Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - What If? 1995... (Part I)

Episode Date: May 7, 2020

What if the 1995 Mariners wouldn't have had to play the one-game playoff to decide the American League Western Division Crown? What if they won the division outright? How would the postseason have turned out? While back out on the road, D.C. Lundberg changes just a few at bats during one particular regular season game, switching a loss to a victory, setting up an outright win of the AL West, setting up a different pitching rotation in the postsason. 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. We're back out on the road, this time coming to you on location from Hayden, Idaho. Yes, Hayden, Idaho, ladies and gentlemen, as the Locked-on Mariners Party into Panhandle continues. I am D.C. Lundberg, your globe-trot-trot-trodding host. If by globe, you mean certain parts of Highway 2, Highway 95, I-90, and various state routes in the gem state. In any case, Locked-on Maritors is part of the Locked-on Podcast Network,

brought to you this month by Built Bar. Remember to download, rate, and subscribe to Locked-on Mariners on Google Podcast, Apple Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher Radio, or whichever podcasting app that you personally care to use. Ask your smart device to play Locked-on Mariner's podcast or Locked on Team Name Here podcast. podcast. Follow this program on Twitter at L.O. underscore Mariners. Follow this podcast host on Twitter at D.C. underscore Lundberg. Of course, L-U-N-D-B-E-R-G if you're scoring at home. Ladies and gentlemen, all this week across the locked-on family of podcasts, our hosts are looking

at their teams different, you know, what-if scenarios. The biggest one, obviously, for the Mariners is, what if the Mariners played so badly while Ken Griffey Jr. was hurt in 1995 that they never had a chance to win the division. Well, obviously, they would have moved to West Virginia or wherever the hell, and some Yokel and Huntington would be hosting this program. Well, that's the show for today, gang. Thank you for joining us. We'll be back next week with another theme. Thanks for tuning in. No, no, no, of course that's not it. We actually are going to go back to that magical 1995 season. And as unforgettable and special as it was, the Mariners were defeated at the the American League Championship Series by the Cleveland Indians in six games.

Plus, the division series went to the maximum five games, and game five went into extra innings, no less. The Mariners ended the regular season in a tie with the California Angels for the American League West title after surging in August and September, and after the Angels fell off the face of the earth, to not only erase a 13-game deficit, but the Mariners climbed out of last place in the AL West. However, what if the Mariners hadn't tied for the ALS crown? What if they had won the division outright and didn't have to play that one game playoff

against the Angels? There are a few games to point out that the Mariners had a chance to win. They were 18 and 23 in one-run games. Plus, the game on September 27th against those angels in the kingdom, was a two-nothing loss following seven wins in a row, and that would be the only game that they would lose on that particular homestand. We're going to talk about that game today, kind of play around with the numbers.

You know, let's see if a few different at-bats had turned out differently. How the game would have turned out. We will start with starting pitcher Tim Belcher, who went eight innings that game. He was very good, aside from two runs that he gave up in the first inning. His first inning looked like this. Tony Phillips let off and drew a walk after working the count full. Gary D. Sarcena grounded out, Phillips advances to second base.

Jim Edmonds flies out and Phillips stays on second. Tim Salmon hit an RBI single scoring Phillips. Chili Davis then hit an RBI double, scoring Salmon, and Davis advances to third base. With two runs in, J.T. Snow grounds out to end the inning. But what if Phillips had struck out rather than walked, or popped out, or whatever? The next two batters made out, so that would have been a one, two, three inning, no-run scoring. Now all of a sudden you've got a scoreless game, and the M's did have a few scoring opportunities against Angel Starter Chuck Finley, which we will get to in a moment.

But first, the Mariners trivia question. At 6'10, Randy Johnson was not only the tallest person on the Mariners in 1995. He was the tallest person in the major leagues. The Mariners had two relief pitchers who both stood 6'8. Who were they? Answer, following this message from Bilt Bar. Last weekend, all the Lockdown hosts were on a conference call with the good folks at Bilt Bar, the newest sponsor of the Locked On podcast network.

They introduced themselves and spoke a little about. about their line of protein bars. A few of the other locked-on hosts spoke up and said that they were already built-bar customers and had nothing but good things to say, which told me a lot about their product. All of us locked-on hosts got a sample box of 10 built bars and some drink powder as well. I haven't tried them all yet and have not tried the drink powder at all, but so far I have liked what I've tried. Now, I'm not a muscle head.

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Again, I'm not a health nut. I've been using them as a between-meal snack. All the flavors I've tried so far are good. but my favorite has been the chocolate orange cream. Try them for yourself. Go to builtbar.com. Use the promo code locked on to get $10 off your first order. Try Billet Bar for yourself.

You will not be disappointed. The answer to the Mariners trivia question, ladies and gentlemen, the two six-foot eight pitchers the Mariners had in 1995 were Jeff Nelson and Lee Guterman. More locked on mariners after a word from postmates. If you are the type who starts thinking about what to eat, for dinner while you're eating lunch, then you will love using Postmates. They deliver food from any restaurant you can think of right to your door. But Postmates just doesn't deliver burgers and sushi.

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For a limited time, gang, Postmates is giving our listeners $100 of free delivery credit for your first seven days. To start your free deliveries, download the app and use code locked on. That's code locked on, L-O-C-E-D-O-N, same code as Built Bar, for $100 of free delivery credit with no minimum purchase, for your first seven days when you download the Postmates app. Anything you need, anytime you need it, postmate it. Now time for the second half of Locked-on Mariners. Once again, your host, D.C. Lundberg. Thank you once again, J.M. coming at you from Hayden, Idaho today,

Locked on Mariners, talking about a what-if scenario involving the 1995 Mariners. We're talking about September 27, 1995, specifically. if the Mariners had won that game, they would have won the AL West by one game after regulation play that wouldn't have had to have for the playoff game. We talked about starting pitcher Tim Belcher at his first inning where he gave up two runs. Those two runs are gone. We have him with a one-two-three inning.

So this game in the alternate universe is scoreless after a half inning. The Mariners had a chance to score in the second inning in real life. After the first two hitters fly out, Mike Blowers, hits a ground ball single up the middle. On a pick-off attempt, and remember, Chuck Finley has a good move. Blowers reached third base because of an errant throw. So now Blowers is on third base. Tino Martinez walks.

So now runners at the corners with two out. Felix Vermean wound up ending the inning with the ground debt to second base. Hmm. Now the what if. What if that ball stuck through the infield instead of being fielded? Or what if second baseman Rex Hudler booted the ball? It didn't happen often, but it could have. Blowers would have scored easily from third base and the M's would have had a one-run lead.

That would have brought up Dan Wilson. But Willie struck out in reality, so we'll call this a one-run inning with Willie ending it. The Mariners had another chance in the sixth inning. With Finley still pitching, the first two guys make out. Ken Griffey Jr. then walks, Edgar Martinez singles, sending Jr. to second base. Jay Buehner is the next hitter. In reality, he grounds out to third base. But in our what-if scenario, let's say that ground ball sneaks through and Buneer reaches with a single.

Let's also say that left field or Garrett Anderson was playing Bone to pull, so he has to range really far to his right to retrieve the ball. Junior could have easily scored on that play, and we've already spotted the Mariners one run in the second, so the M's now have a two-nothing lead. Or if the ball snuck past Anderson and made it to the wall, Bones got himself a double, But Martinez is probably still on third base in reality. I don't really see him scoring from first base on a ground ball double, even on Garrett Anderson's arm. So let's just say he's on third base. The next batter would have been Blowers again, who walked to lead off the next inning.

So now the bases are loaded for Tino Martinez two outs to the sixth inning. In reality, he struck out in the seventh, so in our make-believe sixth inning will also have him strike out, ending the inning with the Mariners up two to nothing. That was pretty much it for scoring opportunities to be on. us. So now in our alternate universe, instead of a 2-0-0 Mariners loss, we have a 2-0 Mariners victory. Also, a win of the division outright instead of having that one game play after a tie after regulation play. And you also have Randy Johnson pitching game one of the division series instead of having to pitch that one game playoff. Remember, Belcher

was cruising. Aside from that first inning, he pretty much shut the Angels down for his remaining seven innings of work, and Norm Charlton had a one, two, three, ninth. So it's not inconceivable that the Angels could have been shut out if the first at-bat of the game had gone differently. Tomorrow, ladies and gentlemen, we will look at the playoff implications of Randy Johnson starting game one rather than Chris Basio. In the meantime, please remember to download rate and subscribe to Lockdown Mariners on Google podcast, Apple Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher Radio, or whichever podcasting app,

that you like to use. Follow the show on Twitter at L.O. underscore Mariners. Follow me on Twitter as well at D.C. underscore Lundberg. Remember, gang, tomorrow we will talk about the playoff implications in our bizarre what-if scenario. As the Locked-on Mariners party in the panhandle continues. This is Joey Martin speaking for Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on podcast network. Ask your smart device to play Locked-on MLB upon the conclusion of this program. program.