Finishing In Style

I am whole-heartedly immersed in college football on Saturdays, which is a much healthier thing than pondering the 2010 Mariners. However, I need a break before what promises to be a dramatic primetime slate (Stanford/Oregon and Florida/Alabama going simultaneously, 'nuff said). It is about time I wrote something for the blog too.

What is there to say though? I find myself rooting for failure at this point. It's all this team has got. The only thing it can be good at, especially with Felix finished, is at not being good. And, really, they've taken bad to a whole new level.

Losing on a strikeout pitched? That deserves a standing ovation. Outscored 17-1 in the final series so far? A worthy encore. Daric Barton's first grand slam and multi-homer game, all by the second inning last night? Bow down.

The only way the 2010 Mariners could go out in any sort of style is this way. It's anti-style, but I'll take that over the painful void that has largely been Mariners games. Not many runs allowed, and even fewer scored, but so few scored that even a one-run deficit is a surefire loss. That's as bad as baseball gets, which is why these blowouts, for my taste, are even better.

All that is left is one more loss to hit the century mark. I know that this team's place in history is already sealed, but this season has been so bad it deserves 100 losses. It just looks so much worse when there are three digits in the loss column. The looks will line up with what has happened so much better.

I was a little worried that this team would go on a mild run as they handed playing time over to more Rainiers. That's not a joke, I really thought that might happen. However, the September call-ups (Justin Smoak, Greg Halman, Matt Mangini, Mike Carp, Guillermo Quiroz) are 25 for 108 in September, which is good for .231 batting average. Thankfully, they've fit right in, though seven extra base hits (with three of them home runs!) might be a little lofty by 2010 M's standards. The 31 strikeouts with only 9 walks keep the veterans from being jealous though.

And really, the September call-up numbers would be awful without Justin Smoak mixed in. He has had a legitimately great September.

In fact, the more I look at the September numbers, this team is doing all it can to chase down history. There are 15 Mariners with at least 20 at-bats this month. None have batting averages over .400, 3 have averages over .300, and 3 more have averages over .200. In case you haven't already done the mental math, that means 9 of the 15 M's with at least a week's worth of at-bats this month are below the Mendoza line.

I guess the Rainiers reinforcements really have shown up the veterans.

Believe big!