Remembering Hammerin' Harmon Killebrew

The baseball world was saddened today to learn of the passing of Hall-of-Famer Harmon Killebrew, who succumbed to esophageal cancer at the age of 74.

Hammerin’ Harmon was signed initially by the Washington Senators in 1954, and played with that organization until 1974, following the team to Minnesota when it became the Twins before the 1961 season. He played one final season with the Kansas City Royals before retiring following the 1975 season.

Over his career, Killebrew—the 1969 MVP, 13-time All-Star, and 1984 Hall-of-Fame inductee—swatted 573 homeruns, notched 1584 RBIs, and accumulated a career slugging percentage of .509. He led the American League in homeruns six different times, RBIs three times, walks four times, and both slugging and on-base-percentage each one time. On the defensive side, Killebrew played extensively at both corner outfield and corner infield positions.

Harmon Killebrew did play a handful of games in the Pacific Northwest. During his 1969 MVP season, the Seattle Pilots hosted the Minnesota Twins for three series spanning nine games. Over those nine games in Seattle, Killebrew accumulated seven hits in 31 at-bats (.226), in addition to eight walks. He also muscled one homerun out of Sick’s Stadium.

The baseball community will miss Killebrew, known widely as a quiet, classy gentleman. This Sports Illustrated piece from April 8, 1963 offers insight into the man the author describes as “the man with the loudest bat and quietest mouth in baseball.”

Finally, to get an even better feel for Mr. Killebrew, check out these old Home Run Derby clips that demonstrate both his raw power and shy, quiet demeanor.

Pulling an Eduardo Perez

Tonight, during the ESPN Sunday Night Baseball Game of the Week, Andruw Jones, filling in at designated hitter while Jorge Posada sits, hit a homerun off Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Jon Lester. ESPN Baseball Tonight host, Steve Berthiaume, soon thereafter tweeted: “Andruw Jones gets start against [a left-handed pitcher] and launches a HR. In baseball, that’s known as ‘pulling an Eduardo Perez.’”

Apparently, Perez had a reputation during his thirteen-year career for coming in and mashing lefties off the bench. Over his career, Perez batted .265 against lefties (.247 AVG overall), and hit 50 of his 79 career homeruns came off lefties. He slugged .501 against lefties over his career (.431 SLG overall). A .500+ slugging percentage is not too shabby.

But, as a Mariner fan, I guess I was unaware of Perez’s lofty production against southpaws. Many will remember that Perez came to Seattle to help the Mariners make a run at the playoffs in 2006. The Mariners sent Asdrubal Cabrera to Cleveland on June 30 of that season for Perez, who was brought over to platoon at DH against lefties. Then-GM Bill Bavasi had hoped that Perez’s .500 slugging percentage would translate into substantial production from the right side of the batter’s box. As a Cleveland Indian in 2006, Perez had batted .303 with a .636 slugging percentage. Things would change for Perez, though, once he donned the Mariner uniform.

Once Perez arrived in Seattle, however, his production trailed off—even against lefties. In 43 games as a Mariner, Perez batted just .200 off lefties (he hit even worse off righties, accumulating a dismal .182 AVG). He notched just one extra-base hit against lefties, slugging a meager .246 versus southpaws. Perez ultimately retired following the 2006 campaign after batting just .179 in the second half of the season.

So, Mariner fans, if you had a different understanding of the meaning of the phrase, “pulling an Eduardo Perez”, you are forgiven. Based on your fan experience, you had no idea it meant power/homeruns/slugging/production.

Will Opposing Managers Continue to Pitch to Justin Smoak?

Last Friday night, the Mariners were tied with the White Sox 1-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning, batting with two outs and a runner on second base. Justin Smoak, who had come into the game batting .315, was due up. Ozzie Guillen had starter Phil Humber pitch to Smoak with a base open, and Smoak laced a ground-rule double to left center, giving the Mariners the lead.

Fast forward to Tuesday night in Baltimore. The Mariners were down 4-5 in the top of the ninth inning against Baltimore closer, Kevin Gregg. There were two outs and a runner on third base when Justin Smoak came to bat. Buck Showalter had Gregg pitch to Smoak, who took a 1-1 pitch and served it into left field for an RBI single, tieing the ballgame.

In each of these recent pivotal at-bats, first base was open. And, on Friday’s game, Jack Cust was batting after Smoak in the lineup. Tuesday night, Miguel Olivo followed Smoak. Neither Cust nor Olivo poses the offensive threat Smoak does, as both Cust and Olivo have each experienced slow starts in 2011. Smoak, on the other hand, has emerged as the Mariners’ most significant offensive player.

So, why would Ozzie or Buck go after Smoak, instead of intentionally walking him and taking their chances with Cust or Olivo? Maybe, in Ozzie’s eyes, the sixth inning was too early to intentionally put another runner on base in a close game. Friday’s game was Smoak’s first against Humber. As far as Tuesday’s situation goes, Smoak was a career 0-1 against Kevin Gregg—hardly a body of work to demonstrate that Gregg had a fantastic track record against Smoak. In the ninth inning of a one-run game, there appears little reason why a manager would want to attack the opposing lineup’s best hitter with a base open.

In tonight’s game, had Smoak not been lifted in the tenth inning for pinch runner, Adam Kennedy, Buck Showalter would likely have pitched around him in the top of the 12th inning when his spot in the lineup came around, with one out and Ichiro on second base.

In the future, we will see managers pitch around Smoak in pivotal late-inning situations with a base open—at least as long as the batter “protecting” Smoak in the batting order continues to hover around in the .200-.220 batting average range.

Former Mariner Prospect Squares Off Against His Former Organization

Just prior to Spring Training in 2008, a 19-year old Mariner farmhand was traded to the Baltimore Orioles along with four other players, for Baltimore ace Erik Bedard. Tonight, that young farmhand, Chris Tillman, will go up against the organization that drafted him in the second round (49th overall) of the 2006 June Amateur Draft.

By the time the Mariners drafted Tillman out of high school five years ago, he had, as a junior, already been named the Horizon League Pitcher of the Year and a member of the AFLAC All-American Baseball Classic. Prior to his senior season, he was ranked as the top prospect in Southern California’s high school rankings and the 39th overall prospect in the 2006 draft by Baseball America. Upon signing with the Mariners, then-Mariner Vice President of Player Development and Scouting, Benny Looper, described their latest addition: “Chris is a tall, hard-throwing right-hander with a smooth delivery. We’re excited to have Chris join the Mariners organization.”

Prior to the 2007 season, Prospect Insider projected Tillman would reach the Major Leagues by 2010. It described him as possessing “Gil Meche” type stuff, with a Brett Myers ceiling.

Baltimore, salivating at the thought of adding a solid number two starter—in addition to an athletic everyday centerfielder in Adam Jones and proven left-handed reliever George Sherrill (and, of course, two other young pitching prospects)—was thrilled to add Tillman as the pitching centerpiece in the now-infamous six-player trade. One scout said of Tillman at the time of the trade: “He’s definitely the prize of the pitchers. Now that he’s found his fastball and curve, he has a chance to be a solid No. 2 or 3 on a good team. He’s 94-95 [mph] with a plus curve and a change.”

John Manuel, from Baseball America, also noted at the time: “Tillman is how you draw it up: good pro body, athletic, two pitches potentially above average. The Mariners were aggressive with him, and he responded pretty well—more than a strikeout an inning, and he pitched fearlessly at High Desert as an 18-year old.”

Tillman debuted for Baltimore on July 29, 2009, and he has not experienced smooth sailing pitching in the American League East. He’s yet to log a full season at the MLB level, but his body of work over the past three seasons does not jump out as impressive: in 29 career starts, he’s logged 146.1 innings, going 5-13 with a 5.90 ERA. So far this season, in six starts he’s gone 1-3 with a 7.16 ERA. It is worth nothing, though, that Tillman just turned twenty-three years old last month.

Tillman has not faced his former organization yet at the big-league level.

Following Black Monday, Michael Saunders Emerges as Full-Time Centerfielder

Today was Black Monday in the Mariners organization. Two veteran outfielders, Ryan Langerhans and Milton Bradley, were designated for assignment. They were replaced with a pair of rookies from Tacoma: Mike Wilson and Carlos Peguero. The arrival of Peguero and Wilson, paired with the departure of Langerhans and Bradley makes one thing clear: expect Michael Saunders to become the full-time Mariner centerfielder until Franklin Gutierrez returns from the disabled list.

Thus far in 2011, with Guti out, Saunders and Langerhans have shared centerfield. Of 35 games this season, Saunders has started 24 of them in centerfield, Langerhans has started the other 11. With Langerhans gone, Saunders will shoulder his workload. Today, Jack Zduriencik said he hopes to have Guti back with the Mariners in 7-10 days; but, they’ve been optimistic about his return to health for some time now, only to have Gutierrez experience one setback after another.

Why does Saunders become the everyday centerfielder? Mostly by default. Who else can play there? Ichiro played CF a few years ago, but that was then. Carlos Peguero, 24, at 6’5”, 245 pounds looks much more like a corner outfielder (or first-baseman) than centerfielder and over the course of his six-year minor league career has only played six games in center. Mike Wilson, 27, who stands 6’2” and 245, will be making his MLB debut when he appears in his first game. He’s a ten-year veteran of the Mariners organization, but to this point has never been with the big club. In his ten seasons in the minors, Wilson has played just sixteen total games in centerfield.

So, when it all shakes out, you’ve got two rookies, with a combined sixteen seasons (1059 games) of professional baseball under their belts and a total of just 22 games played in centerfield. Despite this, Zduriencik expressed today that, if Saunders needs a day to rest, Wilson will be comfortable enough to play centerfield.

The moves today solidify Saunders’ role for the ballclub, at least until Franklin Gutierrez comes back. But, at the same time, the Mariner brass cannot be all that thrilled with Saunders’ offensive numbers. His batting average is down to .170, and he has been hitless in his last seven games (24 at-bats). His on-base percentage isn’t much better, at .225; and, his slugging percentage is just .255. Saunders’ defense and base-running production hardly outweigh his offensive deficiencies, however.

Mike Wilson, over the course of his three seasons in AAA Tacoma has batted .255, with a .341 on-base percentage and a .463 slugging percentage. This season he’s absolutely blistered the baseball, going: .381/.429/.683 with four homeruns.

Peguero, too, has held his own this season: .282/.345/.456 with four homeruns. He earlier spent a short time with the Mariners when Justin Smoak went onto the bereavement list, notching two hits in eleven at-bats.

Peguero, a left-handed batter, will likely platoon with Wilson—a righty—in leftfield with Saunders in center until Gutierrez comes back, hopefully by Memorial Day. If Guti doesn’t come back so soon, and Saunders continues to spiral downward, Zduriencik may be forced to again alter the roster.

Still Going Strong

This weekend, an old friend returns to Seattle as a member of the White Sox. At age seventeen, in 1984, the Mariners signed him out of Venezuela, and five years later on April 3, 1989, he debuted in a Mariner uniform. He’s been in the big leagues ever since, and may one day end up in the Hall of Fame. He’s forty-four years old now, but White Sox utility infielder Omar Vizquel is still a productive major league player.

Little O spent the first five seasons of his long career in Seattle (1989-1993), where he quickly developed into one of the premier defensive shortstops in the American League. His final year in Seattle, 1993, he earned his first of eleven career Gold Gloves.

Many Mariner fans probably best remember Vizquel’s time in Seattle by the barehanded play he made on a chopper bounced over pitcher Chris Bosio’s head to throw out Boston’s Ernest Riles by two steps at first base for the 27th out in Bosio’s no-hitter at the Kingdome on April 22, 1993. Vizquel said of his dramatic barehanded play: "Even if I fielded it with my glove, it was an easy out. It was an out all the way." Right. Never a doubt.

Fans will also recall Vizquel from his time with Cleveland—the organization to whom the Mariners dealt Vizquel following the 1993 season, in exchange for Felix Fermin, Reggie Jefferson, and cash. In Cleveland Vizquel developed into a three-time All-Star. Fans most definitely remember what went down on August 25, 2001 between Vizquel and then-Mariner reliever Arthur Lee Rhodes. USA Today summarized the incident in this excerpt:

The game featured a confrontation in the ninth when Seattle reliever Arthur Rhodes was ejected by crew chief Tim McClelland in a heated argument over earrings. Apparently, Cleveland's Omar Vizquel asked to have Rhodes remove his earrings and Rhodes became infuriated.

"It may be the first and last time you see that," [Cleveland Bench Coach Grady] Little said. "But he wears those big earrings and with the sun where it was, there was a lot of glare coming from those and it was one of those things where most of the time no one says anything about it. But today it was bothering Omar so he said something about it."

"Today they really stood out," Vizquel said. "They were really shining today. I don't know why he acted the way he did. I think it's in the rules that you are not supposed to wear any jewelry. He didn't say anything to me. He started doing signs and stuff and started pointing at my head. He was pointing at me like he was going to hit me or something. That's when I reacted a little bit."

Rhodes offered his version of the incident. "Omar told me to take my earrings out," Rhodes said. "I told the umpire I have been pitching with my earrings on all year so why should I take them out. I had them on last year and this year. I was mad, because I didn't have to take them out in Cleveland. What's the difference? It's a nice day, the sun is out, everyone is having a good time. Being asked to take my earrings out made no sense.

"I never heard anything like that, a little scrawny hitter like him. (He's a) little midget. Why is he telling me to take my earrings out? When I face him again, I will go right at him."

McClelland provided his take. "Vizquel said that the sun angle at that time of day was reflecting off Rhodes' earrings and he asked if he would tell him to take them off," McClelland said of the situation. "When we asked him to take them out, he became irate and said he has been pitching with them all year and wasn't going to take them out.

"Arthur said he wasn't going to take them out and I told him either you have to take them out or you're out of the game. He kind of kept telling Vizquel to get in the box, they were yelling at each other and then both benches started yelling. ...To stop further incidents, I asked Arthur to leave. I told him to leave. I asked him take his earrings out and told him to leave."

Vizquel, now in his 23rd season at the MLB level, and with his fifth team, is still producing. Consider this: over the course of his 2861 career games played in Major League Baseball, Vizquel has accumulated a career batting average of .273. His batting average this season….273.

A Successful Road Trip

The Mariners return home tomorrow after a successful 5-1 road trip which saw the ballclub sweep the Tigers at Comerica Park and then take two of three from the Red Sox at Fenway. The most recent trip was their third road trip of the month-old 2011 season; and, it was their first winning road trip thus far.

Had a sun-ball not interfered with an otherwise routine fly ball to Ichiro in the bottom of the ninth inning yesterday afternoon, the Mariners may very well have swept the Red Sox and completed a perfect road trip. But, by all accounts, the recent six-game trip provided Mariner fans a sign of hope that the rest of the season may not be as painful as the first three weeks of the season.

A 5-1 road trip is something on which a team can hang its hat. Did the Mariners have a road trip as successful last season? No. In fact, they did not record a single winning road trip during the entire 2010 run. The Mariners split one trip, and came home with losing records on the remaining ten.

During the 2009 season, one in which the Mariners won 85 games, the M’s had three winning road trips—none of which was as notable as the team’s most recent 5-1 sojourn.

Going back even further, to 2008, the Mariners had two winning road trips, though coming home with nothing as impressive as a 5-1 record.

You’ve got to go back to 2007 to find a road trip in which the Mariners took five out of six games from their opponents. From August 7-12 of 2007, the Mariners swept a three-game set in Baltimore and then took two of three from the White Sox. Interestingly, the winning pitchers on that road trip came from the following starters: Jeff Weaver, King Felix, Horacio Ramirez, Miguel Batista, and Jeff Weaver (again). Jarrod Washburn picked up the only loss on the road trip, 3-5, in the series opener in Chicago, against Javier Vazquez.

Tomorrow, the Rangers will come to Safeco for a three-game set. The Rangers swept the Mariners in a three-game series down in Arlington the second series of the season when they were playing red hot, starting 6-0. But, the Rangers cooled after their 6-0 start, going 10-12 since that time. Injuries have plagued them as of late as well, so they come to Safeco not nearly as scary as they were when we went to Arlington in early last month.