Mariners Are 30 Games Above .500

June 2, 2001

So this game starts off with Paul Abbott quickly getting two outs and then giving up a walk to Fred McGriff and then a homerun to Greg Vaughn which unfortunately gave Tampa Bay an early 2-0 lead as we headed into the bottom half of the first, but in true Mariner fashion, we don't let them keep it as we batted through the entire lineup. Pay attention, this was exciting: Ichiro singled. Al Martin singled. Edgar Martinez walked. John Olerud had an infield single, which scored Ichiro. Bret Boone singled which scored Al. (Tie game, still nobody out, bases loaded). Mike Cameron was hit by a pitch (it nicked his jersey) and the pitcher (Ryan Rupe) threw his hands up in the air and I felt kind of bad for him and that of course forced in a run, and then Carlos Guillen singled, which scored John and Bret and they manage to retire the next three batters (which means Ichiro had two at-bats this inning), and we leave the first leading 5-2.

Abby gave up a couple of walks but they don't score, and then we sat down rather easily so let us move along to the third where Abby gives up a walk but takes care of business otherwise and then we sit down quickly in order again and the third out was a fly ball from Carlos to Greg Vaughn who handed the ball to a little kid which I thought was pretty cute.

Fourth inning and Abby gives up a harmless double and then they show my favorite Afflac commercial with the duck on the rollercoaster and HOW MUCH DO I LOVE THE AFFLAC DUCK and then Tom Lampkin is hit by a pitch and then we make an out and then Ichiro doubles, and with two men in scoring position Edgar just LAUNCHED the ball to center field and Gerald Williams misplayed it, I mean STRAIGHT UP MISPLAYED it - he ran into the wall kind of funny, he didn't position himself right, and he should've caught it, it bounced right off his head and shoulders, and they ruled it a double which doesn't surprise me in the least with this umpiring crew, but whatever they want to call it, it scored Ichiro and Lampkin and then we get a couple of walks and meanwhile, the Tampa Bay manager is doing this extremely disturbing thing with his tongue, like he is sticking his tongue out like he's about to gag or something and it's really kind of grossing me out and we leave the inning leading 7-2 and right before we go to commercial, you see the walls open in centerfield and there is the Moose on a motorcycle but we unfortunately don't get to see him ride around the field and are subjected to crappy commercials instead.

So fifth inning and with one out, Russ Johnson hits a foul ball that Ichiro was going to make a leaping grab at but a fan interfered and Ichiro called for fan interference and got it so the guy is out and that brings Mr. Gagging Tongue out of the dugout and he is arguing up a storm and gets tossed and I am meanwhile thinking that not only would Ichiro have probably caught that ball ANYWAY, it's kind of funny that we made a catch last night but it was ruled we didn't and then we DIDN'T make a catch tonight and it was ruled we DID in a way and so then a single and a double later, Abby gets his third out to get his five innings in and we still lead it 7-2 and how much do I love Paul Abbott.

"I was going to catch that ball." -Ichiro

Going into the bottom half, Jeff Wallace relieves Rupe and we waste a single from Tom Lampkin.

So sixth inning starts with Ryan Franklin relieving Abby and we get to see Jay talking to Abby in the dugout which made me very happy and then Franklin gives up a single which was ONLY a single thanks to Ichiro's awesome throw in, and then gets two outs, gives up another single, and then ANOTHER single which scored a run much to my dismay, and then he ends it with a fly out. 7-3 Seattle. Our half starts with a lead off walk to Al Martin, but Edgar very un-Edgaringly hits into a double play much to my shock and we don't score anything.

Seventh inning and McGriff singles and Franklin hits Greg Vaughn in the batting helmet which sent Vaughn down pretty fast and at first I thought he was out cold and I start to panic and our catcher immediately went over to Vaughn to see if he was okay and HOW SCARY WAS THAT but Vaughn was fine and Brian Fuentes relieved Franklin and this is Brian's major league debut, keep in mind, and he promptly gets a ground out and then a liner that was caught by Bret Boone which is GETTING THE JOB DONE PRETTY WELL IF YOU ASK ME.

So then Paniagua relieved him to get the third out which he promptly did. And somewhere in all the excitement of this inning, some guy went running out on to the field in what looked like his underpants but I didn't really get to see because they only had the cameras on him for a second right after some security dude tackled him and anyway, Bret Boone leads off with a double in our half, but we don't score him.

Eighth inning. Mike Difelice homered to lead things off which didn't make me very happy but we get out of it without any more runs scoring and then Estaban Yan relieved Wallace and Al gets a walk but that's it and Edgar fouls a ball off his foot which had to hurt REALLY bad and he ends up striking out. 7-4 Seattle going into the ninth, where Kazuhiro Sasaki relieved Paniagua and the first batter he faces is the bat boy NO WAIT, it is the new rightfielder, Jason Tyner who looks all of about eleven years old and he lined out and then a strikeout and another line out later, we have our 42nd win of the year, and are THIRTY GAMES ABOVE .500 and all I can say is... WOW.

"He's still here. If his name wasn't over his locker over there, there would be a big void in this clubhouse. He's like a security blanket." -Paul Abbott, on teammate Jay Buhner

"He's such an important presence and a great teammate. He's there when someone is down or not playing well or made a mistake. He's always encouraging, and that's not the easiest thing to do sometimes." -John Olerud on Jay

"I try to be a positive influence, and give guys a pat on the back or a kick in the butt if needed." -Jay Buhner