Retro Mariner Sunday 7/31/11

In honor of today being the non-waiver Trade Deadline, I thought we should look at a guy who knows about being traded. Spending part of 1985, and all of 1986 and 1987 with the Mariners was "The Nomad" Mike Morgan. Mike was traded six times in his career and was signed as a free agent six times also.

His first stop would be with the Oakland A's in 1978 and 1979.

For 1980 and '81 the minor leagues would be the place to be. In 1982, it was time to be a Yankee.

For 1983, it was on to Toronto, and 1984 was spent in the minors with the Blue Jays.

Mike would spend the next three years in Seattle as a Mariner.

1988 would mean a trip back east to the Baltimore Orioles.

From 1989 to 1991, it was back out west to the LA Dodgers this time.

Travel again would come in 1992 until mid 1995, going to the Midwest to pitch for the Cubs.

In 1995 and '96 Cardinals fans probably didn't like Mike as a Cub, but were glad to have him as a Cardinal.

courtesy of millercards.com

Late in '96 and all of 1997 would see a stop with the Cincinnati Reds.

Why not play for two teams in 1998? The Twins used Mike, and so would Cubs for a second time.

Why not move again in 1999? I know, let's go to the Rangers this time.

From 2000 through 2002, Mike would play for his 12th and final team in the Arizona Diamondbacks. All that moving around was rewarded with a World Series ring in 2001.

Mike would retire to Ogden, UT and would start a company called World Champion Outfitters. Mike does private guides for hunters in Utah. Mike also does private pitching instruction at Ultimate Sports in Lindon, UT. He also spends time as a volunteer coach at Pleasant Grove High School in Pleasant Grove, UT.

On the move

The first deal of the day belongs to the Mariners. Leaving the Emerald City are Doug Fister:

And David Pauley:

In return from the Detroit Tigers we will see Charlie Furbush (ha ha, nice name):

And Casper Wells (another great name):

I would have rather kept Fister and let Jason Vargas go, but we will see what the two guys with funny names can do to help this team out.

Huh, what man?

I don't have anything for today. Here is a random Mariner card I picked to show you today. I present former Mariner 2nd baseman and Spanish radio broadcaster Julio Cruz.

The Cruzer has the mini fro and the chain working, but his eyes kind make him look like he might be stoned. Julio left in a trade to the White Sox, but found his way back to broadcast for the Mariners for awhile. Julio was one of the first stars on some bad teams back in the day.

Coming soon??

Signed to a minor league deal, and soon to report to AAA Tacoma--

Wily Mo Pena is now in the Mariners organization. I'm not sure what to think on this one. I do know that BP at Cheney Stadium will be a sight to see when Wily Mo steps up to swing.

It will be interesting to see what develops out of this move.

It had to happen

Dear fans of American League teams,

If you are having trouble with your offense, and/or on a losing streak just play the Yankees and have this pitching against you:

Phil Hughes is good for what ails your ballclub. They beat up on this guy like a rented mule. The Mariners were able to put the 17 game losing streak behind them. Now the Mariners can have a celebration to remember the green and gold on Friday on a positive note. Many former SuperSonics players will be on hand at Safeco Field that night.

Just keep them coming

This is just getting to be hilarious now. I'm starting to enjoy watching the new ways to blow it.
17 LOSSES!!!

Worse yet, was the 18 total strikeouts by the Mariners during 9 innings. That's 2/3 of the outs via K. Bring it home at 18 and let's see if we can build on the streak to make it into the top 5 on the loss chart.

We can drive

That's right, the Mariners are 16!! We are legal to drive this bad boy. How has this team gotten so bad?? I can't answer it and I don't anyone else can either. I see 17 coming tonight with CC on the hill for the Bombers. I'm glad that we were able to help out Red Sox fans by being swept this past weekend, but I don't think we can help you by beating the Yankees. Maybe after we come home and get swept by the Rays, maybe we can steal a game from the Athletics, but maybe not. In your opinion, how long will the Mariners continue to lose??

What's next?

OK, that didn't work. Eric Wedge tried yesterday to exercise the demons this team has been facing by shaving the moustache. Maybe we need to sacrifice one of our under .200 hitters to the baseball gods at home plate in Yankee Stadium today.

That didn't work even though we were able to put up 8 runs. How do you continue to put up 5 to 8 runs and still get your butts handed to you? Have they given up and are just going through the motions? I don't see it getting any better now going into the Bronx and then home to take on the Rays. I wonder how much longer they hold onto Wedge? I'm sure the heat on the Hot Seat is cranking up. This getting kind of depressing. Hey Yankees fans, do you think you could spare a win out of pity for this team??

Some kept and some snatched

Not too long ago, Kevin aka The Diamond King asked me if I could use some cards for my player collections. Me being someone to never say not to cards of players I like, I said I would like to get more player cards. A small bubble mailer shows up from the southern part of my state in the mailbox and it didn't disappoint. My son and I opened it up together, and he started making two piles. One for him and one for me. I'm sure you know who ended up with bigger stack in this deal. His first player to go into his stack was all these awesome cards of this stud my son wants to pitch like.

My son was blown away that Nolan pitched for all those teams and lasted as many years as he did.

Just as good if not better in the end as in the beginning.

He then puts this guy to my side, because he hasn't heard of him and dad needs some cards. I really think that Dale is not appreciated enough for what he did during his career.

My son than puts the card from this guy to his side. During regular season baseball this year he wore #8. He watched videos of Willie from the 1979 World Series. His team mates were calling him "Pops" all season. He wanted to be the leader of the team, and the happy teammate like Willie.

As soon as we got to this guy in the stack of cards, Andrew says, "I know dad, don't say it. This guy is all yours, I know that anything Tony is all you." Smart kid, I've taught him well. I still love Mr. Padre.

Lastly in the pile of players was some love from the legendary Big Papi. David was one of the two players my son wanted represent in All-Stars this year by wearing #34. To Andrew, 34 means Papi, Felix Hernandez, and Nolan Ryan for part of his career. He didn't know he was with the Twins. I said yes, and was he was in the Mariners organization as David Arias before we traded him away.

Big thanks again to Kevin, and go read The Diamond King. He does an awesome job, and holds some cool contests too. Thanks from two Washingtonians to another for some great cards.

No not him. HIM!

I got nothing today, I was thinking that it is funny in Seattle, we've had two guys with a famous name that weren't as famous as the other guy. First to Seattle from 1979 to 1986 with the Seahawks was Michael Jackson.

Then the Mariners had Mike in town from 1989 to 1991 and again in 1996. This Mike played all the way until 2004.

This Mike came to town a few times and played never in a sport. Strange to have two different sport guys with the same name in the same town.

On an unrelated note, the Mariners keep sliding into the abyss. That's 11 losses in a row, and it doesn't look to end soon.

Black or Blue?

Just an off the wall observation, and totally has nothing to do with cards. I don't get to see Toronto that often. Are they still the Blue Jays anymore or are they just the Jays now? I didn't see much blue last night.

I do know that they do wear a throwback blue jersey on occasion, but what's with all the black? Where is the cool logo with the bird, the ball, and the maple leaf? That "T" on their hats look like a couple of swipes of toothpaste.

Sorry for the off center rant, just a sight I saw for 14 innings last night, and was wondering what everyone thought, or if you even cared?

Taken for a ride

I hear a name over and over this year that makes me sick to my stomach. Knowing that hind sight is 20/20, would you have traded this guy when he was 20 years old?

That's what Bill Bavasi and the Mariners did back in 2006. I know you're thinking they must have gotten something for a good fielder that is young and waiting to bust out of AAA, right? How about this 36 year old washed up DH that hit .195 for the Mariners?

That's right, the now ESPN analyst that has been there since the end of the 2006 season was what we wanted for a young player that has become a pretty household name and an ALL-STAR. I guess it's safe to say that Mark Shapiro got the better of that deal, not to mention the deal he made to get Shin-soo Choo from us too.

I know that prospects are hard to predict, and that's why I'm glad to have Jack Z in the GM chair now. At least Jack has a clue about talent.

This is bad news kids

This team has fallen on hard times. I know that we aren't ready to compete yet, but at least put up a fight. I didn't know that the Rangers had a bunch of Cy Young in their rotation. The Mariners bats have gone silent, and can't get a hit to save their lives. They look like they are defeated already and given up before they get there.

It is hard to fathom only scoring 2 runs in the span of four games. It's not going to get any easier on the road. It's off to Toronto, Boston, and New York. While we are mired in a nine game losing streak, it could be a big one when they get home if they don't start to get it together. One team that I'm really starting to root for is the Pirates.

They have been down for so long. I don't know if they can sustain it, but it is fun. I'm not jumping on their bandwagon, but I will be watching to see if they continue to win, and do well. It is fun to see the Buccos be relevant again, instead of a laughing stock of a franchise.

Cool card and hard times

If you haven't seen it today, Jordan of Mint Condition put up this awesome looking custom of Big Mike Pineda.

 I like the use of the '76 design, even though the team wasn't around yet. I love the look of his customs and really want to see them on cardboard.

It is sad to see my Mariners struggling so mightily lately. It was in to the 31st inning before the Mariners had scored their last run. The offense has really started to struggle to even get hits, let alone runs. I won't get any easier after the Rangers, on a long east coast road trip. Let's start to be a little more like the Pirates and get back in it...

Somebody clue me in

I've been seeing everywhere for the last few days everyone clamoring over A&G. I see it every year, and don't understand the phenomenon. All of these parallels, unusual subsets, and proverbial nonsense in a baseball card set.

I have decided to buck the system. Instead of going after the new fad for the month, I'm going after something old. While I only own a very few cards from this set, it is still my favorite from my childhood. Our great friend and blogger extraordinaire Night Owl recently put up a poll and included this card:

My very first year of collecting had me buying 1979 Topps. I own complete sets of 79 and 81 Topps, but have neglected to work on the 1980 set. I love this set from the flags for position and team, to the all around strange photography. I always liked the fake autos on the front, the blue backs with the cartoons, and the all-around awesomeness of players in the set. I am so glad that the blog 1980 Topps Baseball blog has been out and slowly shows us card by card the 1980 set.

Consider this a call to all persons that have some extra 80's laying around, I'm looking for cards. The four things I collect right now are, Super Set Mariners, Angels in the Desert, 1980 Topps, and player collection cards for my son's favorites.

Welcome to Elite Company

I find myself in the presence of these great gentlemen. From Ted Williams at .406 in 1941

Ty Cobb at .401 in 1922

Babe Ruth came close at .393 in 1923

Rod Carew missed at .389 in 1977

George Brett inched a little closer in 1980 at .390

And Tony Gwynn was on his way there at .394 in 1994

That's right ladies and gentlemen I have hit the 400 club. I can't believe I made it to 400 posts and you are still reading and commenting. I really feel like one of the family in the big blogging world.