm just saying there is a whole lot of moaning in here about an 11-14 team in April. If they're 6-8 under .500 on June 1 then sure. It hasn't been pretty but no one expected us to be more than .500. Not that far off really.

Offense needs to be better for sure.

I've been going to Ms games since 1979. One decade of poor play is nothing.

Well if you want to play the super fan card I will too, I've been going to mariner games since game 2 in their first year in 1977. My uncle coached one of the M's players back in South Dakota and used said player's (Dave Collins) tickets.

So let's not act like the Mariners have only one decade of bad play. Outside of a 7 year stretch 1995-2002, they've been bad to mediocre at best!

If you enjoy that type of baseball more power to you, and if you are right and they turn out to be world beaters this year, I'd be the first to give you credit!

 

[Uncle Si]

I'm not playing the super fan card. Not even close. I'm just old is all. Just saying with this club if youve been around long enough a decade of futility is the norm. Don't enjoy it all you want. I just figured our 9 pages of internet thread with incessant whining could use a change.

Id prefer to take a moment and enjoy Seagers home run. I have my doubt's there will be many more like it. But hey, its April so there's still hope.

 

[CrimsonWazzu]

If Smoak had 23 hits instead of 20 right now he'd be hitting over .280 and people would be gushing. Because this is how people react after 24 games in a 162 game season. Yet he leads in RBI and is 2nd in hits and BA(for starters).

Ackley has been a turd, Miller has been a turd. Seager was a turd until 5 games ago and now he leads in HR and OPS. How about we get to July before the entire roster gets dumped.

 

[hawksfansinceday1]

If Smoak had 23 hits instead of 20 right now he'd be hitting over .280 and people would be gushing. Because this is how people react after 24 games in a 162 game season. Yet he leads in RBI and is 2nd in hits and BA(for starters).

Ackley has been a turd, Miller has been a turd. Seager was a turd until 5 games ago and now he leads in HR and OPS. How about we get to July before the entire roster gets dumped.

Fair points and waiting til July is fine. But as it concerns Smoak, "if" is all we've ever talked about with the guy.....if he lives up to his potential, if he continues to hit this season as he did the end of last season, etc. I am absolutely in 'show me' mode with this guy over an entire season. I've had enough "ifs" with him.
I never doubted Seager, he's a major league hitter. He may not be Mike Schmidt, but who is? And like you I think Ackley is a 'turd'. Miller, I'll wait a bit longer to see how it goes with him.

 

[JZ#1]

Just bought my tickets to see Felix pitch @ Yankees on Thursday. Whoot!

 

[IndyHawk]

Noones polishing anything...I'm just saying there is a whole lot of moaning in here about an 11-14 team in April. If they're 6-8 under .500 on June 1 then sure. It hasn't been pretty but no one expected us to be more than .500. Not that far off really.

Offense needs to be better for sure.

I've been going to Ms games since 1979. One decade of poor play is nothing.

Well if you want to play the super fan card I will too, I've been going to mariner games since game 2 in their first year in 1977. My uncle coached one of the M's players back in South Dakota and used said player's (Dave Collins) tickets.

So let's not act like the Mariners have only one decade of bad play. Outside of a 7 year stretch 1995-2002, they've been bad to mediocre at best!

If you enjoy that type of baseball more power to you, and if you are right and they turn out to be world beaters this year, I'd be the first to give you credit!

Got to watch the "Super Fan" thing ...If I go by you guys..I am one also..Glad to see none of us has gave up through all these years..Remember the Jr Mariner fan club? I think it was $10.00..You got to see 3 games ..1 dog/pop for each game.You also got a hat and wrist sweat band..Anyway I know it's not easy to endure the losing but look at the Hawks..It gets better at some point..Dave Collins..Julio Cruz..Ruppert Jones..Bill Stein ..We have improved some from that time

 

[Msfann]

Why does Ackley take the first pitch what seems to be 99.999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999% of the time? Its so freaking annoying to have the bases loaded and he comes up to bat and takes his 1 pitch right down the middle of the plate. I get that he's trying to get the pitch count up but he does it way too much, the pitchers just throw the 1st right down the middle.

Then he takes the 2nd pitch and is down 0-2. and he blows monkey balls at judging the strike zone with 2 strikes and watches the 3rd hit the edge of the zone for strike 3. When he swings the bat he seems to be able to hit, quit trying to draw a walk so much and mix up his approach.

I think he could be an awesome hitter if he wouldn't be so obvious at the plate.

Smoak watches strike 3 go past quite a bit too, someone needs to teach them to protect the plate more with 2 strikes and quit watching everything go right down the pipe for strike 3.

 

[Sports Hernia]

I'm not playing the super fan card. Not even close. I'm just old is all. Just saying with this club if youve been around long enough a decade of futility is the norm. Don't enjoy it all you want. I just figured our 9 pages of internet thread with incessant whining could use a change.

Id prefer to take a moment and enjoy Seagers home run. I have my doubt's there will be many more like it. But hey, its April so there's still hope.

Again, no one is telling you that you shouldn't enjoy the wins! Just keep em in perspective of the season as a whole. Also, Like I be said in this thread I hope this team proves me to be a fool, because that means another winning team in Seattle, but, I see them finishing 4th in the AL West.

 

[Sports Hernia]

Noones polishing anything...I'm just saying there is a whole lot of moaning in here about an 11-14 team in April. If they're 6-8 under .500 on June 1 then sure. It hasn't been pretty but no one expected us to be more than .500. Not that far off really.

Offense needs to be better for sure.

I've been going to Ms games since 1979. One decade of poor play is nothing.

Well if you want to play the super fan card I will too, I've been going to mariner games since game 2 in their first year in 1977. My uncle coached one of the M's players back in South Dakota and used said player's (Dave Collins) tickets.

So let's not act like the Mariners have only one decade of bad play. Outside of a 7 year stretch 1995-2002, they've been bad to mediocre at best!

If you enjoy that type of baseball more power to you, and if you are right and they turn out to be world beaters this year, I'd be the first to give you credit!

Got to watch the "Super Fan" thing ...If I go by you guys..I am one also..Glad to see none of us has gave up through all these years..Remember the Jr Mariner fan club? I think it was $10.00..You got to see 3 games ..1 dog/pop for each game.You also got a hat and wrist sweat band..Anyway I know it's not easy to endure the losing but look at the Hawks..It gets better at some point..Dave Collins..Julio Cruz..Ruppert Jones..Bill Stein ..We have improved some from that time

Yep. Pepsi Junior Mariners, like $10 for like 6 games, and there was 3 of us kids, back when we thought indoor baseball was cool. This was in '78 or '79, usually got the wristbands.

 

[Sports Hernia]

Why does Ackley take the first pitch what seems to be 99.999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999% of the time? Its so freaking annoying to have the bases loaded and he comes up to bat and takes his 1 pitch right down the middle of the plate. I get that he's trying to get the pitch count up but he does it way too much, the pitchers just throw the 1st right down the middle.

Then he takes the 2nd pitch and is down 0-2. and he blows monkey balls at judging the strike zone with 2 strikes and watches the 3rd hit the edge of the zone for strike 3. When he swings the bat he seems to be able to hit, quit trying to draw a walk so much and mix up his approach.

I think he could be an awesome hitter if he wouldn't be so obvious at the plate.

Smoak watches strike 3 go past quite a bit too, someone needs to teach them to protect the plate more with 2 strikes and quit watching everything go right down the pipe for strike 3.

Yep their passiveness at times drives me nuts. That's one of the things I like about Brad Miller, is he is aggressive (to a fault at times).

 

[Uncle Si]

I'm not playing the super fan card. Not even close. I'm just old is all. Just saying with this club if youve been around long enough a decade of futility is the norm. Don't enjoy it all you want. I just figured our 9 pages of internet thread with incessant whining could use a change.

Id prefer to take a moment and enjoy Seagers home run. I have my doubt's there will be many more like it. But hey, its April so there's still hope.

Again, no one is telling you that you shouldn't enjoy the wins! Just keep em in perspective of the season as a whole. Also, Like I be said in this thread I hope this team proves me to be a fool, because that means another winning team in Seattle, but, I see them finishing 4th in the AL West.

I'm not sure I've lost any perspective on the teams early season struggles. At most ive remained cautiously optimistic and maintained the basic understanding it's only April. Not joining in on the moaning seems an issue I guess for some.

I used to get the junior Ms season ticket "package", which essentially was a huge coupon book for all 82 home games. Each series was a different color and had deals for Shakeys or some other cheap pizza or burger joint.

Those were the days I guess...I do remember getting there early for batting practice

 

[Smelly McUgly]

It's not an issue, man. You just let people do their "moaning" as you put it, and we'll let you chime in with the optimism.

I get that it's only April, but since we have way more than one April's worth of data on many of these guys, I'm not surprised that people know what road we're probably about to go down yet again.

 

[Throwdown]

Haven't watch the M's all season, don't know when or why i will again, but Robinson Cano makes it so damn tempting to watch 'em. I liked the dude when he was with the Yankee's blahblahblah. Soooo it looks like things are depressing in this thread, maybe this'll lighten up the mood.

[youtube]0b9rOji_PWY[/youtube]

 

[Uncle Si]

It's not an issue, man. You just let people do their "moaning" as you put it, and we'll let you chime in with the optimism.

I get that it's only April, but since we have way more than one April's worth of data on many of these guys, I'm not surprised that people know what road we're probably about to go down yet again.

Its the one thing that I dont like about baseball... the predictability of it all.. no other sport can settle itself as quickly as baseball. If we were 1-2 (the equivalent of 10-14) to start an NFL season we could talk about changes that can get us moving forward. Baseball just becomes too concrete.

So while I may hold onto "its only April"... i also realize "its only Smoak/Ackely/Saunders" also is true

 

[Smelly McUgly]

I definitely agree with that. Plus, since baseball is very much an individual sport in some ways, it is easier to quantify and predict how your players will probably do in the future after enough ABs or starts.

In football, the team nature of success obscures things a bit and makes it easier and more realistic to hope for a turnaround.

 

[CrimsonWazzu]

If Smoak had 23 hits instead of 20 right now he'd be hitting over .280 and people would be gushing. Because this is how people react after 24 games in a 162 game season. Yet he leads in RBI and is 2nd in hits and BA(for starters).

Ackley has been a turd, Miller has been a turd. Seager was a turd until 5 games ago and now he leads in HR and OPS. How about we get to July before the entire roster gets dumped.

Fair points and waiting til July is fine. But as it concerns Smoak, "if" is all we've ever talked about with the guy.....if he lives up to his potential, if he continues to hit this season as he did the end of last season, etc. I am absolutely in 'show me' mode with this guy over an entire season. I've had enough "ifs" with him.
I never doubted Seager, he's a major league hitter. He may not be Mike Schmidt, but who is? And like you I think Ackley is a 'turd'. Miller, I'll wait a bit longer to see how it goes with him.

I wasn't too worried about Seager, though another week without him breaking through, doubt probably would have started creeping in. But that swing. So good. Seager is gonna rake, and hopefully this is the spark he needed to put together an entire season of that.

I only say "if" with Smoak because the season is barely here. Meaning his BA sample is so small this year, he's literally 3 hits shy of being a .280 hitter. And despite being on the short side of that, he's been one of the few productive hitters this team has. Yes, he needs to improve. He's also changed his approach. Last year he really needed to progress as a hitter by seeing more pitches and learning how to work the count because he was just going up there and hacking at the first 2 pitches. He did that and ended up taking a ton of walks and the OBP was respectable even though the BA/SLG/OPS took a hit. This year he's being more aggressive. Like Seager, I expect him to get better and produce at a higher rate as the season goes on. What he did the first week of the season is what he should be doing consistently.

Something like .260, 25 HR, 70 RBI and he plays great D. Not sure you could ask for more of the guy though he's capable of it. Those are solid numbers. And I'm sure he knows this is probably his last go-around with the Mariners if he doesn't produce something close to that.

I think the next major piece for Smoak as a hitter is working on driving the outside half the other way. The shift has taken away probably 8-10 would-be hits he's driven pretty hard up the middle. I think doing that gets him over the hump and he's got the talent to become a respectable hitter in the league.