M’s fun to watch again

Are the Seattle Mariners for real now or is it smoke and mirrors by manager Bob Melvin? With some convincing wins over the Boston Red Sox and Oakland A’s last week, it would seem to be the former. For whatever reason, the M’s started the season badly and just never got in a winning groove. When a team is losing, even the best hitters press and the pitchers, knowing that they can count on little run support, also change the way they pitch, trying too hard to make good pitches, which leads to opposing teams feasting on their offerings and so the losses pile up.

Sadly but wisely, Seattle bid goodbye to John Olerud and Freddy Garcia and brought up some new young talent from Tacoma.

Now the M’s are a bit more loose and it’s becoming more fun to watch this team change. Junior, the Big Unit and A-Rod may all be gone, but the addition of players like Bucky Jacobsen, who reminds us of Jay Buhner, brings some excitement back to Safeco.

While the M’s won’t be making any appearances in October, you can bet that their play from now on will go a long way in deciding which other teams will be playing in the early autumn.

Simon Roloff

Spokane