SECTION 331

So there is apparently some sort of battle going on over at both Geoff Baker’s blog: http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/mariners/2008/11/16/our_ichiro_story.html and Lookout Landing: http://www.lookoutlanding.com/2008/11/16/663076/whoops. Seems that there is still a big load of dissent over who said what, when, and why in regards to the situation earlier this year with Ichiro, an unnamed player or group of players, and an anonymous source. Brief and (very) generalized recap:

• someone in the clubhouse apparently threatened to beat up Ichiro
• anonymous source said there was a meeting about it
• John McLaren said there was no such meeting
• blogosphere explodes with opinion
• Carlos Silva is fat
• what?

I’m not terribly interested in getting on either side of this argument in general, since nobody really knows what happened. Lookout Landing seems to be using a timeline to support their view on things, Baker used an “anonymous source” to report his side of the story. Baker has a press pass, LL does not (at least this is my current understanding of things)…I still maintain that the “anonymous source” should have just kept his or her yapper shut, because not being able to use a source’s name just screams Star Magazine, and believe me, after receiving that rag in the mail every week for two years, I’ve got a pretty good grip on how they, also, use “anonymous source” for their “news” “reporting”. Yeah, maybe for them it’s Lindsay Lohan instead of Ichiro, but it still all sounds like gossip to me. This sort of thing is always the same – the public only hears what the organization wants them to hear, and everything else is just speculation; just like politics. Unfortunately, also just like politics, one man’s speculation is another man’s truth or lie.

The fact is truly, none of the facets of the original story bother me. It’s interesting to watch the slow-motion riot that is online arguing, but I learn a lot from both sites, which is why I have them both linked here, and I enjoy reading them both for different reasons. My only complaint is that anonymous sources and focusing too much on the clubhouse drama that may or may not have been going on just distracts – or attempts to distract – from the main reason that so many fans were angry over this last season anyway – the Mariners simply didn’t play good ball, and there really is no one player or factor to hold at blame. That is the bottom line, anything else is just window-dressing.

It seems that bloggers and reporters don’t take each other seriously, and that’s fine. I have no designs on being a reporter, and you can hardly consider this a “blog”. It’s not like I incite thoughtful discussion here or anything, and I certainly don’t expect anyone who happens to stumble across this thing to take much that I say seriously – I love writing, I love baseball, it just seemed to make sense for me to run my talk-hole online about it (and nobody wants to read anything about the little music scene I up until recent years considered myself a part of – not even me). But sometimes it seems like the bloggers and the reporters are so busy shouting each other down, they don’t bother to really look and see the validity in what either of them has to say: not to say that this is what is happening in this case specifically, but I’ve seen it happen before, mainly with political reporting/blogs/pundits. I will say that the people who follow Baker’s blog seem a bit more on the thin-skinned side, but again, that is just my perception. I just want all Mariners fans to snuggle and unite against the one thing that we should truly be concerned about: bad baseball. In the meantime, I will just have to accept that everyone has their differences.

This subject will likely not die until a new manager is chosen (supposedly as soon as tomorrow), and moves start being made, which will give everyone – including me – something new to write about and worry over. There was a bit of back-and-forth over whether Zduriencik would hold a second round of interviews or not, but that is now off the table, according to various reports.

And lastly, because I know at least one person who reads my silly girl opinions here might be interested, news on Erik Bedard, from Jim Street’s MailBag on mariners.com:

Q: What is Erik Bedard’s status? Will he be well enough to return and play next year? If so, do you think that he will return to Seattle or another team? I understand that the Mariners only signed him for a one-year deal, which confuses me. – Alex M., Prosser, Wash.

A: Bedard currently is at his home in Ontario, Canada, recovering from left shoulder surgery. Unless the Mariners decide not to offer Bedard a contract for the 2009 season, which I believe unlikely, he would either pitch for Seattle next season or be traded during the offseason. Considering the injury problems he experienced this past season, I doubt that the Mariners could come close to getting as much for Bedard as they gave up to get him from the Orioles — five players. I’m not quite sure why you are confused about him being signed to a one-year contract last season. He was eligible for salary arbitration, and both sides avoided that process by agreeing to a one-year, $7 million offer. Bedard becomes eligible for free agency at the end of the 2009 season and almost definitely would sign a deal with an organization closer to his home.