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"Before you know it as the years go by, you're just like other people you have seen, with all those peculiar human ailments. Just another vehicle for temper and vanity and rashness and all the rest. Who wants it? Who needs it? These things occupy the place where a man's soul should be." -- Henderson the Rain King

Monday, January 31, 2005

Mariners Fan Fest

Yesterday, I went to the Mariners Fan Fest at Safeco Field. The best part was listening to the interview sessions. We got to see Richie Sexson, Bret Boone, Miguel Olivo, Bryan Price and Bill Bavasi speak.

Here are some of the highlights and interesting tidbits I can remember off hand:

  • Bret Boone getting approached by a lady who claimed she had shook his hand on 8 different occassions and on all 8 he had hit a home run that day. Boone claimed he remembered her, but I think he was just being polite. He did get up and shake her hand which drew a hearty laugh from the crowd. Sexson and Olivo tried to add to the joke by going over for their own hand shakes, but were rudely rebuked when the lady refused. Very strange.
  • Richie Sexson recalling his favorite practical joke, which involved tricking Curtis Leskanic into getting a whirlpool full of red Kool-Aid. Apparently it dyed his skin red up to his neck.
  • Boone's response to the question of who would hit more home runs between him and Sexson: "You mean overall or pound for pound?".
  • Boone teasing Sexson about being tall. Sexson teasing Boone about being short.
  • Dave Neihaus teasing Boone for wearing a shirt that said 'Naturally Blond".
  • Bryan Price getting asked by a Husky fan about the Cal Bears bowl collapse. His response was something to the effect of 'I'm not going to say anything bad about the Huskies, but look at their records'. Ouch :-p
  • Bavasi talking about the possibility of trading for Mike Cameron. I was pleased to hear him say that by their calculations Cameron is worth about 10 runs more than our current players, as it indicates that the M's are finally starting to pay attention to sabermetrics. They also recently hired a full time player-acquisition consultant who is a well respected sabermetricians. If you're unfamiliar with sabermetrics, I highly suggest checking out Michael Lewis' Moneyball.
  • Bavasi talking about finding 'quality through quantity' in reference to the large number of free agents the team is bringing into spring training (Jeff Nelson, Aaron Sele, Benji Gil, etc.). Basically the idea is to take a look at a bunch of guys in the hopes that one of them turns out to be a gem.

I can't wait until the season starts. Only 15 more days until Pitchers and Catchers start reporting for Spring Training!




Naturally Blond


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posted by Jamie at 9:25 PM