Bleacher Report - Articles by Stuart Mahoney

Bill Bavasi Fired, Change Is in the Air for Seattle Mariners

Stuart Mahoney — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:34:03 -0400

"Change is in order. We have determined new leadership is needed in the GM position. With a new leader will come a new plan and a new approach," stated Seattle Mariners GM Howard Lincoln in a press release Monday.

And with that comes the end of an era for Mariners' baseball.

The Mariners announced the release of general manager Bill Bavasi in yet another attempt to turn around a struggling ball club, which has just come off being swept by the Washington Nationals.

Assistant GM Lee Pelekoudas has been named the interim general manager until Mariners' officials can complete the hiring process.

Bavasi had served as the GM for the Seattle ball club since November 7, 2003, replacing Pat Gillick.

Pelekoudas, who has worked with the Mariners since 1980 in various positions, was named assistant GM on November 1, 2005, and is considered a serious candidate for the newly-opened GM position.

Open Mic: 2001 Seattle Mariners Were One of Sports' Biggest Letdowns

Stuart Mahoney — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 06:57:50 -0400

It seemed at times that they didn't know how to lose.

2001 was automatically going to be a special year for baseball in Seattle, because the Mariners were already slated to host the All-Star Game that year. But the Mariners went above and beyond the normal expectations that Major League Baseball sets for its All-Star hosts.

They provided their own All-Star team.

When I saw the standings one fine spring morning, and saw that the Mariners were off to a 31-9 start, I knew that this team was going to be something special, something historical, something unforgettable.

This team won every series except four: 3 losses (including being swept only once), and a tie against Texas. They also had a 15-game winning streak at one point. That means that this team won every game for over two weeks. Considering how often baseball games are played, that is a remarkable accomplishment.

When the All-Star game arrived in July, eight members of the American League squad were hometown Seattle Mariners. They included four starters, one of whom was center fielder Ichiro Suzuki, who went on to win Rookie of the Year and MVP awards that year.

By the end of the season, the Mariners had won 116 regular-season games, tying the Major League record (1906 Cubs), and setting a new record in the American League (previously 114 by the 1998 Yankees). It seemed inevitable that the Mariners were going on to World Series glory.

But then the playoffs came.

Trouble was in the air, as it took a full five games for Seattle to scrape by the Cleveland Indians to get into the ALCS. In the ALCS the New York Yankees simply dominated Seattle in five games en route to winning their fourth consecutive American League pennant.

So once again, the hopes of Seattle sports fans and their desire to bring Seattle another major-league sports championship were crushed. The city hadn't seen this kind of disappointment since the 1996 SuperSonics lost in the NBA Finals, and wouldn't see again until the 2006 Seahawks would lose Super Bowl XL.

It was magic; the 2001 Mariners were truly a great team: a team with chemistry, a team that was very fun to watch, a team that captivated a nation. It is just too bad that their magic ran out a couple weeks to early to win the World Series.

Mariners Small Ball Beats Red Sox Long Ball 4-3

Stuart Mahoney — Tue, 27 May 2008 20:23:37 -0400

It seemed like everything had been going right against the Seattle Mariners lately.

And with the Boston Red Sox, one of the best teams in the American League in town, things were not looking up. Especially with undefeated Daisuke Matsuzaka starting for Boston, the odds of the Mariners winning Tuesday night were slim.

But for one day, Seattle was able to look like the superior team, as they beat the Red Sox 4-3 with a walk-off, two-out single by second baseman José López to score outfielder Wladimir Balentien for the win.

In fact, tonight the Mariners were showing a level of teamwork they haven't shown very much this whole season. They were continually and steadily adding a run at a time to chip away against Boston pitching.

It began right away in the first inning, when the Mariners scored twice.

The home half of the first started off with Ichiro Suzuki hitting a double to lead off the inning, and he advanced to third on a bunt by López. Matsuzaka fielded the ball and made a quick throw to third, but it wasn't in time.

Ichiro scored on a ground ball to second hit by designated hitter José Vidro. José López was out on the play. Then left fielder Raúl Ibañez hit a double to left-center to score Vidro from first base.

The Mariners tacked on a third run in the third inning with more small ball.

Ichiro led off the inning with a solid single into center field. He swiped second base for his 22nd stolen base this year. An error by Boston first baseman Sean Casey on a ball hit by Vidro allowed Ichiro to advance to third. Raúl Ibañez got his 34th RBI this season after grounding into a fielder's choice at second base, scoring Ichiro.

Matsuzaka left the game after four innings due to an injury of some sort. As of when this article was being written, details were unavailable.

All of the Red Sox offense came in the top of the sixth inning, as left fielder Manny Ramírez hit his 499th career home run off of Mariners starter Miguel Batista, a three-run shot to right field scoring David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia.

The sixth was the only inning that an otherwise dominant Batista struggled in seven innings of work.

While both teams had more chances to score, no more runs were scored until the ninth inning.

Mariners closer J.J. Putz came in and held the tie, giving Seattle the chance to win in the home half of the inning. Balentien led off the inning with a single, and was advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by first baseman Miguel Cairo.

A groundout to second by shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt allowed Balentien to move up to third. After Ichiro was intentionally walked, José López drove a Mike Timlin pitch solidly into left field, scoring Balentien for the walk off win.

J.J. Putz picked up his second win, improving his record to 2-2, while former Mariner Mike Timlin's record dropped to 2-3. Matsuzaka had a no-decision, and therefore remains undefeated with a record of 8-0, and Batista, also with a no-decision, remains at 3-6 on the year.

The win ends a seven-game losing streak for Seattle.

Rangers-Mariners: Texas Outslugs Seattle, 13-12 in 10 Innings

Stuart Mahoney — Mon, 12 May 2008 19:12:35 -0400

As a preface to this article, I would like to point out the good news to Mariners fans everywhere—the fact that the Mariners got outslugged at least implies (correctly) that the Mariners were actually slugging in the first place! In that regard, this game was a deep contrast to the majority of games this season.

ARLINGTON—An early 5-0 lead was not enough to help the struggling Seattle Mariners win their second consecutive game on Monday night.

The scoring began early in the top of the first, with Ichiro Suzuki coming in to score on a fielding error by Rangers third baseman Ramon Vazquez on a ball batted by the Mariners' Adrian Beltre. Beltre then scored when Seattle right fielder Raul Ibanez went deep with his seventh home run of the season. Later in the same frame, two more runs would score—first with a balk by Rangers starting pitcher Vicente Padilla (scoring Jose Lopez), and then with a sacrifice fly hit by catcher Kenji Johjima, which allowed designated hitter Jeff Clement to score from third.

But the Rangers quickly went to work on picking away at their early five-run deficit.

Texas scored in the bottom half of the first on an RBI single by Rangers shortstop Michael Young. They tacked on another run in the second via a sacrifice fly hit by German Duran to score catcher Gerald Laird.

But the Rangers didn't run out Mariners starter Erik Bedard until the third, with back-to-back home runs by Josh Hamilton and Milton Bradley and a run-scoring single by Chris Shelton a few batters later. All this was done without Bedard recording an out. The Rangers would take a one-run lead on Duran double play that scored Laird.

Mariners shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt tied the game up in the sixth inning with an RBI double, which scored Clement.

The Rangers looked like they were going to run away with it in the seventh when they capitalized on a fielding error by Jose Lopez, allowing Laird to score again on what otherwise would have been the third out.

Texas scored three more times before the Mariners could stop the bleeding. Josh Hamilton had a two-RBI single, scoring Ian Kinsler and Duran. Frank Catalanotto, pinch hitting for designated hitter Milton Bradley—who was removed from the game with an injured shoulder—hit another RBI single to give the Rangers a four-run lead.

Both teams scored two runs in the eighth. The Mariners got theirs from a two-run home run by Wladimir Balentien, whereas the Rangers scored with two bases-loaded walks.

The Mariners rallied in the ninth with four runs. Beltre scored on a double by Raul Ibanez. Later, Johjima hit a clutch, two-out, three-run home run to tie the game at 12 runs apiece.

Mariners reliever Brandon Morrow came in to strike out the side in the bottom of the ninth to send the game to extra frames. He also struck out David Murphy to begin the tenth.

The Rangers finally put this game away, which lasted well over four hours, when Ramon Vazquez made up for his error early in the game by taking advantage of a rare mistake by Morrow to hit a walk-off home run for the win. The Texas Rangers defeated the Seattle Mariners by a final of 13 to 12.