Not since September 2003 have the M's been in a 2nd vs. 1st division battle this late in the year. With Adrian Beltre hitting the shit out of the ball (30 RBI in July) and the best bullpen in the league, the M's look like contenders. They can prove it a three game series with the Angels that starts tonight. And the team's fate could well be decided by the Weaver family. Jeff goes for......

Mariano Rivera--a sure first-ballot Hall-of-Famer and perhaps the best relief pitcher of all time, has now allowed only 47 homers in his career. Which team has hit more of those than any other? After Adrian Beltre's game-winning Funk Blast last night, your Seattle Mariners have 7, tied with the Orioles as the most homerin-off-Mo teams in baseball. Beltre joins Edgar (one of only two guys to have more than one homer off Rivera (Rafael Palmiero......

Vitals: 26 yo RHP. Born in New Castle, PA. 6-0, 170. This will be his first major league game. (3-0, 1.05 at AAA in 2007) Arsenal: DeSalvo told Baseball America in 2005: “I throw seven different pitches: a four-seamer, a two-seamer, a cutter, the [knuckle] curve, a slider, a forkball, and a change. Having a lot of pitches gives me backup options." His fastball is low 90s. Recent Battles: None Our Best Weapon: A guy......

--Who's more depraved? Wisconsinites or Washingtonians? Guess it depends on whether you think getting the d from a horse is worse than giving the d to a dead deer. --Maybe it's Minnesotans: the Twins are finding trying Jeff Cirillo at shortstop. --The future looks bright for your Portland Trailblazers; with Zach Randolph a late scratch, rookies LaMarcus Aldridge (25 pts., 8 rebs.), Brandon R.O.Y. (19 pts., 12 rebs.), and Sergio Rodriguez (9 pts., 9 assists)......

10. Mariners vs Yankees (August 22): The Yankees kept taking the lead and the Mariners kept coming back. In the ninth, with the score tied 5-5, A-Rod came up with a clutch bases loaded strike out. Later that inning Adrian Beltre won the game on a walk off home run. 9. Seahawks vs Green Bay (November 27): The field was covered in snow, Alexander ran for over 200 yards, Hasselbeck over came a slow start......

The thirtieth edition of our local professional baseball club ended their campaign yesterday afternoon with a 3-2 win over Texas. They finished in last place (a-GAIN!) and with a 78-84 record. To recap: Larry Stone of the Times says the M's are closer to contending, but contention is expected in 2007. Geoff Baker of the Times talks to the players. Raul Ibanez expects to contend in 2007. Richie Sexson says the team needs better......

Yuniesky Betancourt and his nine career home runs now anchor the Mariners' lineup. For the past two games, manager Mike Hargrove's been batting him third. This couldn't be less Hargrove-esque. The man is not a creative thinker. Way back in May, Hargrove gave the Times a window into his managerial (and, probably, personal) philosophy: ""When you start thinking, 'Let's try something new' ... that's a panic move," For a by-the-book manager like Mike Hargrove,......

Last night we found a way to enjoy a Mariners game-- get red-ass drunk and scream at the players for three hours. This normally isn't our style. We much prefer to score the first few innings, sip on three dollar tea, and roll our eyes at whatever Hargrove does. However, we were with old friends from out of town, the home town nine had just dropped eleven in a row, obnoxious Yankee fans were......

Mariners franchise wins leader Jamie Moyer, who is apparently as discardable as a day-old croissant, beat the Cubs last night and became the oldest Phillie pitcher to win a game (Moyer's 43). It was also Moyer's first win in the National League since 1988, when he pitched the Cubs past the Pirates on the last day of the season. We think Moyer will like returning to the National League. In his final start for the......

If it's true that Adrian Beltre is the Padres' #1 trading target, as the normally trustworthy Ken Rosenthal reports, we can only assume that the Mariners aren't pulling the trigger because they are too busy doing this or this or this to celebrate their good fortune. Beltre, even with his hot June, has been terrible as a Mariner... and we still owe the guy $35 million. Trade him for a couple of tickets to Sea......

The Mariners play a children's game called "Flip" before they play each baseball game. In Flip you use your glove, hands and feet to pass a baseball around a circle. If you permit the ball to hit the ground, you're out. Sounds like fun, right? Actually, it's a race war. From the P-I: "It's all racial," reliever J.J. Putz said. "Usually if we have a Latin judge, all the white guys are out. If......

Something happened yesterday that hasn't since April 16th. No, not Dino Rossi waking up before noon, but the Mariners getting to .500. After an 11-7 victory over Arizona in their 78th game, the M's are once again treading water at 39-39. In yesterday's top of the ninth, the M's displayed in microcosm what they'll need to contend in the AL West--production from their highest-paid employees, Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson. With one out and the......

Mike Hargrove cost the Mariners a win on Friday night, but you wouldn't know it from reading the local papers. Good baseball managers stay out of the way and let their best players win the game (see Torre, Joe). Great baseball managers look for specific matchups that give their team an advantage (see Weaver, Earl). Hargrove has a different tactic. He removes his best players, and cedes advantages to the opposition. Friday night: --Hargrove removes......

The Times asked Adrian Beltre if he's ever used steroids. While he didn't stare into a camera and point his finger, he did protest much. "I can tell you it never happened," he said. "I'm scared of that stuff. I don't even take pills. Why would I do that? First, it's bad, bad for you. No one knows what can happen later in life. Then, the year they must be looking at, they were......

Mariner Manager Mike Hargrove deviated from his heretofore stone-set lineup yesterday, moving Adrian Beltre into the #2 spot and sliding Jose Lopez to #3. Richie Sexson sat in favor of Roberto Petagine. After Raul Ibanez got tossed in the first arguing balls and strikes, the lineup got really interesting. Willie "Sultan of Seeing-Eye Grounders" Bloomquist made a cameo appearance as cleanup hitter, which is like subbing CarrotTop in as Hamlet. The new lineup didn't alter......

We've been looking for a quote from a famous literary figure to sum up the Mariners' season. And, after an exhaustive search, we believe Marcel Proust captured it best when he famously said: "Mike Hargrove doesn't know what the f*** he's doing." Why do the Mariners struggle against left-handed pitchers, Mike? "I'm baffled why we haven't done better against lefties," he told the P-I. Hey--at least he's honest. Hargrove has the imagination of an eggplant,......

What kind of bullshit is this? Maxim magazine ranks the worst managers in baseball and orders Dusty Baker the worst, Ron Gardenhire the second worst and our own Mike Hargrove the third worst. C'mon, Gardenhire is a way better manager than Hargrove. Mike should be at least second and we could even forgive the voting panel for favoring him with a few first place votes over Baker. With a lineup featuring the decaying corpse of......

Here's how bad it's gotten for the Mariners' $15 million flop, Adrian Beltre: Every player gets a positive-seeming statistic flashed on the scoreboard when he comes to bat. But Beltre's been so terrible (he's hitting .221), this is what the Mariners PR staff had to resort to during last night's game: Hitting .307 when wearing alternate blue jersey......

The Mariners continued their season-long 26th anniversary tribute to former shortstop Mario Mendoza last night, managing nine mostly groundball singles in a 2-0 loss to Cleveland. The Mariners' highest-paid players, Richie Sexson and Adrian Beltre, will make a combined $25.9 million this year. Both are hitting below .215, Mario Mendoza's career average. Of course, those guys are here to contribute power, not average, right? Here is a partial list of players with as many home......

Before yesterday's game, seven Mariners of Latino descent asked for a private meeting with manager Mike Hargrove. Inside his office, they told Hargrove that, to show solidarity with immigration rights marchers, they were sitting out Monday's game against Minnesota. The Times reports what happened next: Adrian Beltre: "[Hargrove] said three times, 'Are you serious?' " "He was getting red, like he was ready to pop a fuse," added Guardado. And Hargrove's reaction? "Which one......

It's the earliest first pitch in Mariner history today, as the M's play the annual Patriots Day game in Boston. It's an 11am start in Boston, so 8am here. Carl Everett just hit a cheapie home run off the Pesky Pole, so the M's lead 4-2 in the 6th. Of note--Adrian Beltre, who, after a flyout in the 6th is hitting .109, and doesn't have an RBI yet, is batting #7 today. The M's......

Rainier Beach, Seattlest's favorite high school hoops team, got upset in the state quarterfinals last night, by Lynden High. But, really, what chance did they stand against a team that has players with names like Dirk Dallas and Brady Bomber. Dallas had 19 points, Bomber had 15. Is this a high school basketball team or a 30's detective novel? The Seahawks released two defensive starters and a no-name, possibly to free up the money they'll......

In today's Seattle P-I, reporter John Hickey announces that Adrian Beltre is the Mariners' new clubhouse leader. Thank you, Adrian, for leading the Mariners into the basement of the American League West. You recall such great personages as Field Marshal Douglas Haig, General George McClellan and Hedley Lamarr. Are we bitter? Yes. How could one not be when exposed to this condescending piece, also in the P-I, which attempts to generate excitement for the upcoming......

Here's some copy that Mariners marketing department might consider removing from the website: ...watch Ichiro Suzuki, Richie Sexson, Adrian Beltre and the rest of the high-flying Mariners all summer long... This year's Mariners are as high-flying as the Spruce Goose. That said, they are not as bad as the Kansas City Royals, who, in submitting to a 11-5 thrashing from our Mariners this afternoon, lost their 18th game in a row. The American League record,......

Three B's have killed the Mariners this season--Bavasi, Beltre and Boone. Bill Bavasi, the team's general manager, is the mastermind behind such trades as Carlos Guillen (batting .355 for the Detroit Tigers) for Ramon Santiago (batting .225 for the Tacoma Rainiers), and of last year's free agent signings of Scott Spiezio and Rich Aurila, the pop-out twins. His major signing this year was B number 2, Adrian Beltre, who, after hitting 47 home runs in......

The Phillies come to Seattle for a three-game series beginning tonight, and so Philadelphia's David Bell, the Mariners' last competent third baseman, will be here for his first return engagement at Safeco. After the Mariners 116-win season in 2001, team management decided that Bell, with his modest .260 batting average and 15 home runs, was the team's weak link. The Mariners traded him to San Francisco and signed Jeff Cirillo to play third base. In......

Yesterday's Mariner win was the most satisfying game the team has played in months. Why? A six-run seventh inning. Six-run seventh innings, we have decided, rank with oysters, Johnny Hodges' tone, and the love of a good woman at the apex of life's pleasures. Best of all, the Mariners scored their six runs off of Marlins ace Josh Beckett, icing the game and securing a 2-1 series victory. Here's the "How they scored," only......

The Mariners begin interleague play tomorrow, in Florida against the Marlins. Because the designated hitter is not permitted in these games, manager Mike Hargrove faces a dilemma--which of his nine regular hitters to sit. Designated hitter Raul Ibanez is one of the team's best hitters, and the M's anemic offense can't afford to be without him. Thus, the most likely scenario has Ibanez moving to leftfield, with Randy Winn moving to centerfield, bumping rookie......

This weekend, for the first time in a month, the Mariners played like a good baseball team, winning a series from NL-West leading San Diego. On Saturday, the stars led the way. On defense, Ichiro stole a home run from Ryan Klesko with a leaping grap at the rightfield wall. On offense, Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson hit 440+ foot home runs on consecutive pitches in the sixth inning. On Sunday, Aaron Sele threw a......

Time, Boswell once wrote, begins on Opening Day. That's Washington Post sports columnist Thomas Boswell, not the Scottish biographer and noted lothario, James Boswell, who is said to have contracted gonorrhea 17 separate times. No man who sets his personal clock by a professional sports season is likely to get that much play. Whatever its impact on the fourth dimension, opening day is here. The Mariners start the season with two talented new players: third......