Rude
June 23rd, 2008 by ktula
People who schedule meetings or conference calls before 9 o’clock in the morning are just fucking rude.
Archive for the 'Rant' Category
The culture of losing
June 15th, 2008 by ktula
Update: The Mariners were beaten 6 - 2 by the Nationals.
Update: Throughout this season gone horribly wrong for the Mariners, Seattle Times’ Geoff Baker has written some deservingly critical posts on the Mariners organization. In his latest post, he wrote about who’s going to be dumped in the next round of firing.
I am taking a break on my bike ride from Gas Work Park to Woodinville. I have just checked the score of the last game of the series between the Mariners and the Washington Nationals. So how bad and how pathetic are the Seattle Mariners? The Mariners are in danger of being swept at home by the worst team in the National League, four runs down in the bottom of the 9th inning.
Several weeks ago, I wrongly predicted the firings of manager John McClaren and GM Bill Bavasi. They are still holding on to their jobs. The only firing that Mariners did was to let go of the sacrificial hitting coach Jeff Pentland. One of the many players that should have been released - Richie Sexson - is still playing, just as badly as before. The past two games with bases loaded and no out, Richie struck out and the Mariners could not even get a single run home.
This 2008 team is the most over-rated and the most under-achieved team among all the past Mariners teams. It may not be sufficient to just let all the coaching staff and all of the front office go, the current core of players must be traded or released since they are all accustomed to the culture of losing. They do not know how to play as a team to win. In this fire sale, no single player, including the popular Ichiro, should be under the illusion that they are allowed to stay unless they are able to commit to playing as a team to win.
Related posts
The pitiful saga continues…
May 25th, 2008 by ktula
Even when the Mariners are winning, they manage to find ways to lose a game. Leading the New York Yankees by three runs in the bottom of the 8th inning, six outs away from stopping a five-game losing streak, the Mariners bullpen collapsed, giving up four runs on four hits and one huge error by reliever J.J. Putz. The New York Yankees had not won a game this season trailing after the 7th inning. Thanks to the Mariners, the Yankees now have a come from behind win.
Related posts
What is two errors + five runs scored in one inning?
May 24th, 2008 by ktula
The Mariners pitchers have allowed an average of 11 whopping runs a game for the past five games. The way that they have been playing the past few games, if they can get out of a series without being swept, the Mariners should consider that a moral victory. Any game that the Mariners play when they do not lose by more than five runs a game should be considered a consolation.
Related posts
Bring out your whopping sticks, the Mariners are in town!
May 23rd, 2008 by ktula
Teams in the American League must be dying to play against the Mariners. Prior to hosting the Mariners, the AL Central basement dweller Detroit Tigers had lost 12 of the previous 15 games they played. During three games in which they swept Mariners, the Tigers outscored the Mariners 30 - 14.
On a 5-game losing streak? Fear not, a dose of the Mariners is a sure-fire way to end it. The Mariners have just finished playing the first game against New York Yankees, owners of the worst record in the AL East. The score is 13 - 2. No points for guessing which team scored 13 runs.
When it rains, it pours. For the past 4 games, the Mariners have been pounded like a piñata on a Mexican boy’s 8th birthday, giving up on average more than 10 runs a game. They are making all their opposing pitchers look like potential Cy Young winners. Against Andy Pettite, a pitcher who had a personal four-game losing streak, the Mariners scored a measly two runs, again, for the 17th time this season.
This is beyond embarrassment. The Mariners have not only embarrassed themselves on the field. They have embarrassed their fans as well. If you are still holding on to any hope that the Mariners will make playoffs this year, the past four games should have completely obliterated it.
My prediction: Manager John McClaren will be fired next week. That will soon be followed by General Manager Bill Bavasi after the June draft. If there is any shred of shame and self-respect left in McClaren and Bavasi, they should resign immediately.
Paper bag night, anyone?
Related posts
More than one freaking hour to get to work
May 20th, 2008 by ktula
Normal route from home to work.
I live a little more than 13 miles from work. The daily morning commute normally takes between 35 to 50 minutes. However this morning, it took me 1 hour and 8 minutes to get to work. When there is no traffic, which is hardly ever the case in the morning, it only takes me about 20 minutes. In fact, the traffic was so atrociously bad that i did not get to the Spokane St and I-5 intersection until more than 30 minutes after i left home (during the weekends, it takes about 7 minutes).
It took me more than one freaking hour to get to work.
Related posts
The worst team in baseball
May 14th, 2008 by ktula
It’s official. The Seattle Mariners are now owner of the worst record in the Major League Baseball. Losing 12 of the last 14 games while scoring only 2 runs or less in 9 of the past 13 games sank the Mariners right to the bottom. And unfortunately, there does not appear to be an end in sight.
For several weeks, when the Mariners’ starters were going into late innings keeping the scores close, but the Mariners’ batters could not hit even if softballs were thrown at them. And just when the batters were starting to hit a few games ago, all of a sudden the pitchers could not find the strike zone. In the painful 12-13 loss to the Texas Rangers two nights ago, the Mariners’ pitchers walked 13 batters!!! In last night’s game, the Mariners’ pitchers “only” walked 6 batters. The 4 errors committed did not help the situation either, with two of the errors resulting in runs scored. The Mariners have so far committed 31 errors, second most in the league.
With a payroll at 117 million dollars, the 9th highest payroll in the major league, each of the 15 wins this season costs 7.8 million dollars. In comparison, the Florida Marlins have a payroll of 21 million dollars and they are sitting on top of the NL East with a record of 23 - 16. Even the Tampa Bay Rays, with a payroll that is slightly more than a third of the Mariners’, is atop the AL East.
As a Mariners’ fan since 1995, this season has been the toughest to stomach.
Related posts
23
May 9th, 2008 by ktula
That is how many consecutive innings that have gone by with the Seattle Mariners not scoring a run. If you include that single run that was scored three games ago, the Mariners have only scored one tiny run in the last 32 innings! Worse, this is against the pitching staff of the Texas Rangers, a team that did not even have a winning starting pitcher in the 2007 season.
The anemic Mariners finally showed some “life” in tonight’s game against the Rangers but unfortunately and quite predictably, that did not happen where it actually mattered - at the batter’s box. The $17-million-dollar Richie Sexson, who may be better known as Mr LOB (as in runners Left On Base), charged the mound and tackled the Rangers’ starting pitcher Kason Gabbard, after he threw a pitch that was a little close to Richie’s noggin.
It has been very difficult watching the Mariners played the past few weeks. About one and a half months and 36 games into the season, the Mariners now have a record of 14 wins and 22 losses, the worst team in the American League. Even perennial basement dwellers like the Kansas City Royals are playing much better than the Mariners.
The Mariners lost both times in the two games i watched at Safeco Field. I told myself if the Mariners lose again on my third visit, i will stop going to any Mariners game for the remaining of the season. With the way that the Mariners have been playing, or not playing, it is almost a certainty that they will lose when i visit Safeco Field the third time. So until the Mariners can put up at least a five-game winning streak, i am staying the hell away from the ball park.