TERRY MOSHER
TOP OF THE TOWN ‑ I feel sorry for Scott Servais. The Mariners manager keeps waiting for his team to break out of its slog and every time it looks like it – after a good game and win – they come crashing down once again and Servais is left shaking his head. He’s a good manager who is head of a mediocre team everybody had high hopes for after breaking a long playoff slump last season. But if it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck and acts like a duck, it’s probably a duck. After 64 games and a 31-33 record the Mariners are exactly what their record shows us – an average or below average team. How did that happen? Well, Mitch Haniger left for the Giants is one thing. Haniger continues to have injury problems, which he endured also with the Mariners. But he was the leader the club needed and with him gone team chemistry is not the same. The players added in the off-season, especially Kolten Wong and A.J. Pollock have been busts. The bullpen is not as good, although flamethrower Andres Munoz is back from injury and he will help. Bottom line is this team just can’t’ hit, and they strikeout a ton (9.7 a game, 30th in baseball). Their young (and talented) pitching are inconsistent. One game Logan Gilbert and George Kirby are brilliant, and the next they are being blasted around. And the awesome start to his MLB career by Bryce Miller has gotten a reality check and he has bottomed out. You know, Jerry Dipoto has been good at picking second and third tier players and getting them to play better than they seem to be. Not this year, though, Wong especially has been terrible. He was supposed to be the second baseman the club needed. Wrong! I just think you can’t continue to pick low-level fruit and expect to turn them into fine wine all the time. Picking fruit easy to reach has its risks. It has worked in other seasons for Dipoto, but not this year. Will they turn it around like they have in previous seasons? No. Except for the woeful Athletics, the other teams in the American League West have all improved very much. The Mariners are sitting 4th in the 5-team division, 10 games behind the surprising Texas Rangers. Texas is not only much improved, Houston is still Houston and the Los Angeles Angels are finally living up to their large payroll. I expect the Mariners to finish under .500 for the season. … Speaking of bottoming out, the Seattle Storm are struggling. We expected that with the retirement of Sue Bird and departure of Breanna Stewart to New York via free agency. They have some talented players, but they are very young. It will take time to get back into the playoff contention mode we all have come to expect. … One more thing I would like to add. Getting around in public I have discovery there are a lot of good people out there. You wouldn’t expect that if you watch cable TV where the country’s divisions are exposed day after day. There is a lot of hate going on, especially coming from Trump and the Republicans. What I suggest is turn them out and toss love back at them. The foundation of life is built around love. Love will make Trump and his Republican allies fade back into their darkness. Keep loving. Keep helping your fellow mankind. Don’t get battered by their hate. Shield yourself with love and the hate will disappear. Ok, that’s it for today. Stay safe.
Be well pal.
Be careful out there.
Have a great day.
You are loved.