Mariners lose 99th game 9-0 on Fan Humiliation night

I'm Tired of Losing

The Mariners lost 9-0 tonight for their 99th loss of the season on Fan Appreciation night in front of 19,656 joyless fans including myself pictured at left to ashamed to show my face.

The infield had a big “Thankyou” written in the infield when in reality it should have said “Sorry”. One bright spot for the evening was I got to meet some of the young fans from Firenintendo and we passed out leaflets and brown bags to the fans as they came in. We were well received and got the attention of the Mariners security team if nothing else!

This season is almost over and the cold reality of trying to make do next year with a bunch of AAA guys who try hard but with rare exception, just don’t have Big League stuff. Justin Smoak is a keeper, but most of the rest including Luke French who got bombed for 7 runs in the first two innings are marginal.

It was a sad night at the Safe, for the fans and I am sure the players as well. Howard Lincoln and Chuck Armstrong were probably off in their cozy mansions sipping cognac tonight, as we the fans were given a bitter reminder of the costly errors these two have made to lead us to where we are today.

  The vast majority of the fans I talked to were supportive of the notion that something has to change either at the ownership level or the top front office jobs. But mostly they were apathetic and resigned to another long winter with only the faintest glimmer of hope for the future.

  But I will say that we do have great, loyal and friendly fans in typical Northwest style. I am glad I root for my home team year after year and that I don’t live in Oakland or Cleveland, but like all of you I just wish our team could be a reflection of the great spirit of our region instead of an embarrassment.

   It is going to take a few years to rebuild which is fine, but most of all we need leadership and vision from the top lest we continue this sort of protracted misery. The fans are the ones who have the power to send a message to the big boys, and tonight we did our part with a small contingent of hardy lads stepping-up and having their voices heard. The next move is yours…….http://jeffsmariners.com

Fan Humiliation day

Pirates showing their frustration with losing

  Still reeling from yesterdays bizarre loss, like a lot of you I was disappointed to hear that Jack Zduriencik had decided that for his own good and the future of the team, Felix Hernandez would not be given the ball this Sunday on the final game of the season. This coupled with another humiliating loss tonight by the score of 8-1 to the visiting A’s, has convinced me to change my weekend plans.

So instead of going to the game Sunday to watch Felix get a chance to improve his chances for the Cy-Young and possibly prevent the Mariners from suffering a 100-loss season, I have decided that I’m not going to get mad I’m getting even!

Yes that is right, Friday night I will be joining the other irate fans and mustering at 530 in front of the left field gate by the glove to stage a rally and protest against the front office duo of Howard Lincoln and Chuck Armstrong and the apathetic absentee owner Hiroshi Yamauchi. I will be joining forces with the folks from FireNintendo: www.firenintendo.com , and welcome all of my loyal readers to grab a brown bag or a sign and come on down to show that you care enough to stand up and be counted!

  The picture above shows a few fans in Pittsburgh using the age-old instrument of choice for disgruntled fans, the Brown Bag Demonstration. It is time for all good shipmates to hit the picket line here in the Port of Seattle! 

  Remember: “All that is necessary for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing”…..http://jeffsmariners.com

It’s not personal Chuck and Howard, but….

  All is quiet on the Northwest front as far as actual games for our slumping Mariners and surging Rainiers. However there does seem to be a lot of activity in the blogosphere regarding the whole Chuck Armstrong and Howard Lincoln fronts.

  As many of you know I have been writing about this issue since June, especially the problem of an aging absentee owner in Japan and how it relates to the current front office guys. I just want to say that as far as I am concerned Howard Lincoln and Chuck Armstrong seem like decent guys with good business instincts. And yes we all know Hiroshi Yamauchi has trust in Howard Lincoln and unless he passes the reigns to someone else in Japan or sells the team we will probably still have Howard and Chuck running the show next year.

 I have read Lincoln’s explanation of the infamous leaked e-mail in an article by Art Thiel as well as Shannon Drayer’s post. I also read both the Look out Landing and USS Mariner posts on this topic and tend to side with Geoff Baker and Art Thiel who seem to be on too the real issues. I am just an expansion blogger and of course do not have all the information but I do have my experience of following this team for 25+ years.

  I usually agree with Shannon on a lot of things, but her post like the USS Mariner and Lookout Landing seem to infer that things are ok now that Jack Z. is here and the front office does not meddle anymore in baseball issues on the field. In response to that I would say that an engaged owner with good baseball savvy folks in the front office is indeed what we need. By stating that the front office does not meddle anymore, you are saying Tha a) they used to, and b) it infers that they don’t understand the game well enough to set the tone and give the organization a vision. I would say these are both bad things and we need front office guys with enough background to stay involved, not to mention an owner who cares more about his team.

  It seems that as a new blogger my views are not as important as the seasoned guys who may very well have a vested interest in not upsetting the front office so as to gain access etc. This is a  common complaint that is usually reserved for the main stream media, but in this case it seems Geoff Baker and Art Thiel are the guys willing to stick their necks out in order to deliver the uncomfortable truth, not the local bloggers or Shannon.

  So I stick to my position that I have held all year that the absentee/uninvolved ownership, combined with Howard Lincoln and Chuck Armstrong are the reason our team is in the situation it is in now.http://jeffsmariners.com