I donโt tend to watch the final inning of Mariners games.1
My reasoning for this is fairly simple:
I live on the East Coast so itโs often pushing or past midnight.
If theyโre leading, Iโm going to expect a win. Should Seattle somehow lose, Iโll be better equipped to learn about it in the morning when it canโt interrupt my nightโs sleep.
If theyโre losing and somehow come back to win, that creates its own surge of emotion. Iโm 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 ninthโas they did on TuesdayโIโll 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 whatโs coming my way.
It was true when the Padres scored five runs off closer Andres Muรฑoz back on April 16. It was true on Tuesday night when Muรฑoz 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 anyoneโs controlโeven 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. Iโll get back to Muรฑoz in a second.
๐ 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, heโs 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 didnโt win a bidding war for Fowler so much as Fowler chose the Seahawks from among a group of suitors offering one-year deals.
Iโm not going to say that money doesnโt matter in this situation. Money always matters. But money isnโt 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. Thatโs 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.
๐งฏAdding gas to the fire
The Mariners have an issue in their bullpen.
Andres Muรฑoz 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 Seattleโs 20 losses this season. His ERA is currently at 6.00.
A month ago, I would have said any issues about Muรฑoz could be remedied by moving Matt Brash to the closerโs 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.
Iโm not sure if thereโs an answer or an alternative here. Weโve got to sit and hope that Muรฑoz gets it together. Or the Mariners start scoring so many runs that it doesnโt matter.
Iโm not sure which of those is more likely.
1ย ย Credit where itโs due: This approach was first explained to me by Larry Salk, Mikeโs father, who has a long-standing habit of going to bed when the Red Sox take a lead into the final inning.