56-101, 507 yards, 3 TD, 3 INT. Lost by three touchdowns. That game must have taken five hours.

As promised, here are the pictures we took at the September 10 Mariners game against the World Champion Boston Red Sox (heretofore called WCBRS). Pete, Pete's girlfriend Leah, Leah's dad Andy, and I got seats in the first row behind the visitors' dugout from Leah's grandmother, who is a charter season ticket holder. It wasn't much of a game, but from those seats any game is absolutely awesome. In the last couple of years I've been spoiled, seeing the Angels, White Sox, Twins, and WCBRS from those seats.

WCBRS have been, hands down, the most interesting team to see from that close vantage point. Just about everyone on the WCBRS is a character, and their stars aren't afraid to interact with the fans. For example, during the Hat Trick on the scoreboard, Pedro Martinez was following along, and when the ball trick was finished, held up his fingers to indicate his answer. He got it right, and when I yelled "Alright, Pedro! Way to go, buddy!" Pedro turned around and gave me the Fonzie "Heyyyyyy!" expression. Just hilarious. Pete's got a better Pedro story from the game the night before which I'll allow him to tell.



Pedro, fresh from his evening nap (in the seventh inning)


Curt Schilling was WCBRS's starter that night, and if you aren't convinced that he's a great pitcher, you should see him from the dugout seats. They'll make a believer out of you.



Suture Man was kind enough to pose for this picture with me.



A close-up of my t-shirt that night.


Manny Ramirez hit two homers for WCBRS, and if you aren't convinced that he's a great hitter, you should see him from the dugout seats. They'll make a believer out of you. He hit a grand slam on a 3-0 pitch. Everyone in the stadium except Bob Melvin knew it was going to happen. I even said to our group before the pitch, "This is how grand slams happen."



Manny Ramirez, taking the leisurely route to home plate following his grand slam.


For some reason, our buddy Daryl has a bit of a man-crush on Doug Mientkiewicz. Daryl is from Minnesota, but that only begins to explain it.



Pete, moments before biting Doug Mientkiewicz's head clean off.


And now, some pictures for which I really don't have any stories:



Pete, Leah, and a disinterested bystander.



What would Johnny Damon do?

We have a new writer at WWWWS, Joe. Be sure to leave him some feedback on his posts.

Michigan and Ohio State made the right decision. If you haven't been following this story, SBC Communications put money on the table for the naming rights to the Michigan-OSU game every year, proposing that it be called the tongue-tying "SBC Communications Michigan-Ohio State Classic." With anything and everything that can be bought being sold nowadays, this is the most refreshing news I've read in a while. Yay Big 10 (11)!

Congratulations to my buddy Joe! "At Least The Red Sox Have 1918" has been hereby re-named "Who Wants To Watch The World Series?"

The Sox winning it all has pretty much changed my whole world-view, as far as baseball is concerned. Anyone else feel the same way? Comments are welcome below.

From the Las Vegas Review Journal, (link courtesy of The Intern):

Sightings

Kid Rock, throwing a bowling party in the Hard Rock Hotel high-roller suite after his concert Friday night. Attendees included his band, his opening band White Starr and members of his entourage, including Bret Boone of the Seattle Mariners.

photo proudly stolen from Nice Guys Finish Third. Thanks, Paul!

Down 3-0, coming back. That was a Miracle On Ice-level upset. And like the Miracle, in a couple decades there are going to be a lot of casual fans that won't realize that the Red Sox didn't win the championship with their upset. The Sox still have to beat Finland in the World Series.

I might have to change the name of my web site in a week or so. I hope I do. If you have any re-naming suggestions, please leave a comment below.

Finny is reporting, with a Mariners brass' hand in his puppet-hole, that Mike Hargrove and Grady Little are among the finalists for the thankfully vacated Mariners' manager position. I personally endorse Hargrove over Little. Is there a better fit for Seattle than "The Human Rain Delay"?

I just saw the Rice press conference on Sportscenter. You know they type, where the high-profile new player holds up his new squad's jersey with his freshly-hemmed name stitched on back. I wondered about this when I first heard they got Rice, and now I know: evidently, Steve Largent is dead to the Seahawks, because they're giving Rice #80. Before I even knew the offsides rule, I had one of those old Seahawks t-shirt jerseys with #80 on back, and it wasn't in anticipation of a player who would join the team twenty years later. Does this bug anyone besides me?

So...

The 'Hawks have been contenders exactly once in my memory, and they just made a deadline deal to improve the team at a position that greatly needs the help. The Mariners, on the other hand, have fai...

I can't go on. This makes me very happy on one hand, but makes me want to puke all over the other.

It's been an arduous journey as a Mariner fan, full of false hopes and failed expectations. Seeing the 'Hawks consistently drafting well and signing quality free agents is of course a blessing, but the direct contrast to the Mariners is hard for any die-hard Northwest baseball fan to stomach.

Go 'Hawks.

"...but now you know we can get to you."

--The Usual Suspects, 1995

From today's article (regarding the Anaheim fans' reaction to the Red Sox taking the lead against the Angels' star relief pitcher, Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez):

Did they just score on K-Rod? What do we do now? Could the scoreboard tell us what to do, please?

Why do many of us M's fans hate the Angels and their fans so much? Because they remind us of our lame selves.

Hold on. Be right back. I think someone is trying to start a wave.


Edit, 1:24 PM:

Another gem about lame, bandwaggoning Anaheim (or just as easily, Seattle) fans:

The classic Anaheim fan story: My buddy Hench and I were walking into the game and doing the "Let's go Sox!" routine every time we walked by someone wearing a Sox hat or jersey. I mentioned how there were a surprising number of Sox fans walking around, followed by Hench joking that the number of Angels fans at Friday's game at Fenway would be either zero or zero. So some Stepford fan turns around and sneers, "You gotta get there first!"

Um ... what?

"You gotta get there first!"

Apparently the chip in his skull was malfunctioning.

"We're up 1-0 in a five-game series," Hench said. "I'm pretty sure we're making it to Game 3."

It was a rough season in 2004 for the Mariners faithful. Awful personnel decisions, questionable game management philosophies, and a sudden and precipitous drop in veteran players' performances turned 2003's 93-win squad into the 99-loss debacle to which we all bore witness in '04. Regardless of which moves can be justly criticized and for which ones "Goat Boy" Bavasi deserves the benefit of the doubt, it is undeniable that, with few notable exceptions, the front office dropped the ball.

Despite Bavasi's best efforts, however, the 2004 Mariners remained oddly watchable for the last two months of the season. Ichiro, indeed, deserves much of the credit. But a few other bright spots are worthy of mention as well.

Bucky!

There weren't a lot of compelling reasons to make the drive over to Safeco Field to take in a ball game this year before July 16. That's the day the M's decided to see if a slugging minor league journeyman named Bucky Jacobsen could hack it in the big leagues, and hack he did. With three homers in his first six games as a Mariner, "Bucky Fever" spread like the latest flu strain through the Northwest. Due the league minimum salary in 2005, it's a good bet that Bucky gets the nod as Edgar's replacement at designated hitter next year, freeing the Mariners esteemed front office some much needed cash.

Bobby Madritsch

Anytime a player reaches the big leagues after toiling in the independent Northern League, I must admit I'm always curious to see how he fares. When Bobby Madritsch first arrived as a Mariner on July 21, 2004, he had to start in the bullpen like any other rookie. Bobby posted a solid 3.00 earned run average out of the pen in four appearances, but it was "Kazuhiro Sasaki in 2002" solid. Madritsch allowed at least one baserunner in seven of his nine relief innings and looked a bit overwhelmed at times. In the topsy-turvy world of the 2004 Seattle Mariners, this was good enough for a promotion to the starting rotation, where Bobby was better than any of us could possibly imagine. Madritsch immediately took on the demeanor of a polished veteran, not a green rookie with just nine innings of experience. I just hope that the recently departed Bob Melvin didn't kill Madritsch's arm in the process.

Spoilers

It would have been easy for the Mariners to just phone it in in September and October, but with new life brought on by the September callups and Ichiro's record chase, the Mariner played well down the stretch, winning seven of their last twelve games against A.L. West contenders Anaheim, Texas, and Oakland.

Jeremy Reed

.397/.470/.466 as a Mariner over 18 games. Small sample size, indeed, but Wow! Freddy who?

And, finally:

Ichiro

Ichiro had the most unbelievably ridiculous second half that I've ever even heard of. From July 1 on, the little guy did nothing short of hitting .423! over a 371 AB span. He had four five-hit games and five four-hit games. Those nine games alone gave Ichiro just four fewer hits than Bucky Jacobsen had all year. In addition to all the hits, a MLB record 262 in all, Ichiro finished second in the AL with a .414 on-base percentage and led the Mariners with a .869 OPS. There is simply no way to look at the facts and say that Ichiro wasn't better than he was in his MVP 2001 season. The only drawback is that when he hits .345 next year, we'll all be disappointed.

SA and CSPAN leaders have been finalized for the 2004 season on the left sidebar. In case anyone is curious, Adam Dunn's impressive SA total of 212 ties Jim Presley in 1986 for ninth-"best" all time. Congratulations, Adam!