Watch Out Blogosphere, Dizzo Has Arrived (and he's delightfully Post-Modern)

Thanks to some gentle nudging, I have thrown my lot in with the trendy bloggers that the kids are so crazy about these days. With any luck, it will, at the very least, be an enjoyable read.

You know, I was almost instantly paralyzed by all of the options I had with regards to the layout of this thing. I finally decided to stay in my comfort zone and set it up with the colors of the Notre Dame football team. Subject to change.

Ok, real stuff. I work two jobs right now. My schedule adds up to about 60 hours a week (plus 1 hour of drive-time a day) and I'm always on the move. My average weekday looks like this:

--Wake up at 7:45 (after setting my alarm for 6:12 so I can have the glorious feeling of waking up and then falling back asleep).

-- Pick up the Big Humble on my way to the shipping warehouse for the Society of Photo-Optic Instrumentation Engineers.

-- Work at SPIE until 1:30.

-- Go home and change into baseball stuff. Maybe grab a bite to eat.

--Drive out to Mt. Baker High School at 2:00 and coach the baseball team there until 6:00 or 6:30.

--Drive to Bellingham Health and Fitness to work out.

--Come home around 7:30, eat dinner, BS with my housemates, and then get dressed and head out to spend time with friends or the girl.

--Go to bed between midnight and 2:00.

I like this schedule. It's crazy busy, but it's enjoyable. I like being on the move and getting to see Lindsay and/or my friends and family is like a rejuvenation at the end of the day.

At SPIE, I get to work hard while still having some goof-off time. Currently, I'm engaged in a Cold War-styled Arms Race with my co-worker Chris. We're making our desks into fortresses with ramparts and troops and weapons and a moat. Also, I made a transmogrifier just like the one Calvin made. The settings are for Calvin, Tiger, Elephant, and Dinosaur but I left plenty of space around the dial to write in something else -- you know, in case I feel like spending an afternoon as a dolphin... or an F-16.

Also, my co-workers really like good coffee so we buy good coffee and then make it every morning at work. Then we listen to Jim Rome on the radio, which is my favorite. Today, we shut down the warehouse for 45 minutes and the five of us that work there went to Cicchitti's for lunch and played Trivial Pursuit. I like this job.

When I'm done SPIE-ing, I don my baseball cap and knee-high socks and drive out to forgettable Deming, WA to coach the high-schoolers. I love this job even more. The pay is decent (although the drive-time takes an alligator-bite out of my paycheck), the kids are great, and most importantly, I'm on a baseball field. Few are the times when I feel as at-home or peaceful as when I'm walking on a newly-mowed infield and listening to the sound of a 9-inch, 5-ounce cork-centered leather sphere slapping against the palm of a kangaroo-skin glove. This is my fourth season as a coach and doing this job gives me a greater appreciation for the coaches I had when I played.

I think that one of the most underrated qualities in a vocation is the atmosphere while at work. Both of my jobs are comfortable, fun, energetic places to work and I often leave them feeling more energized than when I arrived. I am very grateful for this.

On a related note, I'm worried about the Mariners. I love them. I love sports and I have favorite teams at just about every level of every sport in this country but I love the Mariners the most. Griffey scoring from first on Edgar Martinez's double in the '95 Divisional Series is still one of the ten greatest moments of my life and the day Griffey was traded is still one of the ten worst. Don't laugh. So here's my dilemma:

A few years ago, the Mariners hired Bill Bavasi as General Manager. He has since spent his time trading away the prospects from the Mariners' farm system (which a couple of years ago Baseball America considered the best in the game) for marginal Major League veterans. Last year was one of the most egregious display of future-mortgaging I've ever seen.

Consider these moves:
-Signed Jeff Weaver for over $8 million (for one year).
-Traded super-stud reliever Rafael Soriano for Horacio Ramirez and then signed Ramirez to a one-year contract worth about $7 million.
-Traded outfield prospect and crowd-favorite Chris Snelling for Jose Vidro.
-Didn't trade Richie Sexson.
-Picked up Rick &#!%@ White. Rick White!!!

This is all in one season. Here's how these moves played out:
-Jeff Weaver's first three starts resulted in an 0-3 record with an ERA over 14! Statistically, it is the worst three-game opening in the HISTORY OF MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL. I'm not making that up. Guess $8 mil doesn't get you what it used to.
-Ramirez's $7 million ERA: 7.16! And he allowed 1.85 runners to reach base PER INNING. Those are tee-ball numbers. (Side note: Soriano has since become a lights-out closer for the Atlanta Braves)
-Jose Vidro was signed to be the designated hitter for the M's. Yes, that Jose Vidro. All he had to do all season was hit. Not play defense, not do anything else. Just hit. The result: 6 home runs and 59 runs batted in.
-Sexson (who coincidentally makes something like $16 million dollars a year) had a .205 batting average, more strikeouts than hits, and was benched by August.
-Don't make me revisit Rick White. I didn't eat for a week after his three-game suck-fest took the life out of an inspiring playoff run. That's on you, John McLaren. Oh yeah, Bavasi made John McLaren the manager. And then KEPT him after he tanked the season.

Ok, my blood-pressure is lowering. Anyhow, despite the GM's best efforts, the Mariners exceeded everyone's expectations last season and went 88-74. This is a problem, though. I'll tell you why:

The Mariners ownership has essentially told Bavasi that his job is in jeopardy and that he's being evaluated on a year-by-year basis. Consequently, Bavasi is trading away the future of the franchise (some of our best minor-leaguers and young players) for players that he thinks will help the Mariners win more games now. This sucks because the Mariners won all those games last year on the backs of their exciting young players, not the schleps that Bavasi brought in.

88 wins was not enough to make the playoffs, but unfortunately it's enough to give Bavasi another year. Keeping a GM on a year-by-year is problematic because the General Managers job is to ensure long-term success. I once heard someone say that the second you can't see your current GM still being there in 5 years, you have to fire him. i believe this is true. Otherwise you get guys like Fire-Sale Bill trading away the next ten years worth of talent for minor improvements now.

The latest move was to trade Adam Jones and his drool-worthy abilities (as well as the best set-up pitcher and three more of the top-six prospects in the Mariners system) to Baltimore for Erik Bedard.

I was SO excited to watch Adam Jones spend his promising career with the Mariners and am sad to see him go. I'm also sad to see set-up extraordinaire George Sherill leave. The good news is that Erik Bedard is a stud. A true ace. A proven pitcher with a hell of an upside. I can't wait to watch him throw at pitcher-friendly Safeco Field this year.

My hesitation with this move is that you just don't trade away your best players (a 5-for-1 deal if you're keeping score) unless you think you're one player away from winning it all. The Mariners, I assure you, are much more than Erik Bedard away from winning the World Series or even contending for it. I think. I hope I'm wrong. If nothing else, watching Bedard and King-in-waiting Felix Hernandez pitch on back-to-back nights will be exciting.


For the kids:
http://newsfromrussia.com/society/sex/05-03-2008/104366-space_sex-0