I still have hope for the Mariners

By Guest
Updated: May 30, 2009

Filling in this month with our Reflections on the Mariners is Lori Thompson who helped us out before when she gave us a review of Alyssa Milano‘s Touch line of MLB apparel “from a woman’s point of view”. So, without further ado, he’s Lori’s take on her beloved Mariners…

It was tough to lose JJ Putz and Raul Ibanez, but the buzz surrounding new manager Dan Wakamatsu and the return of ‘The Kid’ gave Mariner’s fans like myself pre-season hope. Watching the preseason games with Griffey‘s smiling face made it feel like the team had a new positive glow. April did not disappoint with a 13-9 record.

Seattle DH/OF Ken Griffey Jr.

May has been tough with a 7-15 record this month (the 3^rd game of the interleague series against the Giants was currently in progress as I write this). Did anyone see Griffey’s 2 run Homer against Zito? That was #616! But I think Mariner’s fans are used to strong starts and are not too stressed out by the recent slump. There is still the excitement we all feel when Ichiro is at bat, the joy and pride of watching Griffey hit a home run, and the hopes we have for players like Branyan and Gutierrez.

The player I’m watching is Kenji Johjima, he plays with heart and seems to come through when we need him the most. Unfortunately for the Mariner’s the offense and the defense don’t seem to be able to play well at the same time. When the defense is hot the RBI‘s just aren’t there and the offense is going like crazy the pitching just seems to let us down.

But, I am a Mariner’s fan and I still have hope in Ichiro’s and Branyan’s hitting, I have hope in Jose Lopez’s 21 RBI’s, I have hope in the pitching of Hernandez, Washburn, Bedard, & Jakubauskas, and I have hope because this team could win 2 games against the Red Sox and 5 against the Angels.

I still have hope for this team and the spirit they are conveying out on the field. Maybe I’m crazy, but this season it looks like they are actually enjoying themselves and what they are doing. Is it because of Wakamatsu or Griffey? I can’t answer that, and to be honest I don’t care what the reason is, as long as they can get it together and keep those numbers in the win column going up.