Suffering what has been a long winter in more ways than one, I finally heard good noise this morning. Birds chirping. Snow melting, "drip, drip, drip..." Soon I will hear those wonderful sounds that truly initiate the rite of spring; the crack of the bat, the sound of a ball and glove. Baseball season is nearly here. In fact, today is the first time in 2008 that the Mariners take the field to play another team. The annual charity game between San Diego and Seattle.
I have some cautious hopes for this coming season. The Mariners have seriously upgraded their pitching with the addition of Erik Beddard and Carlos Silva to the starting line up, but it came with the high cost of five of our best prospects--including Adam Jones who has big potential to be an offensive power house (in AAA Tacoma he was batting .317 on pace to hit 50 homers before the M's called him up to ride the pine for the rest of last season). Thats what made me nervous. The Mariners offense is likely going to slightly decline this season, Jones would have been a very helpful addition to the line-up. Many believe that last season the Mariners over-performed with the tallent they had but still finished 6 games behind the Angels. The word among some is that even with a powerhouse pitching staff we'll be unable to compete with the Angels for a pennant. But thats why we play the game right? There are enough variables in baseball that keep the game interesting, and last season we were in the hunt all the way till late August. A great pitching staff will take us far, but we'll need some career years out of the offense to take us to the post-season. Here's hoping. Go Mariners!
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Spring Fling
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 comments:
Ahh, spring training! A time when every team still has a chance.
My Twins lost some key players, but also added a few. How about a small wager to see who wins the season series between the Mariners and the Twins?
We're looking forward to seeing you next week in the Cities. My beloved Roseau High School Hockey Rams are on a roll, and are once again poised to show those city slickers how to play hockey at the State Tourney!
Marv
I didn't realize you were a baseball fan. Now I come to glance at your blog and I see a collection of us small market fans ... all with our hopes high for the new season. I have very fond memories of 1985 when I was ten and my Royals won the series. Unfortunately, it's been pretty much downhill from there. That can't dampen my enthusiasm, however! Spring can't be far away if the Royals are out there tossing the balls around.
Post a Comment