Mariners’ biggest loss

As I turned the final page of my 2010 calendar — the one with the Seattle Mariners’ schedule, which basically is the plan for my year since I cover the team — one thought came to mind.

I should burn it.

From a Mariners baseball perspective, it was a terrible year. What bega

n as a year of great hope with Cliff Lee in the starting rotation and many predictions of a contending team turned into a season of couldn’ts, wouldn’ts and didn’ts.

Remember these?

Ken Griffey Jr. (and the whole team) didn’t hit.

Eric Byrnes couldn’t/wouldn’t/didn’t get is bat on a suicide squeeze bunt and, when last seen in Seattle, was pedaling his bike out of the clubhouse not long before the team released him.

Erik Bedard didn’t pitch. Again.

Jack Wilson couldn’t stay healthy. Again.

Griffey didn’t stay awake during a game.

Milton Bradley couldn’t stay healthy in body or mind.

Hitting coach Alan Cockrell couldn’t make it past May before he was fired.

Griffey wouldn’t handle a part-time role (see “didn’t hit” above) and retired.

Chone Figgins wouldn’t respect authority.

Manager Don Wakamatsu couldn’t corral a clubhouse of faltering (and often fuming) veterans (see “Figgins respect” above).

Felix Hernandez, showing both his amazing skill and impressive maturity, wouldn’t succumb to the pitiful play around him and won a Cy Young Award

Wakamatsu and three more of his coaches — bench coach Ty VanBurkleo, pitching coach Rick Adair and mental performance coach Steve Hecht — couldn’t last the season before they were fired.

The Mariners couldn’t avoid an embarrassing 101 losses for the second time in three years.

There was a whole lot more, but you get the idea.

Before a game during the final series at Safeco Field, I ran into broadcaster Dave Niehaus near the elevator outside the Mariners’ clubhouse and asked how long he’d been looking forward to the end of the season. I can’t remember exactly what he said, but he said it with a smile even though it was clear this was the toughest of his 34 years with the team.

I’ll never forget that moment because it’s the last time I spoke with Dave. Barely a month later, on Nov. 10, he was gone, the victim of a heart attack at his home in Bellevue.

Dave and I talked a lot over the years about the value of baseball beyond the victories and losses that we analyze and agonize over too much. Baseball offers a daily balance to the spring, summer and fall to so many people — die-hard fans, kids who watch their idols on the field every day and, especially, those in hospitals and nursing homes whose best three hours of the day are when the Mariners are playing. A losing season is better than no season, and Niehaus always considered it his honor to have his job.

That’s why the greatest loss of all in 2010 was Dave Niehaus.

Some have said the demise of Griffey and his retirement were the biggest blows to the team in 2010. It was huge, no doubt, but Niehaus’ death not only was the biggest loss of the year, it was the greatest in the history of the franchise.

Because of it, I didn’t burn that 2010 calendar.

There’s a strong urge to erase the memory of a year like that, but it would be the wrong thing to do. You can’t appreciate the good times unless you realize what the painful times felt like.

Nobody wants to repeat what the Mariners dealt with last year, but it should never be forgotten.

Read Kirby Arnold’s blog on the Mariners at www.heraldnet.com/marinersblog. He also files updates on Twitter at @kirbyarnold.