Does Safeco Field Make the Mariners Worse?

The Mariners have been an offensively inept team for years. This has been readily apparent over the last two years when the Mariners broke several modern day records for offensive futility. These years of failure have driven many fans to look outside of the obvious for explanations. One of the theories often proposed is that Safeco Field is just too hard to hit in. The argument is that the field’s dimensions prevent the Mariners from scoring runs and winning games. The field somehow turns good players into bad ones. This theory is popular and it intrigues me. So, I did some research to try and answer the question, does Safeco hurt the Mariners ability to win games?

Come On Man, Get with the Program!

Carlos Silvia was right; Ichiro needs to go. He just embarrasses the rest of the team with his offensive success.  I mean what nerve this guy has thinking it is ok to show up and hit near .300 on this team!

Doesn’t he know that the team can’t win if everyone is not pulling in the same direction? The University of Washington crew team didn’t become a national powerhouse because all of the individual accomplishment and accolades of the members. They did it by synchronizing themselves and working to a common goal. No one player stood out above the rest.

Hasn’t he heard anything Eric Wedge has said about being a team player? The rest of these guys come to the park and do their parts. They know what it means to be a Seattle Mariners. They get it. That Ichiro guy, he is still stuck in some delusional world where success is measured by the number of hits you get and runs you score. Who thinks that way?

The fans of this fine city have made their voices heard. If Ichiro cares so much about his personal numbers, he should just go somewhere else. Somewhere like Boston or New York where individual accomplishments are valued over team unity.

A Few Tidbits from Around the Web

Time for another blog post. Here are a bunch of links to interesting things that have happened in the sports world recently. The links are pretty baseball heavy, but I like baseball a lot. So, get over it.

• Sure it didn't ruin a perfect game, but this play in a Rockies-Dodgers game might go down as the most wrong call ever.
• Tacoma News Tribune columnist John McGrath muses about Jesus Montero's less than blazing speed.
• This goal against the Sounders won Goal of the Week.
• Orioles DH Chris Davis picked up his first major league win recently.
• Josh Hamilton just hit four homeruns in one game and will soon be a free agent. Jeff Passan takes a look at what might lie in the future for Hamilton.
  

Someone Needs to Tell Steve Kelley He Doesn’t Know Shit about Football

In his column titled “Someone needs to tell Seahawks they play in a pass-and-catch league” Steve Kelley imparts his vast sum of NFL knowledge on the fan base by arguing that the Seahawks should have drafted better receivers. He starts by implicitly criticizing the Seahawks attempts at building an elite defense:

I wish the Seahawks had more seriously addressed their passing game in this draft, wish they had picked at least one wide receiver. 

Last season, NFL scoreboards spun like dials on a slot machine.

The Green Bay Packers had the worst defense in the league. They lost once. The New England Patriots were the second-worst defense. They went to the Super Bowl.

Of course, Kelley surely realizes that those teams also have elite QBs in Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, etc. It bugs me to no end when pundits act as if teams like the 49ers and Seahawks are doing something bizarre and unconventional by emphasizing defense in similar model to the post-2000 Ravens. As far as I know, no NFL coach or general manager is denying the proven formula of NFL success through elite offenses.  But elite offenses generally require elite QBs who are very hard to find. When you don’t have a franchise quarterback identified you logically invest resources on the defensive side of the ball where it is the least dependent on any one single player. The Hawks allocated so much draft capital towards the defense because that’s naturally where the highest return on investment is for now.

He specifically errors when he says: 

To that end, the Seahawks should have drafted at least one wide receiver. There were plenty of good ones available. Thirty-three were taken in the draft, including Mohamed Sanu, Nick Toon, Chris Givens, Ryan Broyles, DeVier Posey and Juron Criner, all of whom, I believe, could help.

The Hawks did well last spring, signing undrafted free agents Doug Baldwin and Ricardo Lockette and drafting Kris Durham. But their passing game still is loaded with ifs.

If new quarterback Matt Flynn is the second coming of Matt Hasselbeck; if tight end Zach Miller is allowed to be more receiver and less blocker; if Sidney Rice can stay healthy; if Mike Williams is repaired; if Durham is healthy and plays to the promise of the scouting reports; if Lockette really is as good as he looked late last season, and if Baldwin plays again like the next incarnation of Bobby Engram, then maybe that will be enough.

But that's a load of ifs.

We have everyone reason to believe Sidney Rice can be a greater receiver with a decent quarterback throwing to him. Mike Williams showed he can be of pro bowl caliber when he has a skilled QB who can fit passes into small windows in a west coast offense style (this is not Tavaris Jackson). But let's set aside Sidney Rice and Mike Williams for now. The rest of these receiver "ifs" are a result of their inevitable development process. Starting caliber receivers commonly require 2-3 years (sometimes as long as a quarterback even) to develop to their full potential. Tate, Baldwin, Lockette, and Durham haven't even had two full seasons in the NFL.If a 2nd round pick like Tate doesn't come around then Schneider should get criticized for making a bad pick but not for failing to add even more rookie receivers we won't be able to evaluate for a few seasons to come without having a franchise QB identified anyways. Is this really your solution, Steve? I'm no Martha Stewart but would you start baking another cake if the one you had didn't look good after sitting in the oven for 5 minutes? No. See, even Martha Stewart knows more about football than Steve Kelley.

The best way to upgrade our passing game isn’t by drafting even more receivers whose success would be largely dependent on the incumbent QB. It’s by upgrading the QB position first and foremost. The Hawks have been aggressive doing just that by signing Matt Flynn and drafting Russell Wilson. By all means, I'll be the first wringing my hands for the Seahawks to spend early draft picks on a receiver if Matt Flynn plays this season like his only two prior NFL games or if Russell Wilson defies the Mel Kipers of this world by becoming the first franchise QB under 6 feet. I’m all for maintaining healthy criticism and pressure on our front office (especially for any Seattle sports team!) but I have nothing but contempt for nonsensical knee-jerk reactions coming from the Seattle Times. Sit down, Steve.

P.S. 

 Stay tuned for an upcoming post reviewing the Seahawks 2012 draft.

Miguel Olivo Shittiness Tracker Hiatus

I know were all thrilled by the idea of the USTN blog crew diligently tracking all of Miguel Olivo's fails on a game to game basis. Fortunately for the Mariners and unfortunately for the tracker, right after we debuted Olivo went on an 8 game hitting streak. This utter destruction of major league pitching brought Olivo's triple slash to .210/.229/.346. I assume this vast improvement is directly related to the embarrassment he felt after the one entry in the MOST.

Then last night in the extras inning game, Miguel Olivo hurt his groin, in what must be an attempt to take himself out of the lineup long enough for me to forget about this silly blog idea. The injury has landed Olivo on the 15 day DL and has put the Shittiness Tracker of at least a 15 day hiatus. The silver lining from this injury is obviously that now Mariner's fans can put all our energy into booing Chone Figgins.