Patchin, Lukens and Nameck: Talking Jim Walden, the World Cup and the mediocre M’s | The Press Box Podcast

From staff reports

An All-Star break calls for an All-Star podcast.

With the Seattle Mariners mired in mediocrity as the July 14 Midsummer Classic approaches, The Spokesman-Review brought in its heavy hitters – longtime broadcasters Dennis Patchin, Rick Lukens and Bud Nameck – for another edition of the Press Box Podcast to analyze the team heading into the break.

The trio also touches on the passing of legendary Washington State football coach Jim Walden and the impact of this year’s World Cup.

You can find the podcast on The Spokesman-Review website at spokesman.com/podcasts/press-box or watch the video on YouTube at https://bit.ly/4gmHiR5.

Among a few highlights, edited for brevity:

The legacy of Jim Walden

Patchin: He does not get enough credit in my opinion for all the things that he changed. One of the things that he said, “we’re not doing it anymore – we’re not playing the Apple Cup in Spokane.” OK. Got them to play it in Pullman. … Then he was also part of “we’re not playing any more games in Spokane. … We’re on campus. It’s a home game. We’re playing at home.”

Lukens: He was the guy who kind of shamed Cougar fans, “80 miles ain’t that far to drive.” And he said that in his exit press conference as he headed to Iowa State – which indicated that was a huge part of the reason that he was moving on because I mean Iowa State … you could call it a lateral move. He wanted to go where you were getting support for the program and he was tired of it and he said it time after time after time.

Nameck: Before the Apple Cup his last year, I went down and covered him – the weather was horrible so they practiced in the field house, which was not the greatest thing in the world. When I get there, I’m walking around and then Walden comes to me, he goes, “hey, boy,” then he goes “come here.” I followed around for 45 minutes just weaving around the the drills in the field house. I didn’t say a word and I knew, OK, this is his last game as a Cougar coach. He was just unloading his frustration and concern. He felt he had to win football games, No. 1, but he also felt he had to put butts in seats and he didn’t think he was winning enough games because they were in a losing streak at that time. And he also didn’t think he was attracting enough fans. And I don’t think he felt as appreciated because he didn’t accomplish those things.

The impact of the World Cup

Patchin: I’ve watched pretty much every World Cup since … the U.S. hosted it the first time (in 1994). This is the best tournament so far. It’s not even close.

Lukens: I’ve had the exact same thought, Dennis … maybe it’s just because geographically we’re sitting kind of in it and we feel more part of it. But I think it’s the stories that we’re seeing … things that are happening off the field with the fans, or things that are happening off the field with the players. We’re seeing how the Europeans all come over here and can’t get enough ranch dressing. (Or) how they love that they get free refills on soft drinks.

Patchin: They can’t get enough of U.S. culture.

Lukens: That’s it. And we’re loving that they’re loving it and they’re loving that we’ve absolutely embraced this sport.

Nameck: You know we can bash on FIFA and we should for a number of reasons – I mean the history of the corruption in the organization, even going to this USA-Belgium game with the overturn of the suspension on the red card. But the one thing you have to give FIFA credit for is this idea of having three different countries host and spreading out the venues. That’s huge because – you talked about it, Rick – about feeling closer to it. If this were an event that was staged, you know, as it did before, only in the Bay Area, Chicago, New York, spreading it out has really, I think, brought it closer to fans. I was disappointed that we got to house Egypt here. Not disappointed it was Egypt, but disappointed that Egypt was housed here in Spokane but we (only) had an opportunity to go watch one practice and you had to win a lottery to get a ticket that was very, very limited. I wish that it would have been more open so more fans would have had a chance to see things and see Mohamed Salah practice and his mates up front and close. I think that was a missed opportunity, but overall, I think it’s been tremendous.

Last but not least, the Mariners

Patchin: It’s fair to say it’s not been the season that anybody – management, players, fans – has hoped for with the Seattle Mariners. Fair?

Lukens: That’s more than fair. Yeah.

Nameck: But you know what? They’re positioned perfectly, because the way baseball is now. How many times have you seen a team that plays .500 or even under .500 into early August and all of a sudden they catch fire, they get healthy, and they go on. And this team has a chance to do that.

Lukens: That’s exactly what I was thinking. This team is going to kick into gear. I sit here with full confidence that it’s going to happen. They had one eight-game winning streak this year. That’s coming again and more. It’s coming. And I say that knowing they’re not even hitting the ball right now.

Patchin: I hope you’re right, because this offense, and we had talked about it at the beginning of the season, we were pretty good with the offseason moves they made. There were a couple I didn’t like – the (Rob) Refsnyder move and there were a couple of other ones. But they can’t consistently hit the baseball. … It’s the problem they had, what, two years ago where they couldn’t hit with runners in scoring position and there was a stretch of, what, 11 games where they only scored three (runs) or less.

Nameck: I’m old and I’m not a left-hander. But I might be able to go an inning pitching left-handed against the Mariners without giving up a run. That’s how they’ve been horrible against left-handers.

Stay tuned for more podcasts from the heralded trio as we head into football season later this summer.