Day Ten: Erik Bedard

Keeping with the remembering of those late 00's Mariners teams, but in less joyous sentiments than Kenji. Erik Bedard. Tbh I don't really need to write much beyond that do I? The two names, when separated, are unoffensive. Erik, fine name--usually prefer it spelled with a c but that's just me. Bedard, a last name that is probably French. But when you combine Erik with Bedard you get the personification of the literal garbage trash stinky sewer water that has been the river of tears and failures that have come to represent the Mariners in the past dozen years. So yeah, Erik Bedard is not a very popular Mariner to remember. But let's have fun doing it regardless.

After the 2007 season, which was, as I mentioned in Kenji Johjima's write up, a very nice season, the prospects of the Mariners putting it all together were pretty high. (Remember that at this point the Mariners are only three seasons distant from 90 wins, and have ended 3 losing seasons in a row with an 88 win season. There isn't the same kind of sadness surrounding the club that we take for granted these days.) National media was saying that the Mariners were once again ready to compete for the American League Pennant. It was a very smart guy pick to select the Mariners to win the AL West. Then in early February, a huge trade went down. The Mariners acquired Erik Bedard from the Orioles for prospect Adam Jones (and Chris Tillman btw). It was a blockbuster. Jones was a huge blue-chip guy that many thought was destined to patrol centerfield at Safeco for years, and Tillman was a solid prosepctive ace. But management was ready to go for it. They got Erik Bedard, a lefty with insanely good strikeout stuff. As the strange baseball card above shows, he led the league in 2007, not in K's, or WHIP, or ERA, or anything tangible. Instead, he was the top K's per 9 guy. I'm sorry, but that is a bullshit stat. It's like a preseason prediction. It says the possibility is there, but it doesn't actually show that anything has been done. Actually in hindsight an incredibly prescient thing for Bedard to lead the league in. Potential. And that's the thing. Bedard was filthy. I won't lie. I was bummed to see Jones get dealt (and more and more bummed as the years went on), but Bedard at his best was a beast. The problem is, he was rarely at his best after that potentially great 2007 campaign.

I love Canadians. I'm married to a Canadian. My mother-in-law whom I love very much is Canadian. My hero growing up was my Grandfather and he was Canadian. But I am definitely prejudice agaisnt Canadian starting pitchers. And Erik Bedard is the man who warped my mind. He showed up to spring training in 2008 out of shape, and already complaining before even throwing a pitch. It was clear, right out of the gate, that this guy was a fucking head case and a bum. Sure! He could throw from the southside with high velocity and incredible movement, but he was seldom willing to give all his energy to pitching. He was the original Big Maple. They must teach guys in British Columbia to have the most filthy stuff and to basically sandbag it for 3/4 of the season. Because both BC pitchers we have had in Seattle are right up there as far as ability and the worst and second worst competitors I have literally ever seen. (Please note that this only applies to pitchers. Larry Walker is from Trail, BC and he was a tremendous competitor and hero.) So yeah, Bedard was seldom ready to go, and Felix was 22, and Carlos Silva was trash, and Jarrod Washburn was exactly who Jarrod Washburn is, and Ryan Rowland-Smith. That's a terrible rotation. Good thing the Mariners bats...oh, wait. Everyone decided to regress in 2008. And that's the thing. It wasn't that Bedard ruined the season. Not at all. Everyone sucked that year. But Bedard was the face of possibility and the face of subsequent failure. And it didn't help that he was an asshole and rarely seemed to care. But they brought him back like three times. Because the Mariners were becoming a terrible organization again. And the Erik Bedard trade was the beginning of some very ugly times. And Adam Jones was one of the best outfielders of the next decade. Oh well! At least we can remember that the 2008 team was the first team to have a 100 million payroll and lose 100 games. Those are the kind of things that come to mind when thinking of Erik Bedard. Here's to a better memory tonight!