M's Issue A Little Payback

April 16, 2001

Last winter, when Alex and his horrifying excuse of an agent (who was at the game last night, by the way) were still stringing Seattle along, trying to trick Mariners management into upping their offer like they tricked Tom Hicks (who fully deserved it for putting up that farce of a contract), I was still under the foolish notion that Alex was the next Cal Ripken Jr.; i.e. an amazing player, a nice man on and off the field who understands his good fortune and appreciates it, who would want to continue playing for a franchise that raised him, turned him into an All-Star, treated him well and believed him when he said all he was looking for was "stability and commitment" and he'd "take less money" for a franchise that could offer him those two things. I'm not making that up, he actually said that.

The day he signed with the Texas Rangers it broke my heart. He was supposed to be better than that. He was supposed to be baseball's hero, bringing the love of the game back into the sport with his loyalty and honor and integrity, instead of sending it one step closer to the ruins it's fast becoming with his greed and treachery and disgrace. He was everything a baseball player should've been and then wasn't. And even worse than that... he treated my baseball team deplorably, and that, to me, is unforgiveable.

When he whined that the Mariners had practically insulted him with a $19 million dollar a year mutually beneficial contract in addition to "hurting his feelings" by not flying the management down to meet with him personally, I was mad; when he badmouthed his best friend Derek Jeter in an effort to make himself look more worthy of all that money he was getting criticized (and rightfully so) for taking, I was appalled; when he stated that Derek's success was due to him being "surrounded by talent", he managed to imply that he himself had not been, and I seethed; when he said he hoped he'd be remembered as a Texas Ranger, even though he later took it back, I was offended; when I got my first glimpse of him in that Texas uniform, I was nearly overcome with sadness; when he would talk about how happy he was to be in Dallas, how much he liked his new team and ownership, how excited he was to be there and how he didn't have any regrets, I was actually hurt; when he signed his name to that letter to Boeing... I was furious, but when it was pointed out that Seattle had given him a winner and held up their end of the bargain, and he replied with "So what? I made a business decision", I suffered a combination of all the above mentioned reactions and have been beside myself waiting for his return to Safeco Field just so the Mariners can put him back in his place. SO WHAT he says!

And so for all the folks who want to know, "Why are you booing him? He did a great job for Seattle!" I have to say, "SO WHAT! It obviously didn't mean that much to HIM, so it's certainly not going to be of any importance to ME when I go to that game!"

So here it is, April 16th. My good friend Marjorie and I headed over to the Safe, where we bought really cool T-shirts that have a statement on them concerning Alex that would be inappropriate for me to repeat here. We arrive at our seats. Only they aren't there. That's right. We are in the last row of the first deck, which has a killer view, but evidently contains removable seating in areas so they can accomodate wheelchairs, only no one had put our seats BACK so we go through this whole ordeal and they wheel out a row of three seats to bolt in only they have us sit down with only one side bolted so we go shooting backwards to the left and are facing down the concord and are like "AAAAAAHHHHHH!" because it pretty much surprised the crap out of us but we manage not to spill our beer and we get re-situated and observe batting practice.

The crowd starts booing, and I see why. Alex is on the field. He is running about from Mariner to Mariner shaking their hands, talking to them, probably asking them to please be his friend HAHAHAHAHAHA and I'm not impressed and he's certainly not fooling anybody with this little display as we all continue to boo him, and then they announce the lineups and we boo him some more.

First inning: I know this is a long review, even by my standards, but it's very theraputic for me so you'll just have to bear with me. The only thing important that happened here was that Alex got booed HARD and he made an out. Bottom of the first, and Mike Cameron walked and then stole second, Edgar walked, Olerud K'd, Boone singled and scored Cammie, but that's all we get so I'm going to stop right there, 1-0 M's. And I can't remember if it was this inning or not where they tried to pick off Mike at second but A-Rod missed the cut off throw only Mike was so surprised he forgot to run. It was still funny, made even more so by the guy in front of us screaming, "That was about a forty-thousand dollar miss!"

Second inning: Texas does nothing. We score 6 runs. Dan Wilson starts by leading off with a walk. Carlos Guillen singles. Ichiro singles. Cameron singles and Alex can't get it and scores Dan and Carlos. Edgar flied out, and got Ichiro to third. I hope Ichiro waved at Alex when he ran by. Olerud singled, Ichiro scored. Boone doubled, Cameron scored. Al Martin grounded out but scored Olerud. We leave the inning leading 6-0. I'm so happy.

Texas scores back 4 in the third. How, I don't care to discuss. Sele had a rough time of it. Ryan Franklin came in and was brilliant in long relief. Let's move along to the fourth. Alex grounds out, but not before we boo him so hard I get lightheaded. We grab back a run by getting a couple of walks and moving the runners over. 7-4 M's.

Rafael Palmeiro, who badmouthed the M's fans after the game, homered in the fifth, and I have to say that I really don't understand why these guys are so surprised with the reaction A-Rod's getting. We've got every right to be bitter and booing.

Sixth inning. Mighty Alex has struck out. The crowd goes wild. Edgar doubles but we waste it.

Seventh inning. Norm Charleton relieves Franklin to face Palmeiro. This makes me very nervous. We are only up by 2, and the last time Norm faced this guy, he gave up a grand slam. In Lou we trust though... and sure enough, Norm struck him out. Then he finished off the inning perfectly, no runs, no hits, no errors. I'm impressed. The M's pick up another run on a bases loaded walk. 8-5.

Eighth inning. Norm sits them down in order with another 2 K's and all I can say is, GO NORM! I'm very happy (not just for the team, but for Norm himself, to see him doing well. He's a good guy. Then it's our turn again, and Olerud doubles, Boone flies out but gets him to third, and Mark McLemore, pinch hitting for Martin, rips a single to score us another run, 9-5 M's after eight.

Ninth inning. Texas gets a lead off double from Greer. Kaz comes in to relieve Norm. The 45,657 of us give him a standing ovation. Greer gets to third on Kaz's wild pitch. Verlarde K's. Alex flies out, but not before we boo him one last time, and Greer thinks about scoring but wisely stays put as Ichiro fires the ball right in. He's so awesome. My voice is pretty much gone by this point. Then the ever-obnoxious Palmeiro homers, and it's 9-7. Pudge made the final out. We win it, and I am beside myself with glee and vindication.

"I don't think they're booing me, really. I think they're booing the uniform." -Alex Rodriguez, with possibly his most delusional statement yet.

Remember that really dorky phrase from grade school, 'winners don't quit and quitters don't win'? Well, I'm of the opinion that 'sellouts don't win, and winners don't sellout'. That's the way it should be at least, and that's exactly the way it was last night, when the Mariners proved beyond all shadows of a doubt that while they may not pay Alex "Sold My Soul For 252 Million Dollars" Rodriguez anymore, they still own him. Will that always be the case? Will we continue to best Texas repeatedly and for years to come? I don't know and I don't care, because we established something last night. Seattle has a superstar team and some really great fans who not only stand behind it, but stand against anything that wrongs it, as evidenced every time Alex stepped to the plate, made an out, struck out or missed a pick-off throw.

Here are just a couple of really enjoyable things I found in the papers...

"There are several agents I'd be willing to hand my last nickel to, knowing I'd get it back with interest. There are several agents whose honesty is such that you can bank on what they tell you. Scott's methods work for him, but I'd prefer to deal with an agent I can trust." -Chuck Armstrong, on Scott Boras

"I was approached by (Rangers) ownership. They said that Boeing is relocating and Dallas is one of the finalists. They asked me what I thought of it. I thought, 'Dallas has been very good to me.' ... It was my understanding that they were already moving. I said that if they move to Dallas, that would be a great move for them. Listen, I read box scores and scouting reports, I don't read aviation trade magazines. I'm a baseball player. The last thing I want to do is hurt people's lifestyle. The only thing I wanted to do was do a good thing for the people of Seattle by saying, 'If you are going to move, the Dallas-Fort Worth area is a place you would enjoy, a good environment, much like Seattle.'" -Alex Rodriguez, trying to excuse his letter as an innocent misunderstanding, when in fact he points out that he had no business as "a baseball player" getting involved to begin with.

"Most every Mariner could walk down the street of any town other than Seattle and go unrecognized - but just now no team in baseball wants to see them coming at all." -Larry LaRue, sportswriter

"No matter what people have said or asked, this is a good club. Talk is cheap. This team knows how to play the game. A lot of teams may be more talented, but this team knows how to play the game and you can never discount that." -Bret Boone, on the Mariners

"To say we're a better team because I left... we had a pretty good year last year. They might be a better team without me, but that's not to say if I was still there we couldn't be as good or even a little better." -Alex Rodriguez, his ego once again interfering with how he ends up sounding... and you'll note he says "we" AS IF he were still a Mariner.