A Grip on Sports: The M’s made news Saturday night and it’s hard to find anything positive in any of it
A GRIP ON SPORTS • It seems almost impossible. On a Saturday night when Randy Johnson has his number retired, the Mariner management announced another statue, Emerson Hancock strikes out a career-high 14 Royals and the M’s figure out a way to lose late, the team’s biggest news came well before the fans began trooping into T-Mobile Park. What’s up with Cal Raleigh?
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• Funny, in this day and age when everyone plays reporter on the Internet, no one knows for sure what’s ailing the Mariners’ brightest of stars. All the team announced before the 3-2 10-inning loss to Kansas City after scratching Raleigh from the lineup was he was suffering from “general soreness” and would have imaging done to see if anything structural was at fault.
He wasn’t put on the injured list but, with only Mitch Garver available to catch, the team did recall veteran Jhonny Pereda from Tacoma. And put third baseman Will Wilson on the 60-day with a broken wrist.
That’s the nuts and bolts of what’s going on. But like that water feature in that Farmers’ Insurance commercial that seems to play 10 times an hour, missing hardware holds the potential to cause a blow up. And wash away the Mariners’ postseason hopes. Any time without one of the best catchers, power hitters – despite his slow start – and team leaders in the lineup is a blow to their well-laid plans.
Conspiracy lovers, who occupy even more space on the Web than self-proclaimed reporters, are already speculating there is no injury. That this is a way to allow Raleigh some time off to regroup without having to endure the embarrassment of just sitting.
Like all conspiracy theories, it sounds just close enough to sanity to allow us to embrace it. But there is a high probability it isn’t the truth.
We should know more today. In Raleigh’s case. As far how the Mariners’ lost last night, we know more than we need to.
The usual. Well, not just the usual inability to add on to a lead and close out a ninth-inning one. There were a couple more mistakes, the most glaring of which came from Arozarena, who lost track of the count while on first base. Yes, really.
The left-fielder, on with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth, thought the count was 3-2 on Cole Young, the one hot bat in the lineup. It was actually 2-2. The pitch to plate was a ball but it did not matter. Arozarena had taken off from first, as he would have if his idea of the count was the correct one.
It wasn’t. He was tagged out. And Young was left standing at the plate.
By then Hancock, who gave up a single run in his seven-inning outing, may have been sitting in the clubhouse talking with Johnson. Or commiserating with him. Maybe learning Johnson’s secret on how to quit on an up-and-coming team early in a season, force a trade and then, 28 years later, be honored with a jersey retirement and a statue.
A pretty neat trick. But, hey, his statue will be shiny. Stand in front of T-Mobile (or whatever it is called in the future) forever. And will serve as a distraction if the M’s management ever goes through another 20-year stretch of mediocrity.
As Mariners chairman John Stanton said during Johnson’s pregame number retirement ceremony, “To this city, this moment says something important: That greatness matters here. That history matters here. And those (who) give us their very best will always be remembered.”
As will those who didn’t seem to. At least at the end of their tenure.
• Throughout the run up to the Kentucky Derby, everyone I respect in horse racing emphasized one thing: The field was really good and pretty much any horse that left the starting gate could win.
No one, in the numerous names I heard this week, mentioned Golden Tempo. Not that I recall anyway.
Now everyone will remember it. At least they will remember Golden Tempo’s stretch run. From last place at the final turn to first, edging out favorite Renegade to win the 152nd running of the race.
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WSU: Around the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner passes along the weekly West Coast football recruiting roundup in the Mercury News. This week it includes a mention of Washington State. … We linked Mike Vorel’s column on the importance of Demond Williams Jr. when it appeared in the Times. It is on the S-R website this morning. … John Canzano wonders if Oregon’s national championship window will close soon. At least the Big Ten money window is still open. … One spring wasn’t enough time for the Colorado quarterbacks to grasp all the nuances of their new offense. … UCLA finished off spring with a high-energy game at the Rose Bowl. … Time flies. Arizona State just finished its fourth spring under Kenny Dillingham. … San Diego State held its spring game Saturday but were without its top kicker and long snapper. … In basketball news, Oregon State’s men announced another official transfer signing. … Arizona is expected to be really good once more. … The Oregon women are happy with their roster.
EWU: Spring practice is over the Eagles. The first game is Aug. 29. A Big Sky game against Northern Arizona. Dan Thompson passed along those facts in this story today. But the subject was more subjective. He shared what he learned during their spring workouts. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Northern Colorado finished up its spring football practices with a scrimmage. … Portland State held its first scrimmage of the spring. … Montana State continues to recruit additions to its women’s basketball roster.
Preps: We can pass along a roundup of Saturday’s GSL action.
Indians: Spokane played a rare Northwest League doubleheader Saturday in Eugene. And lost both games to the league-leading Emeralds. Dave Nichols has this coverage.
Velocity: After more than 90 minutes of playing in Corpus Christi, Texas, Spokane and the host Sharks were unable to score. The Velocity returned home with a scoreless draw and a point in the USL League One standings.
Zephyr: The outcome was the same for Spokane at home Saturday, with the scoreless draw against league-leading Lexington keeping the Zephyr in the Super League playoff picture.
Sounders: Man, there were a lot of draws Saturday. Seattle had one with Sporting Kansas City. At least goals were scored.
Bloomsday: I wish these Greg Lee stories on race legends Kim Jones and Jon Sinclair were available for me to link yesterday. By the time you read this, you probably will already have your finisher T-shirt in the washing machine. But don’t miss them. It’s always fun to walk down memory lane. A lot more fun than walking up Doomsday Hill.
Mariners: We covered and linked most of the news above. What else is there? The Times’ minor league report, headlined once more by a Kade Anderson pitching performance.
Seahawks: Just what may the roster look like for the opener? Bob Condotta offers a few thoughts. His story is on the S-R site this morning. … The Hawks are switching a 6-foot-7 receiver to cornerback. … How did the rookies do at mini-camp?
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• Yesterday was tough. Had a pretty debilitating case of food poisoning Friday night that made it a Saturday of challenges. Went to bed last night early – even for me – and rose this morning feeling much better. Hopefully, Sunday will be a better day. Until later …