Day Thirteen: Joel Pineiro

Joel Pineiro looks like he's thirteen years old in this Topps Gold Label rookie card. His name is also spelled wrong. Everything about this card is what it was like watching Joel Pineiro at the beginning of his major league career. You weren't sure if he was really him, and if he was really doing what he looked like he was doing. I had to go back and really look at Joel's stats for this entry and temper my remembrances with some facts because it is easy to get carried away in all sort of strange directions when talking about Joel Pineiro. So yeah, I think that Pineiro is an interesting pitcher obviously and a fascinating member of Mariners' history.

Pineiro made a few appearances in the dog days of 2000, but he was still a true, raw rookie when he got the call up mid-season in 2001. But you wouldn't have known it. He arrived in the Bigs with a delivery that was deceptive in the very subtle way that great control pitchers have (although he was a bit wild that first half season) and he pitched in the low/mid 90's with movement. And he was playing for the best regular season baseball club of all-time. It was an instant success. I remember a game in the height of summer (I am seeing in his game-log now that it was in August and he struck out 11) in which he just schooled the Blue Jays (who had a pretty fearsome order back in those days: Delgado and such). His stuff was electric. He kept it up all through the end of the season and unfortunately got blasted in his only playoff appearance as a Mariner against the Yankees. But it was an amazing half-year. It was an absolute joy to watch him pitch that summer. We had good seats through my buddy's dad's work or something (still not exactly sure how that worked, but it was awesome) and the stands were always packed. It became a great thing to go to a Joel Pineiro game. He was so young and so good.

And for me as the dust settles, the sadness lessens, and the disappointment just does what disappointment does when there's a lot of time elapsed on the feelings of the 2001 season, the more I feel like Joel Pineiro is the embodiment of how I want to remember that year. It was just a whole lot of fucking fun. And baseball is way more fun in July and August than it is in October or November. It just is. Sitting out in the stands and watching a guy throw overhand with power and movement and just baffle giant sluggers while carrying himself like a kid who isn't sure he is watching himself do the things he is doing. That is amazing. And 2001 was like that. Everyone was watching themselves thinking "Am I really doing that? How am I doing that?" Most of these self-watchers realized they shouldn't be doing "that" when the playoffs arrived and the Mariners puttered out, but Joel Pineiro will always be the darling of that summer for me. And we were going to get to watch him in 2002 for a whole year! The Mariners were going to be amazing! And Pineiro was very special in 2002, cementing himself as a household name (in Washington) and helping propel the Mariners to another 90 win season. And the same goes for 03. I checked the stats and all three of those seasons are totally legit. There are no smoke and mirrors to Joel's performances. He was just damn good. And then, like the team he played for, the wheels just came off entirely. He lost his ability to keep the ball down, and the movement that had been so crucial in getting swings and misses wasn't there. He was cooked in 2004 and he continued to grill through the next four or five seasons. It was very nice to see him have a renaissance year towards the end of his career with the Cardinals and Joel finished with over 100 major league victories. That is many many more than any 2004/2005 season rememberer would give him credit for I am quite sure. So there it is. Mr. 2001. Let's treasure those memories of that strange and puzzling season.