Might as well... I haven't been this excited about baseball season since...well, ever!! We have three of the most exciting prospects in baseball in the opening day roster (Kelenic, Gilbert and JULIOOOOOOOOOOOO) and there's a buzz on this team I hadn't seen or felt before. I became an M's fan in 2000 half because I "needed" a team to watch with my dad and the other half because of Griffey. I didn't give it much importance then but I do now, I haven't followed this close before (that's what a subscription to the Athletic will do to you). So I'll use this thread to talk to myself about the highs, lows, and evens...to rant and to celebrate and hope this is yet another iteration of the 2021 CHAOS BALL team.
Well, after two weeks looks like CHAOS BALL is back...or it never actually left, only this time it didn't start in august. M's are in first place. Julio is getting screwed by the umps, half the bullpen and the manager have covid, our prospect pitcher is walking everybody and still taking no-hitters to the sixth inning...baseball is fun, man!!!
The Mariners have won 8 in a row, are over .500 again for the first time since may 2nd and they have done it without Mitch Hanniger, Kyle Lewis and Jesse Winker. Three of their top 5 players. Manager Scott Servais declared yesterday that CHAOS BALL IS BACK BABYYYYYY!!! Julio Rodriguez is the only all-star in the team. Deserved...but I think Ty France was robbed. It's a popularity contest, after all...
Ty France made it to the ASG after all...after like...the 6th injury withdraw, but still... Julio had his coming out party during the Home Run Derby and he almost won the whole thing. Now I have to read/listen to Dodgers fans, Yankee fans and Red Sox fans talking about how good of an addition he'll be to their teams in 3, 4 years. The part that they might be right makes me so sad... BTW...do you want your team to trade for Juan Soto? I do. Only Julio would be off limits, the rest of the roster would be fair...
In my life I've hated a lot of teams. Some for being too good (the 49ers, Barcelona, the Argentina national soccer team) and others for being evil (the 00's Patriots, the Mercedes Formula 1 team, whatever team Kevin Durant happens to play in). The Astros fall in both categories. The cheating bastards are both good and evil, and my Mariners can beat any of the other 28 MLB teams...just not those guys. I really hate them.
I like the Astros since my brother is a fan of them. I can understand disliking them because of the cheating thing, but I'm surprised there isn't more hatred towards the Yankees. I hate the Mets since they are a close rival of the Phillies, but I still hate the Evil Empire even more.
The Yankees haven't won anything since what? 2009? That's a lot of time. I don't care about them. I think I hate the Dodgers and Red Sox more even the Angels...and yes, the Astros. The Yankees are "meh"...they have been "meh" for over a decade.
That's not a lot of time for a Phillies fan who remembers who the Yankees beat in the WS that year...haha.
EMBRACE THE CHAOS!!! Mariners beat the Yankees 1-0 last night (morning) in the 13rd inning in one of the most amazing baseball games I've watched in my life, and one of the few I've actually watch from start to finish. This felt like a playoff game, and can't wait for more. Luis Castillo is the ace we wish Robby Ray was. What a performance!!
Speaking of Robby "I dare you to look away from my tight pants" Ray (MY EYES!!!")...he's pitching a gem again and the offense can't hit to save their lives XD Baseball is FAAAAAAAAAAANTASTIC!!
Robbie "Super Tight Pants" Ray reads this forum. There's no other explanation...he's gone back to Cy Young form in his last couple of starts, yesterday he even flirted with a no-hitter for 7 innings. Hey, I'm all for it!!
So it was a friday night, and I was in the hotel bar, very close to midnight. One hour ago I remembered the Mariners where trying to clinch their first playoff berth since my junior year in college. I was using my dad's MLB TV account...I mean, it's midnight, he went to sleep 4 hours ago, he doesn't need it right now. In this hotel there are a lot (and I mean A LOT) of old Americans. All of them probably retired, and got bamboozled to buy that super expensive membership most of the hotels in this town have. They tried to sell it to me but the cost is a year and a half of my salary. My house was cheaper!!! I apologized to the agent for wasting her time (she probably didn't even realize I was Mexican until late in our conversation...we spoke in english because I'm used to it, for work) and moved on in my second day here... So anyway, I'm watching the game on my phone. I noticed two guys in my dad's age range, mid to late 60s. One of them makes a comment of how bars don't even need TVs anymore, only good wifi, and everybody can watch whatever they want on their phones. I smile and return to my screen. He asks if I'm a baseball fan, and I said yes, I have my dad to blame for that. I have the "all included" package whith means I don't pay for drinks (I already paid for them, mind you). The bartender is a very nice guy who gives me another jack and coke right as I'm about to finish the previous one. He earned his tip. The conversation shifts to the Mariners and how unlucky they have been in the past couple of decades, with generational talents like Felix Hernandez and Ichiro, and just couldn't catch a break... It's the bottom of the ninth, game is tied at 1 and I'm begging the baseball gods to finish it now. I'm starting to get drunk, my battery is low and my charger is in my room, all the way up to the ninth floor (and if I go there my girlfriend won't let me leave again if you know what I mean). Two quick outs and the M's pinch hit Cal Raleigh, also known as THE BIG DUMPER. He of the 28 HRs in his second MLB season who had a miserable 1st half only to go absolutely nuts after the all-star break. He's nursing a thumb injury, that's why he's not starting lately, but the M's are something like 24-3 when he hits a HR so here goes nothing, I guess... Count goes to 3-2. He missed badly on two sliders inside. Dumper steps away from the plate...ponders. "I see you...I see you..." he seems to mumble. He takes a guess...he thinks he'll throw the slider again... ...and he was right!! Slider inside!! This time Dumper is not fooled, swings, and the ball carries and carries and it's gone!! Ballgame. M's win and clinch. I raised my arms. Old guy behind me pats me on the back!! I even take a victory lap around the bar!! Hey...I'm drunk at this point, don't judge me. The bartender hands me a glass of champagne which I know it's not included in my package...no, no...I can't have that, I have to pay. The bartender says not to worry, it's on the old guy...I turn around to say thanks but he's not there...he left. I never even got his name. He bought a glass of champagne for a complete stranger in a hotel bar in a foreign country. What a guy. (By the way, I hadn't drank champagne since my college graduation). My phone died in the middle of the celebration and returned to my room. The following day I saw the video of Scott Servais (M's manager) yelling BIG DUMPER!! In live television. That's the story of where I was and what I was doing when the Mariners clinched their first playoff berth in 21 years. It has been a crazy season, and it will continue for at least one more weekend. And just to close, don't forget... BIG DUMPER.
Haha...That would be amazing. Not getting a home game in a playoff series really sucks. I guess it's good incentive to be better in the regular season though.
Last year the Mariners won 90 games and fell one game short (would've made it as the third WC). This year they clinched with 86 wins. Baseball and sports in general can be crazy sometimes... Edit: And even without the third Wild Card, the M's clinched the second one last night with 89 wins.
BTW...I'd love to hear...I mean, read Chump's take on that comment: "Bars don't need TVs anymore"...the one I was in, 100 meters from the beach, didn't xD. Want to watch a game? Use your phone, our wifi can take it
I can't believe I'm 2 hours away from watching my first Mariners playoff game in 21 years. I became a fan in the '95 run, and as usual, figured I'd always have a playoff baseball team. How wrong I was... EMBRACE THE CHAOS!!
Well, turns out that MBL TV International does not carry the postseason and I don't have cable at home... I'll spend a lot of time in my parents house this october...
Crazy comeback by the Mariners!! Wow. I saw the Jays were up 8-1 and I thought it was over. Fantastic!
