I don't understand it. The Mariners are a 90 win team. Mike & The Mad Dog told us so.

AP: M’s brass has had it

Team president Chuck Armstrong berated members of the coaching staff Wednesday morning, hours before the imploding Mariners got swept in a three-game series by the same Los Angeles Angels they expected to unseat for the AL West title.
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About an hour after Armstrong’s rage, manager John McLaren had a closed-door chat with general manager Bill Bavasi. Two weeks after Bavasi said McLaren’s job was safe, Bavasi did so again Wednesday.
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After the game, McLaren discarded all decorum.

Shouting and jabbing his finger toward the clubhouse, McLaren unleashed an expletive-filled tirade, emphasizing his team is trying hard but not performing as it should.

McLaren then stomped off into his office and closed the door.

“He could have said that a month ago,” Bavasi said later.

Larry Craig approves of Richie Sexson's new wide stance.

McLaren's tirade was pitiful as far as tirades go. He just spouted the usual managerial cliches, but interspersed them with expletives. I was embarrassed for him. If he's as bad a manager as he is a hot-head, I think it's time for him to go.

I mean, if you are gonna go on a tirade, bash your team or the fans or the media or the owner or the umpires or the GM or even yourself. Alternatively, throw #### around or attack an opposing coach (like Hal McRae and John Chaney, respectively). Don't just say "we're trying so f'ing hard". Shameful, absolutely shameful that this got coverage.

More entertaining pitiful team: Giants or Mariners?

As an A's fan, these two teams make me feel the way I did when I climbed the rope in gym class.

I'd say the Giants, solely because of Lincecum. The Mariners are just a ton of mediocrity. Felix Hernandez is having a good season, but so far he isn't dominating like Lincecum.

Ok, entertaining was a bad word. Which team's awfulness brings me more glee? And is therefore entertaining in the sense that I enjoy watching them get their asses beat.

Giants still, I guess, since I live in their market and get to absorb all the coverage, and of course the Zito factor. As for the M's, it's pretty much USSM and that's it.

This must be the clubhouse atmosphere that the addition of Barry Bonds would have poisoned.

More entertaining pitiful team: Giants or Mariners?

Mariners, because (like the 07 White Sox) so many people saw it coming.

I live in Western Canada and the M's are fairly popular here. Well, I guess they're "popular" in the same way that the Predators are popular in Nashville. Anyway, we got a fair deal of M's advertisements here on TV through April about how the M's are contenders and how you can watch 42 regular season games (or whatever) + the playoffs on this channel, etc.

I remember seeing the commercials in Spring Training and scoffing. By now they have all (like the M's) gone into the gutter, replaced with generic "watch the M's on SportsNet!" commercials.

Anyway, yeah. So they looked fairly silly.

How would you expect a team to market itself after an 88 win season (the first winning season in a while)?

"Last year these guys won 88 games, but that was some fluky luck! But you can see 42 regular season games, as the Mariners win, lose, and regress to the mean in a big way!"

Huh? I didn't say I expected differently. In fact, part of the reason it's amusing is because it's expected. Which is exactly what I said in my post.

I just found it amusing that there was this slew of commercials about how they were contenders and all this before they even played a game, and now they have to make all new ones because the M's suck.

And not that it matters, but it wasn't the team marketing itself, it was the TV station.

I don't see why McLaren's so upset. I mean, they won that spring training game where he started all of his regulars against the Angels AAA team. That surely sent a message.

You sir, are no Hal McRae

On the positive side, USSMariner gets more entertaining to read everyday.

Maybe Bavasi is hoping McLaren just gets bored and quits.

Ditto everything #4. That really was probably the weakest "tirade" I've ever seen.

Team president Chuck Armstrong berated members of the coaching staff Wednesday morning, hours before the imploding Mariners got swept in a three-game series by the same Los Angeles Angels they expected to unseat for the AL West title.

We acquired a great firstbasemen in Miguel Cairo, and you knuckleheads ###### him up!

On the positive side, USSMariner gets more entertaining to read everyday.

I'm starting to believe the M's FO does things just to spite USSM. It's as reasonable explanation as any for some of their decision making. They can't even touch the metrics USSM has read.

This must be the clubhouse atmosphere that the addition of Barry Bonds would have poisoned.

On the plus side, if they'd signed Bonds, they's be like 23-37 instead of 21-39 or whatever, and we'd be subjected to endless "BONDS RUINED TEH MERINERZ@!!!@" stories for the next four months.

The guy's just jealous about all the pub Ozzie G. got when he did the "Cussin' Manager" routine.