Malik
(5/7/12)
II took last week off
from posting since life is going fast and frantic about now. I've
not had much time to even think about games as I juggle good weather
(being a homeowner makes good weather into a time of chores...and a
time to finally break down and say "I'm buying a mower instead of
inheriting fix-em-up garbage mowers."), a few sport events I had to
keep up on (Sounders FC are in a hell month of non-stop matches
twice a week), an awesome job interview, and an attempt of sorts to
see more money come into my current paycheck. When all of that comes
together, it makes one need a vacation.
On the note of the
Sounders FC...wow, they are just amazing this year. Normally they
start a season a little cool and then build from there into a
playoff team. This year, the Sounders have started with a half dozen
wins and only one single loss and one single draw. This is a team
that just looks amazing...and that is despite having one injury
plagued roster. Zakuani is still out from his bad leg break over a
year ago, Johnson has only now come back to what was expected when
the Sounders signed him, Rosales is still trying to get in a full
90, and now even Gsperning (the starting keeper) has a hip injury.
If the Sounders can do this with so many injuries, it will only get
better when the roster is healthy.
I wish I could post
more, but until life slows down a bit, the only geeky thing allowed
around me is to watch the Sounders twice a week while trying to get
in some emails at the same time. I need a vacation.
Malik |
Malik
(5/9/12)
I'm still not getting
much time with real games, unless you count playing far too much
Angry Birds on Android. I know it's sad, but I have been unable to
stop playing Angry Birds for the last two days. It started with my
playing through of all of Angry Birds Rio, and now it's continuing
into Angry Birds Seasons. It's like an addiction once you start
playing, even when you really have no interest in playing. I mean my
main reason for playing initially was to drain my battery (my
somewhat new battery still has not gone through more than a single
full cycle of drain 100% and charge 100%). It has moved beyond that
idea of productivity and turned into a mess of me not being able to
find an escape...besides the escapism of playing Angry Birds.
On a separate
note, I have been watching the Mariners more than I feel like I
should admit. When your local team is this damned bad, it is not a
thing one wants to admit to following. I mean the M's still have an
anemic offense and a few pitchers who may be good but seem
uninterested to perform when they will expect to earn an L for
giving up only a single run (due to the final score being something
around 0-1 at the end of nine aggravating innings).
I have heard many
reasons for why the M's are bad from local and national sports
writers, but I feel flat out dumbfounded when the most obvious
reason just doesn't get any mention. I'll hear that it's because of
Chone Figgins. While Figgins is a complete bust (I never thought he
was worth the hype even when he was with the Angles), one man
doesn't cause eight others to lack any offense in a given game. I've
heard that the team needs to play the young guys more...which would
be wise if they were not already fielding a team that falls more
towards young than old (unlike about four to six years back when the
team looked like a senior all-star team...that was playing against
current pros). I've heard that Wedge cannot coach worth a crap, but
he is working with what he has. I've heard that Jack Z is a joke of
a GM who doesn't get good players on the team, despite how he is
hampered by Lincoln and Armstrong failing at the front office while
suffering from an owner who things you must NOT spend money to make
money.
The truth of the
matter, I have a theory beyond these that seems to actually fit.
When spring training begins, the M's look offensively amazing
(instead of just having an offensive offense). As spring ball goes
further along, the offense starts to falter. Then when the season is
upon the MLB, the M's have no offense left. Now, with that in mind,
either the M's have a team that cannot survive for more than a month
of exertion, or they have something that is effecting them over time
on their batting. Considering how many players use their own
training styles and personally hired trainers in the off-season, it
seems obvious to me. The M's have to have to worst batting coach in
the MLB...and probably the worst out there at any level from little
league, to college to A, to AA, to AAA, and up through the majors.
I think, in my
theory, that as the M's batting coach gets his hands on the players,
he starts to break them of good habits picked up in the winter and
instills some bad lessons that don't fit the player. Each baseball
player has their own approach to the plate, and this needs to be
handled individually by a hitting coach. Instead, I see some fool
who is just giving either a one-size-fits-all lesson, or a guy who
just cannot figure out the style that best fits each player. If it
is not the batting coach, then why do Seattle fans (all 2 of us who
remain) continue to see a team get worse as spring ball continues
and fails entirely by the end of September (October only counts for
teams that have a chance in hell of progressing, and you need
hitters to do that).
I think with guys
like Montero, Ackerly, Smoalk (who looks especially hard hit with
bad techniques being put in his head), Seager, Carp, and Ichiro, who
all show natural talent, this must be the problem...and the solution
is simple. The M's need to fire their batting coach and bring in
someone who knows how to teach, and knows how to read what style
best fits a player. Personally, I'd vote for the M's begging Edgar
Martinez (who, from what I understand, used to help with hitting
tips when he was still on the M's as DH). Whoever the M's get, they
need to look at the hitting coach for the most likely culprit of
years of flounders at the plate.
Malik |