Opening Day, 2010

I love baseball, and yesterday was opening day for the 2010 Seattle Mariners. They took on Oakland and won the game by a score of 5-3. Felix Hernandez pitched a heck of a game and picked up a no decision (the 6 walks he gave up really hurt him, but otherwise he was phenomenal).

Shana and I decided that we'd make an event of opening day, since everybody in the family is a baseball fan, and we all root for the Mariners. Football season should have been like that, but Shana encourages Chris on his stupid Seahawks fixation...so Football season becomes a rivalry.

Baseball season though, in my house, is all about cheering for the Mariners (At least until Shana makes Janel a Yankees fan just to annoy the hell out of me).

Anyway, we broke out the grill and whipped up some hot dogs & brats, and I made some signature garlic fries that stunk up the house something good, but man they tasted great.

The Mariners look great this year, with some exciting changes coming about in the offseason. We are still missing a power bat, but hopefully playing in the gigantic Safeco field will be good for pitching and defense, and allow us to go into the trade deadline competitive in the division, allowing us to trade for a bat that can get us into the postseason.

Just to go down the lineup and give my impressions:

Ichiro:

Still the best leadoff guy in baseball. He is good for 200+ hits and will make things happen on the base paths. And his defense is always incredible to watch. Looking forward to another All-Star season.

Chone Figgins:

One of the better leadoff guys in the game comes to probably the only team in baseball where he won't leadoff, but that's okay. He was #1 in walks last season, and he is a complete hitter. One of the better things the Mariners did this season was pick him up from the Angels. Not only did they get someone to help their their team, they also got him off a division rival's roster. If he can get a .350+ OBP and set the table with Ichiro, runs will happen.

Casey Kotchman:

You know, I wouldn't have seen Kotchman as a #3 hitter, but he showed last night that he can get it done, and with the top two guys in the order, he is going to have RBI opportunities and then some. Jury is still out for me on Kotchman in the #3 spot, but if he can perform like last night, it's going to be a good season

Milton Bradley:

eh...the most....scary pickup of the offseason. He can be a head case, and I think I speak for Mariners fans everywhere when I say that I hope he fits in here and settles down away from the big stage that Chicago can be. As far as batting cleanup...I have to question the decision some...he was a .251 hitter last season, and he isn't a power guy...he'll get maybe 15 HR's. Time will tell though.

Ken Griffey Jr.:

It's hard to say anything bad about Junior, so I won't. Other than to say that the future Hall of Famer is past his prime. Still, in the DH role...if he stays healthy...I could see him hitting 15+ HRs and getting 60+ RBIs. He isn't the Junior of old, but when it is the bottom of the ninth, one man on, and you are down a run...there is nobody in baseball I'd rather have at the plate. That counts for something. Hell, it counts for a lot.

Jose Lopez:

Swapping Lopez to third and putting Figgins at second was a crazy move, but if you believe the reports, the two players apparently seem pretty comfortable at their new spots. Lopez certainly has the arm for 3rd base, but only time will tell if it was a good move. Offensively, Lopez is good for 25+ HR's this year I think. I look for him to move up in the order to #3 or #4 later this season, depending on how well Kotchman and Bradley do in their role. Lopez is my dark horse to have a breakout year this season offensively.

Franklin Gutierrez:

I look for Gutierrez to have a Gold Glove season out in center field...and be a streaky hitter. He will strike out a lot. It is going to happen. That is the downside. But his upside is that when he gets on a roll, he will produce like a madman.

Rob Johnson/Adam Moore:

Rob Johnson is a quality catcher. On the offensive side of the ball, he is off to a good start. Last year he hit only 2 home runs...this year just one game in and he has one already. If only one game made a trend...he would be on pace to hit 162 home runs this season. :)

As far as Adam Moore goes...I honestly don't know much about him, so I won't comment.

Jack Wilson:

Wilson is a quality defensive shortstop, and I'm really happy to see him stay with us through this season. Offensively, he has some potential, but it isn't what he is there for. He is in the lineup for his defense, so anything he does offensively is really gravy.

Well, that's it for today. I was going to go over pitching too, but maybe I'll do that in a different post. I'm pretty excited to see what the Mariners will do this season. I really want a pennant race in September (and a playoff appearance would be sweet too).

Little League.

So this year Chris played little league again, and had a less than stellar season. He did well, but I was fairly disappointed. Not in the kids, but the coaching.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not one of 'those' parents. I understand fully that the coach is a volunteer position, and I really have no right to complain if I'm not willing to put forth the time and effort to coach myself. And, I just don't have the time. Practices happen at times that I just can't be there for. And I wind up missing 2-3 games a season due to work and the giant body of water that exists between work and home. So I'm not complaining. Well, maybe a tad. A smidgen. A scotch.

I'm pretty disappointed. Not because the team hasn't won a game. Not at all in fact, I could really care less about the outcome of an individual game. I'm more concerned with the fact that over the course of the year, I haven't seen the kids get better. In fact, they have developed some bad habits, and those bad habits aren't being corrected.

I do not like to coach from the stands. I'm really the quietest guy in on the bench for the most part. I do the customary cheers and encouragements, but I don't like to correct kids, and I hate parents who do. This year, I had to break that rule a few times.

A pet peeve of mine is watching a kid go to the plate and have their bat on their shoulder. I've seen it time and time again this season...and it isn't being corrected. Kids aren't taking practice swings. The kid playing catcher for most of the season closes his eyes on almost every pitch (and surprise surprise, the ball gets by him a lot..) The kids on the bench are not encouraging their teammates like they should be...they aren't really involved in the game. Occasionally I hear them in the dugout arguing over whose fault the last mistake was. The coach of the team at least twice a game doesn't know how many outs there are. I don't think he is very involved in the game either, which I'm sure is why the kids aren't involved in the game.

The second baseman plays out of position, and has the entire season...he is almost playing in front of the center fielder. The first baseman is over so far that he might as well be playing second base sometimes. When Chris played first base, for two games he was in the wrong spot, and was doing the wrong thing on every single pitch. After every pitch, before the ball was hit, he would put his head down and run to first base (not watching the ball at all). I waited two games for the coach to correct it, before I finally had enough and snuck over to the first base line and started coaching Chris from the other side of the fence. I hated myself for doing it too, but now Chris doesn't do it anymore. I'm happier now.

Shana thinks the Coach just wants the kids to like him, so he isn't overly critical. I understand the approach. (Time to do the inevitable WoW reference...standby...). When I first started raid leading, I was not critical of people at all. If I saw someone make a mistake, I just hoped that person saw the mistake as well, and I hoped he didn't do it again. It sometimes worked, and it sometimes didn't. I didn't want to be disliked, or lose somebody off the team, so I let it go.

Lately I don't do that as much. I play now on a progression team. In short, a progression team is one that wants to get better, everytime we go out. Kind of like a sports team in that way. If somebody makes a mistake, I have to point it out. Not to tear them down...not at all. I want them to be better. I want them avoid making that same mistake again.

In many ways, the same can be applied to little league. Obviously you can't mention it in EXACTLY the same fashion as I mention it to ADULTS... you do have to handle it gently and in an encouraging fashion, but in the end you have to show them that they are making a mistake, and show them how to do correct that mistake. Find the flaws, and show them how to eliminate that flaw and get better. That, to me, is the very definition of coaching.

Anyway, I'm just kind of disappointed. I'm not mad, angry, bitter, or resentful. I know the coach tried hard. He didn't have a lot of help with assistant coaches and the parental involvement with the team was very spotty at best. My wife did the scorekeeper spot, and as far as I know, she was the only mom who participated in the team at all. Not even a team mom to help organize things.

So it is definitely not his fault completely. Though I do have to say I'm going to work on... "creatively avoiding" Chris going to his team next year. Nothing personal, heh.

Baseball

Most people who know me know that I'm a baseball fan.

I didn't used to be. Before I came to Seattle, I thought baseball was boring and dumb. Then I moved to Seattle in August of 1995. I didn't really know anybody, so I'd sit down in the common room of our barracks and watch what was on. And in Seattle, in August of 1995, what was on was the Mariners.

So I sat and I watched. I didn't get into it at first, but as the playoffs approached and Seattle inched closer and closer to the playoffs, I was really hooked. So much so that later that year I missed a football game to watch a baseball game...for the first time in my life.

Through the years since that day, I've been a Mariners fan. I followed them for 14 years now, through some pretty nice highs, and some pretty bad lows. I like listening to Dave Neihaus and Rick Rizz, but I'm not too sure about Dave Simms. I like Mike Blowers as a color guy.

Yesterday was the opening game. I missed it because there was a better game on. My son started his first day of little league. It was a great day for baseball. Lots of sun, sitting on a lawn chair, eating an ice cream, and watching a little baseball. Doesn't get much better.

I did check the M's scores throughout the game on my iPhone though... Hey, I'm not Father-of -the-year!

At the end of the day, the Mariners won and my son's team lost. Overall though, the kids had fun and that is all that is important. So it's really win/win for the day. The Yankees lost too. This makes me happy. win/win/win.

My two favorite teams in baseball are the Mariners and whoever the Yankees are playing.

It was a good day.

Tonight the M's play the Twins again, and try to make it 2-0 for the season. And my son's next game isn't until Thursday, so should be able to make it home and watch the game tonight. :)

Go Mariners!