Mariners Hope For Winning Season

The big boys step up to the plate today as Major League Baseball begins another season. For fans in the Pacific Northwest, it looks like it’s going to be another long year for the hometown Seattle Mariners, who lost 101 games last year. Most prognosticators predict the Mariners will finish fourth in their division, which is not good since there are only three other teams: the Oakland A’s, Texas Rangers and the Los Angeles Angels.

The Mariners’ season stars Friday when they visit Oakland for a three-game series. Last year’s American League Cy Young award-winner Felix Hernandez gets the call from the M’s, and he’ll be followed by Jason Vargas on Saturday and Doug Fister on Sunday. The two other starters for the M’s are Eric Bedard, who hasn’t pitched in a game since 2009 but has looked sharp in spring training, and promising rookie Michael Pineda.

On the hitting side, the Mariners look to improve from last year’s total of 513 runs, the lowest since the designated hitter era began in 1973. Ichiro will be gunning for his 11th straight 200-hit season, but the fate of the team hinges on the big three—Milton Bradley, Jack Cust and Justin Smoak—to produce and drive him home.   

The Mariners’ first home game is April 8 when they host the Cleveland Indians. You can drive down to Safeco Field, of course, but  is also available.