July 10, 2011: Mariners 2, Angels 4 (43-48)

So, here we are at the All-Star break, and the Mariners have just lost their last five games, all of them against division rivals. The team now has a record of 43-48, and sits 6.5 back of the Angels and 7.5 back of the Rangers. At this point, it’s safe to say that the Mariners aren’t going to make the playoffs. Oh, sure, it’s technically possible, but let’s be real: It’s not going to happen. Even if the Rangers and Angels both only play .500 baseball from here on out, the Mariners would need to go 43-28 the rest of the way just to finish in a tie. You’ll note that that’s the same number of wins that the team has right now. You’ll also note that that’s a whopping twenty losses less than the team has right now. It’s not going to happen.

The upshot of this is that Mariners fans are going to have to come to terms with the fact that the outcomes of every single remaining game are virtually meaningless. All of a sudden, it doesn’t really matter who wins the ballgame. That’s a hard pill to swallow. How can you really be a fan of a team if you don’t care what happens? If the games, instead of being invigorating battles of life and death, are instead chilling reminders of the rote pointlessness of so much of human existence? It must be hard. I’m certainly not ready for that. But I guess I’ll just have to get used to it. What other choice do I have?

Quick breakdown of today’s game: the Mariners scored two runs, the Angels scored four runs. The Mariners had five hits, the Angels had eight hits. Mariners batters walked twice and struck out nine times, Angels batters walked thrice and struck out seven times. The Mariners threw 137 pitches, the Angels threw 122 pitches. Why do I tell you all this? Because. These are all things that happened in a baseball game, and things that happen in a baseball game are interesting and worth reporting, no matter how banal. You want me to try to prove my argument? Ok. You just read all those facts. Boom. There’s your proof.