A recent study from the New York Times concluded that air traffic controllers suffer the most stress than any other job. I beg to differ. Without a doubt, I confidently believe that being a Seattle Mariners fan is the most stressful "occupation" known to man.
In the past year, I sat down in front of the television and/or computer screen 160 times, barring the two games that I attended. During that time, I watched the Mariners turn around last year's woes and produce a solid season. After an offseason of acquisitions that were primarily focused on defense and leadership, the Mariners became the 13th team in MLB history to have a winning record the year after losing 100+ games.
Among the 162 games played this year, 55 were decided by one run (most in the majors), and 13 of the 85 wins came off of walk-off hits. No wonder my excretory system was a mess from April to early October. In a reflection of the memorable 2009 season, I have compiled the best (and worst) from various categories, and concluded with the 10 most exciting wins and painful losses.
Best Trade: Class A pitcher Fabian Williamson to Red Sox for David Aardsma
Z gained my trust when he pulled off this trade. How he was able to trade a Class A minor leaguer for a big league reliever still shocks me. Aardsma took over the closer duties in May and ended the season with 38 saves. "DA" was the anchor of one of the top American League bullpens.
Worst trade: Wladimir Balentein to Reds for pitcher Robert Manuel
I always felt that Balentein has a lot of potential. He is only 25, and has shown glimpses of power and clutch hitting. In the last few seasons, the Mariners have lacked a consistent power hitter (besides Branyan last season), and Balentein could have been that middle of the lineup basher of the future.
Best Moment: Ichiro's walk-off vs. Yankees
Maybe it's my hatred of the Yankees, or maybe my love for Ichiro, but when Ichiro hit that walk-off home run off of Mariano Rivera on Sept. 18, I was witnessed my second favorite sports moment ever (behind Boise State's two point conversion in the Fiesta Bowl).
Worst Moment: Chavez/Betancourt collision
On June 19, Betancourt and left fielder Endy Chavez collided while chasing down a pop fly. As a viewer, you could see that it was going to happen, but it still sends chills down my spine remembering Chavez roll around in pain. He tore his ACL in the collision, and was out for the rest of the season. However, the M's did stage a comeback in the eighth, sparked by Griffey's pinch-hit, two-run home run. The Mariners won 4-3, erasing a three run deficit.
Best Series: Diamondbacks in June
The M's exemplified excellence in many aspects of the game when the D-backs came to town in June. The Mariners showed why they had the lowest ERA in the American League last season, surrendering only eight runs during the three game sweep. Also, in each game, the Mariners were losing in late innings, but came back to win them all. Among the 14 runs scored by the Mariners in this series, nine were scored in the eighth and ninth innings. During this series they also had to cope with the injury to Chavez (see above).
Worst Series: Indians in July
One week after winning three out of four against the Tribe, the M's played their worst baseball of the season. The pitchers were wild and the bats were silent, resulting in the M's being outscored 31-3 in three games. The M's were seven games above .500 and involved in a tight playoff race before getting slaughtered by the weak Indians.
Best Broadcasting Moment: Blowers' perfect prediction
Although he is notorious for rally fries and hitting grand slams in back-to-back games, M's broadcaster Mike Blowers is also a psychic. Prior to the game on Sept. 27, Blowers predicted that rookie Matt Tuiasosopo would hit his first career home run in his second at-bat off a fastball, on a 3-1 count, to the second deck in left field. Guess what? He did.
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Worst Broadcasting Moment: Sims' Tim Tebow impersonation
There are three people on the M's broadcasting crew—Hall of Famer and fan favorite Dan Niehaus, psychic and Mr. Rally Fries, Mike Blowers and well, then there's David Sims. Sims is known for wearing strange hats and blabbing about the most random subjects. But perhaps the worst came towards the end of the regular season.
On Sept. 27, Sims was talking about how Ian Snell, who was pitching at the time, is a Florida Gators fan. Then Sims preceded to say, "Although on the mound Snell does not emote like Tim Tebow," and followed with four seconds of screaming and noises not intended for television. Mike Blowers was speechless, and after his Tebow impersonation there was an awkward silence.
10 Most Painful Losses:
No. 10: Oct. 2 vs. Texas Rangers
In his previous start, Snell gave up two runs, but the bullpen couldn't keep the lead and surrendered a 10th inning, walk-off bomb to Adam Lind. This time, against the division rival Texas Rangers, Snell pitched a quality start, but the bullpen once again blew the lead. The loss to the Rangers meant the Mariners could finish no higher than third place.
No. 9: Aug. 22 vs. Cleveland Indians
The M's jumped out to a three run lead in the top of the first, but the Tribe slowly worked back into the game, and an error by Michael Saunders notched the game at three apiece. After several missed opportunities—the Mariners batted .100 with RISP—Randy Messenger gave up a walk-off homer in the bottom of the 11th to light-hitting second baseman Luis Valbuena.
No. 8: Sept. 8 vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Cy Young runner-up Felix Hernandez tossed a gem, going seven innings and allowing one earned run. However, it appeared he was going to get tagged with a loss, before Mike Sweeney tied the game with a home run to lead off the ninth. Two walks and a wild pitch later, the M's had a chance to take the lead, but squandered their opportunity. In the bottom of the 10th, Miguel Batista gave up a two out, walk-off single to Erick Aybar.
No. 7: May 13 vs. Texas Rangers
The Mariners jumped out to a three run lead, but the Rangers came back to tie the game. No runs were scored until Balentein blasted a bomb in the top of the 11th to give the M's the lead, but Brandon Morrow blew the save as the Rangers rallied to win.
No. 6: Aug. 20 vs. Detroit Tigers
The ball was jumping off the M's bats as Seattle registered four solo home runs to build an early lead. Unfortunately, a rain delay in the sixth inning cooled off the Mariners' momentum. The Tigers rallied back and came within one run heading into the ninth inning. Aardsma failed to get the first out, which led to a walk-off single by Clete Thomas.
No. 5: Aug. 11 vs. Chicago White Sox
Doug Fister was just two outs away from registering his first major league victory when DA surrendered a three-run, game-winning homer in the top of the ninth. It was just the third blown save for Aardsma, who was a very efficient closer for the M's in 2009.
No. 4: July 8 vs. Baltimore Orioles
Lopez hit the foul pole for a two-run bomb in the first, and it appeared that's all that the Mariners needed to win. Vargas had his best start of the season, tossing five scoreless innings. By adding an insurance run in the eighth, it appeared DA would get the save without a problem. However, the Orioles had a different idea, and scored five runs in the ninth to win.
No. 3: May 14 vs. Texas Rangers
After not winning a game in April, it appeared Felix would finally break through as he hurled a great game, allowing zero runs on seven innings. But struggling closer Brandon Morrow gave up three runs and blew his second straight save opportunity in as many days, letting the Rangers rally in the bottom of the ninth before dishing up Chris Davis' walk-off four-bagger.
No. 2: April 7 vs. Minnesota Twins
The M's scored four runs through the first four innings and it appeared the Mariners were going to start the season with a 2-0 record. With a two-run lead heading into the ninth, Morrow easily retired the first two batters. Morrow then started to lose control, and walked the next three batters to load the bases. After an unfortunate infield single, Alexi Casilla hit a walk-off, two-run single.
No. 1 : May 31 vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
In the 2009 season, the Mariners had the lowest team batting average in the American League, thus they didn't have many games in which they scored a lot of runs. So the pitching staff didn't know what to do when they were handed a 8-1 lead in the sixth inning of the game. Heading into the ninth, the Angels cut the lead down to two. Aardsma then uncharacteristically surrendered four walks, and Kendry Morales knocked in the game-winning run on a single.
10 Most Exciting Wins:
No. 10: May 17 vs. Boston Red Sox
Defensive wizard Franklin Gutierrez donned the Superman cape as he knocked in Ronny Cedeno with a walk-off single. Cedeno reached base on a fielding error, and Guti knocked him in with two outs in the ninth.
No. 9: April 14 vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim—Home Opener
In Griffey's return to Seattle, the M's put on a show in front of a sellout crowd. It took ten innings to decide the winner, as Franklin Gutierrez doubled in the bottom of the tenth frame before scoring on a throwing error.
No. 8: June 21 vs. Arizona Diamondbacks
King Felix tossed seven innings of scoreless ball before giving up a two run bomb in the eighth. The M's didn't help his cause, only scoring one run through seven innings. Mike Carp singled and reached second on an error before Guti knocked him in. The following inning, with the bases juiced and two out, Guti hit a routine ground ball to short. After what appeared to be the third out of the ninth inning, first baseman Tony Clark dropped the ball as Cedeno crossed the plate for the winning run and the Mariners completed the sweep.
No. 7: May 30 vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Matt Palmer and Felix Hernandez both pitched great games, as neither pitcher gave up a run through six innings. The bottom of the seventh inning was highlighted by Branyan's fielding error, which was followed by Aybar's RBI double. The Halos added two insurance runs in the eighth to go ahead 3-0.
In the top of the ninth Beltre and Branyan each hit singles. With two outs, Jose Lopez delivered in the clutch, blasting a three-run, game-tying home run off of All-Star closer Brian Fuentes. In the tenth inning Balentein led off with a double, was bunted over by Guti, and scored the winning run on a bang-bang play off of a Yuni sac fly.
No. 6 : Aug. 7 vs. Tampa Bay Rays
On a summer evening in which three games ended with walk-off home runs, the most exciting was in the confines of Safeco Field on Griffey's bobblehead night.
Trailing by four in the seventh inning, Griffey sparked a four-run rally with a solo shot to right field. The game remained tied through ten innings, until shortstop Jason Bartlett hit a solo homer that put the Rays ahead 6-5. Down by one run in the bottom of the 11th with two outs, and Guti on second, light-hitting outfielder Ryan Langerhans drove a ball to the right field seats for his second home run of the year, and first career walk-off.
No. 5: Sept. 18 vs. New York Yankees
One of the best hitters in major league history faced off against the best closer of all-time at Safeco Field on Sept. 18. Losing 2-1, Ichiro stepped into the box with two outs in the ninth and Michael Saunders on second. On the first pitch, Ichiro lifted his foot and launched the ball into the right field seats for his first ever walk-off home run. (I was watching the game at my school while working on my school newspaper, and after Ichi hit it I ran throughout the halls screaming).
No. 4: Aug. 12 vs. Chicago White Sox
If you only like high-scoring matchups, then you won't like reading about this game, and you probably aren't a Mariners fan.
Felix and Mark Buerhle were both dominating on the mound, but neither ace could outshine one another. Buerhle went eight innings and Felix went seven, as both pitchers silenced the bats, with neither team scoring in the first thirteen innings. In fact, the only well hit ball was Adrian Beltre's, who suffered from a contusion in a testicle from a bad hop. With two outs and runners on first and second in the bottom of the 14th, Griffey hit a pinch-hit, walk-off single into the right field corner.
No. 3: May 1 vs. Oakland Athletics
The M's found themselves in a five-run hole early in the game. But after scoring two in the third and four in the fifth, the Mariners were tied at six heading into the ninth. Foreshadowing the clutch play he would show the rest of the season, Lopez battled Russ Springer for 13 pitches with the bases loaded and two outs. On the 14th pitch, Lopez knocked in the winning run with a single to right.
No. 2: Sept. 17 vs. Chicago White Sox
Danks controlled the Mariners for most of the night, leaving the game in the eighth with a 3-1 lead. Fortunately for the M's, the bullpen couldn't continue Danks' magic. Lopez led off the ninth inning with a solo shot to put the Mariners within one, before Bill Hall stepped to the plate with two outs, and tied the game with another solo home run.
The M's bullpen proved they were among the best in the bigs, pitching 8 1/3 scoreless innings. In the bottom of the 14th and the game still tied at three, Ichiro knocked in the winning run with a walk-off, one-out single to center.
No. 1: May 3 vs. Oakland Athletics
The Mariners were once again caught in a hole, giving up three runs in the first inning. Seattle battled back, however, and trailed the Athletics by only one heading into the ninth frame.
With one out, catcher Kenji Johjima tied the game with a solo bomb. The M's couldn't continue the rally, and the game went to extra innings. In the 13th inning, inconsistent reliever Miguel Batista gave up three runs. It took nine innings for the Mariners to erase the first three-run deficit of the game, but they managed to do it in only one the second time. With a combination of walks and singles, the M's tied the game at seven.
Finally, in the bottom of the 15th, the M's finished the five hour marathon when Mr. Clutch, Jose Lopez, knocked in Guti for the walk-off single.
Although 2010 looks bright and a playoff spot is now realistically within reach, I will be happy regardless, knowing that Carlos Silva, the $48 million kissing cheerleader, is no longer in a Mariners uniform.
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