September 9, 2004

Breaking Balls

Mariners vs. Indians, 9/8/2004

by Derek Zumsteg

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All-Time Seattle Mariners Home Run Leaderboard, before games of 9/8:

1. Ken Griffey Jr., 398
2. Jay Buhner, 307
3. Edgar Martinez, 306
4. Alex Rodriguez, 189

All-Time Major League Single-Season Hits Leaderboard, before games of 9/8:

1. George Sisler, 257
2. (tie) Lefty O'Doul and Bill Terry, 254

42. (tie) Ichiro Suzuki, seven others, 227

Ads visible from seats at Safeco Field: 43*
Ads played from first pitch to end of game: 40**

Umpires enjoying smokeless tobacco while on the field: 1

Mariner starting first baseman: Willie Bloomquist
Number of starts for Bloomquist at first base, 2004 season: 5
First date on which local media columnist implies manager Bob Melvin will be fired after the season: 8/29
Bloomquist starts at first base since 8/29: 3
Bloomquist career hitting line: .262/.318/.339
American League first basemen: .266/.346/.442

Elapsed time between moving from Row 2, Seat 5 to one of four empty seats at Row 1, Seat 2 and being approached by Safeco Field usher and asked for ticket: 15 seconds

Pitches by Cha Seung Baek before first Indian runner crosses plate: 14
Pitches by Cliff Lee before first Mariner runner crosses plate: 13

Number of true clauses in announcement "You know him, you love him, he's the Mariner Moose": 2***

Listed height of Indians left fielder Matt Lawton: 5'10"
Number of times Lawton reached third base as a runner: 2
Listed height of Indians third-base coach Joel Skinner: 6'4"
Apparent difference in height between Lawton and Skinner when talking at third base: 1'
Runs Lawton scored after talking to Skinner at third base: 2

Edgar Martinez home run #1 (career #307): first inning, sixth pitch on a 3-2 count from Cliff Lee, two outs, none on

Edgar Martinez home run #2 (career #308): third inning, fourth pitch on a 1-2 count from Lee, one out, Ichiro scores

Wild pitches: 3, Baek-Miguel Olivo, Matt Thornton-Olivo, Ron Villone-Olivo.

Plate appearances by Willie Bloomquist: 3
Strikeouts in game by Bloomquist: 3
Swinging strikeouts: 3
Pitches seen by Bloomquist: 16
Bloomquist birthplace: Bremerton, Washington
Bloomquist high school: South Kitsap High School, Port Orchard, Washington
Bloomquist college: Arizona State, Tempe, Arizona
Bloomquist resides: Peoria, Arizona

Batters faced by David Riske: 3
Strikeouts by Riske: 2
Swinging strikeouts: 2
Pitches thrown by Riske: 12
Riske birthplace: Renton, Washington
Riske high school: Lindbergh High School, Renton, Washington
Riske college: Green River Community College, Auburn, Washington
Riske resides: Kent, WA

Matchups between Riske and Bloomquist: 0
Career matchups between Riske and Bloomquist: 2
Bloomquist's hitting line in those matchups: .000/.000/.000

Dance club version of "Cotton-Eyed Joe" played before ninth: yes

Pinch-hitter for Jose Lopez in the ninth, down 9-5: Greg Dobbs
Previous career games by Dobbs: 0
Pitches seen in first major league plate appearance: 8
Result of first major league plate appearance: home run to right field
Players who have shared uniform number 22 with Jose Lopez and hit a home run in their first major-league at-bat: Will Clark

Pinch-hitter for Bloomquist, 9th: Jeremy Reed Reed's 2004 rank on BP's Top 40: second
Previous career games by Reed: 0
Pitches seen by Reed: 1
Result of first major league-plate appearance: grounded to shortstop

Plate appearances, Indians: 47
Plate appearances, Mariners: 38
Total pitchers used: 10
Total pitches thrown: 320
Time of game: 2:56

All-Time Seattle Mariners Home Run Leaderboard, after games of the 8th:

1. Ken Griffey Jr., 398
2. Edgar Martinez, 308
3. Jay Buhner, 307

All-Time Major League Single-Season Hits Leaderboard, after games of the 8th:

1. George Sisler, 257
2. (tie) Lefty O'Doul and Bill Terry, 254
…
40. (tie) Ichiro Suzuki, two others, 228

Projected season hit total for Ichiro after games of the 8th: 269

*Does not count ads displayed on electronic scoreboards. Rotating scoreboards are counted as one space. Mariner insignia and the Safeco name are not counted. Concourse advertisements visible from seats are not counted. Advertisements above broadcasting booths may vary: on the eighth there were four, which is the highest number a fan should see during a regular-season game. Advertisements and logos in the dugouts visible from seats, such as the New Era logo at the back of the dugout, were not counted.

**Counts any product placement during between-inning promotions (for instance, the Hydro races feature three corporate sponsors and the race is sponsored, for a total of four plugs). Simultaneous video screen and PA plugging of one product was only counted once. Ads for the Mariners, tickets to upcoming home games and the Mariner team store were not counted, except when sponsoring a computer-generated graphic representation of a Hydro. Bizarre non-ads, like showing the Ameriquest logo (a bell) and playing a bell sound at the end of every inning the Mariners score, once for each run, is counted per video cue and not per audio cue.

***Value may be as low as one depending on perception of the listener's relationship with the Moose and interpretation of the term "know". Does "know" mean "to know of"? Then almost every fan would reply that they did. Does know mean "understand deeply, to feel empathy for and kinship with"? Every fan would likely answer in the negative. Does "know" mean "know" in the biblical sense? In that situation...but no, we don't want to know. In this case, to be entirely clear, I am aware of the existence of a team mascot called the Mariner Moose, do not love the Moose, and "he" is indeed the team mascot known as the Mariner Moose.