As a parting shot on the day of his retirement after 25 years of covering the team, Bob Finnigan offers up this analysis of what is wrong with the Mariners. Most of what he says is not particularly surprising to anyone that has been around town for the past three seasons, of course.
Somewhat more surprising, perhaps, is his criticism of Richie Sexson, Adrian Beltre and Ichiro for failing to have become the natural leaders of the team in the clubhouse; and the failure of the team to have traded any or all of the above at the deadline this year, though there were offers on the table for at least Beltre and Ichiro. He also takes majority owner Hiroshi Yamauchi to task for being more or less insistent that Ichiro remain with the team.
It remains to be seen whether or not either Mike Hargrove and/or Bill Bavasi will remain on the payroll after the season is over.
Not much has been heard from the Howard Lincoln quarter about the current losing streak, or the status of the team in general, this season; unlike the past two years when the Chairman was rather more verbal in his lament of losing and promising to do more in the upcoming season to restore the team to a better record and playoff contention.
In and of itself, this is a little concerning, especially in light of the continued decline in season ticket sales and attendance, and the effect that has to have had on team revenues. Does it mean that we can expect the Mariners to become Florida Marlins West this offseason? If so, and in tandem with the likely departure of the city's two professional basketball franchises after the 2007 season, what does this mean for Seattle sports fans?
It's too early in the football season to be able to tell if the Seahawks will suffer from the typical post-Super Bowl depression that the second place teams seem to have in the season after their losing game. While the Husky football team is sure to be at least a LITTLE better than last year (they couldn't be any worse, could they?), and Husky basketball will be Husky basketball (which is to say that they should make it to March madness again in 2007), a return to small market professional baseball would be a big letdown to a city that had finally started to come into its own in terms of national recognition of the sports scene here.
After a dismal 0-11 road trip, the M's have managed to beat three 200+ game winning pitchers in a row in Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling and David Wells. The youngsters are starting to mesh well together, and should be even better after next spring training. Maybe it is time for ownership and upper management to start a little "man in the street" campaign and go out to find out what the average fan wants from the team for next year. Yes, season ticket holders are important, but they are not the only ones who have a stake in what happens. The Mariners' television deal is one of the most lucrative in all of MLB, and the demographics remain high even in losing seasons. Come on, Howard, take a walk down First Avenue and ask a few people what they really think of the Mariners and what needs to be done to make them better. I challenge you to do it.
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