By John Sleeper
Herald Writer
SEATTLE – An open letter to the late Abner Doubleday, alleged founder of baseball:
Dear Abner,
Done spinning in your grave yet?
OK, OK, the speculation is that you never had anything to do with the National Pastime, contrary to what those mucky-muck historians tell us. You know, that you drew up the game spontaneously on a cocktail napkin or something on that fateful day in 1839 in Cooperstown, N.Y.
Alas, it all may be complete hooey, as historian Ken Burns claims: that you never even saw a baseball game, that your legend as baseball’s father was created by a friend of yours, a demented old man with an audience, a fifth of Jim Beam and too much time on his hands.
Abner, on the off chance that you and baseball are on a first-name basis, let us remind you that the Seattle Mariners were playing the game exactly as you may have drawn it up on the cocktail napkin.
But they didn’t in a 6-1 loss to the Kansas City Royals Tuesday night at sold-out Safeco Field – a loss that snapped a four-game winning streak.
“The story tonight was that we just didn’t hit the ball,” Seattle manager Lou Piniella said. “We just didn’t generate much offense.”
Or anything else, for that matter.
Abner, from shortstop Carlos Guillen’s third-inning, run-scoring throwing error to his drop of a line drive in the sixth to pitcher Freddy Garcia’s mysterious brain fades to Seattle’s punchless offense to Bret Boone’s drop of a foul ball in the ninth, the Mariners hardly played the part of the juggernaut they’ve been all season.
No, no, it’s hardly time for Mariner fans to start wringing their hands. Not when Seattle is 72-28, a record umpteen games better than anyone else.
The Mariner hitters had fits trying to figure out pitcher Kris Wilson (5-1), who also beat the Mariners and Garcia July 19 and was making just his seventh career start.
Wilson struck out six, gave up seven hits and didn’t walk a batter in eight innings. He struck out Mark McLemore three times.
“You have to give him credit,” Seattle second baseman Bret Boone said. “He mixed up his pitches. He was tough to hit. He got that big pitch in Kansas City and he got it here tonight.”
In this corker of a season, Abner, Tuesday night was a fluke. And flukes are noteworthy.
Guillen let in two Royals runs with some creative defensive play. Garcia (11-3), elegantly overpowering most of the game, inexplicably lost concentration in the sixth inning and was battered for three decisive runs on four hard-hit balls.
Sure, Abner, some of the Mariner lumber was missing. Piniella’s makeshift lineup put McLemore into center field in place of new father Mike Cameron, and Stan Javier in right field for Ichiro Suzuki, who was the designated hitter in place of the ailing Edgar Martinez.
But Abner, Wilson didn’t allow a hit since Suzuki’s infield dribbler to lead off the game until Carlos Guillen hit a two-out single to right in the fifth. Guillen came around to score on Dan Wilson’s double that hit the left-field wall to tie the game at 1.
In the sixth, Garcia gave up back-to-back doubles by Rey Sanchez and Mike Sweeney, a triple by ex-Mariner Raul Ibanez and a line shot by Gregg Zaun that bounced out of Guillen’s glove to fall behind, 4-1.
Seattle threatened in the seventh when Javier and Guillen both singled, but Sanchez made a fine diving stop on Wilson’s ground ball and turned it into an inning-ending double play.
“I thought it was going through,” Wilson said. “He made a great play on it.”
That’s kind of the way it went, Abner. It was one of those strange nights you didn’t cover on your cocktail napkin.
But really, it’s unlikely you’ll lose much sleep over it.
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