William Walker, Author
It’s funny, the things you remember.
Edgar and friends (AP)
When it comes to Edgar Martinez, sometimes what you remember isn’t even about Edgar. Fitting, isn’t it? Even for Edgar himself, he never made it all about Edgar either. Continue reading “It isn’t really about Edgar. Then again…”
Lookit ‘em all!
Well hey now, how about a little positivity after the downer of that last post.
Yesterday morning, mlb.com projected the starting lineups – without pitchers – for every single major league team. That’s thirty lineups. And let’s just say there’s a ton of ex-Mariners out there who are judged to be good enough to start for one of the 29 major league teams that aren’t Your Seattle Mariners. Fifteen position players, to be exact. Let’s say that again.
Fifteen ex-Mariners, not including pitchers, fifteen ex-Mariners will be on starting rosters for other teams come April this year.
Yeah, hard for us to look at too. But it’s all good! Read on!
(baseball-reference.com)
Fathers cut a wide swath, don’t they?
You could be an example of strength and courage, an inspiration to generations of offspring. You could be the guy who was always there, without fail, cheering, win or lose, at every game, regardless of the sport. You could be the Cool Dad, the one with all the jokes. Hell, you could abandon your children and still cut a swath when even by your absence you drop a permanent sour turd in their lives that never goes away.
Or you could do it like Marv Marinovich.
1988: Marv and his army and their perfect product. (SI.com) Continue reading “Not a pretty story”
The fire sale on the Mariners roster takes no account of the feelings of the fans, the burning desire to grab that playoff spot with the men on the club right now, the love we feel as family for these devoted ballplayers who’ve given at least a piece of their lives, bitter as it may be with all the losing, to us. But it’s all business. Stiff upper lip, chaps. And what not.
Here at Playin’ in the Dirt, we had to blow off a little folk-song steam along with all the tears, so here, as our gift to you, our one or two verified readers out there… well, you know the tune…
Anybody here seen my old friend Abraham?
Continue reading “Abraham, Martín, and Juan”
The petunia withereth, the Mariners choketh. And it’s only the bottom of the 5th®
Take heart, Mariner fans!
The excitement of the 2018 season is just getting started. Now that the Mariners are officially, gracefully, thankfully, mercifully, and without fanfare, eliminated from the postseason, who will be named Playin’ In The Dirt’s 2018 Ex-Mariner of the Year? Continue reading “Who will be 2018 Ex-Mariner of the Year?”
This is what abuse looks like, and it’s not even about the abusers.
Where would abusers be without their enablers?
Will we ever have the courage to look in the mirror and realize who the enablers are? But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let’s circle back to that in a minute. Meanwhile grind your teeth at a few examples.
Kathie Klages, comfortably retired. Maybe.
Michigan State University has been front and center in the Larry Nassar scandal. But how did he get away with it for so long? Continue reading “Abuse looks like this”
It is I, Francis, your shepherd. Hear me, I have spoken.
Great news, Catholics. This week in pedophilia, your very own Pope Francis wrote you a nice letter. A letter too long coming, a letter strong on intention, a letter too weak on real-world action.
As reported by BBC, His Holiness penned the message after a sharp kick in the ass from the Attorney General of Pennsylvania, Continue reading “Too little too late, Mister Pope”
Man this is baseball. You gotta stop thinking so much!
Relax and enjoy it, man. (20th Century Fox)
Remember a month and a half ago? Wasn’t it awesome? The fans were on fire. Rick Rizzszzzs couldn’t stop telling us “these guys never… ever… give up.” Continue reading “I bet you get straight A’s and s**t huh?”
Well dammit.
The whole Father’s Day thing was about to pass without these salty puddles all over my nice shirt. Then Jose Trevino happened.
Thanks to Gary Bedingfield and his fine work at Baseball’s Greatest Sacrifice for the inspiration to write this post.
John McCrae knew something about poppies.
Mattress Sales. Gun Shows. Special savings, this weekend only. Traffic jams. Campouts. Summer kickoff barbecues. Continue reading “Memorial Day: YOUR NAME HERE”