Is it over yet?

It has become something of a tradition in Seattle sports. A new season is upon us, whether  it is the Seahawks, Mariners, or that basketball team that is no longer here (And, by the way, you can thank the collective lies and scumbaggery of Clay Bennet, David Stern, and Greg Nickels for that). Things look good. The right moves were made in the offseason, people are healthy, and hopes are high!

Thud.

Time and time again, our teams fail us. The Seahawks go 3-13, the basketball team becomes the first #1 seed in HISTORY to lose to a #8....or the Mariners stink it up like they are doing this year. I love the Mariners, I follow all the games, I read about them every day, I go through withdrawl during the off season, all of that. But I can hardly bear to watch this team. Great starting pitching can only go so far, apparently, when your offense is this putrid. A quick check shows the following;

3.88 team ERA (even with the fairly regular bullpen failings and the "efforts" of RRS) this puts Seattle 10th overall in MLB. You would think this would be good for at least a .500 win/loss percentage, but there are a few problems with that theory. Our beloved M's are;

Last in batting average

Last in OPS

next to last in HR (with fewer home runs than the 'Roid boys each hit by themselves one season)

Last in slugging percentage

last in on base percentage

Last in runs per game at 3.25

I could go on, but you get the picture....

There is not one position, with the possible exception of Right Field, that does not desperately need an offensive upgrade. The defense was supposed to be a strong suit, but they are 20th in fielding percentage. I don't know what that percentage would be without the 367 passed balls by the catchers, but it would still be near the bottom. What position is set on the defense? Again, probably Right Field, and you could add Center Field, but that is it. This team is fatally flawed, and I don't see how it can be fixed without going through a couple more seasons of rebuilding. If I know that they are rebuilding, and I know that they are going to suck, it's easier to take. I watch the games to see how the "kids" are doing, I try to see who is going to stick, who is improving, etc., so it is more bearable, but seasons like this, when the expectations are high, are just too much. I want to write more, I want to have funny observations to make, I want to root for my team. The problem is, there is nothing funny about this team, there is nothing interesting to write about, there just is nothing there, even for a die hard fan like me. Sometimes I wish I didn't care, but I do. And I sit here and hope for the future, because there is nothing happening in the present.