Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - One Thing Leads To Another (Part II)

Episode Date: November 30, 2020

Continuing their conversation from last time, D.C. Lundberg and Jon Miller start talking about the pennant races from 1996 and 1995, which leads to a conversation about Mark Langston, which then goes to Dwight Gooden and other pitchers with great breaking pitches. So of course, Randy Johnson's name comes up, which then leads to talk about Larry Walker and the 1997 All-Star Game, then other All-Star Game moments. 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.

Welcome to Locked-on Mariner's, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Here's your host, D.C. Lundberg. You bet. Thank you very much, Joey Martin. I am D.C. Lundberg. I almost forgot my own name there for a second, but I am the host of Locked-on Mariner's, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. Please remember to download, or brought to you by belt bar, by the way. Please remember to download rate and subscribe to this program on whichever podcasting app that you personally care to use. Ask your smart device to play Locked-on Mariner's podcast or a program here on the Locked-on Podcast Network.

Follow us on Twitter at L-O-O-U-N-S-Sore Mariner's. Follow me on Twitter at D.C. underscore Lundberg, L-U-N-D-B-E-R-G. If you're scoring at home. Joining us once again, Locked-on Mariner's contributor, John Miller. John, how art thou? Thou art doing very well. Thank you, kind sire. Excellent.

On the last show, we're probably, see, and I've been, ladies and gentlemen, to peel back the curtain, I've been kind of recording out of order and not really knowing what show is coming up, but the last episode I'm probably going to air right before this one. So this is, so if you listen to our last episode, John and I had a great conversation where we started in Minnesota. We went to Toronto. We ended in Seattle talking about Dennis Cook, and then Jamie Moyer and Terry Mulholland. So why don't we start off talking about Jamie Molland?

So why don't we start off talking about Jamie Moyer and Terry Mulholland and talk about some of the, you know, the pennant races that the Mariners were able to enjoy in the mid-90s, and we'll start in 1996. That's the season, John, that I remember most vividly. I really came into baseball and really became a fan at the end of the 1995 season. So I didn't get to enjoy the pennant race, as I'm sure most of you out there listing did, if you're our age at least. And I know that you, you know, were on that. roller coaster ride, that magic carpet ride, as Dave Nehouse called it 1995, basically the whole way.

So I'll actually ask you this, John, what are your fondest memories from the 1995 season? From the 1995 season, probably my fondest memories would be, as the pennant race was coming to a close, the game would be on the television in my house every night and whoever the family was home was kind huddled around in the living room we were eating dinner in there or if it was game was going late enough okay well we're making popcorn and we're watching the game

and then as we get into the division series then I distinctly remember my sister and I having to and I don't mean to be crude, having to time our bathroom breaks or the commercials in between innings. Right. And I'm sure you were not the only ones doing that. And we had two bathrooms,

so it's like, okay, they got the outrun, just in case they called it short or whatever, and they come back, we didn't want to miss a pitch, and that carried on into the championship series. Yes. I don't have very vivid, memories of the playoffs, because

for some reason I just remember 1996, way more than I do anything in 1995. But when you talk about the Mariners' playoffs in 1995, obviously the double is the first thing that I think springs to everybody's mind. And then Edgar Martinez's grand slam. And though this technically wasn't the

postseason, Louis Soho's everybody scores play. Yes. Oh, that's great. And the other part about that one, and everybody uses the word ironic incorrectly. And so at risk of doing that, I'm not going to say it was irony. But starting for the Angels that day was Mark Langston, who was traded to the Expos for the package of players that included Randy Johnson. And they opposed each other in that game.

And I thought that that, I guess, dichotomy was very, very interesting. It was, and if those of you out there have access to root sports, they have aired it a couple times already. Mariner's spotlight where Rick Riz will be interviewing a former mariner. In this case, he was interviewing Mark Langston, and they got to talk about that. It was really great to hear about Langston being a mariner, but then playing against the mariners, and now talking about years later. I recommend that to you. Absolutely.

And speaking, I guess, pardon me, some more on Mark Langston, he and Alvin Davis in 1984, I believe, were one and two in the rookie of the year race. And it's kind of a shame that they didn't tie quite honestly because they were both deserving of the award. They were both excellent. And also in 1984 talking about Langston and pitching, you had Dwight Gooden in. the National League, who was also putting up just, you know, striking out people left and right as a rookie.

I think it was 19 at the time. Langston was in his 20s. He's a little older than Doc Gooden. But the two rookie pitchers in each league kind of fighting it out for the league's strikeout crown, that doesn't happen every day. No, it doesn't. And looking back at that footage because I was obviously an infant at the time, but looking back at it, it is just great to watch the clips of Langston and Dr. Kay. Yes. And actually, when I think about it, they were very similar pitchers at the time.

They were both power pitchers. Doc Gooden had a little bit more velocity than Langston did, and they both had a power curveball. You know, although, you know, Dwight Gooden right-handed, Mark Langston was left-handed. So in that regard, they're different. But their repertoires and the way they went about it, very similar. Incredibly. And you mentioned their curve.

Yes. I love watching cold strikeouts, especially when you can get the curve in there and the look on the batter's face, just like, where did that one come from? And when you know it's coming from a great pitcher like that. Absolutely. I could not agree more, which is why. I was very happy when the Mariners picked up Aaron Seeley before the 2000 season, who had that big 12 to 6 curve ball, which he could paint on either corner for a strike,

for a called third strike. That type of pitching has always been much more interesting to me than just people who, you know, simply blow people away and don't necessarily know where the ball is going. Randy Johnson certainly was a power pitcher, but he also had that backdoor break ball that he could use against right-handed pitchers that would just, you know, nip the outside part of the plate that looked like he was on the other side of the left-handed batters box, and it would just snap back and strike three-year-out. Yeah, his slider was nasty.

You couldn't hit it. Well, actually, I take that back because Rex Hudler did pretty well against Randy Johnson, and I remember one game that he played against the Mariners in 1996, where he actually hit a home run off the big unit off that slider. And it may have missed this location by just a little bit, but he was. went back to the dugout saying don't give up on his slider. Meaning, if you think it's going to be outside, stay on it because it's coming back and people couldn't do it.

Aside from Hudler, obviously, but it was very tough not to give up on, which was, which is what made him so dominant because you had to account for that. Absolutely. The sudden movement on the pitch, and when he could mix that with that tremendous fastball that was bordering triple digits at times. And then if he would throw his change up, which not his best pitch, but still, when you can do that and be throwing in the 95 plus and then drop it down to 85, that will really throw batters off.

Oh, and you really got something, especially with this tall frame. It's all arms and legs coming at you. Although his delivery was a lot more controlled at that. point than it was earlier in his career, but he still had very, very long limbs, which made him deceptive, particularly to left-handed hitters. By that time, managers would just take all the left-handed hitters out of the starting lineup and load it with right-handed hitters. In this particular game that I'm referencing, the Angels started one left-handed hitter,

Jim Edmonds, and the rest was right-handers. And I don't think there's a better example of this than the Mariners' second-ever interleague game, which was against the Colorado Rockies. Larry Walker sat out that game, and he was chasing a 400 batting average at that time, but he didn't play in that game, even though he was the Rocky's best offensive player, and that led to kind of an interesting All-Star game moment, which we're going to talk about in a little bit, ladies and gentlemen. But first, I am going to tell you about Built Bar.

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Oh my goodness gracious. They're going to love that ad. If you've got a question or comment, that was horrible. Question or comments sent to Lockdown Mariners at gmail.com. I'll read them and reply to them on the air. Questions and comments on any subject, please, especially in the off-season where there's not a lot of baseball news to talk about. We can talk about anything.

PBA event is being televised actually by the time this air, so it's probably going to be over, but on Sunday. It's not a sanctioned PBA event. It's an exhibition. Still going to be fun to watch. So send in questions and comments about that. about curling, anything you want to. Just remember that it's a family show.

So bear that in mind as those comments and questions are sent into Locked-on Mariners at gmail.com. This program will resume after something. What am I doing? This program will be back in a bit. Now time for the second half of Locked-on Mariners. Once again, your host, D.C. Lundberg. Thank you very much, J.M.

Here I am, so to speak, back on Locked-on Mariners, joined by the person who's holding up this show currently. Lockdown Mariners, contributor, John Miller. How goes it, sir? It goes well, but you've got to take some of the show's weight out of my shoulders. I'm starting to collapse here. I will try. I'll certainly try. We left off talking about Larry Walker sitting out against Randy Johnson in 1997, Walker, a left-handed hitter chasing 400 at the time,

which led to an interesting All-Star game moment, because they face each other in the All-Star game. You can't set that one out. And as a matter of fact, to set this up, the video clip they played right before Larry Walker's at bat was Johnson throwing the ball over the head of John Kruk in the 1993 All-Star game. They cut back to Johnson being in the middle of his delivery,

and that very pitch sails over Larry Walker's head. They could not have planned it better than that. Going back and watching that, again, You've already said, I don't want to say ironic, but that's what comes to mind. Yeah, a little bit. Larry Walker then took his batting helmet off, crossed home plate, put his helmet on backwards, and set up as a right-handed hitter for one pitch. As Randy Johnson facetiously goes to the Rosenberg and kind of grins out at Larry Walker, it was a great all-star moment.

That is what you want to see as a fan. the athletes, the ballplayers, having fun. Because it is the All-Star game. Yet, we're serious about it, so to speak. We're trying to win because we try to win every game. But this is kind of a mid-season thank you to the fans. We've got the best of the best out here, and they're showing off, maybe having a little bit of fun with each other like that,

and showing that while these guys are Hall of Famers, Larry Walker now in, but they go from larger-than-life athletes being on a weedy cereal box to these guys can joke around, these guys can have a laugh with each other, yet still play the game. That's a very, very good way to put it. And Larry Walker was always known as a player who had a very good sense of humor, not necessarily the practical joker, but a very, very funny man, which always helps to keep a ball club loose. And kind of bouncing off something that you said about the players, having fun and showing the fans that while they are serious about winning,

that they can have fun and joke around at the same time, the 1996 All-Star game in particular, while it didn't have a lot of funny moments attached to it, and it was two years after the strike, remember, ladies and gentlemen. But the players at that time, Albert Bell, aside, seemed to have just a certain camaraderie that year. It was Ozzy Smith's final All-Star game. That probably played into it, and he got a standing ovation from both the fans and players

prior to his final at bat, and the manager, who was managing the National League that you, Bobby Cox. Bobby Cox left him in the game to play shortstop, kind of a little longer than planned just because, you know, because it was his time. And the shortstop that they still had left on the bench, Mark Grudson-Lonik, wound up going into the game at third base. And Eric Young and Ozzy Smith wound up turning a double play in the ninth inning. And, you know, they slapped hands, they embraced.

And it was a good, it was a great scene to see these guys, you know, doing that after the bitter feelings of the strike. And I think the 1996 All-Star game kind of helped to bridge that gap a little bit. Would you, would you agree, John? I agree. And as I'm playing this back in my mind, having watched it, before. I'm very much reminded of the 2001 All-Star

game and it being Cal Ripkin Jr.'s final game. It was, yes. And playing back that and I encourage you to please go look this up. It is very emotional for

and for someone like UDC, Cal Ripkin being your favorite player. Yep. Watching in a very classy move, Alex Rodriguez ushering Cal Ripkin over to the

shortstop position and they did say a few words and Cal was many people's hero growing up. He was one of Alex Rodriguez's heroes, one of his favorite players. And so to share that moment

and put Cal and they kind of had to force him over to shortstop again where the position that he had played for so many years as one of the greatest of all time. Yeah, and talking about he kind of had to be forced to go over, Alex Rodriguez was pointing to the American League dugout. Cal did not want to go, and he was shaking his head.

He said, no, I'm not going to shortstop. I'm a third baseman. Alex then points to the dugout, and Joe Tori's telling him to move over, and Alex is telling, look, the manager's telling you, it to play shortstop. You have to, which is one of my favorite moments from that All-Star game. The other great moment, I'll set it up for you, John, and then I'll let you take it home, was Cal Ripkin Jr's first at bat versus Chanho Park.

What exactly did Cal Ripkin do off Chanho Park, sir? Cal Ripkin Jr. ripped a home run to left field into the bullpen there at Safeco Field. Yes, indeed. And warming, there was a pitch. you're warming up for the American League. It happened to be John Burkett. Burkett caught the ball, and there's now a plaque in that bullpen in what used to be known as Safeco Field talking about that specific home run, and that plaque was dedicated during Cal's final game in Safeco Field later on in the season.

Burkett happened to be a good friend of Cal Ripkin Jr.'s to boot, so it was kind of nice that he got to catch that ball. We can talk about John Burkett's bowling career at another time, but I don't want to derail. the subject they were on now, which is great all-star game moments, or maybe Cal Rican Jr. We'll see where this goes. But that all-star game moment was so special to a whole lot of people, Cal included. He had been in, I don't know, 18 all-star games, 17, 18 all-star games. I don't know how many he wound up making, but he was the MVP of this one.

He was also the MVP in 1991. That game was in Toronto. And as he was accepting the award after the game, he told the crowd that in all these All-Star games that he had been a part of, that that one was the most special. And that got a huge ovation from the crowd. And me at home, I was, I didn't know, I don't, I don't think I knew what to do. It was just an incredible moment. Honoring a, not just a great ball player, just a great man like that. Yeah. And honoring Ozzie Smith, as we talked about, or Calerican Jr., and it seems like

an All-Star game is a good place for something like that, where it's not during the season, we're not taking away from whatever. The All-Star game is going to be long anyway. The TV blocks out long blocks of time for it. So we can take the time to have these on-field ceremonies and we have a game MVP, but then we can have the players and the fans rightly pay this player or, manager in some cases the honor that they so richly deserve. Yeah, it's always nice to see somebody like Cal or somebody like Ozzy Smith be honored

at an All-Star game, you know, in that fashion. But we are just about out of time, as if I'm keeping time. But so we're probably a little overtime, which is fine. John, where can people find you on Twitter? I can be found on Twitter at Seattle Pilot 69. Thank you very much. Thanks again for joining us on this episode. and the last one, sir.

Always a pleasure having you on the show. Thank you, sir. And again, watch in the future, the near future for the episode that John is going to guest host looking back and recounting another great world series of the past. I think that's probably going to be

the subject of our next episode as well where I, or another guest host, I'm not exactly sure, will be recounting a world series of the past. In the interim, please remember to download rate and subscribe to this program on any podcasting app

It may happen to spring to mind. Follow us on Twitter at L.O. underscore Mariners. Follow John on Twitter at Seattle Pilots 69, and I'm on Twitter as well. Follow me at D.C. underscore Lundberg. Thanks again for listening, ladies and gentlemen, we will be back next time. Hope did, hope, I hope, oh, geez, I hope you, forget it. This is Joey Martin speaking for Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network.