Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - M's are "Flexen" Their Muscles

Episode Date: December 11, 2020

The Mariners have signed free agent Chris Flexen. D.C. tells you about the M's new right-handed pitcher, how he did last year in the Korean Baseball Organization, and also how he's done at the Major League level. In addition, D.C. talks about this year's Ford C. Frick Award winner, Al Michaels. There is a very bizarre transaction that took place in 2006 involving Mr. Michaels and a cartoon character. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Thank you for tuning in to Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Here's your host, D.C. Lundberg. Thank you very much, J.M. I am indeed D.C. Lundberg here with to bring you another episode of Locked-on Mariner's. Part of the Locked-on podcast network, or T-L-O-P-N, or of course, T-Lopin. Please remember to download, rate, and subscribe to this program using whichever podcasting app that you personally care to use. Ask your smart device to play Locked-on Mariner's podcast or any program here on the Locked-on Podcast Network. Follow us on Twitter at L-O-U-O-U-N-S-Sore Mariners and follow me on Twitter at D-C-U-S-U-L-N-D-B-E-R-G, if you're scoring at home.

Well, gang, for the first time in a while, we have two shows in a row that have actual baseball news and Mariners' news to boot. First half of the show, we're going to tell you about the Mariners' new right-handed pitcher. And in the second half of the show, we're going to tell you about the Ford C. Frick Award winner, which doesn't have a whole lot to do with the Mariners, but the first half of the show certainly does. As I said, the Mariners do have a new pitcher in the fold. He was signed to a two-year major league contract on Wednesday worth $4.75 million in the Mariners are Flexen, their free agent muscles signing pitcher Chris Flexen. That was a horrible pun.

Please shoot me now. This deal is pending a physical, of course, and he will compete for a rotation spot in the upcoming spring training. Last season, he pitched in Korea with the Dusan Bears, appearing in 21 ball games, starting them all. ERA was 301, which is very, very good. Whip of 1.089, 7.5 hits per nine innings, 2.3 walks per nine innings, and he can strike him out too, 10.2 strikeouts per nine, and only a half a home run per nine.

He throws a fastball, a change-up, and a slider. That's the good news. The bad news is what he has previously done at the Major League level. In parts of three seasons with the New York Mets, 2017, 2018, and 2019, he's appeared in a combined 27 games, 11 of those being starts, with an aggregate 807 earned run average. And get this whip gang, 2.132. Almost two home runs per nine innings,

over seven walks per nine innings, and the strikeout numbers way down. 6.5 strikeouts per nine innings, 12 hits per nine innings. He has some control problems, and he's shown that at the Major League level, and also in his two seasons at AAA ball, where he has a combined 4-4-3 ERA in 44 games, 31 of those starts. All of this with Syracuse in the Mets system. His AAA whip is 1.494, 10.7 hits per nine innings,

2.7 walks per 9 innings, that number is not bad. And the strikeout numbers are higher in the minor league level than they are at the big league level. 9.9 strikeouts even per 9 innings, but too many home runs. 1.2 home runs per 9 innings in his 170 and 2 thirds innings of AAA baseball. He does have some control problems, which hasn't manifested itself so much in walks in the lower levels as it has in getting hit very hard and home runs at the minor league level. 10.7 hits per nine innings, that is too much. 1.2 home runs per nine innings, that is way too much.

The walk total doesn't scare me, but these numbers tell me, that tells me, pardon me, that he leaves a lot of balls out over the plate that are just begging to get hit hard for power as those home run numbers show. Going deeper into his minor league numbers, he only has seven games at the double A level. All of them are starts. 48 and two-thirds innings, a 166 ERA, and a very good whip. In Advanced A, he's pitched 28 ball games. They're all starts.

146 and two-thirds innings. His ERA is 344 with a whip of 1.302. That's, you know, for a Major League pitcher, I would consider that an average. 3.3 walks per nine innings, 8.4 hits per nine innings. Okay. home run total way down at the advanced A level. But again, this is advanced A. Lower levels of minor leagues, he seems to be okay.

Triple A numbers, not very good, not horrible, but not that great either. And the major league numbers are just terrible. Also keep in mind, gang, the Korean baseball organization, the talent level there is considered to be a little less than it is in Nippon Pro Baseball, the Japanese League. And that league is considered somewhere between AA and AAA. However, you know, very good walk numbers, not a whole lot of hits per nine in his season last year in the Korean League in Dusan. Maybe he can, you know, maybe he has turned a corner and can be productive at the Major League level.

Only time will tell on that one, gang, I'm not entirely optimistic to be completely honest, given his AAA numbers and his numbers at the Major League level. But like I said, who knows, let's see what happens. He was born on July 1st, 1994, in Newark, California. He is 26 years old. He was originally drafted by the Mets in the 14th round of the 2012 draft, and just a couple of seasons ago, he was ranked as the Mets number nine prospect in their system. Now, gang, time for a hall pass, which I introduced on the last episode, where I read some statistics and highlights from a player's career,

and you out there have to decide whether or not you would vote for this man to be in baseball's Hall of Fame. Today I present to you a pitcher who pitched 26 years in the major leagues between the 1960s and the 1980s. So his career spans three decades, career record of 288 and 231, 234 career ERA, 1.283 whip, 0.6 home runs per nine innings, 4.3 strikeouts per nine innings, 2.4 walks per nine innings. Acumulated 2,245 strikeouts against 1,259 walks. He is a four-time All-Star, led the league in one loss percentage twice, led the league in shutouts three times with a 12-year gap between the second and third times he led in that category. He also led his league in home runs per nine

innings three times, and walks per nine innings one time. He placed second, second, in Sy Young Award voting twice and also had a fourth place finished and an eighth place finished and also placed twice in MDP voting. Would you put this man in the Hall of Fame? I will tell you who this gentleman is

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for 20% off of your order. Built Bar, have it your way. Who was today's Hall Pass? That was Tommy John, better known for the elbow surgery, legament replacement surgery, that bears his name, but Tommy John pitched 26 years in the major leagues and had a very long career, obviously,

even after his surgery, which cost him the 1975 season, his age 32 season. His final season was 1989. at the age of 46. If you want to talk about longevity, this man has it in the bag, along with Jamie Moyer. And they were both left-handed.

And if you're left-handed, you get every opportunity or more opportunities than you do when you're right-handed. But he was still putting up very, very good numbers in his age 43 season. Even though he pitched sparingly,

he still put up a 293 ERA, pardon me. In his age 39 season, 37 games, 33 starts, a 369 ERA. His last all-star appearance was at the age of 37, and his first was at the age of 25. That is the career, ladies and gentlemen, of Tommy John.

Have you got a question or comment you would like to submit? Well, please do so. Send it into Lockdown Mariners at gmail.m.com. I will reply to it on the air at an upcoming mailbag episode. We do have a mailbag episode coming up. I don't know if it's going to be Friday or whether it's going to be on Saturday. Or I might push it to Monday. I'm not exactly sure at this time gang.

but one will be very soon. So if you want to get another question in or a comment, please send it to locked on mariners at gmail.com. It need not be about baseball. I encourage questions that have nothing whatever to do with baseball. I love answering them to be quite honest. Lockedown mariners at gmail.com, the place to send those emails, we will be back very shortly.

Now time for the second half of locked on mariners. Once again, your host, D.C. Lundberg. You bet. Thank you very much. Joey Martin. It is locked on mariners time. Second half of Locked on Mariners. That is.

Some more baseball news, not necessarily Mariners' news, but baseball news nonetheless. This year's winner of the Ford C. Frick Award has been announced. And it's me. Can you believe that? No, no, of course, it's not me. I'm never going to win. The only award I ever won was McDonald's employee of the month when I was 19 years old. In any case, Al Michaels is your Ford C. Frick Award winner for this year.

I think this is a wonderful choice. I miss him calling baseball games. The last time he was a regular announcer was during the next. 1995 World Series. I remember Al Michaels, actually, for a video game series, for which he provided the play-by-play commentary. It was actually a computer series. And it was the Hardball series.

Hardball 3, 4, and 5 featured the voice of Al Michaels. And Hardball 4 and Hardball 5 on PC, I played the hell out of those games. I thought they were terrific games. Al Michaels provided commentary on those games. That's mostly where I remember him because his baseball, you know, quote unquote career, so to speak, came to an end at the end of the 1995 postseason, much more known for Monday night football, Sunday night football. Before any of that happened when he was first with ABC Sports, he was kind of used as a utility type announcer, which is not a phrase that anybody uses, something I just made up. But there is a bowling tournament that he announced when Chris Schenkel was on assignment, an important boxing match, they had Al Michaels fill in for Chris Schenkel on the pro bowlers

tour. It was the 1979 Dutch Masters Open. This entire telecast is on YouTube. If you want to see a very young Al Michaels announce a bowling tournament, along of course with Bo Burton, Nelson Burton, Jr. Michaels did a very good job on this tournament. Obviously, he is not a bowling guy. He is an overall sports guy also announced the Miracle on Ice at the 1980 Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid, New York. You know, the famous call, do you believe in miracles? That is Al Michaels, ladies and gentlemen. And some of the more prominent games that baseball games that Al Michaels has done include

the 1985 World Series, where there was a very infamous call in game six at the very end of that ball game involving Jorge Orda and a ground out that wasn't. And then he announced Dave Henderson's dramatic home run in the 1986 American League Championship Series against Donnie Moore of the California Angels, which helped propel Boston to the World Series, which they would eventually lose to the New York Mets. We've already covered that World Series. And the earthquake series, sorry again, the 1989 World Series, which was interrupted by the Loma Pietra earthquake, he and Tim McAarver were already on the air, setting up. up that night's ball game. When the earthquake interrupted, they actually had B-roll going, showing Jose Kinseko from the previous game.

And then you can hear Michael's and McCarver saying, I think we've got an earthquake going on, and then it cuts to the ABC logo. And for a very brief period of time, they did lose connection. And over the ABC logo, you can hear them saying, I don't know if we're on the air or not, but we're going to keep speaking as if we were. And that video was on YouTube as well. That's one that I absolutely would check out if you've never seen it. I had not seen it until I was actually doing research on the 1989 World Series

for the 1989 World Series recap episode of this program. Jason Burke did host that episode. I'm not trying to take credit for that. I did write it for him. But in any case, that's beside the point. Al Michaels, I thought he was a great baseball announcer, very happy to see him gain entry to the, the broadcaster's wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

And we will end on the trivia note concerning Al Michaels. And this has to do with a time in the mid-2000s, between 2005 and 2006, when Monday Night Football changed hands, when the Disney Corporation moved Monday Night Football from ABC to ESPN. They still owned both networks. And John Madden was moving to Sunday Night Football, which NBC covered. Al Michaels was employed by ABC at the time, employed by the Disney Corporation for Monday Night Football,

which aired on ABC. When they moved it to ESPN, he was not going to be a part of that broadcast team. And to get out of his contract with ABC and move to NBC so he could be with John Madden on Sunday night football, he was in effect traded from ABC to NBC for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, which was originally a Walt Disney creation, but he lost the rights to Oswald in 1928,

and Universal Pictures took over the copyright, the rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. And Universal Pictures later, you know, part of NBC Universal, so they owned Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. So Al Michaels goes from the Walt Disney Corporation to NBC Universal, and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit goes from NBC Universal to the Walt Disney Corporation, almost 80 years after Disney lost the rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

Michaels himself was quoted as saying, I'm going to be a trivia answer someday, end quote. Yeah, you are, because that is a very bizarre footnote in the great career of Mr. Al Michaels. Congratulations on winning the Ford C. Frick Award. That'll do it for this one, gang. Next episode will be the mailbag episode. I'm not sure whether that's going to be public. tomorrow or on Saturday, but it'll most likely be one of those two days.

John Miller, a lot on Mariners contributor, John Miller is going to join me for that one, and it should prove to be a good show. Please remember to download rate and subscribe to this program. Look us up on any podcasting app that you can happen to think of. Follow us on Twitter at L.O. underscore Mariners. Follow me on Twitter at D.C. underscore Lundberg. Thank you for listening to you today's show, ladies and gentlemen, and whether this is your first episode or whether you're a long-time listener,

I appreciate each and every one of you listening to this program. Take care of yourselves, and I'll talk to you next time. This is Joey Martin speaking for Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network.