Fences not to blame for Mariner's offensive offense

The cries can be heard for miles around. The Mariners go out of town, score 40 runs in a series, come home, and struggle to avoid shutouts. Immediately, a thousand voices shout in agony, and they grow louder with seemingly every at bat.

"MOVE THE FENCES IN!"

Look, I love the long ball as much as the next guy, and it is frustrating going to the ballpark just to see how inept the Mariners can be this week.

But the problem isn't the fences. Yeah, the game would probably be slightly more entertaining, a few more fans would go home with souvenirs, and the Mariners would be losing 3-5 instead of 2-4. Because (insert name of visiting team here) is probably more likely to benefit from those new dimensions than the Montero-Ackley-Smoak-Seager-Saunders Mariners.

Don't get me wrong; I'm satisfied with the development of these players, but none of them are looking like 40+ home run guys. They aren't Miguel Cabrera, or Albert Pujols, or Prince Fielder, or Josh Hamilton. This team is built on players that project to have solid averages, strong plate command, and the OCCASIONAL dinger.

(more after the break)

Take everyone you know (by force if necessary) to the Arena rally Thursday.

Four years ago, Seattle lost its oldest professional franchise, the Seattle Supersonics. And when they were gone, a void opened up in the sports landscape of the Puget Sound. The Sounders did a nice job filling part of that void, but the fact is there is still a period of time from the day the 12th man flags are lowered until the scarves rise up, where our scene is as barren and dreary as our winters. And for this period of time, we have no recourse but to either just shut things down, and go into hibernation, or look to out of town teams without a rooting interest. 

But all of that could change before the end of the decade. By 2017, this city could build a third jewel south of Safeco Field to house two more teams worthy of bearing the name "Seattle' on their chests, our crests on their sleeves. We've being offered a wonderful gift, and we have the opportunity to become one of a handful of cities (a club not including LA) to host a team in each of the five major sports. 

We have the size. We have the interest. We have the resources. But, like anything in Seattle, we have to give an extra effort to get anything done. 

And so I implore all sports fans in and around the Emerald City who have the ability to attend, please make time for the Sonics Arena rally in Pioneer Square Thursday at 4 PM. There are going to be a ton of guests and musical artists, and the more who attend, the louder the message will be to the professional sports leagues looking to see just how badly we want it. The images from this day will be burned into the images of the naysayers, and fans across the country. 

Over 8,000 have already submitted RSVPs. We can go even higher. Submit your notice here, and join thousands of your brothers to help NBA/NHL happen.

via p.twimg.com

Occidental Park is two blocks north of the Centurylink Field parking lot. Free parking can be found under the viaduct and four blocks east of Safeco Field, near the BMW dealership.

The folks at the Port of Seattle are a bunch of hypocrites

http://crosscut.com/2012/06/01/mossback/108945/sports-arena-seattle-port-sodo-district-jobs-/

The link above is to an article detailing the port's extracurricular projects over the last decade or so. After reading it, one would be surprised to hear that they are fighting a new SoDo arena tooth and nail.