Should the M's Sign Jim Edmonds?

Now that the ex-Angel and Cardinal center fielder has been cut loose by the Padres — where, granted, he was struggling mightily — does anyone see the harm in the M's seeing if he's still got any juice left in his bat? I'm not sure I see the harm in such a maneuver. I mean, theoretically, if he can hit .260 with a reasonable amount of power at the bottom of the M's order, you could move Ichiro back to right.

Topics: Mariners

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Supe Free Agent Target: Jose Calderon

Raptor point guard Jose Calderon had a breakout season last year, starting in place of an injured T.J. Ford. But then Ford came back, and a quarterback controversy ensued that ended only when Calderon volunteered to come off the bench. Now Calderon, a restricted free agent, says he's done with all that: He's a starter, dammit, and we agree with him. Which is why, if the Supes fail to win the Derrick Rose sweepstakes, they should pursue Calderon with vigor in the free agent market this summer. Usually, a player of Calderon's caliber would be a no-brainer match for any team. Any team, that is, except for Toronto, which might view the Supes' taking him off their hands as a blessing in disguise.

Topics: Sonics

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It's Time to Fire McLaren

The Mariners' awful 14-22 start isn't all John McLaren's fault, but it's partially his fault. The affable bench-coach-cum-skipper is a talented individual, but those talents don't include managing his pitching staff properly or inspiring his players to exert a greater day-to-day effort, which the M's, to a man, really need right now. Here's the problem: the M's just dropped three in a row to Texas to gain sole possession of the cellar in the AL West, eight games back of the Angels and A's, two expertly run franchises that rarely fade (with the exception of last year's Oakland anomaly). So the M's need to right the ship — right now.

If Seattle were playing in a flimsier division — say, the AL Central, where the spectacularly disappointing Tigers are only 3-1/2 games back with essentially the same record — we wouldn't say what we're about to say. And what we're about to say is that the M's need to make a move on McLaren. They need to do something to shake things up, and in the world of guaranteed contracts, that something inevitably ends up being the sacking of the manager, fair or not. After last year's September collapse, we were frankly surprised McLaren had the interim tag removed from his title. Well, now it's time to remove that title altogether. Sorry, John: desperate times call for desperate measures.

Topics: Mariners

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The Super Fine Print

Here's something that crept back into my mind lately: When the NBA owners overhwelmingly approved the Sonics' move to Oke City, they did so pending the results of the team's lawsuit with the City of Seattle. So if Bennett & Co. fail in their quest to bolt the Key before next season — and it's looking increasingly likely that this is what's going to happen — will the relocation issue be put back on the table for a re-vote at the '09 owners' meeting, by which point local pols could have a KeyArena renovation plan in place to go with Steve Ballmer's pledge to buy the team? What happens then?

Topics: Sonics

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Johns Family Values

In a 24-hour span that has seen us celebrate the work of SW production designer Claudia Johns and her sister, now comes news that Claudia's husband, the peerless Seattle P.I. sports enterprise writer Greg Johns, will appear (is appear the right word when you're talking about radio?) on KJR-950 at high noon today to talk about the Sonics and possibly women's roller hockey. Tune in, y'all: Greg's been known to drop f-bombs on the air from time to time, which is why he's not on more often.

Topics: Media

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Fight's Over Boys, Time to Start Winning

Lately, watching the Mariners play baseball is like watching the debate team throw game. They can try, but you know they’re not gonna score. It’s been 23 innings since a Mariner crossed home plate and you can see, they’re getting upset.

The frustration finally came to a head in the 4th inning. M’s starter Felix Hernandez had popped two Texas batters. The second one, catcher Gerald Laird, got hit in the forearm. The pitch spun him around although it didn’t look like he tried too hard to get out of the way. Laird glared at Hernandez, then had some choice words for Kenji Johjima on the way down to first base. On the M’s turn at bat, Richie Sexson came to the plate, and Gabbard may have tried to retaliate.

On the replay, you could see Gabbard shaking off pitches, which wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense if he planned on drilling Sexson. The resulting pitch seemed like it was aimed at the 6’8 Sexson’s head but broke away at the last second. If I had to guess, I’d say Gabbard wasn’t retaliating. Nevertheless, Sexson flew off the hook. He tossed his bat and sprinted towards Gabbard. Halfway there, he ripped off his helmet and threw it at Gabbard, which, in the replay, looked kinda wimpy — like throwing your piece in a gunfight. Whatever. I can’t remember the last time someone charged the mound without actually getting hit.

Laird reached Sexson right as Sexson reached Gabbard and tackled him. Both benches cleared and the resulting melee looked a lot more like a tough guy match then an actual fight — lots of pushing and shoving and jawing but not a whole lot of action. Hernandez got into it with Laird and had to be held back. On the Rangers side, DH Milton Bradley man-handled Laird back to the dugout.

Sexson was ejected and Gabbard stayed in the game. Two batters later, however, he complained of bruised legs from the fracas and came out.

That was it. The fight fired up the 22,000 at Safeco and the fans even managed some semblance of a wave — although with the low attendance, the thing wasn’t exactly Pipeline. Then, the Rangers scored again in the 6th and Safeco drained. By the time Yuniesky Bettancourt lined a shot to German Duran to finish the game at 5—0, the place was nearly empty.

There’s gotta be an “at least”� here, but I can’t think of one. At least the Rangers are the best team in the league (they’re not). At least the M’s bats heated up (they didn’t) at least they have the meat of their rotation for the rest of the home stand (they don’t). I’m at a loss. Little help?

I guess one possible “at least”� is that the season’s still young — very young. But it better improve in a hurry.

Topics: El Beisbol

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Surprise! Mariners Lose

Not enough people are coming to Safeco these days to even get a wave going.

Over the last two nights, the only Safeco entity on a hot streak is the yellow hydroplane. The Mariners' batting averages slid across the board as they limped through another loss to Texas. Bedard was back on the mound with a 2-1 record under his belt, and despite giving up a triple and a homer to Ranger DH Milton Bradley (insert Chutes and Ladders joke here), he did what a pitcher needs to do, holding Texas to two runs. Another eight were left on base, which is a little nerve racking coming from your pricey pitching ace, but as long as they don't touch home plate we're all right.

That said, keeping the Rangers to two only suffices if the Mariners score at all. They left six on, which is disappointing, but the fact that only two got there on a hit is even more tragic. Ichiro led off with a trip to first after getting pegged by Texas starter Vicente Padilla, but it was the last time Padilla made such a mistake. He allowed a couple more walks, but also nailed eight strikeouts in seven innings. It was a lot of three up, three down trips to the plate for Seattle.

The best part of the game for the only slightly less sparse crowd was when manager John McLaren burst from the dugout after a few words were exchanged with home-plate ump Mark Wegner that escalated into a lot of yelling by the red-faced McLaren. The crowd cheered him on his exit, but it was only the top of the second and we had a long night of crappy baseball to go.

At least Bedard looked good.

In the very small world of good Seattle sports news: when Fox posted the the ten worst franchises in professional sports, no teams from the Emerald City made the list. So, um, yay us.

Topics: El Beisbol

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Vladimir Radmanovic: An Appreciation

His website calls him “The Perfect 10 Model”� (and even provides a recipe). He’s built like a power forward, shoots and passes like a guard, and can get off the floor when the mood strikes him. He also dresses like an Eastern Bloc Walt Frazier and flashes facial hair skills that would make George Michael blush. (It takes a lot to make George Michael blush). He was kicked off the Serbian national team for responding to a coach’s halftime tirade by flippantly peeling and eating a banana; he spent the second half in the crowd, posing for pictures and signing autographs. The current national team coach offered a TV or a laptop for his phone number. He wears mullets, fauxhawks, and braids equally without a hint of self-consciousness, lies about his height to bachelorette parties and about his snowboarding habits to his employer, evinces the mean ambition of a hot-boxed Breakfast Club, and, for all this, boasts over $15 million in career earnings, with another $18 or so guaranteed. He is Vladimir Radmanovic, a singular figure in the NBA.

Continue reading "Vladimir Radmanovic: An Appreciation"

Topics: NBA

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Taking What We Can Get at Safeco

It was the top of the third, runners at the corners, the pitcher staring toward home. A nod, the windup, and CRACK! The ball sailed off the bat to the right middle deck, a 425-foot sight to behold. My brother and I cheered. Sure, the shot came off the bat of Rangers' center fielder Josh Hamilton and put Texas up on the Mariners 7-0. But after watching Miguel Batista throw like a JV high schooler, we were ready to take our baseball highlights where we could get them. And last night, that was from Texas.

Of course, even if Batista hadn't walked all those batters, giving the Rangers more runs than hits in the first three innings, it wouldn't have mattered. The Mariners were going up to the plate and more often than not heading right back to the dugout. A double from Ichiro in the bottom of the fifth to score Balentien was all that stood between Seattle and a humiliating shut-out.

It's becoming pretty depressing to be a Seattle sports fan. The Sonics finished the season as an NBA cautionary tale. And now the Mariners aren't looking much better, with games barely selling enough tickets to keep the hot dog stands going (last night's attendance was a record low 15,818).

So now we've been reduced to cheering for great plays by the opposition—no one even called for the fan that caught Hamilton's ball to throw it back. After all, that was as good as it got last night at Safeco.

Topics: Mariners

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Judge Deals Bennett a Blow

With yesterday's ruling that the financial settlement phase of the Sonics' legal imbroglio with the city will be handled separately from the material ruling, Clay Bennett is essentially left with three options for the 2008-2009 season: (1) suck it up and plan on playing at least one more year at the Key, (2) collaborate with David Stern to up your settlement offer and guarantee Seattle an expansion (or relocated) franchise by a drop-dead date in the near future, or (3) pack up and leave in defiance of the court and let the chips fall where they may.

Option #3 sounds ludicrous, but it's been done before, with little in the way of penalty incurred by the scofflaw (see: Irsay, Robert). The viability of Option #2 is up to Stern — and possibly Memphis, whose management has gone into fire sale mode and whose fan base has eroded in a not-so-desirable market to begin with (statside expansion seems pretty unlikely, as the commish seems more intent on creating new franchises abroad, where the league's popularity is skyrocketing). Option #1 might bleed the Okies into selling the team, as Supe fans would be likelier than ever to catch home games on TV rather than contribute to Bennett's relocation fund, and the legislature would be given the opportunity to revisit Steve Ballmer & Co's generous public-private offer for upgrading the Key.

With apologies to Steve Kelley for ripping off an analogy he voiced on KJR last night, if you were assessing this legal showdown as a prizefight, Bennett would be on the ropes right now, down on all cards — and he's no Muhammad Ali.

Topics: Sonics

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