McLaren: I'm a moron and I've learned absolutely nothing

[Sweezo]

So, with PECOTA saying the M's are going to take a nosedive in the runs scored department, how are the M's going to score? Easy...

On offense, Mariners manager John McLaren wants to keep up with the Angels on the bases.

McLaren said he can remember no other club that had its base runners go from first base to third base better than the Angels did in 2007, and that's something he vows Seattle will do more of and with better success in 2008.

"It's a mind-set," the manager said. "A lot of times when you look to see the (third base) coach, that can be the difference between stopping and going.

"Everybody should know what they're capable of doing. When it's a borderline call, I want them to go. I want to see it every game. We're going to make some mistakes. But I'd rather see a mistake here than on March 31 (Opening Day against Texas)."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/baseball/351941_mbok20.html

Didn't we try this stunt under Hargrove two seasons ago? Was it successful? Because I have memories of Ibanez being thrown out by more than a few steps when trying to stretch a single into a double. As that's "memories" mind you, as in plural...

Having slow-footed runners try to get extra bases means stupid outs, not runners in scoring position. The only thing worse is thinking stolen bases are the answer...

McLaren also wants to see the Mariners steal more in 2008. Seattle got 37 stolen bases from Ichiro Suzuki but finished ninth in the AL with 81.

...oh, goddammit. Who the hell's going to steal bases on this team?

Out of a lineup comprised of Sexson, Johjima, Ibanez, Vidro, Lopez, and Wilkerson...who the hell is going to steal bases? The only starters with decent wheels are Ichiro. And Adam Jo--nevermind. And nobody. Yuni's got speed, but has demonstrated a total lack of instinct w/r/t stealing bases. Beltre ends up getting more steals than I realize every year, but he never looks good doing it, and this team can ill afford for Beltre to get a balky hamstring because he was trying to steal second.

Who the hell does McLaren expect will be up their taking a pitch so a baserunner can take a base? They're all free swingers...

Are we also going to focus on bunts and putting the ball in play? Manufacturing runs? Sounds great with a lineup that can't bunt and isn't reliable enough to put a bat on the ball when a runner's going.

I'd say McLaren's on the fast track to being fired, but I know full well he'll get all the time he needs to dig this team into a hole it will never be able to dig itself out of.

[PhilipNelsonFan]

The real moron is the man who thought it a good idea to shed McLaren's interim tag. It took McLaren all of half a season to establish that he wasn't going to help this team win games.

But that's the Mariners' MO: You the fan are stuck with him; the best you can do is wait him out.

[Sweezo]

The real moron is the man who thought it a good idea to shed McLaren's interim tag. It took McLaren all of half a season to establish that he wasn't going to help this team win games.

But that's the Mariners' MO: You the fan are stuck with him; the best you can do is wait him out.

Only problem is waiting him out means lining up for the next jackass they decide to bring in...

For all Hargrove's issues, it seemed he learned that overly aggressive base running was not the path to success as the team didn't seem to be focused on it as much last year. So, surely, a situation like this calls for going back to the tactics of a season that was a total failure instead of the last season where the team overperformed.

[Basketball Jesus]

There

[Ex-hippie]

Obviously we'll be able to give the greenlight to Adam Jo.... wait, what?

[Basketball Jesus]

Adam Jones is irrelevant. He

[Ex-hippie]

This isn

[Ex-hippie]

-= original quote snipped =-
Bloomquist does force the issue and is clearly trying to manufacture runs, but he doesn't seem to get caught doing so very often. Sample size is probably an issue, but...

Last year he was 7 for 12 in base stealing attempts, which is not good, but I'll go with the sample size explanation. But before 2006 he was a very high percentage stealer: 16 for 19 in 2006, 14 for 15 in 2005, 13 for 15 in 2004. For his career he's 57 for 70, a percentage of .814. That's quite good. The all-time career leaders are around .850.

(Hey, that's a fun trivia question: Tim Raines is the all-time leader in career SB% based on 200 or more attempts; but if you lower the minimum to 150 attempts, who is the all-time leader?)

[Basketball Jesus]

Eric Byrnes? I remember watching a DBacks game where the announcers were gushing over Mr. Sweet Hair being the GREATEST BASESTEALER EVER because he had a ridiculous 90% steal rate or something

[Ex-hippie]

Hm. Eric Byrnes, it turns out, is a very good guess... and would be right if the minimum were lowered to 131 attempts. Byrnes is 115 for 131 (.878).

But for now, the answer is: Pokey Reese, 144-170 (.8471, just a hair above Raines' .8470).

So Byrnes will likely be the answer to that question with 19 more attempts; he'll have to make 13 of them (128/150 = .8533), which is pretty average and obviously well below his career rate.

[Ex-hippie]

Anyhow, Bloomquist. .814 for his career. Not bad at all. We now return to our regularly scheduled discussion.

[PhilipNelsonFan]

Ah, Pokey Reese. Did he ever actually play a game as a Mariner? For some reason I can never recall actually seeing him out on the field. Maybe he never really existed.

Anyway...

[Sweezo]

If only there was someone on the team who understands the relative importance of a stolen base...

McLaren talked this spring about Ichiro possibly stealing 70 bases this season.

Ichiro, whose career-best 56 steals came seven years ago, chided his manager slightly, saying: "Mac has a tendency to overexaggerate and say big things. I hope he cools it."

"I could steal 70 bases. That's a definite possibility," Ichiro said. "It's a possibility if I would get thrown out 70 times. If you ran 80 times to steal 70 bases, that's not possible."

Well, actually, it is possible. Over the past two seasons, Ichiro has 82 stolen-base attempts. He's been successful 72 times. His point is that if he starts running like Rickey Henderson in his prime, he'll get lots of steals, but also run into lots of outs.

"You can change the tempo of the game," he said. "You can do it for good. Or you can do it for bad."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/baseball/352101_ichiro21.html

I don't think I've ever seen Ichiro publicly call out his manager, even if he did it tactfully.

[Hiphophead101]

2 words. Pitchers park. We finally built the team right quit complaining.

[Sweezo]

2 words. Pitchers park. We finally built the team right quit complaining.

You're right. Having a pitchers park will help this team escape from making mistakes on the base paths. Were you attempting to make a post that had anything to do with this thread?

Having a decent pitching rotation doesn't mean **** if the team doesn't score any runs. And overly aggressive base running which costs these base runners means less runs scored.