I donβt tend to watch the final inning of Mariners games.1
My reasoning for this is fairly simple:
I live on the East Coast so itβs often pushing or past midnight.
If theyβre leading, Iβm going to expect a win. Should Seattle somehow lose, Iβll be better equipped to learn about it in the morning when it canβt interrupt my nightβs sleep.
If theyβre losing and somehow come back to win, that creates its own surge of emotion. Iβm better off getting that as a bump to start the following day.
Less than one-quarter of the way through this season, I am re-thinking my policy.
Turns out, when the Mariners lose a game in the ninthβas they did on TuesdayβIβll get up the next morning and watch the final inning.
This is true even when I know the Mariners lost, which was the case on Wednesday.
Instead of saving me aggravation, this compounds the agony because I watch an entire inning of baseball through teeth-gnashing self-loathing, knowing the whole time whatβs coming my way.
It was true when the Padres scored five runs off closer Andres MuΓ±oz back on April 16. It was true on Tuesday night when MuΓ±oz gave up a solo home run to Matt Olson to open the ninth inning, putting the Atlanta Braves up 3-2.
Some argue that a missed field-goal attempt is the worst way to lose a game. I disagree. While everyone recognizes the value of kickers, they are a specific sub-species within the sport of football. When one of them misses a kick they should have made, it feels like something that is beyond anyoneβs controlβeven the kicker.
Your closer is the anchor man of the bullpen. The big kahuna. When he loses a game, it is dispiriting even on tape delay. Iβll get back to MuΓ±oz in a second.
π A sign(ing) of success
There is a cost to success in the NFL, one that the Seattle Seahawks paid in March, during the first week of unrestricted free agency.
Teams come poaching your players, offering a premium for being part of a championship formula.
Seattle watched Boye Mafe leave for Cincinnati, Kenneth Walker head to Kansas City and Coby Bryant take a deal in Chicago.
On Tuesday, Seattle experienced the one tangible benefit that success brings in the free-agent market: the late veteran addition.
Dante Fowler agreed to a one-year contract with the Seahawks on Tuesday, adding a fourth edge rusher to a group that includes Demarcus Lawrence, Uchenna Nwosu and Derick Hall.
Once upon a time, Fowler was the top defensive line prospect in the draft, chosen No. 3 overall by Jacksonville in 2015. He suffered a torn knee ligament on the first day of rookie minicamp, which left him unable to play his rookie season.
He recovered and has now played 10 seasons across five different teams. He amassed 10.5 sacks two years ago while playing for Washington, but that total dropped to three last year for Dallas.
At 31, heβs not the kind of player a team is going to invest in long-term. He is, however, the kind of veteran that pretty much any team would love to have as part of its defensive-line rotation.
Seattle didnβt win a bidding war for Fowler so much as Fowler chose the Seahawks from among a group of suitors offering one-year deals.
Iβm not going to say that money doesnβt matter in this situation. Money always matters. But money isnβt the only thing for a player like Fowler, whose career earnings are approaching $100 million.
In Seattle, Fowler joins a formidable defense that is coming off a championship run. Thatβs an intriguing option for a guy who has played in three conference championship games and reached the Super Bowl with the Rams in the 2018 season, but never won a ring.
π§―Adding gas to the fire
The Mariners have an issue in their bullpen.
Andres MuΓ±oz has allowed three home runs in 37 games this season after allowing two all of last season.
He is credited (or is it blamed?) for three of Seattleβs 20 losses this season. His ERA is currently at 6.00.
A month ago, I would have said any issues about MuΓ±oz could be remedied by moving Matt Brash to the closerβs role. However, Brash is on the injured list. So is Gabe Speier. All of this is accentuated when the Mariners lineup goes fallow as it did on Tuesday against Atlanta, mustering just three hits.
Iβm not sure if thereβs an answer or an alternative here. Weβve got to sit and hope that MuΓ±oz gets it together. Or the Mariners start scoring so many runs that it doesnβt matter.
Iβm not sure which of those is more likely.
1Β Β Credit where itβs due: This approach was first explained to me by Larry Salk, Mikeβs father, who has a long-standing habit of going to bed when the Red Sox take a lead into the final inning.