Morrow's Musings
- By Jeff Morrow
509-582-1507
Posted April 5, 2000
Pedro hot, but Safeco cold
SEATTLE - Opening Day 2000.
Not since 1969, when the Seattle Pilots played at Sicks Stadium, has there been an opener outdoors in Seattle.
OK, I realize there's a roof over Safeco Field. But it's still cold out. The wind still swirls. You can feel the dampness of the Puget Sound, and everyone needs coats.
On this day - and this day only - do I miss the Kingdome and its climate-controlled system.
There's a big difference in person watching a 96 mph fastball by Pedro Martinez and an 84 mph one from Jamie Moyer.
And in this weather, hitting a ball pitched by Martinez can hurt if you don't hit it just right.
"What did we have? One guy in scoring position all night?" asked Mariners manager Lou Piniella after his team lost 2-0 to Boston in front of a Safeco-record crowd of 45,552. "I'm pleased the way Moyer and (Paul) Abbott pitched, but we didn't generate any offense. A great pitcher like that is on, and he's tough to hit."
After two months of spring training, two exhibition games this past weekend at Safeco with warm, sunny afternoons, it's almost unfair to open the season - open the post-Griffey era - on a cold night against baseball's best pitcher.
"Pedro had a real good fastball, a good changeup, a good curve," said Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek. "He didn't use his cutter much. At times, he had real good breaking balls."
And when the M's hit the ball hard, it died in the April weather into a Red Sox outfielder's glove.
Despite the loss, Moyer held his own, surrendering just two runs in 613 innings on 106 pitches.
"Moyer did a great job," Martinez said. "I just kept praying that he'd give up a run or two to give me a little room."
Moyer didn't concern himself with the elements. "I didn't worry about the temperature," Moyer said. "I enjoyed (the battle with Martinez) and accepted the challenge. No one likes to lose, but I did the best I could do today."
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One of baseball's best announcers, ESPN's Jon Miller, thinks that if Griffey Jr. wants to get back to the playoffs, he might have missed the boat - at least for this year.
"The irony is that Griffey left the club (for Cincinnati), and had he stayed, this might be the most fun he's had in his career," Miller said before Tuesday's game. "Pat Gillick is one of the best general managers in baseball. He has a track record. The bullpen looks to be a lot tougher, the rotation is balanced - although the Mariners really don't have an ace like Pedro Martinez. And that might hurt them come the playoffs."
But the playoffs are in October. This is April.
"Baseball is about the journey," Miller said. "I mean, look back when the Mariners made the playoffs in 1995. Nobody really cared they didn't win the World Series. But over the final two months of the season, it was a big party around here."
Before the season's over, Miller expects Brett Tomko - currently at Triple-A Tacoma - to be a big part of the M's pitching staff.
"I've seen Tomko be unhittable," Miller said. "I guess he's a little hard-headed and doesn't take direction well."
But a trip to Tacoma might improve that attitude.
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Commissioner Bud Selig was in attendance Tuesday. He was roundly booed when he was introduced before he threw out the first pitch.
Selig said Major League Baseball will go to an unbalanced schedule for 2001 in which teams will keep their regional rivalries, but they will rotate divisions for interleague play. Selig also is looking at four divisions with four teams each in the National League, thus eliminating the NL wild-card team.
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ESPN has changed today's game against the Red Sox to a 7:30 p.m. start. The game will be carried by ESPN2 but likely will be blacked out in the area because Fox Sports Northwest is scheduled to televise the game.
- Jeff Morrow can be reached at 582-1507 or via e-mail at jmorrow@tri-cityherald.com
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