Hotdog & Friends

Fig Jam

For weeks now we have been wondering who to blame for this debacle of a Mariners season.  Today we got our answer.  Jeff Pentland.  You’re goddamn right it’s this guy’s fault.  Apparently he was the hitting coach for the Mariners and is the obvious reason that the team is 19 games below .500 and boasts the worst record in the league.  From here on out, you can expect the Mariners to be a run producing machine. 

I would expect that Richie Sexson would bat about .400 down the stretch with anywhere from 45-250 homeruns in the remainder of the season.  Also, look for Vidro to suddenly become a power-hitting designated hitter with similar home run numbers to Sexson.   In fact, I bet all the Mariners will raise their #’s by .200 and the team will not lose another game. 

Actually I would imagine that this firing isn’t going to be answer.  What it definitely is, however, is the most chicken-shit move that could have been made at this juncture in the season.  The Mariners didn’t fire upper-management or anyone who assembled/runs the team. They didn’t release or trade any of the players out there on the field everyday.  No,  they fired a no-name middleman. 

Even worse in my opinion, they didn’t fire anyone else.  Just the hitting coach.  This indicates to me that the Mariners are totally in denial about the problems they are having internally, as well as on the field.  Numerous reporters have commented on how there is no chemistry with this team, no leadership.  This firing does not address that issue.  The Mariners have suffered defensive breakdowns and committed inexplicable errors time and time again this season.  This firing does nothing to address that.  The starting pitching and relief pitching has not lived up to pre-season expectations.  This firing does not address that. 

And yes, they have not hit well.  I guess that problem is solved.   I guess we can expect Jose Vidro to become an excellent DH.  His game is so well tailored for that.  I guess the right field position will begin being productive now.  The Mariners were so well stocked at that position going into the season with Brad Wilkerson out there.  I suppose the next time the Mariners release a guy like Norton, the new hitting coach will immediately have the answer and get a new guy in there who will be just as productive.

If the Mariners were going to fire people, they needed to do a lot better than this.  This is nothing.  Less than nothing.  They skipped down the line of Armstrong/Bavasi/McLaren and stopped at a relatively inconsequential assistant coach position to make a firing, and then did not proceed further down the line to deal with any of the players who’s miserable performances led to the firing of the coach.   What a joke. 

This entry was posted on Monday, June 9th, 2008 at 11:27 am and is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.