A Long, Frustrated and Obnoxious Rant from a Fan

There are 56 games left this season. We need at least 24 of those games to avoid another 100 loss season. Only the Baltimore Orioles and Pittsburgh Pirates have lost more games than the Mariners at this point. As a team, the Mariners are last in the major leagues in batting average, runs, hits, home runs, doubles, rbis, and slugging percentage. While some of our starters have been excellent (Cliff Lee, Felix), and others good (Jason Vargas, Doug Fister), the rest of our pitching staff has been weak to abysmal. Our defense has struggled, with the exceptions of Gutierrez and Kotchman, and our base running has been foolhardy.

While I lay this all out there, I want to be clear that I do it with a lot of love for this team. I plan to attend at least several more home games this year. I plan to listen 710 religiously, be it a live game or mere rumor chatter from Brock and Salk. I plan to flip on FSN when I get home from work to catch either the end of of a 5 PM road game, or the start of a 7 PM home game. I even plan to finish this blog with at least brief summaries and thoughts about every game to the end of the season. Finally, I plan to still spend a countless amount of hours chatting with fellow fans, friends, and just about anyone else about everything Mariners. And while, I'm keeping the faith and Believing Big, err Adequately, I'm frustrated as Hell like most of Mariner Nation.

Now this is an obvious conclusion for any sports fan dealing with a catastrophic losing season that still has a third of its games to play, but the worst part of it, is not seeing the light at the end of this dark, dark tunnel. Right now, I don't feel like this team is on the road to recovery and I'm at a loss a how a lot of the giant problems surrounding this organization will be solved. Right now I need some Accountability, because while that word has been tossed around a lot this year, as a fan, I'm not seeing it.

I am a bit disappointed with a few of the 710 reporters that cover the Mariners, because I'm growing weary of stories that attempt to endear these athletes to us. Ryan Rowland-Smith gives up 11 runs and receives his 10th loss, and Shannon Drayer stands up for him by enlightening readers about how he made a day special for a teenager with lymphoma. While listening to 710 AM, the trade deadline winds down as the Mariners decide to not make a move, but Drayer and Matt Pittman point out that there is some random 7 year-old David Aardsma fan that can rest easy.

Sure, it's good to hear that some of these athletes are wonderful people and have warmed the hearts of the children, but it comes off as defensive and even insulting. I'm irritated that my team is losing, which has nothing to do with the integrity or character of someone like Ryan Rowland-Smith. For whatever reason, his pitching just isn't at the level it should be to compete in the major leagues at this time and after consistently bad outings, it was aggravating to still see him taking the mound every 5 days. I'm sure he's the world's greatest guy, but I don't want to watch a guy continue to struggle like that and then on top of it, have reporters attempt guilt me into accepting the situation because he's a great guy. That's kind of low.

Especially in Seattle, the world's most forgiving city when it comes to sports franchises and their players. This is the place where Matt Hasselbeck jerseys are still worn like crazy even though the guy has had two awful seasons and probably won't be able to remain healthy for a third. This is the place where Ken Griffey Jr. can have a mediocre 2009 season, become an inspiration, be offered a second contract, have an awful 2010 season, and quit the team mid-season, but have most fans convinced the manager was the bad guy despite poor play and him leaving the M's without a leader in the middle of a season. This is the place where opposing players that perform well receive applause and boos tend to be limited to A-Rod and bad calls from the umpire. So, to attempt to endear athletes to the city of Seattle is like telling a hippie to hug a tree harder.

Right now, what I want is something to show me that the front office, players, coaches, Don and Jack Z have something planned to right the course, if not for this year then for next season. Yes, I like the pickup of Justin Smoak, but you are going to have to give me more than that. I'm sure when September rolls around, people like Dustin Ackley and Michael Pineda will be brought, get broken in and prepare for their spots last year. It's been rumored, but in the spirit of accountability, I need to see it happen. I need evidence that these guys are the future and will be used as such.

The Figgins debacle also needs to be solved. He either needs to speak up, Wak needs to something, or he needs to be traded or whatever. I find it unsettling that while I read positive stories about the actions of other Mariners, I know that there is either a lingering dispute between Figgins and Wak, or they decided to drop everything, but leave the fans in limbo. You can't do that, because it makes the front office look bad by being involved in talks with the Braves as a passive aggressive way of telling Figgins to shape up. Be accountable and clear the air: if Figgins is remorseful for his action, have him address it, if not, put him on waivers and then address it. I know what happens in the clubhouse stays there, but when you're dumb enough to brawl in the dugout and the entire fan base sees it, you can't hide in the clubhouse anymore.

Finally, the entire Mariner's organization needs to stop telling everyone about how bad they feel about losing and how tough it is for them. I mean that's a no brainer to start, because any other reaction to this situation would be ludicrous. Secondly, it reiterates a position of helplessness towards actually fixing the problems and actually is counter intuitive to creating sympathy amongst the fan base. I know everyone is working hard and doing their part, but constantly reading it and hearing it from members of the organization will make people question it if there is nothing to prove it. I know that the team can't simply turn a switch from "lose" to "win", but do something progressive rather than just telling me that your trying. Make a move, promote a guy, give some hints as to what you seek to accomplish for the rest of the season other than trying to win few games. Anything, be bold! Some of this will be accomplished with the September call ups, off season moves, and what have you, but we just started the month of August and I'm curious to see if the next chapter in Mariner Baseball will start sooner than later.

Which in the end, I'll still be at games, writing my hardly read blog, talking up a storm, and doing all things a Mariner Fan would do. With all my frustration, I love this team and want nothing more than it to succeed as an AL West Champsion, an AL Champion and eventual World Series champion. I want to see that happen and while I'm resigned to waiting many games, seasons, and years, I'd love to see it sooner than later. That's all.