More Hargrove Hilarity

You just have to laugh. Ostensibly trying to hang on to a 2-1 Washburn-over-Santana lead, Hargrove completely submarined the team's chances in the 7th last night. I mean, Washburn was looking done with runners on 2nd and 3rd and only one out, with Mauer-Cuddyer-Morneau coming up, and what does Hargrove do? Walks Mauer and hands the game over the Julio Mateo, again, with the intent of getting the double play (despite the fact that Mateo is one of most extreme flyballers in the majors and just generally not very good).

I was laughing already by the time Mateo gave up the double to Cuddyer, before walking Morneau and giving up more doubles (5 runs in total--incidentally, the Mariners lost 6-5). I mean, what would the football equivalent of this be? Deciding you really need this third down conversion, so we better bring out Coy Detmer, because he usually takes the snap with 3:15 left to go in the third quarter? It's probably similar to sitting your star player in basketball for most of the second half because of mild foul trouble, and then barely losing because he wasn't able to quite rally your team back from a 12 point deficit in the last 3:00. Neither matches up that well, but it's completely shocking. I mean, Mateo ended up being the only Mariners reliever with a high-leverage score for the innings he pitched, because he pitched so badly that there were no more high-leverage innings for Mariners relievers.

Anyway, as far as the substantive stuff, USSM has it well covered, but damn. I mean, you laugh, you have to laugh, but it also a pretty unique experience watching someone mismanage a game so completely and so obviously. There are literally thousands and thousands of baseball fans, even just Mariners fans, who could make strategic in-game decisions better than Mike Hargrove. It is astounding how shockingly bad at that part of his job he is.

Dear Bill Bavasi, you have to DFA Mateo or this will keep happening. Make him go on the DL...something, anything. Even if Felix is out for only 10-20 days, we can not afford to be losing games this way. Please, please, please, lose Mateo. Also, make Mark Lowe healthy again and see if you can trade Horacio Ramirez to the Braves for Rafael Soriano. Nah, nevermind, the Braves would never make that trade. Fuck.

This Twins series was probably about as informative about the nature of this team and its chances as a series could possibly be:

Game 1) Jeff Weaver completely sinks Mariners' chances to win. Also, Hargrove fails to take him out right before a grand slam, when it was obvious to me at least that he needed out of that game. Granted, it was the 4th, and we might have lost anyway, and maybe Hargrove needs to see how Weaver handles himself in those situations (hint: not that good), but still...this kind of thing is going to happen a few more times this year, I guarantee it.

Game 2) Everyone realizes how much the season depends on Felix, but despite a bad start the team holds it together and almost manages to come back. For me, overall, a very encouraging game about every aspect of the Mariners except Felix's health.

Game 3) We carry a lead against Johan fucking Santana into the 7th and Hargrove single-handedly blows it with mind-numbingly stupid decision making...though of course there's no guarantee we would have won it without said stupidity. Everyone except Mateo does their job. Would be encouraging except that you know it's going to happen like this a lot.

Prediction: If the Mariners miss the playoffs, which they probably will, AND Felix is healthy and at the top of his game for the rest of the season (knock on wood), THEN the number of games we miss the playoffs by will be less than the number of games lost for us by either Weaver or Hargrove.

P.S. If you haven't, you all should really read FJM's take on the NY Media's obsession with Jeter's horrible start.