April 13, 2002
"It is a good thing Alex Rodriguez is signed to a 10-year contract because it does not appear the Rangers will be contending any time soon." -John Romano, sportswriter
So here it is Saturday already and my parents and I are heading back towards Seattle and my father goes through his many Homer Fussies as we hit the road again and I slept most of the day which is a pretty nice way to travel and we stopped that evening and managed to tune in a little bit of the game on the radio but by that point it was already the eighth inning so let me just back up a bit and start with Ichiro leading off with a single that unfortunately was wasted and then Frank Catalanotto singled for Texas but that was also wasted and it should be noted that A-Rod made an out here because I like to note that whenever possible.
So second inning, still no score, and Mike Cameron led off with a walk and then Ruben Sierra evidently hit into what the umpire thought was a double play and Lou Piniella thought was NOT a double play as Lou was ejected for arguing about the lack of a tag on the base or the player and I really wished I could've seen that and we end up down in order and then... Paul Abbott had a little touble and this was all very unfortunate as Rafael Palmeiro walked and an out later and Carl Everett homered and then Gabe Kapler singled and then an out later and that guy Mench doubled and scored Kapler before we can get out of the inning and it is 3-0 Texas much to everyone's surprise, including the Texas Rangers themselves.
So third inning and we do nothing and then Texas wastes Rusty Greer's lead off single and it should be noted that A-Rod struck out swinging here and it should also be noted that, in the lovely words of sportswriter John Romano, "Seattle has grown accustomed to losing star players. And it has grown used to winning without them." which we'll get to later, as the fourth inning does nothing but sit both sides down all 1-2-3 like.
Fifth inning and Mike Cameron ended up on second base thanks to an error and then Ruben Sierra grounded him over to third and then Carlos Guillen ripped a big nasty double to score him and then Dan Wilson singled which scored Carlos and we head to the bottom half trailing 3-2 and Catalanotto doubled with 1 out and Greer walked and then something rather unfortunate happened in that Alex singled and scored Catalanotto and we end up trailing 4-2 as we head to the sixth inning and pay attention because this was pretty sweet right here: Jeff Cirillo singled and then was picked off of first. That's not the sweet part. Bret Boone flew out. That's not the sweet part either. And then here we go all 2 - Outs - So - What'ing it as John Olerud singled and then went to second on a wild pitch from Irabu and then Mike "I'm Goin Yard!" Cameron WENT YARD and then Ruben Sierra doubled and then some guy named Lewis relieved Irabu and Carlos Guillen singled to score Ruben and then Dan Wilson singled and then Mark McLemore doubled to score Carlos and Ichiro was intentionally walked but all good things must come to an end and so we head to the bottom half now leading 6-4 and Joel Pineiro relieved Abby and gave up a harmless single to Everett which was promptly erased by a double play and followed by a strikeout.
"We've got the same record we had a year ago because we're playing the same kind of baseball. Look at tonight, it's a reflection of our season so far. How many big hits has Carlos had? A bunch. How many big hits has Danny Wilson delivered? A bunch. And Cameron has been on fire all month." -Bret Boone
"Without Edgar, we all have to produce." -Ruben Sierra
"You look at this lineup, fans may not realize how good it is. We don't have that guy who's on the threshold of 400 home runs, that guy you absolutely know is going to the Hall of Fame. What we have is a bunch of professional players who do the things that don't show up in the paper. They move runners over, they get guys home, they make things happen. Other teams know how good this team is. We've got a great lineup and a bullpen." -Paul Abbott
"Everybody who plays at this level loves the game. And when you're hitting well, it's more fun. And when you're winning - now THAT'S fun. This is the way we played last year, it's the way we have to play if we want to go where we want to be in the end. We've lost Edgar for awhile, and everybody knows that hurts.
What this team does better than any I've been on is pick one another up. We keep coming at you." -Mike Cameron
So seventh inning and we waste Bret's single and Texas does nothing but waste a 1 out walk and it should be noted that A-Rod popped up to end the inning and moving right along to the eighth, where Michalak relieved that Lewis guy and Ruben led off with a walk and then Carlos singled and went to second on a wild pitch and then Danny singled which scored both Carlos and Ruben and an out later and Ichiro reached on an infield single and then Woodard relieved Michalak and they manage to get out of the inning without any more runs scoring and we now lead it 8-4 and then Dave Niehaus is talking about this huge bug that is in the booth with them on his score card which was rather disturbing although they seemed to enjoy it and cracked a few jokes about it as Joel K's Palmeiro, gives up a harmless single to Pudge and then K's Everett and Kapler both like GO JOEL PINEIRO.
"I'm enjoying the job. I wanted to start, but I think this must have been the right decision - we're winning games. I like coming to the park thinking I might get in the game that night. Lou told me I'd pitch, and I have." -Joel Pineiro
So we head to the ninth inning and some guy named Seanez relieved Woodard and with 1 out, Mike "I'm Goin Yard Again!" Cameron WENT YARD AGAIN and an out later and Carlos walked but we settle for 1 run and head to the bottom half leading 9-4 and a walk, an out, a pitching change (Arthur Rhodes for Joel), an out, another walk and A-Rod to complete the inning with a routine fly ball to left, we have won again and Niehaus pointed out that it was A-Rod himself who made the final out in the M's historic 116th win last year as well.
"Alex Rodriguez spent five minutes before the game explaining to a couple of out-of-town writers just how good the Texas Rangers are this season. Then he was asked about the Mariners. 'What they've got going is pretty special, last year and this year,' he said. 'It's good to see.' Mr. Rodriguez got another look Saturday - up close and personal - as Seattle came from behind to beat the Texas Rangers, 9-4." -Larry LaRue, sportswriter
"The Rangers got a lot better and a lot worse at the same time. Everyone knows I like John Rocker as a player. But with Rocker on the same team as Carl Everett, Chan Ho Park, Juan Gonzalez, Hideki Irabu and Ismael Valdes, this could be a bigger battle than the Alamo. I would love to be a fly on the wall in this clubhouse all year - hell, even one day. I can just hear all these fine, upstanding people spreading love and happiness throughout the clubhouse. I wonder what Alex Rodriguez would pay to go back to the Mariners. But $250 million decisions are awfully hard to undo." -Ron Dibble, former Nasty Boy
