And it continues...

Just as I thought I had jinxed it all, they did it again.

The 2007 Seattle Mariners have done something many of us thought they couldn't accomplish. And by many of us, I mostly mean Ravi.

Ravi continually states that I will be done with the Mariners and onto the Seahawks every time I send him a complaining email about the M's. Except for now it is June 13th and at 35-26 and only three games out of first place the Seahawks couldn't seem more irrelevant. Just for fun:

June 13, 2006 - 31-35 (3.5 games out of first) - huh?

June 13, 2005 - 26-35 (10 games out of first) - yes

June 13, 2004 - 25-36 (12 games out of first) - awesome

June 13, 2003 - 44-21 (first place) - dear lord

Four years ago, life was awesome. And now it is awesome again.

And yesterday was insane.

I was out to dinner with Dana and her sister's family so the first eight innings almost didnt' exist in my mind. I saw the Cubs jump out to a 2-0 lead and then noticed a 2-2 score before getting in the car just in time to hear Michael Barrett tie the score at 3-3 in the eighth inning. Of course this was followed by a long double and with no outs, I couldn't take it. The radio turned off.

Moments later I turned it back on to hear Brandon Morrow walking Cliff Floyd intentionally. As I got out of the car and ran into the apartment, apparently Morrow got a guy out. Now with one out and still the bases loaded, it became George Sherrill time.

Strikeout of Felix Pie.

By the way, Pie sucks. Any ball that is near the inside corner he jumps out of the way. He is the kid in Little League who is afraid of being hit so he cowers in fear. Oh that kid was me just so you know.

Strikeout of some dude name Fontenot or something. Obviously that guy sucks also.

Somehow then I got to watch another five innings of baseball as both teams escaped mini jams and relied on pitchers who shouldn't be getting outs. This brought us to the magical 13th inning.

Jose Vidro, who replaced injured Adrian Beltre and played in the field for the first time all season, absolutely mashed a ball to left field. But because he is Jose Vidro it bounced off the ivy for a double. I actually felt a bit of shock that he made it to second. See if Jose Lopez eats cheeseburgers between innings, then Vidro eats chocolate cakes dipped in Spam and lard. Oh and add on the fact that his knees are non-existent and you have a slow dude in "scoring position". Hard to call it scoring position with all that lard dripping down your chin.

Lou Piniella intentionally walked Yuniesky Betancourt. Recognize! And Willie Bloomquist came to the plate. If you don't quite understand my feelings here, please read the previous blog entry. Of course Willie came through with a single to right field. And the hilarity ensued.

Vidro put down the cake and started to round third to go home, only third base coach Carlos Garcia put up a stop sign. Vidro, confused by Garcia's signals thinking he simply wanted some of the cake, wanted to get away from Carlos as soon as possible. Get your own cake Los! After a stop-start bone-grinding pause action, Vidro started chugging home. By this time, Jacque Jones had picked up the ball, ran into the dugout to relieve himself, got some new seeds, found a date for after the game in the bleachers, and thrown the ball home where Michael Barrett waited with a smile. Vidro, knowing how long it would take him to get up if he slid, decided to tip toe around the plate. At this time, Barrett thought he saw Carlos Zambrano running at him so he dropped the ball as he attempted to tag Vidro. Thinking the plate was made of lard, Vidro stepped lightly on the back side for a safe call and a 4-3 Mariner lead.

Yes, this actually happened and yes, it seemed as strange as it sounds.

Jamie Burke, back up catcher, drove in an insurance run and JJ Putz closed out the game despite apparently having the flu. And as the team congratulated each other, Putz did look like he wanted to puke on Bloomquist. Which would have been awesome.

Another improbable victory and another day longer enjoying baseball season.