04.19.05
SHUT UP! Oh, yeah, the Mariners.
I’m not saying a word about the National League in the second-largest U.S. city. Nothing. Nope. Don’t you talk about them either. Not now. Shhh.
Now for the Mariners. We’ll have a better idea in about a month, but so far they’re doing about as well as I expected. I predicted they’d improve to become about a .500 team, which will keep them within reasonable distance of the wild-card spot into August. That’s great for the fans.
There is some good and bad news in their 6-7 record. For you pessimists Jamie Moyer, Ryun Franklin and Aaron Sele (last night excluded) are doing better than I thought and the team is still a game under .500. And there’s no guarantee those three will continue to do as well and the rest of the staff is still untrustworthy. Plus, Beltre is hitting .240 with only one home run. Richie Sexson had two home runs on Opening Day and only one since. For you optimists Ichiro is hitting .404 and is on pace to get 262 hits this season, even after last night’s 0-5 performance. Beltre is bound to improve, the pitching could stay this stable, and Jeremy Reed and Miguel Olivo should improve. Still, I’m betting the Mariners final record well be 80-82.