Tag: Julio Rodriguez

What the world was like the last time the Seattle Mariners made the playoffs

This list is going to make you feel OLD.

The Seattle Mariners are playoff bound for the first time in 21 years.

And what an epic entrance into the postseason it was, too. Cal Raleigh hit a game-sealing homerun that also sealed the Mariners’ first playoff berth. It was such a fitting end to what has turned out to be a magical season for Seattle.

But, obviously, 21 years is a long time. That means the last time the Mariners made the playoffs was in 2001. Someone who hadn’t even been born yet might be able to legally drink a beer in that time span.

So we thought it’d be fun to take a look back and see what the world was like the last time the Mariners made the playoffs. Below is that list. And it’s almost certainly going to make you feel old, but it’ll also be a fun trip down memory lane.

Enjoy.

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Seahawks and Mariners showing each other some love

Seattle’s two most prominent professional teams are giving each other plenty of acknowledgement online.

Seahawks football is right around the corner with an appointment against the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football, but baseball is the talk of the town in the Emerald City right now. The Seahawks’ neighbors to the south of Lumen Field, the Mariners, are in the midst of one of their best seasons in the last 20 years. Seattle’s professional teams have always had a supportive bond, and right now, that bond is on full display.

It started on when Seahawks tight end Will Dissly ended his press conference with an important announcement. Seattle’s athletes have never been shy about dipping their toes into the political scene, and Dissly took the time for a crucial midterm election update.

In today’s divided political climate, Mitch Haniger might be one of the few who can garner true bipartisan support, especially with his high caliber of play. Since returning from injury, Haniger has resumed his typical production, including hitting a walk-off single to defeat the Cleveland Guardians last weekend.

Of course, what true-to-the-blue Seattle fan could vote against a man wearing such a stylish Seahawks shirt.

Following the Mariners’ sweep of the Detroit Tigers, the team boarded the plane with a theme of football jerseys. Haniger was not alone in his support for the Seahawks. Pitcher Matt Boyd, who grew up in the Seattle area, made his debut for the Mariners and can be seen wearing the retro Steve Largent jersey.

Additionally, fellow Seattle-kid Jake Lamb is behind Haniger wearing another retro Seahawks look.

But of course, the player who will catch the eye of all the 12’s is most assuredly rookie phenom Julio Rodriguez wearing a DK Metcalf jersey.

This did not go unnoticed by the Seahawks star receiver, who shared support for the centerfielder on his Instagram story.

There is little doubt the two biggest stars in the Seattle sports landscape are DK Metcalf and Julio Rodriguez. With both of them signing incredibly lucrative extensions this summer, the 12th Man will have plenty of opportunities to watch both players dominate their respective sports for years to come.

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Mariners’ Julio Rodriguez switched his bat before a big three-run blast because it needed a nap

Julio Rodriguez changed up his bat ahead of this big knock and it paid off!

Julio Rodriguez understands the importance of beauty sleep.

In Rodriguez’s second game back from injury after the All-Star break, the 21-year-old rookie made quite the impact for the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday. During the Mariners’ day game against the Texas Rangers, things were looking grim for the home team down 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh.

With two men on, however, Rodriguez took Jon Gray deep with this three-run rocket to put the Mariners on top 4-2 for the game-winning tally. Since Rodriguez returned from injury earlier in the week, the outfielder has hit two huge home runs for his team in clutch spots.

What a blast! In the Mariners postgame interviews, Seattle manager Scott Servais said Rodriguez swapped out his bat ahead of clobbering home that three-run knock. The reasoning? Because… the bat was sleeping.

As he’s standing there ready to go up for that at bat, before that he says ‘I had to switch bats.’ I said ‘ah, you got a new one?’. He said ‘yeah the other one’s sleeping; it’s a day game he’s not ready to go.’ He took a new bat up there and hit a three-run homer. That’s Julio Rodriguez.

And what do you know, Rodriguez was right! Considering the Mariners have won their last 15 games that Rodriguez has played, his bats can take all the naps they want to.

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Betting outcry over Home Run Derby is much ado about nothing, but MLB has some cleaning up to do

MLB might’ve dodged controversy this time around but won’t always be so lucky.

The Home Run Derby took place Monday, and it wasn’t without controversy in the sports betting community. Some of the results are being called into question, but not all of the outrage is warranted.

One of the things being questioned is Kyle Schwarber’s shocking loss to Albert Pujols in the first round. Schwarber had the second-shortest odds to win the entire event and was heavily favored over Pujols, who had the longest odds.

Because they were tied at 13 after regulation and bonus time, Schwarber and Pujols had a 60 second swing-off in which Pujols went first and hit seven home runs to reach 20. Schwarber started cold before hitting a flurry of homers in the back-half of his time and finishing with 19, just one shy of Pujols.

So what happened?

Bettors weren’t happy about a home run that wasn’t counted in that flurry, but I went back reviewed the tape, and I think ESPN got it right. The home run in question, which would’ve been No. 17, actually didn’t clear the wall. It came close, and broadcaster Karl Ravech incorrectly called it a home run, but it wasn’t. Every home run Ravech announced from there was one too many. Schwarber hit just six home runs in the swing-off, and lost fair and square to a legend.

The real blown call

The more egregious miss was in the final round when eventual champion Juan Soto was granted home run No. 15 at the end of his regulation time despite the pitch coming after the clock hit zero. That home run shouldn’t have counted, though it probably didn’t affect the outcome of the Derby. Soto was still likely to win after easily passing Julio RodrĂ­guez’s 18 home runs with 14 seconds left to spare in bonus time. Watching the tape, he actually appeared to beat RodrĂ­guez’s score twice after one of his bonus-time homers wasn’t counted. He only needed 19. He hit 20, as Eduardo Perez correctly pointed out on the broadcast.

One mistake was corrected by another. And that’s two too many. Even if money wagered ultimately ended up in the right hands, that can’t happen. The optics are bad. If the biggest error here is that ESPN’s cameras were unable to keep up, that’s only because pitches were allowed before previous balls landed — which officials were there to prevent.

Exhibition or not, events sanctioned for betting need to have a level of integrity necessary to maintain public trust. If rules are treated as mere guidelines to be loosely enforced, the door for controversy is left wide open. That’s what we have now. Major League Baseball has some cleaning up to do if they want to prevent more of this in the future.

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Ken Griffey Jr. snapping photos of Julio Rodriguez at the Home Run Derby became an instant meme

So many Ken Griffey Jr. memes!

Julio Rodriguez had one very notable fan and Seattle Mariners legend following his incredible performance in the 2022 Home Run Derby Monday night: Ken Griffey Jr.

Griffey — known for his own Derby prowess — had a huge, professional-looking camera he was using to snap shots, and of course that became an instant meme, with a lot of people comparing him to a proud dad watching his kid play.

It didn’t matter that Rodriguez lost in the finals to Juan Soto. The 21-year-old is in the midst of an incredible season and his performance Monday night was worth snapping.

Let’s get to the memes:

Mariners rookie Julio Rodriguez is being set up to fail thanks to absolutely inexcusable umpiring

It’s getting ridiculous at this point.

You really have to feel for Mariners rookie Julio Rodriguez. His first season in the big leagues is off to a rocky start, and honestly, it’s not all his fault.

The 21-year-old Rodriguez is hitting .188 on the season. He only has 13 hits while leading the league in strikeouts looking with 17. But that’s where matters get awfully complicated for Rodriguez. Out of those 17 called strikeouts, only five of the pitches actually caught the strike zone. He’s a player who hit .331 in the minors with just 66 strikeouts in 299 at-bats last season. He has a good sense of the strike zone, and that’s been clear thus far in the majors.

He’s just getting absolutely no help from umpires behind home plate, and those frustrations reached a boiling point on Thursday.

During Seattle’s game against the Rays, Rodriguez was called out on strikes in one of the weirder sequences this season. On Strike 2 (which missed the strike zone), home plate umpire Shane Livensparger called the pitch a strike while first base umpire Tom Hallion ruled that the rookie held up his swing.

Rays catcher Rene Pinto knew it was ball. It’s why he signaled to first base for help. That sparked some confusion with Mariners manager Scott Servais coming out to argue the call. At 3-2, Rodriguez would be called out looking on a pitch that also missed the strike zone.

Servais would get ejected after that, and for good reason.

Basically, Rodriguez had a five-ball at-bat turn into a strikeout. It’s almost impossible for Rodriguez to get a rhythm at the plate when umpires are essentially punishing him for having good awareness of the strike zone. That kind of treatment sets a promising young player up to fail, and that’s the last thing MLB needs. The broadcast said that it was about time the umpires pick on someone else, and Mariners fans certainly agreed.

It’s getting ridiculous at this point.