With a quiet Hot Stove and another year almost in the books, here’s a look back at some of the more special moments from the Mariners’ 2012 season.

1. Felix Hernandez’s perfect game.
27 up, 27 down. 113 pitches. 12 strikeouts. An RBI single by Jesus Montero. A perfect summer afternoon.

Felix’s perfecto didn’t erase the Mariners’ 87 losses, but his moment in the sun will be one of the single moments remembered from their 2012 season.

2. A combined no-hitter featuring Kevin Millwood, Charlie Furbush, Stephen Pryor, Lucas Luetge, Brandon League, Tom Wilhelmsen and rookie catcher Jesus Montero.
Backed by sharp defense from Brendan Ryan and Kyle Seager, the Mariners snagged another gem that, incredibly enough, managed to be overshadowed by the first perfect game in franchise history.

It’s even stranger to think that the first Mariner to throw a solo no-hitter this year might’ve been Kevin Millwood, who was excused in the 6th inning with an untimely groin strain.

» Continue reading “Top 5 Mariners Moments In 2012″

With all the non-ironic (okay, mostly non-ironic) optimism pumping through the veins of the media, you might think that the Mariners have a shot at the postseason. I’m not here to dispel your hopes.

After a fantastic, improbable, season high eight-game winning streak, the Mariners kicked off their road trip with a pair of losses to the Chicago White Sox. This is neither surprising nor unpredictable—in 2012, the Sox have trampled the M’s in seven of eight games.

Whether it was bad luck, an inevitable collapse from an unsustainable win streak, or a combination of the two, the Mariners fell hard. Jason Vargas gave up six earned runs and three home runs in his second worst start of the season. Tom Wilhelmsen earned his first blown save on three hits and two runs, in true Brandon League style. Chone Figgins, veteran and professional bench warmer though he may be, failed to recognize a bunt sign and blew a crucial opportunity to advance the tying run in the 8th.

More painful than the mistakes, however, are the moments when the team was within reach of a win. On Friday night, the Mariners floundered under a five-run deficit for three innings, then pulled out a six-run rally in the 9th with four hits, three walks, and a home run. Tonight, Kyle Seager was responsible for all of Seattle’s runs, putting up a three-RBI homer in the 1st and a solo shot in the 9th before John Jaso killed the tying run with a pop-out.

It hurts to see a win slip through the Mariners’ gloves. It hurts even more to see that happen twice. Still, I believe this is a different team than the one who was perfect game’d by Philip Humber this April. This band of Mariners has a little more fight, a little more drive, and a little more want. So, while I’m not about to crown them the AL West champions just yet, this season is far from over.

Next game: @ White Sox | August 26 | 11:10am

Felix Hernandez has long since tossed his final pitch of the Mariners’ first perfect game, but the blogosphere is still humming with tributes, stories, and analyses of his career-high performance.

At long last, era of missing no-hitters comes to an end — Larry Stone has devoted 27 years of his life to baseball. With decades of near-misses and endless jokes of his power to jinx games, he finally found the perfect opportunity in yesterday’s game.

Perfection! — Mike Curto reflects on Felix’s journey to the majors, including a minor league match-up with Matt Cain in 2005.

A dash to greatness: How not to cover a perfect game — I wasn’t the only one who nearly skipped Felix’s perfect game. The Seattle Times columnist Jerry Brewer recounts his eventful dash to the park.

The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Kind of Good, Perfect Day — Speaking of my frenetic journey to Safeco, here is the full story in all its gory detail.

Three Minutes of Seattle Mariners History — Like the majority of Mariners fans yesterday, Megan Sheer was stuck at work during Felix’s historical performance.

Like You Imagined When You Were Young — Mandy may have missed Philip Humber’s perfecto back in April, but she was present (in heart, though not in person) for an even more memorable game.

Tossing a Reverie — Alex Akita tugs on our heartstrings with his reflections on high school, the nostalgic era of great Mariners baseball, and the impressive career of Felix Hernandez.

Which Recent Perfect Game Was The Hardest? — Dave Cameron tackles the six most recent perfectos in MLB history, from Mark Buehrle’s no-no in 2009 to Felix’s game yesterday afternoon. Of those six, half have been thrown against the Rays.

On Felix, His Almost-Really-Perfect Perfecto, and His Place in History —Over at The Platoon Advantage, Bill Parker credits Eric Thames for making the first out of the game and extolls Felix as one of the best in MLB. Don’t forget it, Seattle.

Felix Hernandez, John Jaso Outwit the Rays — Everything you wanted to know about Felix’s stuff yesterday: his pitch selection, location, and success rate divided in sets of three innings.

Felix’s Fastball Fittingly Fleet — In the 6th and 7th innings, Felix hurled his two fastest pitches of the season to Sean Rodriguez and Matt Joyce.

27 Perfect Things About Felix Hernandez’s Perfect Game — Among many other things, Jonah Keri explains the ranking of this game according to Game Score, the reason why Tampa Bay has the worst luck in perfect games, and the likelihood of seeing three perfectos in a single season. If you read any article on this list, make it this one.

How did you celebrate Felix’s perfect game? If you attended, watched, listened, or even just tweeted about it, share your story with us in the comments.

Final score: Yankees 4, Mariners 1

This has been a crazy year for the Mariners.

There was the 21-run explosion against the Rangers, the 6-pitcher no-hitter, the humbling perfect game by Philip Humber. Heading into this series, I was prepared for another crazy moment. Perhaps the Mariners would, like the suddenly-in-contention Athletics, sweep the Yankees.

What I did not expect to see, however, was Ichiro’s debut with the New York Yankees.

There is much left to say about his career with the Mariners, as Steven has already described in detail, so for now, I’ll focus just on this game.

Kevin Millwood graciously stepped off the mound as Ichiro approached the plate for his first at-bat, allowing the iconic former Mariner to tip his cap to the fans as they responded with loud cheers.

And then he laced a single into center field, and my heart sunk. This is what it feels like to see Ichiro as a Yankee.

For a while, the rest of the Mariners (barring a mournful Munenori Kawasaki) seemed unperturbed by the change. Casper Wells picked up a double to start the 1st, with Jaso and Montero handed free bases on a fielder’s choice and A-Rod’s error. In the 3rd, Dustin Ackley drew a walk, stole a base, and Jaso followed with an RBI single and stolen bag of his own.

In the final six innings, the Mariners reached base only one more time. It’s some consolation, as conflicted as I am, that Ichiro went 1-for-4 after that first emotional plate appearance. There is no part of me—or of any Seattle fan, I’d venture to say—that wants to see Ichiro fail, but it is still reassuring to know that he has not been magically bestowed with super-powers after putting that Yankees jersey on.

To Ichiro, I wish you the best. To the Mariners, I wish you’d win tomorrow.

Next game: vs. Yankees | July 24 | 7:10pm

Today, the Mariners enjoy a bit of a breather between powerhouse opponents. After last night’s staggering 21-run game, I’d say they’ve earned it.

Current record: 29-22

Last game: vs. Rays. Sporting a 3-1 lead in the 4th, starting left-hander Jose Quintana was ejected immediately after throwing behind Ben Zobrist. Manager Robin Ventura followed him shortly after arguing the ejection with the home plate umpire.

With yesterday’s modest 4-3 win, the White Sox not only swept Tampa Bay, but cemented first place in the AL Central with 8 consecutive wins.

It’s worth noting that the only other MLB team currently riding an 8-game win streak is the Angels.

Last series against Seattle: April 20 – 22, 2012. Any sweep is difficult to watch, but this one was especially disheartening. Philip Humber tossed MLB’s 21st perfect game on April 21, Brendan Ryan lost an argument over his final checked swing, and the Mariners sunk to 6-3 in their first homestand of the season.

Pitching matchups: Friday — Felix Hernandez vs. RHP Jake Peavy. Peavy has a 3.26 SIERA, 2.93 FIP, and 5.33 K/BB through 10 starts and 70.1 innings. In his last start, he went 6.1 innings for 6 hits, 7 earned runs, a walk, 9 strikeouts, and his sixth season win.

Saturday — Hector Noesi vs. RHP Gavin Floyd. Floyd is 4-5 on the season with a 3.63 SIERA, 4.17 FIP, and 3.18 K/BB in 10 starts and 61 innings. He has not lasted more than 5 innings since May 16, and notched his fourth win in with 10 hits, 5 earned runs, and 4 strikeouts in 5.0 IP.

Sunday — Kevin Millwood vs. LHP Chris Sale. Sale made his last start on Monday, going 7.1 innings for 3 hits, an earned run, 2 walks, and a stunning 15 strikeouts—the most since his 11-strikeout performance in Seattle last April. He currently holds the lowest SIERA (2.90) and FIP (2.45) in Chicago’s rotation, as well as the highest strikeout to walk ratio (3.81).

Expected result: The White Sox have taken 9 of their last 10 games. The Mariners have taken 4 of their last 10 games. The White Sox are batting .286/.356/.436 with runners in scoring position. The Mariners are batting .224/.297/.329 with runners in scoring position.

Then again, do we really not have faith in a team who beat the Texas Rangers 21-8?

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For all things White Sox, stop by South Side Hit Girl.

It’s a good morning when the Mariners are riding a winning streak: even if that streak is only one game.

Today, the blogosphere is buzzing with a few heated comments from Eric Wedge, the continued success of Hector Noesi, and a slew of minor leaguers looking to fill Brendan Ryan’s cleats.

Mariners have much more evaluating to do before we’ll know much about their future —Geoff Baker responds to Wedge’s heated comments about the impracticability of consistent lineups and the yahoos who are clamoring for them.

Hector Noesi is a rare sign of hope in this Mariners season — Following the four-game collapse against Anaheim, Steve Kelley and Eric Wedge gush over the progress of one of Seattle’s steadier young fellows: Hector Noesi.

The Mariners’ Next Quote Shortstops Unquote — A quick reminder of Brendan Ryan’s defensive value and a look at the shortstops climbing the rungs of the minor leagues.

Fortnight Over — Tim Chalberg of Seattle Mariners Musings ponders a few myths and facts when it comes to the Mariners. Let’s see if you can figure this one out. True or false: Jesus Montero and John Jaso are more than capable of handling Seattle’s pitching staff without Miguel Olivo’s help.

The Mariners Brandon League: The good, the bad & the ugly — Jared Galde evaluates League on his rough outing last Friday, his struggles over the 2011 season, and the Mariners’ current needs.

Smell That, White Sox Fans? It’s First Place — Not to put a damper on things, but it’s time to check in with our weekend rivals: the White Sox. Cheryl Evans brings us the latest from Chicago, along with some updates on Mariners fan favorite Philip Humber.

What have you read this week? Share it with us on Twitter or in the comments below!

Baseball is different from every other sport in so many ways. Unlike basketball and football, players don’t go from being college stars to pitching in the majors and dominating. Developing a prospect takes time, and when a team goes from having a bunch of old veterans, it takes a few years for those draft picks to make an impact in the Major Leagues.

Baseball is also different because of its footprint on history. Major League Baseball was founded in 1869, compared with 1920 and 1946 for the NFL and NBA, respectively. While the NBA holds 82 regular season games and the NFL has only 16, MLB teams play 162 games every year. Since its inception, Major League Baseball has held over 200,000 games and around 20,000 players have taken the field.

162 games. One game is 0.62 % of the regular season. The average team loses 81 games a year, and even the 2001 Mariners, who racked up the most wins of any team in the history of the league, lost 46 games.Losses happen, but individual losses in a baseball season aren’t nearly as devastating as those in a football,hockey, soccer or even basketball season.

The most common reaction to individual losses is to make them seem larger than they really are. Even the best teams have rough patches and it would be unrealistic to expect a team to never have a losing streak.

If somebody with no familiarity with the Mariners organization went to the home series against the White Sox, they would have thought that the Mariners are a team full of bad players, a team that needs to upgrade at every position on the field.

If somebody looked at the past couple of games against the Tigers, on the other hand, they would see a team that put up 15 hits each night. The Mariners team that took the field in Detroit looked unstoppable and looked like the offensive juggernaut that we saw in Spring Training. » Continue reading “The Big Picture”

The slider of Brendan Ryan's nightmares.

This week, we revisit Humber’s perfecto, the necessity of good offense, and the reasons why Mariners fans shouldn’t jump ship before the season gets started.

One night jump in stats shows why it really is still too early for any conclusions about Mariners offense — To paraphrase Geoff Baker: It’s still April. Calm down.

Ryan still reliving end of perfect game — Brendan Ryan is finally ready to talk about Saturday’s last at-bat, and he still can’t believe Philip Humber went out with a slider.

The Thing Justin Smoak Has to Fix — I won’t spoil the article and tell you what Smoak has to fix, but let’s just say it’s not his defense.

The day Pudge saved my career — Shannon Drayer shares a pivotal point in her baseball career, crediting Ivan Rodriguez with a moment of kindness that kept her on the path towards sports journalism.

Series Preview: Seattle @ Detroit — Bryant Bartlett gives us an in-depth look at the pitching matchups and current WAR for position players in the Mariners-Tigers series.

Mariners making it hard for fans to take a “leap of faith” — According to Eric Wedge, the Mariners are not a team worth giving up on quite yet. According to Larry Stone, it’s going to take a lot to keep existing fans on board.

What have you read this week? Share it with us in the comments!

Following Philip Humber’s perfecto, the Mariners decided to take back Safeco Field for their first win of the series. At least, that’s the sentence I wanted to write today. Instead, Seattle managed to drop a 2-run lead and with it, their last shot at preventing a sweep.

Although the Mariners took precautions against another scoreless game, the story of the day wasn’t the offense—who struggled again, striking out 9 times through 7 innings—but the plays at the plate.

In the 4th, with a tie game on the line, and the go-ahead run on second, Kevin Millwood handed a 82 MPH slider to Brent Morel for an RBI single to right field. Ichiro gunned down Kosuke Fukudome with a throw to the plate, stealing the RBI from the Sox.

Two innings later, Brendan Ryan robbed A.J. Pierzynski of another RBI with a rocket to Miguel Olivo to throw out Adam Dunn at home. Unfortunately, Millwood promptly gave a triple to Alex Rios in the next at-bat, scoring two and losing the lead.

Although I glossed over the anemic offense earlier, it’s not an insignificant concern. During this series, the Mariners scored the fewest runs during a series since Opening Day in Japan, when they put up 4 runs in a two game split with the Athletics. Their patience at the plate continues to decrease, with 7 fewer walks and 8 more first-pitch outs against the White Sox than the Indians.

Final notes from this weekend:

• The White Sox allowed 17 hits, 7 runs, and struck out 35 Mariners.
• The Mariners allowed 29 hits, 18 runs, and struck out 17 White Sox.
• Ichiro was the most successful against Chicago, going 4-for-12 with 4 hits, 2 runs, and 2 RBI.
• The Mariners only managed 3 hits against Chicago’s bullpen, taking 14 hits, 7 walks, and 7 runs against lefty starters Chris Sale and John Danks.
• Hisashi Iwakuma made his major-league debut on Friday—23 days after Opening Day—holding the Sox to a hit, a home run, and a walk during 4.0 IP.

Tomorrow, the Mariners have an off day before they open a road trip in Detroit. They return to Safeco Field on May 4, in a 6-game homestand against the Twins and Tigers.

Next game: @ Tigers | April 24 | 4:05pm

At what point do you stop rooting for your team and start rooting for history?

That was the question facing me in the 9th, with Philip Humber’s perfect game on the line. Through eight innings, I’d found reasons to be unhappy with the Mariners, from Paul Konerko’s home run shot off Blake Beavan’s 91 MPH fastball to the inept hitting by the Mariners’ lineup. Through eight innings of drawing goose eggs on my scorecard, the idea of a perfect game had crossed my mind, but I refused to consider it seriously. Surely even the Mariners could draw a walk or hit a bloop single or something.

By the 9th, however, and with the encouragement of one longtime Mariners fan who reminded me that these kinds of games are only witnessed once in a lifetime, I started to want a perfect game.

Michael Saunders went down swinging. John Jaso came in to pinch hit and took a fastball that flew right into the glove of right fielder Alex Rios. With one out left, Brendan Ryan stepped up to the plate. Everyone was on their feet, and I feel confident saying that not a single fan was rooting against Humber. With two outs and a 1-2 count, Philip tossed Ryan a curveball, then a slider, and worked the count to 3-2. With 22,742 fans holding their breath, Ryan fouled back a fastball, then struck out on an 85 MPH slider.

It wasn’t a perfect finish—Ryan argued that he checked his swing, and reporters later commented on the fallen expression of Philip Humber just before the pitch was called for a strike—but in the rulebooks, and in the minds of the fans present (excepting a few outspoken Mariners fans), it was a perfect game.

There are probably a lot of other things that could be said about this game, from a valid criticism of the Mariners’ offense to high praise for their bullpen—who, I might add, pitched a scoreless five innings this afternoon. However, that can be saved for another day. Right now, I’m going to revel in the fact that a little piece of baseball history happened at Safeco Field, and that I was there to see it.

Next game: vs. White Sox | April 22 | 1:10pm