FanPost Friday: All-Stars, Derbies, Dumpers, & things of that nature
Cal Raleigh just keeps doing historic stuff with the Mariners and it’s extremely cool to see
Hello and welcome back to FanPost Friday! Got a big of a grab-bag going here today, but let’s start off with last week’s poll results on Robo-Umps.
To no one’s surprise, the LL Hive Mind is obviously very in favor of some kind of automated assistance on strikes and balls. Longtime LLers who have spent a decade or more in the game threads lamenting terrible calls at the plate during key at-bats for both Mariners hitters and pitchers are now very close to having to find something else to lament during Mariners games. I include myself in that demographic (/curses Sean Barber’s name under breath) Dreams do come true sometimes!
Moving right along to more current news, Cal Raleigh (heard of him?) is now everywhere in the baseball world, as he should be. In case you missed it, I highly recommend reading LL emeritus Matthew Roberson’s interview with the Big Dumper himself for GQ Sports. He talks about trying to wear a collared shirt everywhere he goes now that he’s a known person in baseball. Cal has always taken his craft seriously, so it’s no surprise that he’s approaching his new-found popularity in the same fashion (/rimshot).
Raleigh is also the 2nd highest AL vote-getter in All-Star Game voting currently and will likely start the game at catcher. No other Mariners catcher in history has been the top vote-getter at that position, so the history-making season just continues for Raleigh. I’m just overjoyed for our Beef Boy and his hitting of many Beef Boy Bombs (that’s a deep cut for the 2018-2019 Mariners minors followers, most of whom write for this site, and who began crafting/using a parody of Dobie Gray’s “Drift Away” in which we’d sing in person or online after any Raleigh homer, “Ooooh gimme me the Beef Boy, free my soul, I wanna get lost in your casserole and drift awaaaay.”) Also, big shoutout to former Modesto Nuts radio announcer Keaton Gillogly who fully embraced the Beef Boy Bombs lifestyle back then. Good times.
Anyways, I always believed that Cal would be a good MLB catcher, but he’s exceeded even my most lofty expectations. If he’d never even had another season as good as 2022, I’d still regard him as one of the greatest Mariners catchers of all time. The pinch-hit walk-off homer to seal a playoff berth is easily a top 5 (hell, top 3?!) moment in Mariners history. That and a few seasons of stellar defense as a catcher is plenty, but now? Depending on how this season ends up for him, he’s probably going to be more than a franchise icon by the time he’s done playing. Add him to the list of singular baseball talents that this cosmically cursed team has lucked into employing. What a joy to watch.
Anywho, let’s hit some polls in honor of our All-Star!
PROMPT: Your Mt. Rushmore of Mariners catchers! Can be purely just your favorites, or rank them by their actual stats, whatever you feel like. Give us your top four Mariners catchers of all time in the comments.
Go Mariners and have a great weekend, folks!