SECTION 331

NOTE: The initial part of this post was written yesterday evening, but due to hotel internet being shakier than a greyhound in the snow, the remainder of the post had to be written after we were back in Bennington, VT from Cooperstown; so I am finishing it up now.

So I am currently holed up in the Cooperstown Best Western at nearly 4pm this not-so-fine December Tuesday. It is raining out, with the threat of a 2″ snowfall within the next 24 hours. It’s funny to think that as I start this post, it is nearing only 1pm back home, and due to the fading light and Cooperstown’s winter hours being what they are, my day is pretty much over, while my friends back home still have a good chunk of their days left. I have an open Yuengling, a really awful internet connection (by the time I post this, I am guessing at least an hour will have elapsed), and I have already crammed quite a bit into today (including a visit to the bountiful greatness that is Price Chopper), so let’s get started…

Between a multi-hour nap I took yesterday afternoon, my teething niece upstairs, the heat in the room we were sleeping in, and a cat that decided to use the bed as home base for a one-sided game of tag, I did not sleep well last night. I don’t think I’ve been able to deal with jet lag well at all this time around coming out here, and even though our bed is comfy and my sister-in-law’s house is awesome, I think I’ve got a bit of that ‘it’s not home’ thing. I was of course quite excited about our trip today, so with everything piled on, I just didn’t sleep much, if at all, and time has just sort of stood still today.

Tom and I got up and were graciously driven into town by my sister’s boyfriend Jeff, where we procured this sort of red station wagon-looking vehicle from the car rental place. We had originally tried to get a smaller car, but the two guys there ‘upgraded’ us to this one. I’m not sure why larger is an upgrade, but I wasn’t in the mood to argue, either, so we got the run-through on our new ride, hopped in, and after a few awkward turns, made it on our route towards Cooperstown, New York.

The drive here from Vermont is not terribly exciting. If you’re from Oregon, picture the stretch of highway between Eugene and Grants Pass, flatten it out a bit, and remove all the evergreens. Throw in a bunch of don’t-blink-or-you’ll-miss-them “towns”, and plenty of old weathered farmhouses, barns and sheds in such states of disrepair that they must surely be declared a health and safety hazard, by someone, somewhere in the state of New York. It’s a photographer’s dream for sure, but that was not why we were on the road. Some other time, perhaps.

We were afforded a little blue sky here and there, which made us think that we would escape what is currently going on and about to go on outside the hotel as I type this (rain, snow).

And after what seemed like forever (but was in actuality maybe an hour and change)…

The reason that the sign says “Museums” is because there are several here. Along with the Hall of Fame, there is also a farmer’s museum and an art museum. Both of these are larger individually than the building that houses the Hall of Fame. There is actually a country club here that is twice the size of the Hall of Fame. In fact, as Tom and I drove past it, I mentioned to him that the country club’s facade was more or less what I had expected of the Hall of Fame. But I won’t judge, because I have not yet set foot into the Hall, and I guessing that despite its smaller stature, it will still be worth more bang for my personal buck than both the farmer’s museum and the art museum combined. You may scoff, but I am a big fan of museums.

Seventeen miles of winding country road and several more small burgs and dilapidated farm structures later, we were driving past Cooperstown Hot Dog. Tom noticed that it looked closed, but since we had missed the driveway, we figured that we’d at least drive back and see what the hours were. Keep in mind, I just checked their website this morning. It is still up and running, and nowhere on the site does it give any indication of this:

Now, I’m no scientist, but I’m pretty sure that sign means they’re not coming back. This was a setback, of course, as I had been planning on making this my first meal in Cooperstown for at least the last week. But I have also been prepared for seasonal closures, and the fact that not everything might be as I had imagined it or wanted it to be. So I committed to flexibility, and we continued on downtown, to see what we could see.

This is the Cooperstown Bat Company, obviously. I knew it was going to be closed so it wasn’t a big deal, but after being able to look through the windows on my own, I really do wish it had been open. I was only in the doorway long enough to take this picture, but the store is really, well, full of bats. More colors, brands, and patterns than I figured existed. I would not have been able to afford to buy one, but I still would have loved to be able to go in and look. Maybe there will be another time.

After I took these pictures, we decided to find some lunch to fill the hot-dog-shaped holes in our stomachs, and Alex and Ika was open, so we wandered into it after slowly poking around the windows of some of the other closed shops. I had a Boddington’s and a sandwich called a B.A.T (see what they did there?) which was a bacon, arugula and tomato panini with a honey mustard sauce on it. It was delicious, but after that and the beer I was much more stuffed than I wanted to be. The staff was nice (we were the only two in there, aside from two women who came in as we were finishing up), and the food is good, so if you ever visit, check it out.

This is one wall in the restaurant. You can see me taking the picture in the mirror down below. Tom is probably messing with his iPhone.

After lunch, we still had some time to kill before being able to get into our hotel room, so we decided to see what was open and do the tourist thing. Main street had a few people walking around on it, but for the most part, the town was pretty calm. I have to think the difference between winter and summer is night and day there. Doubleday Field was right around the corner from the restaurant, but it was closed and tarped up of course. I got what photos I could.

You can see snow on the ground in the third photo. There has been a thin veneer of snow pretty much everywhere between here and Vermont. I wish I could have gotten better photos, but you have to roll with the punches. Even in Cooperstown, there is an offseason.

The next stop was the Cooperstown Wax Museum. I didn’t expect a lot going in, and I didn’t technically get it, but for a small-town wax museum on one specific subject, this one isn’t terrible. The whole place was empty (we were the only ones there), and it was run by an elderly gentleman who complained about the cold when we came in the door. Entry fee is $9.95 for adults, which I happily paid for both myself and Tom. You get a token resembling an extremely shiny quarter, and are sent in to a turnstyle, and up an elevator to the third floor, which is where everything begins. From the third floor, you walk down two small flights of stairs to the second floor to finish up the tour, which is self-guided. I don’t know how much fun this would be for children; there aren’t really any interactive exhibits, and a lot of it is more informational than stuff to look at. But I consider myself good with reading, and I haven’t been a child for a while, so I liked it just fine. Also, it smells like cigars when you get to the top floor. I took photos of the better wax figures (I find wax figures to be a little hit or miss sometimes – Joe DiMaggio could have been standing on some stairs with Marilyn Monroe, or Gwen Stefani), and am quite sad that my picture of Ted Williams didn’t come out, as it was the best in the bunch. I will not be so careless at the Hall.

Not everything was baseball, some of it was just baseball-related.

NOTE: It was around this point that I had to stop trying to upload photos, or I was going to risk not being able to go to bed at a decent hour. From here on out, I am back at my sister’s house, so if the tense or editorial sounds odd, it’s because these photos were taken yesterday. So onto the rest of it:

I have a strange fascination with Honus Wagner; I don’t know much about him other than that his baseball card is ridiculously expensive, but for some reason I just like him.

This was not a terribly great wax figure setup, but it came with a story that I didn’t read because I was taking pictures of a few other things in the immediate vicinity; after being blackballed from the majors and supposedly playing some minor league games, Joe Jackson retired to owning and working a liquor store. Ty Cobb apparently came in once to purchase from him, and Jackson did not acknowledge him as anything other than a customer. When Cobb said ‘What’s the matter, Joe; don’t you know who I am?’ Jackson replied, ‘Sure I do, Ty; but I didn’t think anyone wanted to talk to me anymore.’ Tom read this and related the story to me last night at dinner, and it made me tremendously sad. I find Jackson to be a very sympathetic character, whether he actually took part in the Black Sox scandal or not. Not being able to read or write your own language in an increasingly developing world, and working in a somewhat corrupt industry must have been very difficult for anyone, let alone a guy who got caught up in something so much beyond his control.

I saw the photo that this was modeled after today in the Hall of Fame.

I tried to get some forced perspective for this shot of a wax Catfish Hunter, and his intended target, painted on the wall next to “him”.

Randy Johnson and Eddie Gaedel. Randy is not John Rauch, who is the tallest player ever in baseball, but I’m maybe they don’t have enough wax to make a Rauch? Maybe the extra few inches causes the wax to collapse? Who knows. The figures look like both men, so I’m not complaining.

These are not all the figures in the museum, but they are the ones I found most interesting, personally. If you’re a baseball history buff, this place probably won’t tell you much that you don’t know already, but it is part of the Cooperstown experience, and worth my ten bucks and 45 or so minutes to walk through.

After the museum, we walked down as far as the Hall of Fame, and I decided not to walk up to it; that would have to wait. Instead, we crossed the street and went into a few memorabilia stores. With all apologies to Mets fans, with whom I hold no grudge, I found this funny:

I also found an autographed Justin Smoak ball, which I had posted on Twitter:

In this same store, in a massive glass case with hundreds of others, was an autographed Babe Ruth ball, the price of which was some $16,000.00. Yes, that decimal is in the right place. I stood and stared at it for a few seconds, and Tom and I traded shocked remarks on the item before purchasing some small gifts for friends and leaving the shop to go in search of other adventure.

Other adventure, it turns out, was driving to find the Ommegang Brewery.  After some fighting with the GPS and a few wrong turns, we found it, and went inside…to a massive crowd of people. Cooperstown was nearly a ghost town, but this place was packed. We stood for a bit waiting to see if we had a chance in Hell of making it in to get a place to sit and have a pint, but there were already people standing up to drink in the very noisy room. We looked on the shelves for a bottle to maybe take home, but couldn’t decide on anything; so we wandered into what turned out to be the tasting room, and were told that we needed a glass. Since there were only five or so people there, we thought that might be a good idea – but the second we turned around, about 15-20 people had started to fill the room in behind us, so it was silently determined between both of us that Ommegang would simply have to be had back home, from our local beer store. The tour wasn’t even an option, as one had just left, and it would have required two very tired people to wait for 45 minutes for the next one.

So we drove back into town, and then thought maybe we’d try the Fly Creek Cider Mill. I thought I’d remembered something about it being closed for the winter, but what else did we have to do? Drive the four miles out there and find out that it was indeed closed, that’s what.

Exhausted and beer- and cider-free, we figured the hotel would probably have to let us in, because who else would be clamoring for a room a few days after Christmas in a town whose tourism revolves mainly around the summer season? So there was checking in, and a few sombre hours of just sitting in silence and trying to get photos uploaded and working on various website projects between the two of us, on an internet connection that was slower than dirt. After a bit, we were hungry and took off in the rental car and pouring rain to a place closer to town called Bocca Osteria. As far as I can figure, this is a fine-but-casual dining place, or it would be if it were in Seattle. In Cooperstown, it almost seems fancy. The food is amazing, and the word amazing doesn’t even begin to describe it. It’s incredible food. But the prices are absolutely criminal. One should not be able to get a bowl of seafood bisque for $5, and especially not the kind of seafood bisque that is on the menu here; it is absolutely delicious, and there is a lot of it, with bay scallops and prawns nesting at the bottom. I could have easily eaten my weight in it. The salad and pizza that we also had was wonderful, but I don’t think I will ever forget this bisque. Our entire meal was $36, and it was a STEAL at that price. If you ever find yourself in the area, and this place is open, I highly recommend you go.

After dinner, it was back to the hotel, settling in to ABC Family’s broadcasting of both older and newer versions of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and then sweet, blissful sleep.

Tomorrow, I tackle the actual Hall of Fame visit. I took over 200 pictures today, so tomorrow’s post is going to be a big one. Hope I have been able to bring my trip to life for anyone reading as much as it was a lively trip for me.

Just about ready to leave Arlington, after a somewhat sleepless night. Unfortunately, this is not due to my excitement, but the four-hour nap I took yesterday, which was a bit of a mistake. I am sleepy, but I have had two cups of coffee, my stuff is packed, and I am ready for whatever the day may bring.

Wanted to also put it out there that I am not sure of the hotel’s internet connection situation, so while I would love to do a post to sum up the day this evening, I am not wholly sure that I will be able to. Follow along on Twitter for mobile updates, and hopefully things will go relatively smoothly today. Gotta go!

As  I type this out, it is just turning 9pm EST, and while most folks who read this are still well up and around, I am maybe about an hour or so from sleep. I am hanging out with the family watching Tony Bourdain on the Travel Channel, drinking wine, and trying not to think too hard about our travels tomorrow, lest I be unable to sleep.

So the plan tomorrow is to get up with my sister-in-law’s boyfriend, and he will drive us into Bennington, VT to Enterprise to grab the car so we can start the three-or-so-hour trek to Cooperstown. Normally it would take maybe two hours and change, but there is always the chance that we’ll have to stop for landmarks or road signs or whatever; I’m leaving nothing to chance. We are planning on lunch at Cooperstown Hot Dog, which is owned by members of Joe DiMaggio’s family. I have been debating this for the past few days, but I think I have rested on a half pastrami sandwich and a dog of some sort. I will not be eating breakfast.

Not much else to report for now, I’m just trying to remain calm, and enjoy the evening. Tomorrow will be an interesting day. Keep an eye on my Twitter account, because the live-Tweeting will start as soon as I get coffee in my face.

We are safely on the ground in Arlington, Vermont with our family in my sister’s massive log cabin rental home, with a giant noble fir in the window, and new snow on the ground this morning. If that isn’t representative of Christmas in New Engand, I don’t know what is. It’s 4am PST, so everyone who will be likely to read this is probably still sleeping by the time it’s posted. I wanted to wish everyone a very happy holiday, whether you celebrate or not. May you all have the best day ever.

As for the Hall of Fame, we are currently investigating rental cars to get from here to there, and keeping tabs on the weather. I understand that the forecast has changed a bit and we might be expecting snow, so I’ve sent a Twitter request to a Twitter friend of a Twitter friend, networking my way into possibly more accurate weather information. We’ll be going down Tuesday afternoon and depending on where we get the car from, it might take us about three hours or so. The Ommegang Brewery is open noon to five, and it has been suggested to me that I pour a little beer out for Dave Niehaus. If I can, I certainly will.

So have a great holiday, everyone. I’m going to have another cup of coffee. See you soon from Cooperstown!

Things have been a little crazy at work lately, and more than a little quiet on the Mariners front, unless you consider the nasty nasty rumor about Brandon League being available. There is some news about old Mariners, like Rob Johnson taking a trip to New York (or wherever the Mets’ triple A affiliate might reside), and some news about players that have been wistfully considered possible Mariners (Yu Darvish talking to Texas, Prince Fielder being quiet everywhere about everything), but mostly it’s still quiet. Since everyone else is chiming in about Fielder, for the record, I am just about to the point of not caring. This whole thing reminds me of the last half-season of Walking Dead – that was a really slow season. The plot sort of plodded along, people who should have been having serious discussions with each other quickly weren’t, and even though there was a tension building up through most of the episodes that were aired, it wasn’t until the very last 5 minutes of the mid-season finale where the viewer knew something terribly dramatic was going to happen. Given that comparison, I am waiting for the dramatic part. For now, we’re being forced to hang out in this purgatory where someone’s pregnant and it might be one guy and it might be the other, and nobody knows where Sophia is, and ZOMGZOMBIES!

But enough of my complaining about the lack of action for the Mariners, because I am currently on the near-eve of my departure east. Tomorrow late, I will board a red-eye headed for Philadelphia, where I might see if I can nab some Phillies swag (fingers crossed) in the airport during our layover. From there, I take an exhaustive small flight to Albany, NY, where we should arrive at around 11 in the morning EST. I’m not happy about any of it, even though the whole red-eye flight was my suggestion, so that Tom and I would not miss family time. I’m regretting it now, but it will make the holidays a little more bearable if we don’t have to deal with Christmas-Day travel.

So far, the plan for the Cooperstown trip is to travel from Bennington, VT to Cooperstown the afternoon of December 27th. This is also David Aardsma’s birthday, so be sure and wish him a happy birthday. We will try and go to the Ommegang Brewery, depending on what time it is when we get there, how the weather is (it’s supposed to be clear-ish), and what our travel route might be, though looking at aerial maps, it doesn’t look like there are a lot of options road-wise – you’re either there or you’re not. I’m hoping to have some dinner (or lunch, again depending on when we wind up leaving Vermont) at a place called Alex and Ika, which looks about as close as we might be able to get in C-Town to a brewpub-style restaurant. We don’t know where we’re going to stay just yet, but since both of us are/were musicians, the concept of driving until you find a place to sleep is not an issue. On the 28th, it’s up bright and early to go to the Hall of Fame.

So what do you, as readers and friends, want to see from the Hall of Fame? Is there something you’ve heard of that you thought might be cool? Let me know and I will take a photo of it and bring it back here to the website. I will also be trying to live-Tweet my experience as much as possible (including flight and other stuff from the area, because isn’t that why everyone uses Twitter anyway), and will attempt to post photos directly to my Twitter account. The widget will be moved up to the side of the blog here as soon as I get done with this post, where it will stay until I get time to move it back, so if you happen to drop by here and are not following me on Twitter, there will be some photos and blurbs about my trip here on the blog. Should make the SPAM I receive for the next week pretty interesting.

So let me know what it is you’d like to see, and I’ll deliver to the best of my ability; ask here or on Twitter, either way will work.

For the past few days, I’ve been feeling like another shoe is going to drop; so far, however, that hasn’t happened. But this isn’t a complaint, I’m actually quite happy with the things that have happened, especially after reading this from Jeff at Lookout Landing. Jason Churchill at Prospect Insider broke the story the most publicly via Twitter, but there was also a little bird in the mix, a little bird who has some connections. So the Sherrill move was verified before it was really verified, if that makes any sense.

I am pleased to have Sherrill back in the Chex mix that is the Seattle bullpen as it stands today. Having Brandon League, Shawn Kelley, Sherrill and David Aardsma all together sort of feels like old times that haven’t happened yet. And yes, I am aware that the usage of the phrase “old times” when applied to four years ago sounds silly, but it’s all I have. As of this hour, Sherrill’s name is still not on the 40-man roster, but of course the deal is already done. I like the deal, though I think a straight $1MM would have been OK. You may feel differently, but it is a rare day when I say that a million bucks is worth a handful of innings a year to begin with, so technically speaking I’m being generous. I’m just glad to have Sherrill back. Our bullpen needs a little more character and color, and the Brim Reaper provides that, along with a lefty-killing arm. I’m relaxing a bit more about the state of the pen now.

The deadline for Yu Darvish fast approacheth, and it looks like the Toronto Blue Jays might be the winners. If they win, I’ll still be content. No offense to the National League fans, but I’d like to actually see Darvish, and having him in the AL (if not on our team) will give me a better chance of that. What can I say, I’m selfish; but I refuse to tear my hair out over it. I look forward to Darvish’s entrance into major league baseball, but he may find his work cut out for him against AL bats. I can’t get over the 48 complete games he has pitched in Japan, and I do think he’ll do well here, but there could be a learning curve for him. I’m sure that whatever team winds up with him will be quite content.

Chris Gimenez (happy, Patrick?) has come back as well. He’s signed a major league contract, which I find surprising, given the fact that we now have four catchers on the 40-man roster. I’m guessing Adam Moore and John Jaso will be seeing a bit of time down in Tacoma, or everyone will just rotate depending on batting and defensive needs. I am still unaware of Adam Moore’s present condition, so I’ve got no clue what’s going on there, but I cannot imagine he’ll be tossed into Safeco fresh out of Spring Training.

Munenori Kawasaki has won his dream date with the Mariners; or at least the equivalent of a return email from Match.com. He may actually win the date, and if he wins it at a major league level, we’ll have a Suzuki and a Kawasaki on our team. I want to crack a motorcycle joke here so badly, but I’m too tired to worry about it right now. I think the most emotion I feel over this situation is happiness for Kawasaki, who has (per Jeff’s article there) already hightailed it here to Seattle. It must be great to know that the team you want also wants you. I can only hope we are passing notes to Kawasaki under our desks by next March.

And lastly of interest only to maybe me and other Orioles fans is the signing of Endy Chavez. Like maybe a lot of Mariners fans, I sort of lost sight of Endy after this debacle (do not clink that link unless you want to be sad),  but Chavez spent a lot of time on the field for the Texas Rangers in 2011, and was a 1.5 WAR guy, which is not too shabby. Hopefully he will give Baltimore some much-needed help, and Nolan Reimold the occasional rest from left field. It’s a small $1.5MM contract for a year, which seems fair for all parties involved. Orioles fans who know more about Baltimore’s payroll and needs may disagree, but I’m just glad to see Chavez still playing after an incident that initially looked like it might be a career-ender (baseball players are not supposed to flop or fly like that).

Getting really geared up for the Cooperstown trip. I’m trying to approach this event without any preconceived notions, but it’s hard. I really want to be wowed; I want this place to grab me by the scruff and shake me really hard for 8 hours. I want to be overwhelmed with baseball. We have been debating travel times and where we’re going to eat and stay for the past week. Hopefully I will have a plan set out soon, and I will be moving my Twitter widget up to the top of the sidebar here. The planned date is Wednesday, December 28th to actually go to the museum. Fingers crossed for good 3G coverage and a Hall of Fame relatively free of tourists. We have already verified that the weather should not be a problem. I can barely wait!

I’ve got the MLB Trade Rumors alert application on my phone, which means I get a notification every single time something “happens” in the world of baseball. Sometimes, I get that notification multiple times. Sometimes, a day after the event actually occurs. But that’s not the point. The point is that I’m bombarded all day long with chatter about baseball, but so far, very little about the Mariners. Lots of talk and frustration online because everyone wants something to happen, but next to no action, unless you count this. Or this. I don’t, really. I understand that Dan Cortes is a nice guy, and that’s fine; but he never really impressed me very much as a pitcher. He always looked like he worked very hard at it, however, so there’s that. Chris Jimenez was alright, but alright isn’t that impressive to me, either, unless your name is Garrett Olson. Garrett Olson is now a Met, by the way. A minor league Met, but a Met nonetheless. I’m actually more concerned about Garrett Olson being on the Mets  than I am about Jimenez or Cortes not being anywhere.  I feel like that makes me a bad Mariners fan, but then I realize that these guys aren’t Mariners now, and I go back to not being impressed. That might be the most confusing thing I’ve had to do all day.

This evening, there is a lot of talk swirling around about the Mariners being after Michael Cuddyer. At first I thought Oooo, neat! Michael Cuddyer! Then I remembered that the last time I had that same thought was in 2009. I haven’t thought much about Cuddyer since that year, and the numbers are now telling me why. My overall impression here is that Cuddyer is taking a little trip down the same slide Chone Figgins has been riding the past few years. I don’t know if I can deal with that, especially not for the dollar amounts/contract lengths I’ve heard being tossed around over the last hour or so. I’m not going to let this ruin my day, however, and even if we get him, I need to keep believing that Jack Zduriencik has our best interests at heart. To do otherwise would mean immediate and complete insanity. Meanwhile, I’ll keep it in the back of my head that this could happen, and prepare myself for the possibility.

The Seahawks game last night was a ridiculous amount of fun. If you’re not into a particular sport, it helps to go with someone who is, and I could not have picked a better person to go with than my friend Justin. I found myself getting a little sleepy and even more cold during the 4th quarter, but Justin just kept plugging along. So much so, that he was starting to lose his voice in the car on the way home. If you’ve never sat in the Hawk’s Nest, I highly suggest it, especially if you dig the Sounders atmosphere. Everyone stands on the metal bleachers, there is a lot of noise and stomping around, and if memory serves, the stadium helped create about three or so false starts for the St Louis Rams. Well, not really for them, I guess. But it was good fun. I cannot say I would have been as pleased with my evening if it had been raining outside, but we got lucky and it was merely cold. My right knee is paying for the 4 hours of standing up, but I will live to fight again. And I got to test my camera out, which was great. A lot of my photos came out a little blurry, because even with the stabilizer on, the whole section was shaking so badly that taking good shots was difficult. But I managed to get a few decent pictures, and because of my little test run, I am now really really looking forward to getting to Safeco in 2012.

This one was actually taken with the Hipstamatic application on my iPhone. This was our non-zoomed view from the seats I got from StubHub.

Taken in front of our end zone.

A huddle, late in the game as the Hawks debate best how to defend the zone. Or maybe they were talking about Top Pot Donuts, I have no clue.

Steven Hauschka takes his goal kick. I believe this was the last one of the game.

I will admit to staring longingly at our gorgeous roof more than a few times during the game. I really do miss Safeco, and am eagerly awaiting FanFest in a month and a half. It’s starting to feel like forever since I was in the left field bleachers, enjoying a dog and a beer, bundled in a few layers because let’s face it, this was a cold year here. I am not looking forward to February, which is a baseball fan’s longest month of the year. I’m sure I could have taken a better photo if I’d been trying a little harder (and the bleachers weren’t shaking, and my hands weren’t freezing in spite of two pairs of gloves), but I was really just testing the limits of my zoom function. I still have a lot to learn with this camera, but so far I absolutely love it.

The Hot Stove League started tonight, and while I really would have loved to go up to the Alderwood Mall and say hi to Matt and Shannon and company, there was no way I’d make it from West Seattle with the recent traffic mess after getting out of work at 5. I will have to try and find time to listen, but after work events may get in my way. Oh, and I just saw on my MLBTR alert that the Cleveland Indians are in “serious” talks with our very own ex-Mariner and fan favorite Jose Lopez. Good for him. I’ve always liked Lopez, I’m glad he keeps chugging along.

That’s it for now, I guess. Just waiting on you, Mariners.

All quiet on the Western front. Still.

The Arizona Diamondbacks recently procured a certain Lyle Overbay, which is cool. I don’t think it’s an awful deal, either. A million bucks for a year for a guy who probably won’t play every day seems high, but for a year, it’s a far smarter deal than the five million that the Pirates gave him for a contract of that same duration. I’m sure he’ll platoon well with Paul Goldschmidt, hit a few singles, maybe swat one over the wall occasionally in the high dry air of Arizona…I like it. The Diamondbacks are quickly becoming a team that I will have to start paying more attention to. Their seasons have been lasting longer in recent years, and while that is really all I have to go on, given the short duration of my fandom, it was fun to back them during the playoffs this year, even if they didn’t advance too terribly far. I figure that with liking two teams like the Mariners and the Orioles, I should at least attempt to hedge my bets in the NL.

Prince Fielder has still not been obtained by us or anyone else. Maybe the shock of the Albert Pujols deal is still wearing off for people, or perhaps every day since the winter meetings ended have been full of intense scrutiny of Fielder’s skills and projected skills, and fierce arguments over whether or not $200MM is too much money. (For the record, the answer is ‘yes’.) I’ve been hearing a lot of opinions floating around on the subject, just like everyone else, and I think I may be on the verge of Fielder fatigue. I can only deal with this stuff for so long. At this point, I’m not sure if I can invest enough energy in caring pre-deal, whether or not we get Fielder. I certainly don’t know that I want this guy, but y’all know me, I’m more of a wait-and-see person than a dream-the-impossible-dream person. If we don’t get Fielder, I’m not sure I’ll be all that bothered. I’m sure that sounds insane to a lot of people, but the fact of the matter is, I just can’t see the Mariners pulling something like this. For a lesser amount? Maybe; I mean, we’ve all witnessed Jack Zduriencik’s ninja deals, right…but that’s more money than Mark Teixeira got from the Yankees, and I don’t think the Ms want to deal that way. If we spend two hundred million dollars on this guy, give him the lengthy contract that he wants, and he has a completely awful 2012, this fanbase will lose their minds. And at that point, it will no longer be about the skills Fielder has, used to have, or could have again in the future; it will be all about the money we spent that we don’t have to spend in 2013. I have nothing against Fielder (and quite honestly do not believe he will have any sort of problems next year), but everyone has their ‘what if’. And that’s mine.

Doing some research on my Cooperstown trip. I will be live-Tweeting it as much as possible (I have no idea what the 3G coverage will or won’t be in the area), and am currently debating an easy hashtag to use on Twitter for my posts and photos. I currently have an aerial photo of the village (because it is apparently just that small) on my computer desktop at work, with street names and land markers, so I hope that I can somewhat familiarize myself with the place’s layout just by seeing it nearly every day. That sounds a little nutty, doesn’t it? I’m totally stalking Cooperstown! Tom’s folks sent us a little cash for a rental car, and I’m making him drive us not only because of the possible snow, but so I can take a lot of photos. I understand after talking to Caryn from MetsGrrl that the tiny burg is an early closer in the tourist offseason, so the museum should be relatively easy to walk through, and the restaurants will likely not be open late; some of the shops might not even be open. I’m still terribly excited. Sadly, my dream of going to the bat store to purchase something special has just been dashed by the fact that they will be closed the week we’re down there. So more research into hours and whatnot is needed. No more surprises/disappointments – or disappointing surprises – are needed at point of contact. The Hall of Fame itself has a gift store, and I suppose that will be plenty sufficient. If I sound at all manic about this experience, it is because it has been hanging over my head for a good 3 years now. Ever since I discovered that my sister-in-law’s home was about a 2-hour drive away, it has just been a matter of time and money to get back to the east coast. This is my year.

Lastly, I’m going to a Seahawks game tomorrow. The Hawks are currently in second place with a 5-7 record in the NFC west, and I am told that the St Louis Rams are just horrible this year (2-10?! Yikes!) so I stand a good chance at witnessing a win. The Seahawks are not the Green Bay Packers, but a live sporting event is a live sporting event, and it’s about time. My friend and I will be sitting in the Hawk’s Nest, which he describes as being vaguely like the experience one might get at a Sounders game, so I’m bundling up for the 29F temperatures expected after the sun goes down, and am going prepared to be wowed.

Yeah, I heard.

My first reaction to this was a sort of mental gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair. Reading Dave’s article there calms me down a little bit, but not much. I think I’ll need to see Pujols in action against constant American League pitching to truly settle down, and there are other teams we play on a fairly regular basis, so really it’s not like this is the end of the world. At the very least, we can hope that Safeco Field’s walls have an Adrian-Beltre-like effect on Pujols’ batting. At the opposite end of the spectrum, well, everyone likes a good home run, right? I know the numbers aren’t really comparable, but I gotta grab on to something.The Mariners were never in on Pujols, but the crazy fan part of me just feels awful about this. I should be looking at all the bright sides of the situation; I’ve only ever seen Pujols on TV. Now I can drive downtown and see him whenever the Angels are in town. Plus, I get to be annoyed by the Angels again, which seems more appropriate than being annoyed by the Rangers. Or the Marlins. Or even St Louis. I feel like our natural rivalry has returned, after a few years of rest. Sorry, San Diego.

The Angels also wound up with now-former Ranger CJ Wilson. I am not upset about this for the Mariners’ sake, but for the sake of Rangers fans. I know Wilson was well-liked in Texas, and I know how it must feel for one of your beloved players to go to a direct rival, especially now that that rival has one of the best hitters in the game today. It feels like this. And I appreciate that Micah’s post is heartfelt but professional; I don’t know that I could have done that. I still root for old Mariners, even if they’re on other teams. Especially if they’re on one of my other three. It feels a little wrong sometimes, but I still do it, especially if they were guys I liked back in 2008, when all of this mess first started. But her post does give me some perspective on things, and maybe next time, I won’t be so terribly upset when we lose someone I love. Everyone’s gotta grow up sometime.

I’m not even going into the Rule 5 guy. I’m sorry, Rule 5 guy. I will, however, make a concerted effort to remember your name; Lucas Luetge. It’s like Josh Lueke, but with a Josh and a few other letters thrown in. I think I can manage that.

I am feeling fortunate that I didn’t put my foot in my (Twitter) mouth earlier today by re-tweeting some Prince Fielder rumors wherein Fielder was linked a little more concretely to the Mariners. I debated it for a few moments while on my lunch, and up until I checked my own account just now, had thought that I actually had. I don’t think anyone would have blamed me; it’s so easy to get caught up in the rumors at this time of year. But I try pretty hard to not get swept into the giant mound of crazy that is the Winter Meetings. As far as trades go, I prefer a reactionary approach to the situation. It’s easier for me, and makes things a little more fun and relaxed, rather than sitting around wringing my hands over whether or not the Ms will spend too much money this year, or not get the “right” guy, or do something I view as completely lackluster. At this point, I don’t even remember who started with the bit about Fielder putting the Mariners in his top three possibilities, but it doesn’t matter.

What I did retweet, however (I can’t believe that has become a verb in my common vocabulary) is a little thing about this. Yes, the Mariners asking about George Sherrill is barely a footnote in that post, but I know a lot of people who would be happy to have him back, myself included. We are a long way away from his excellent 2009 season (and sure, I can stuff 2008 in there a little, too), but for some reason I have confidence. I don’t know if it’s just because familiarity breeds comfort, but I would like to see him back here, with his straight-brimmed Mariners hat, back in our bullpen where he can nestle in and be safe. Sherrill’s never been paid anything too ridiculous, either, so I would imagine we’d be able to get him relatively cheaply. Minor league contract? Simple invite to Spring Training? Whatever we do, looks like we might be in some competition with the Colorado Rockies for Sherrill’s services. Come back to Seattle, George. It may be an irrational desire, but it’s all I have.

Not really much to talk about today, unless you count the fact that the Marlins seem to have lost their damn minds lately. I wouldn’t think they’d have enough money, after shelling out for a stadium that looks like it got vomited on by Fat Tuesday, but maybe the reasoning here is that they need to stop treading water at the bottom of the barrel, win some games, and bring in some fans. I just don’t know if I see Albert Pujols as the kind of guy who would bail on St Louis. Then again, I’m a terrible judge of character, and maybe Pujols wants a change of scenery. The rest of the park looks like it’s going to be nice, though, and the whole Marlins franchise is getting a facelift, so between that and the money, it might be a good lure. I don’t know much about the Marlins as a team. Come to think of it, I’m not even sure if the park is even a consideration for players when they make these kinds of decisions. I know it might factor in for me, if I had a choice. Whatever happens, there is a whisper that it might happen tonight, at the first link above, so maybe this will all be moot by the time I wake up tomorrow. Pujols isn’t coming here, so I’m not going to worry about it too terribly much.

In the meantime, I guess we wait and watch the hilarity as the meetings continue and gossip gets tossed around. I will keep myself reigned in OHMYGODJAMIEMOYER!!!

EDIT; Yes, it is snowing on the page, you are not seeing things. Because I know there were complaints last year, that is nothing I can stop, it’s all WordPress’s deal. Bear with me until December is over…

It took a while longer than I thought it would, but Wily Mo Pena has finally inked his deal with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks. The same Softbank Hawks that our possible future boyfriend Munenori Kawasaki (I spelled it without looking!) is still currently playing with. It’s a two-year, $3.29 million deal, which is likely more than he was being paid here in Seattle, though I cannot confirm that with the 10 or so minutes of reading/research I just did. I’m happy for him, and I hope the Hawks fans like slugging.

A friend of mine sent this link to me a while back, and I only just got around to reading it. It’s a Slate.com article, and interview with both Michael Lewis and Billy Beane, and it’s quite good. It was written almost a month ago, so if people have already read it I wouldn’t be surprised, but if you haven’t, give it a look. Especially after actually seeing the movie, it gives a little more insight into Beane’s character, and how the Moneyball book came about.

It’s old news by now, but the Mariners broadcasting team will make a repeat performance in 2012. It was strange at first, because nobody will ever replace Dave Niehaus; but I became accustomed to the switching-off of Rick Rizzs’ booth companions, and turned out to really enjoy the more-the-merrier approach of both the radio team and the ROOT Sports folks. Speaking of the broadcasting rotation, both Rick Rizzs and Jay Buhner will be at the Bellevue Mall Team Store on Friday December 16th from 5-6.30pm. Why are these things always so far away from me? And on work days? There will be other signings as well, and the Hot Stove League will be live broadcasted from at least one team store as it starts up over the next few weeks. Details here. I am tempted to go do some damage at the season ticket holder sale mentioned in the link, but since I’m already having problems with affording Christmas presents as it is, I don’t know if that’s a very good idea. Setting me loose in the Team Store is never a very good idea.

Just had an opportunity to sit and read this. It’s a bit of Dave Cameron analysis of John Jaso’s offensive production. Not knowing anything about Jaso, I have to say that I’m pretty excited about a player that can be compared offensively to guys like 2008 Joe Mauer, or 2009 Denard Span. Those guys were reliable at the plate, and if Jaso’s performance in 2012 comes even remotely close, I’ll be totally pleased with it. Home runs are great and all, but I have come to fully appreciate the world of small ball and would like to see more of it from the Mariners.

In football news, it looks like the Green Bay Packers (my team) are selling some stock shares fairly cheaply. If I had a spare $250 laying around, I’d pick up a share. It is very cool that the Packers are fan-owned, and everything I’ve heard about the team and the way it interacts with its fans reminds me a lot of the Seattle Sounders. I really like the fact that the Sounders respect their fans as much as the fans love them. The ECS has worked very closely with the front office there to make sure that they can maintain their presence in the stadium in a way that makes it lively and fun for the rest of the fans, too. In the inaugural season, I remember sitting in 122 and being in direct shouting competition with the band, who were seated in section 123. It wasn’t much fun to be drowned out by the brass, and I’m sure the band didn’t enjoy getting the glares that undoubtedly were shot at them whenever they were trying to do their job. Eventually, the band was moved across the stadium, and now they can play and the ECS can chant and sing, and neither group interferes with the other. And all because the team listened to the ECS and worked out the problem. I understand from a friend of mine who has been to Lambeau Field a few times now that Green Bay players will go to bars or restaurants and sit and chat with their fans, and both parties treat each other with mutual appreciation. Teams acting like they are not above the fans needs to happen more often.  I won’t hold my breath, though.

I thought I had way more to write about, but I guess not. I’m going to try to get to a hockey game sometime before Christmas. The Seattle Thunderbirds are playing at home a few times between now and then, and I’m getting anxious about trying out my new camera on a sporting event soon. I also found out that my Cooperstown trip is going to be a little more of a big deal than I initially thought it was. We are actually going to be there overnight, which means a day at the museum, and then maybe part of a day to just be in the city. Or village. Here is a screen shot of Cooperstown from Google Earth. It is quite obvious where the Hall of Fame is:

Baseball from the sky! I am very much looking forward to this trip.

Even though I know literally nothing about him, I really like this guy. I saw this article first thing in the morning due to my daily Seattle Times emails, and with a headline with words in it like “only wants to play for Mariners“, there was no way I was not going to click that link.  Someone actually wants to come to Seattle? Like of their own free will? For real? Normally, it feels like we have to drag players here kicking and screaming – or at least screaming (see; Milton Bradley, and eventually Chone Figgins) – but this Munenori Kawasaki actually wants to come here and play? Well, that is certainly worth a look-see on my lunch break today then. If a guy wants to come and play here, I’m going to give him the benefit of at least checking him out.

So here’s a bit on BaseballReference.com about him. Here are some more numbers. Here are some more. I’m really good at looking up numbers, but unfortunately not great at translating Japanese league stats to MLB. In the interest of full disclosure, I will fully admit that I round down to Triple A. Whether this is even close to an accurate way to measure, I have no idea; my understanding is that it’s not just the quality of play that is different in Japan, but the style as well. I am not fully comfortable looking at Munenori Kawasaki’s numbers and making any sort of declaration as to whether or not I’d really like him on our team. For some reason, I don’t have that same issue with Yu Darvish. It could by the hype, it could be that I’m fixated on the 48 complete games that Darvish has to his record. I don’t know.  What I do know is that Kawasaki’s numbers in the second link, if translated directly to MiLB, make him look kind of average. OBP, SLG, and OPS all look very Bloomquistian.  Yes, that’s a word.

As for his defense, Geoff Baker puts it thusly:  “…an above average defender at shortstop with very good range.” I don’t have time to do much more poking around today because my lunch is nearly over (it took me far longer to write all of this than it will you to read it), but will try to get some more perspective on the situation later this evening. It sounds like he and Ichiro already have a small rapport, so perhaps as Baker says, Ichiro can indeed provide some perspective as to Kawasaki’s abilities. The fact that Kawasaki is willing to take a minor league contract merely so he can be in the organization is stunning to me, but I find it completely endearing. Someone just won a fan.

I know I’m really late on the uptake here, but this is just stupid. CBA stands for “Collective Bargaining Agreement”, right? I cannot imagine that teams who relied on any level of international scouting would have agreed to this. I just read Dave’s article this morning, but the more time I have to sit and think about it, the angrier I get. And the fact that Cameron brings up the Steinbrenner name only gets me started thinking about words like “collusion” and “conspiracy” – and I’m not even normally of that mindset! But this may get me started thinking about baseball in much the same way that I think about the Occupy movement. The Mariners and other smaller market teams like them may have just been turned into the 99%. Or at least the 60% – though if this proves anything, it’s that I’m not great at math. But I digress…thanks, MLB, for hoisting a giant middle finger at all the work and cultivation of relationships both business and personal that the Mariners have strived to cement the past few years. What a ridiculous decision. Looks like we’re not alone in disliking this new situation, either. My immediate reaction is that some of the teams involved were given some sort of ultimatum unless they signed off on this plan. But I wasn’t there, I don’t know. The whole thing is just eye-roll inducing.

The Mariners have announced their Spring Training schedule a few days ago, and I was originally going to include it in the last post, but decided that would make my thoughts on Halman seem a little more like an afterthought, and I didn’t want to do that. So since I deleted the links out of my email, here’s Jeff’s version of what’s going to happen down in Peoria next year. It’s certainly more entertaining than what the Mariners actually sent me, but I won’t hold that against the Mariners. Talking about doctors touching baseball players is not for everyone.

Lastly , and I’ve mentioned this on Twitter at least once in the past 48 hours, but expect the photos here to improve tenfold. I’ve had a chance to use my camera out in the field (literally, my parents live in high desert farmland), and the difference between the new one and the one I have used previously is mind-blowing. Sitting in the far reaches of Safeco Field will no longer present the same problems that it has in the past as far as being able to get decent photos. Things are about to get real.

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving, and is enjoying the Apple Cup today. I didn’t go to either school, so I have no stake in the game, but may the best team win, etc., etc..