September 2, 2026 • 21 mins
Legendary writer Larry Stone joins Dave Softy Mahler and Dick Fain to talk about what playoff hopes for the Mariners exist after a series win in Boston, the easy schedule for the rest of the year, Dan Wilson’s job security and possible next managers, the Angels having a new successful owner, the future of the Apple Cup and Aaron Donald’s impact.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Duke of Duke Seafood, letting you know that
this hour of Softie and Dick on your home for
the Huskies and Kraken is proudly brought to you by
Duke Seafood. Why not make it a Duke's night tonight?
Reserve your table today at dukesseafood.com on Sports Radio 93.3
KJR FM.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
It's time for our weekly conversation with legendary sports writer
Larry Stone. Brought to you by the Ram Restaurant and Brewery. Bigger, better,
and fresher since 1971. With eight Puget Sound locations from
Marysville to Lacey and everywhere in between. There's a Ram
near you. Now with Softie and Dick, here's Larry Stone.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
All right, here we are, 5.03 on a Wednesday afternoon.
Big thanks to the Ram for sponsoring this shindig right
here every Wednesday with Larry Stone, which, by the way,
to accommodate football and other factors, we'll be moving to
6 o'clock on Tuesdays. starting next week. And Larry, look,
we all know you're a busy man in retirement. You
got a lot of stuff going on, a lot of
volunteer work, things like that. And we really appreciate your
(01:02):
flexibility for how busy you are these days. So thank
you for agreeing to move to Tuesdays at 6, starting
next week.
Speaker 4 (01:09):
Yeah, I had to move a lot of things around,
but for you, I was able to do it.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
We appreciate it. We love you, man. Well, let's talk
Mariner baseball. I remember it was a week ago, whatever,
we asked you on the air about this team making
a run, and you said, you know what, guys, I
just don't see it. And maybe you still don't see it.
I mean, if the Astros win tonight, the M's are
still five games back in the West, but all of
a sudden they've won four of their last six series,
three of the last four. Nice series win in Boston,
(01:34):
maybe showing some life. Has this moved the needle for
you at all?
Speaker 4 (01:40):
Well, if you recall, I did see it and you
were shocked.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Oh, that's right. Last week. Yes, you're correct. Correct.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
And I was about to revise that after the Toronto
series and then they blew the opener in Boston. I
was thinking I'm going to have to do a mea
culpa mea culpa with Dick and Softie, but I'll stick
with it now that they've won these last two.
Speaker 5 (02:06):
Well, they are 2-4 since the last time we talked
to you there. Well, let's talk about some good news, though.
I love the spark from Montez. Can we read anything
into his performance? Let's look at the pitchers he faced yesterday.
It was all AAA pitching, and we all know that
(02:26):
Montez can hammer AAA pitching. Am I reading too much
into that, or were you optimistic about what you saw
going forward?
Speaker 4 (02:35):
Uh, I think you're probably, your instincts are probably right. Don't,
don't get ahead of yourself. I mean, look back on, on,
on debuts. I mean, Emerson was great for a while
and then he faded and Rodden, you know, hitting six
straight and then he faded. You know, you have that
adrenaline and going on that first game, first couple of
games and, and then reality hits. But I mean, how
(02:58):
could you not like what you, what you saw? And
he's got a great personality, a lot of energy. I think,
I think he's what this team needs. Frankly, you know, I, I,
couldn't believe that he wasn't in the lineup today. Yeah.
Even though it was a lefty, but I mean, we're
talking Taylor Ward, who's hitting one 20. You know, I'd
(03:19):
rather take my chances left on left with, with Laz
Montez than, than, sticking Ward back out there and watching
him go for four again.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Yeah, he had an 893 OPS against lefties in AAA
with a 361 on base percentage, and he was hitting 260,
which is fine, right? There's nothing wrong with that. I
thought that was weird. And I thought giving Cal Raleigh
the day off was weird, considering how much he's been
hitting the ball in the last week or so. But
they won the game, so I guess no harm, no
(03:50):
foul for now. But, you know, now we're going to
get to a point, Larry, where they got 22 games
left to go. 17 of the 22 are against teams
that are currently 98 games under.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
500.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
And I asked Brian Schmetzer on the air yesterday, hey, like,
behind the scenes, does that stuff matter? Does that give
you some extra hope? If you're a coach and he
basically said yes, but it's not something you would talk
about in public behind the scenes. Do you think these
guys see that and notice that and think, all right,
we got an opportunity here that we got to take
(04:21):
advantage of.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
I mean, I do think that they know what the
schedule is. They know the teams that are coming in.
You know, I was looking at the Astros still have,
they have a couple games with the White Sox, the Diamondbacks,
the Phillies, the Rays, the Braves. I mean, and the
Rangers also have the Rays and the Diamondbacks and the
Red Sox and the Blue Jays and the Twins. So,
(04:43):
I mean, it's still there for them. How many games
are left? About 20? 22.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
You know, 22, 16 and six might just be enough
to do it.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
And I don't see why they can't do it against
his schedule. I mean, the A's hammered the Rangers today.
It's not like you just throw your gloves out there
and you're going to win. But the A's are just decimated.
They're without Langoliers and Kurtz and Wilson and Brett Rooker
and I think Soderstrom. Their five best hitters are all out. Uh,
(05:14):
I guess there's a chance Langoliers might come back as
a DH, but this is a depleted team that you should,
you should be able to handle almost sweep them. And,
and the angels are a little tougher and then, you know,
the Rockies aren't very good. Uh, and you still have
the Rangers and the Astros, but you want those teams.
You want to be able to make up ground head
to head. So I think it's, I think it's laid
(05:35):
out for them, which is why I said last week,
as dire as it looked that I thought they still
had a good shot to make the playoffs. Um, look, just,
just think how close they were to us. a 4-2
road trip. They just kicked those two games that they
had in hand with bad decisions, bad managerial decisions, bad
(05:55):
decisions by players. And that's too familiar a story with
this team this year, which is why they're in the
predicament that they're in.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
You know what's funny? Baseballreference.com, Jackson and I looked it
up as of this morning, 7.2% chance to win the division. 7%.
Vegas has them at plus 500 now to win the West.
And they were plus 180 a week ago. So Vegas
is starting to not believe in that.
Speaker 5 (06:17):
They're 80 to one now to win the world series.
And like a month ago, they were like 12. It's,
it's amazing. Larry, what needs to happen in the last
month for Dan to keep his job? Is it, is
it literally playoffs or bust? Or do you see a, Hey,
look at this rally. We won 14 and lost eight
in the last 22. And we went on a good
note and lost by two games in the division. Would
(06:37):
that be enough?
Speaker 4 (06:39):
I don't think so. I think it's, it's a playoffs
or bust.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
And I think it may be beyond that. I think
it may be up.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
I mean, I think I said on here a while
ago that if they make the playoffs, he's probably safe,
but I don't think that anymore. I mean, there were
10 games under 500. I think if they make sneak
into the playoffs and it's a first round ouster, I
don't think he'll be back. Uh, if they make a run, uh,
then yes, you know, if he wants to be, I mean,
you look at the guy's face, he, most of the time,
(07:07):
he doesn't look like he's enjoying himself. I'm just wondering
if he'll say, you know, this managing thing, I gave
it a try, uh, at this stage of my life,
it's not, not, not what I want to be doing.
And I'll let someone else give it a try.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
No, that's exactly, uh, Larry, I think you're dead on that.
That's been my gut all along that, you know, he,
He didn't need to do this. I mean, him and
Annie had a great life in retirement and he was
living here and having fun and doing great things. And
then he's asked to come, you know, fall on the
sword for the M's and save them. And they did well.
And now he's getting beat up by everybody. I don't
(07:40):
need that for crying out loud. So I totally think
you're dead on about that. But, you know, staying in
the division for a second, we might go back to
the M's in a minute. Stan Kroenke is buying the Angels, right?
Everywhere he goes, every team he buys does insanely well. Championships,
Denver Nuggets, the Avalanche in the NHL, Arsenal in the
(08:02):
Premier League, the Rams in the NFL. Should John Stanton
and Chris Larson and us as Mariner fans maybe be
a little concerned that the days of the Angels being
the Drek of the West might be over?
Speaker 4 (08:16):
Yeah, I think so. You know, Artie Moreno, the previous owner, Uh, he,
you know, he started off pretty well, but, uh, you know, he, he,
he was not a good owner. He was headstrong. He,
you know, spend money in the wrong places and then
stop spending money, made bad hires. Uh, I think that's
(08:38):
kind of a sleeping giant being in the, in the
SoCal with, uh, you know, players like to go there
and with an, with an owner who probably wants to, to, uh,
show the Dodgers that, that he can keep up with them.
I think there, there is a lot to worry about.
And then you also have the A's, uh, who have
been a pushover for a while for a few years, uh,
(08:58):
moving to Vegas with a, with a bigger revenue stream. So, uh,
you know, I think the division is going to get
tougher in the next few years.
Speaker 5 (09:06):
Well, speaking of ownership, I mean, The Seahawks have that sign,
the VMAC, to the effect of consistent championship expectations. And
we just never hear that from the Mariners. It's consistent
competitive expectations. That's the whole 54% mantra there. So would
a cleaning of the house actually change the culture when
the goal of the franchise is just to be competitive?
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Probably not.
Speaker 4 (09:31):
I mean, they're pretty consistent with that from regime to regime.
I mean, they would tell you that we want that
they want, uh, championships, but, uh, they haven't shown it.
You know, they, after 2022, they didn't open their wallets,
you know, coming off that playoff appearance last off season,
they didn't to a great extent, uh, that they've shown in, in,
(09:56):
their actions that while they they want to be competitive
they don't have that burning desire to win a championship
i just haven't seen it right um so i would
mean i doubt if things are going to change this
off season maybe you never know which is the year
where they say forget it we're going for it but
uh you know, that hasn't happened really to a great
(10:18):
extent yet.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
Yeah, well, this is probably a conversation, Larry, and Larry
Stone with us, courtesy of the Ram, that probably should
wait until the end of the year, but what the hell,
I'm going to ask it anyway. If they do make
a change over the offseason at manager, my concern and my,
I guess, curiosity is I wonder if Jerry DiPoto wants
a strong personality in the dugout. Does he want somebody
who's going to push back? Does he want a Bruce
(10:41):
Bochy type guy, for example? I'm not even sure if
Bruce wants to manage anymore, for crying out loud. But
if they did make a move, would you expect that
they would be willing to hire a guy like that,
who's won before, who's got a system, who would push
back on some of the stuff that comes from the
front office? Or would they want somebody who's more in
line with their line of thinking that would just fall
in line?
Speaker 4 (11:03):
That's a fair question. I mean, you look at DePoto's history,
he was with exactly what you described in Mike Socia
with the Angels, and they clashed, and he ended up
getting forced out of the job. And look at his
two managerial hires here. Scott Service, who had never managed
at any level, and Dan Wilson, who had never managed
(11:23):
at any level. Two guys that he could have control
over because they had no experience to fall back on.
I would think that this is a situation that cries
for the type of manager that you're talking about, and
I would hope that if Jerry stays... And Dan doesn't
(11:45):
that the ownership would put pressure on him to hire
a manager with some stature and some experience because, uh,
you know, that they tried it the other way and
had some success. But, uh, I think the way this
season has kind of fallen apart, uh, just screams out
for a manager with, uh, with, with more experience and more, more, uh, uh, gravitas,
(12:07):
I guess.
Speaker 5 (12:08):
Well, Softie put out his blame ranking, I think it
was yesterday, right? And he ranked, you know, you have ownership,
you have the field manager, you have the general manager,
you have the players. I think you put players first
and then you put manager second. Is that right, Dave?
Speaker 3 (12:21):
I believe so, yes.
Speaker 5 (12:21):
And then ownership and then Jerry.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
Right.
Speaker 5 (12:24):
I think that's the ranking. How would you rank those
four as far as the failures of this baseball team
this year?
Speaker 4 (12:29):
Speaker 4, you know, I, I saw that tweet softy
and I agree with your order.
Speaker 3 (12:34):
Wow. Speaker 0 5 15, September 2nd, 2026. Holy crap.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
Speaker 4 Yeah. I, I agreed.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
With your order.
Speaker 4 (12:50):
The, the players first and foremost, the underachievement of Cal
and Julio and Naylor, and even the pitching staff, which
has been far more inconsistent than they've been in previous years.
You know, I put that number one and I mean,
you just have to, you have to point the finger
at Dan too. I love the guy. He was a
(13:12):
pleasure to cover as a player and, you know, got
to know him as a, as a human being over
the years, but he just, just a lot of baffling
decisions this year and he just doesn't seem to to
have that knack to, uh, that, that we've seen with
Mike McDonald.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
In, uh, in, uh, you know, hard knocks over hard knocks.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
Yeah. Uh, that, uh, he just is lacking that. So
I put him number two, uh, ownership, ownership, not, not, uh, okay. Any,
you know, the, the free agent that the impact free
agent that they needed this off season. And then, uh,
you know, Jerry fourth, uh, Yeah, well, it's not but
(13:55):
not blameless, but but it has to be for.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
Yeah, we can argue the gap between all four, but
that would be my order for sure. And Larry, you know,
we're talking off the air about this. You know, it's
really funny. I'm having a senior moment right now, and
I totally forgot what I was going to ask. I mean,
I had one more Marin request. Larry, how often does
that happen to you? Please be honest with me.
Speaker 4 (14:15):
Well, it just, it happened to me. It happened to
me on the last question.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
That's what we're here for.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
That's all right. We're here for that.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
I had another Mariner question, and I don't even know
what the hell it was. So I'm just going to
skip ahead and move to the Apple Cup, because we
got to ask you about the Apple Cup, man. Getting
played on Sunday, and Dick and I are talking on
the air that normally this time of year, it's normally
in November, but there's some anxiety in the office. You
can feel anxiety. The anxiety between Husky fans and Cougar
(14:49):
fans that all work together. And there's none of that
right now. Like all the Cougar fans that work here,
they don't care. They're not even going to the game.
We got three of them in the building right now
and not one is even going to the game on Sunday.
They're just taking their ball and they're going home. It
just doesn't have the juice, right, that it had in
years past. So you tell us about this game on
(15:09):
Sunday and then give us your thoughts, Larry, on the
future of this game because it certainly seems like it's
possible we might be looking.
Speaker 4 (15:16):
At the end. Yeah, I mean, the juice isn't there.
There's a lot of reasons for that. They play in
different conferences now. You know, the transfer portal, it's a
new squad of players every year who don't, you know,
they're not imbued in the, in the.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
Rivalry and what it means.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
And then, and the timing of the game, the first
game of the year, all those factors detract from what
it used to be. So, you know, I'd like to
see it. I'd like to see it keep going. It's
got a storied history and it means a lot to
a lot of people in the state, even though the
meaning is declining, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if,
you know, you know, in a, within a decade, at
(15:59):
least that they, they'd stop playing the game.
Speaker 5 (16:02):
Larry, I need you to settle a debate we were
having on the air yesterday concerning Aaron Donald. Softie and
I are on one side. Jackson's on the other. We
won't tell you which side we're on unless you listen
to the show. Maybe you did. But how much impact
is Aaron Donald going to have on this football team?
How much does it worry you that Aaron Donald's on
this football team?
Speaker 4 (16:23):
I think he's going to have impact, but I think
it's going to be less. How many years did he
sit out? Two years?
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Two years.
Speaker 3 (16:29):
Correct. He's 35 years old.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Now, right?
Speaker 4 (16:32):
I just think it's harder to come back than he
may realize once he's stopped. Guys who have retired say
they kind of lose that desire to hit somebody when
you haven't done it for a couple of years. So
I would lean towards whichever one of you said it's
not going to be as big an impact as people think.
Speaker 5 (16:51):
That's me and Softie. That's the right side, Larry.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
Jackson's just panicking. I'm just going to say it real quick.
You all hope that what Larry said is true. We
hope and we also think. We can hope and think
of the same thing. And you think that it's wrong.
And I expect disappointment, so I'll never be disappointed. I mean, Larry,
what surprises me about it is that, you know, I
don't know if you're a big gambling guy or not.
I mean, you know, I've heard rumors, by the way.
(17:15):
the Rams are plus 500 to win the Superbowl and
the next best team is plus a thousand. Is that right?
That's right. I mean, that is a Vegas is telling
you that they think the Rams are not only the
best team in football, but that the best team in
football by a large, large, large margin. Are you buying that? No,
I mean, I'm not a gambling man.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
Uh, but I, uh, I can understand why with Miles
Garrett acquisition and Donald coming back and the fact that
they were a good team last year, but I don't
see them being head and shoulders above everybody else. The
Seahawks won it all last year and are bringing back
(17:57):
the vast majority of their key players. I don't think
that gap exists. You know, if the Rams have passed
the Seahawks, it's by a very slight margin. And, you know,
anything could happen in their two games.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
I don't see.
Speaker 4 (18:14):
I'm going to disagree with Vegas, who rarely makes mistakes,
but I think they did on this one.
Speaker 5 (18:19):
Well, the stat on Vegas has been wrong on these
heavy favorites all the time. Over the last 30 years,
it's been a preseason favorite of 5-1 or better 20 times,
and those teams are 0-20 winning the Super Bowl. So
what's interesting is we figured out today that the Mariners'
odds in Vegas... To win the division.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
500.
Speaker 5 (18:38):
And the Rams' odds to win the Super Bowl are
exactly the same.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
How about that?
Speaker 5 (18:42):
Which team has a better chance?
Speaker 3 (18:48):
Probably the Rams.
Speaker 5 (18:50):
I think so, too.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
I mean, maybe if the Astros lose tonight and you're
four out, we can ask you that question again tomorrow.
I mean, Larry, I can't remember what popped into my
head 30 seconds ago or what you said last week.
So there's no way I'll remember any of this conversation,
by the way. By the way, do you take anything
for that, honestly, at your age?
Speaker 5 (19:08):
Like ginkgo biloba or something like that?
Speaker 3 (19:11):
Ginkgo biloba?
Speaker 4 (19:14):
No, I do not take anything. That's a rude question.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
It is not! It is not a rude question. I'm
asking you for some advice.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
Come on!
Speaker 3 (19:26):
No, I don't. I don't.
Speaker 5 (19:27):
All right.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
Well, if that changes, let me know. Larry, you're the best.
Love you, and we'll talk in a week.
Speaker 4 (19:31):
Thanks, Larry. All right. It's my anniversary tonight, so we
may go out to the ramp for a nice romantic dinner.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
How many years are we talking about?
Speaker 4 (19:42):
It's our Jackie Robinson anniversary.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
Wow. 42 years. God bless her, by the way. 42
years with you. Where did you guys meet, by the way,
you and your wife? Tell us the story.
Speaker 4 (19:53):
Well, yeah, we met in Yakima when I was working–
My first job out of high school. She's from Wenatchee.
She was working at the hospital in Toppenish, and we
met through mutual friends. And that was back in the mid-' 80s, early-' 80s.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
You ever think when you were in Berkeley running around
with your hippie outfit on that you're going to meet
your wife in Yakima, Washington and be together for 42
years at minimum?
Speaker 4 (20:17):
That was... I would have told you you were nuts
if you had told me that.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
Larry, you're the man.
Speaker 4 (20:21):
Love it.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
And we'll talk in a week. All right, buddy. See you.
Speaker 4 (20:24):
All right. Thank you. All right.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
Larry Stone with us. I still haven't figured out what
that question was going to be. I'm telling you, it
was in my brain and then it was gone. It
might be an ADD thing. It might be a senior
moment thing. I don't know, man. I just know it's
happening a lot more often.
Speaker 5 (20:37):
Well, I do know being with you the last 25
years that in about 15 minutes, you're going to go, Oh.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
That's right. I remember what it was. A buddy of
mine suggested something that I should take, like a memory
type thing, and I forgot what it was. I mean,
isn't that ironic?
Speaker 5 (20:53):
Isn't it ginkgo?
Speaker 3 (20:54):
No, it was something else. Isn't that from memory? Something else.
Speaker 4 (20:57):
Creatine?
Speaker 3 (20:58):
No, it wasn't creatine. It was something else, and I
totally forgot what it was. Yeah, maybe it was acid. Oh.
That'd be pretty damn funny. You think the bosses would
allow that to do a show on acid, by the way?
I mean, as long as you got the dump button working,
we should be okay. All right, we're going to break.
We have a lot more to get to, including we're
going to give the audience a chance to benefit from
our predictions for the Mariners the rest of the way.
(21:19):
I'll explain. Jackson and Dick don't even know what the
hell's going on.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
I have no idea.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
Next on 93.3 KJRFM.
This is Duke of Duke Seafood, letting you know that
this hour of Softie and Dick on your home for
the Huskies and Kraken is proudly brought to you by
Duke Seafood. Why not make it a Duke's night tonight?
Reserve your table today at dukesseafood.com on Sports Radio 93.3
KJR FM.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
It's time for our weekly conversation with legendary sports writer
Larry Stone. Brought to you by the Ram Restaurant and Brewery. Bigger, better,
and fresher since 1971. With eight Puget Sound locations from
Marysville to Lacey and everywhere in between. There's a Ram
near you. Now with Softie and Dick, here's Larry Stone.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
All right, here we are, 5.03 on a Wednesday afternoon.
Big thanks to the Ram for sponsoring this shindig right
here every Wednesday with Larry Stone, which, by the way,
to accommodate football and other factors, we'll be moving to
6 o'clock on Tuesdays. starting next week. And Larry, look,
we all know you're a busy man in retirement. You
got a lot of stuff going on, a lot of
volunteer work, things like that. And we really appreciate your
(01:02):
flexibility for how busy you are these days. So thank
you for agreeing to move to Tuesdays at 6, starting
next week.
Speaker 4 (01:09):
Yeah, I had to move a lot of things around,
but for you, I was able to do it.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
We appreciate it. We love you, man. Well, let's talk
Mariner baseball. I remember it was a week ago, whatever,
we asked you on the air about this team making
a run, and you said, you know what, guys, I
just don't see it. And maybe you still don't see it.
I mean, if the Astros win tonight, the M's are
still five games back in the West, but all of
a sudden they've won four of their last six series,
three of the last four. Nice series win in Boston,
(01:34):
maybe showing some life. Has this moved the needle for
you at all?
Speaker 4 (01:40):
Well, if you recall, I did see it and you
were shocked.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Oh, that's right. Last week. Yes, you're correct. Correct.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
And I was about to revise that after the Toronto
series and then they blew the opener in Boston. I
was thinking I'm going to have to do a mea
culpa mea culpa with Dick and Softie, but I'll stick
with it now that they've won these last two.
Speaker 5 (02:06):
Well, they are 2-4 since the last time we talked
to you there. Well, let's talk about some good news, though.
I love the spark from Montez. Can we read anything
into his performance? Let's look at the pitchers he faced yesterday.
It was all AAA pitching, and we all know that
(02:26):
Montez can hammer AAA pitching. Am I reading too much
into that, or were you optimistic about what you saw
going forward?
Speaker 4 (02:35):
Uh, I think you're probably, your instincts are probably right. Don't,
don't get ahead of yourself. I mean, look back on, on,
on debuts. I mean, Emerson was great for a while
and then he faded and Rodden, you know, hitting six
straight and then he faded. You know, you have that
adrenaline and going on that first game, first couple of
games and, and then reality hits. But I mean, how
(02:58):
could you not like what you, what you saw? And
he's got a great personality, a lot of energy. I think,
I think he's what this team needs. Frankly, you know, I, I,
couldn't believe that he wasn't in the lineup today. Yeah.
Even though it was a lefty, but I mean, we're
talking Taylor Ward, who's hitting one 20. You know, I'd
(03:19):
rather take my chances left on left with, with Laz
Montez than, than, sticking Ward back out there and watching
him go for four again.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Yeah, he had an 893 OPS against lefties in AAA
with a 361 on base percentage, and he was hitting 260,
which is fine, right? There's nothing wrong with that. I
thought that was weird. And I thought giving Cal Raleigh
the day off was weird, considering how much he's been
hitting the ball in the last week or so. But
they won the game, so I guess no harm, no
(03:50):
foul for now. But, you know, now we're going to
get to a point, Larry, where they got 22 games
left to go. 17 of the 22 are against teams
that are currently 98 games under.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
500.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
And I asked Brian Schmetzer on the air yesterday, hey, like,
behind the scenes, does that stuff matter? Does that give
you some extra hope? If you're a coach and he
basically said yes, but it's not something you would talk
about in public behind the scenes. Do you think these
guys see that and notice that and think, all right,
we got an opportunity here that we got to take
(04:21):
advantage of.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
I mean, I do think that they know what the
schedule is. They know the teams that are coming in.
You know, I was looking at the Astros still have,
they have a couple games with the White Sox, the Diamondbacks,
the Phillies, the Rays, the Braves. I mean, and the
Rangers also have the Rays and the Diamondbacks and the
Red Sox and the Blue Jays and the Twins. So,
(04:43):
I mean, it's still there for them. How many games
are left? About 20? 22.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
You know, 22, 16 and six might just be enough
to do it.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
And I don't see why they can't do it against
his schedule. I mean, the A's hammered the Rangers today.
It's not like you just throw your gloves out there
and you're going to win. But the A's are just decimated.
They're without Langoliers and Kurtz and Wilson and Brett Rooker
and I think Soderstrom. Their five best hitters are all out. Uh,
(05:14):
I guess there's a chance Langoliers might come back as
a DH, but this is a depleted team that you should,
you should be able to handle almost sweep them. And,
and the angels are a little tougher and then, you know,
the Rockies aren't very good. Uh, and you still have
the Rangers and the Astros, but you want those teams.
You want to be able to make up ground head
to head. So I think it's, I think it's laid
(05:35):
out for them, which is why I said last week,
as dire as it looked that I thought they still
had a good shot to make the playoffs. Um, look, just,
just think how close they were to us. a 4-2
road trip. They just kicked those two games that they
had in hand with bad decisions, bad managerial decisions, bad
(05:55):
decisions by players. And that's too familiar a story with
this team this year, which is why they're in the
predicament that they're in.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
You know what's funny? Baseballreference.com, Jackson and I looked it
up as of this morning, 7.2% chance to win the division. 7%.
Vegas has them at plus 500 now to win the West.
And they were plus 180 a week ago. So Vegas
is starting to not believe in that.
Speaker 5 (06:17):
They're 80 to one now to win the world series.
And like a month ago, they were like 12. It's,
it's amazing. Larry, what needs to happen in the last
month for Dan to keep his job? Is it, is
it literally playoffs or bust? Or do you see a, Hey,
look at this rally. We won 14 and lost eight
in the last 22. And we went on a good
note and lost by two games in the division. Would
(06:37):
that be enough?
Speaker 4 (06:39):
I don't think so. I think it's, it's a playoffs
or bust.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
And I think it may be beyond that. I think
it may be up.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
I mean, I think I said on here a while
ago that if they make the playoffs, he's probably safe,
but I don't think that anymore. I mean, there were
10 games under 500. I think if they make sneak
into the playoffs and it's a first round ouster, I
don't think he'll be back. Uh, if they make a run, uh,
then yes, you know, if he wants to be, I mean,
you look at the guy's face, he, most of the time,
(07:07):
he doesn't look like he's enjoying himself. I'm just wondering
if he'll say, you know, this managing thing, I gave
it a try, uh, at this stage of my life,
it's not, not, not what I want to be doing.
And I'll let someone else give it a try.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
No, that's exactly, uh, Larry, I think you're dead on that.
That's been my gut all along that, you know, he,
He didn't need to do this. I mean, him and
Annie had a great life in retirement and he was
living here and having fun and doing great things. And
then he's asked to come, you know, fall on the
sword for the M's and save them. And they did well.
And now he's getting beat up by everybody. I don't
(07:40):
need that for crying out loud. So I totally think
you're dead on about that. But, you know, staying in
the division for a second, we might go back to
the M's in a minute. Stan Kroenke is buying the Angels, right?
Everywhere he goes, every team he buys does insanely well. Championships,
Denver Nuggets, the Avalanche in the NHL, Arsenal in the
(08:02):
Premier League, the Rams in the NFL. Should John Stanton
and Chris Larson and us as Mariner fans maybe be
a little concerned that the days of the Angels being
the Drek of the West might be over?
Speaker 4 (08:16):
Yeah, I think so. You know, Artie Moreno, the previous owner, Uh, he,
you know, he started off pretty well, but, uh, you know, he, he,
he was not a good owner. He was headstrong. He,
you know, spend money in the wrong places and then
stop spending money, made bad hires. Uh, I think that's
(08:38):
kind of a sleeping giant being in the, in the
SoCal with, uh, you know, players like to go there
and with an, with an owner who probably wants to, to, uh,
show the Dodgers that, that he can keep up with them.
I think there, there is a lot to worry about.
And then you also have the A's, uh, who have
been a pushover for a while for a few years, uh,
(08:58):
moving to Vegas with a, with a bigger revenue stream. So, uh,
you know, I think the division is going to get
tougher in the next few years.
Speaker 5 (09:06):
Well, speaking of ownership, I mean, The Seahawks have that sign,
the VMAC, to the effect of consistent championship expectations. And
we just never hear that from the Mariners. It's consistent
competitive expectations. That's the whole 54% mantra there. So would
a cleaning of the house actually change the culture when
the goal of the franchise is just to be competitive?
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Probably not.
Speaker 4 (09:31):
I mean, they're pretty consistent with that from regime to regime.
I mean, they would tell you that we want that
they want, uh, championships, but, uh, they haven't shown it.
You know, they, after 2022, they didn't open their wallets,
you know, coming off that playoff appearance last off season,
they didn't to a great extent, uh, that they've shown in, in,
(09:56):
their actions that while they they want to be competitive
they don't have that burning desire to win a championship
i just haven't seen it right um so i would
mean i doubt if things are going to change this
off season maybe you never know which is the year
where they say forget it we're going for it but
uh you know, that hasn't happened really to a great
(10:18):
extent yet.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
Yeah, well, this is probably a conversation, Larry, and Larry
Stone with us, courtesy of the Ram, that probably should
wait until the end of the year, but what the hell,
I'm going to ask it anyway. If they do make
a change over the offseason at manager, my concern and my,
I guess, curiosity is I wonder if Jerry DiPoto wants
a strong personality in the dugout. Does he want somebody
who's going to push back? Does he want a Bruce
(10:41):
Bochy type guy, for example? I'm not even sure if
Bruce wants to manage anymore, for crying out loud. But
if they did make a move, would you expect that
they would be willing to hire a guy like that,
who's won before, who's got a system, who would push
back on some of the stuff that comes from the
front office? Or would they want somebody who's more in
line with their line of thinking that would just fall
in line?
Speaker 4 (11:03):
That's a fair question. I mean, you look at DePoto's history,
he was with exactly what you described in Mike Socia
with the Angels, and they clashed, and he ended up
getting forced out of the job. And look at his
two managerial hires here. Scott Service, who had never managed
at any level, and Dan Wilson, who had never managed
(11:23):
at any level. Two guys that he could have control
over because they had no experience to fall back on.
I would think that this is a situation that cries
for the type of manager that you're talking about, and
I would hope that if Jerry stays... And Dan doesn't
(11:45):
that the ownership would put pressure on him to hire
a manager with some stature and some experience because, uh,
you know, that they tried it the other way and
had some success. But, uh, I think the way this
season has kind of fallen apart, uh, just screams out
for a manager with, uh, with, with more experience and more, more, uh, uh, gravitas,
(12:07):
I guess.
Speaker 5 (12:08):
Well, Softie put out his blame ranking, I think it
was yesterday, right? And he ranked, you know, you have ownership,
you have the field manager, you have the general manager,
you have the players. I think you put players first
and then you put manager second. Is that right, Dave?
Speaker 3 (12:21):
I believe so, yes.
Speaker 5 (12:21):
And then ownership and then Jerry.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
Right.
Speaker 5 (12:24):
I think that's the ranking. How would you rank those
four as far as the failures of this baseball team
this year?
Speaker 4 (12:29):
Speaker 4, you know, I, I saw that tweet softy
and I agree with your order.
Speaker 3 (12:34):
Wow. Speaker 0 5 15, September 2nd, 2026. Holy crap.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
Speaker 4 Yeah. I, I agreed.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
With your order.
Speaker 4 (12:50):
The, the players first and foremost, the underachievement of Cal
and Julio and Naylor, and even the pitching staff, which
has been far more inconsistent than they've been in previous years.
You know, I put that number one and I mean,
you just have to, you have to point the finger
at Dan too. I love the guy. He was a
(13:12):
pleasure to cover as a player and, you know, got
to know him as a, as a human being over
the years, but he just, just a lot of baffling
decisions this year and he just doesn't seem to to
have that knack to, uh, that, that we've seen with
Mike McDonald.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
In, uh, in, uh, you know, hard knocks over hard knocks.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
Yeah. Uh, that, uh, he just is lacking that. So
I put him number two, uh, ownership, ownership, not, not, uh, okay. Any,
you know, the, the free agent that the impact free
agent that they needed this off season. And then, uh,
you know, Jerry fourth, uh, Yeah, well, it's not but
(13:55):
not blameless, but but it has to be for.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
Yeah, we can argue the gap between all four, but
that would be my order for sure. And Larry, you know,
we're talking off the air about this. You know, it's
really funny. I'm having a senior moment right now, and
I totally forgot what I was going to ask. I mean,
I had one more Marin request. Larry, how often does
that happen to you? Please be honest with me.
Speaker 4 (14:15):
Well, it just, it happened to me. It happened to
me on the last question.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
That's what we're here for.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
That's all right. We're here for that.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
I had another Mariner question, and I don't even know
what the hell it was. So I'm just going to
skip ahead and move to the Apple Cup, because we
got to ask you about the Apple Cup, man. Getting
played on Sunday, and Dick and I are talking on
the air that normally this time of year, it's normally
in November, but there's some anxiety in the office. You
can feel anxiety. The anxiety between Husky fans and Cougar
(14:49):
fans that all work together. And there's none of that
right now. Like all the Cougar fans that work here,
they don't care. They're not even going to the game.
We got three of them in the building right now
and not one is even going to the game on Sunday.
They're just taking their ball and they're going home. It
just doesn't have the juice, right, that it had in
years past. So you tell us about this game on
(15:09):
Sunday and then give us your thoughts, Larry, on the
future of this game because it certainly seems like it's
possible we might be looking.
Speaker 4 (15:16):
At the end. Yeah, I mean, the juice isn't there.
There's a lot of reasons for that. They play in
different conferences now. You know, the transfer portal, it's a
new squad of players every year who don't, you know,
they're not imbued in the, in the.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
Rivalry and what it means.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
And then, and the timing of the game, the first
game of the year, all those factors detract from what
it used to be. So, you know, I'd like to
see it. I'd like to see it keep going. It's
got a storied history and it means a lot to
a lot of people in the state, even though the
meaning is declining, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if,
you know, you know, in a, within a decade, at
(15:59):
least that they, they'd stop playing the game.
Speaker 5 (16:02):
Larry, I need you to settle a debate we were
having on the air yesterday concerning Aaron Donald. Softie and
I are on one side. Jackson's on the other. We
won't tell you which side we're on unless you listen
to the show. Maybe you did. But how much impact
is Aaron Donald going to have on this football team?
How much does it worry you that Aaron Donald's on
this football team?
Speaker 4 (16:23):
I think he's going to have impact, but I think
it's going to be less. How many years did he
sit out? Two years?
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Two years.
Speaker 3 (16:29):
Correct. He's 35 years old.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Now, right?
Speaker 4 (16:32):
I just think it's harder to come back than he
may realize once he's stopped. Guys who have retired say
they kind of lose that desire to hit somebody when
you haven't done it for a couple of years. So
I would lean towards whichever one of you said it's
not going to be as big an impact as people think.
Speaker 5 (16:51):
That's me and Softie. That's the right side, Larry.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
Jackson's just panicking. I'm just going to say it real quick.
You all hope that what Larry said is true. We
hope and we also think. We can hope and think
of the same thing. And you think that it's wrong.
And I expect disappointment, so I'll never be disappointed. I mean, Larry,
what surprises me about it is that, you know, I
don't know if you're a big gambling guy or not.
I mean, you know, I've heard rumors, by the way.
(17:15):
the Rams are plus 500 to win the Superbowl and
the next best team is plus a thousand. Is that right?
That's right. I mean, that is a Vegas is telling
you that they think the Rams are not only the
best team in football, but that the best team in
football by a large, large, large margin. Are you buying that? No,
I mean, I'm not a gambling man.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
Uh, but I, uh, I can understand why with Miles
Garrett acquisition and Donald coming back and the fact that
they were a good team last year, but I don't
see them being head and shoulders above everybody else. The
Seahawks won it all last year and are bringing back
(17:57):
the vast majority of their key players. I don't think
that gap exists. You know, if the Rams have passed
the Seahawks, it's by a very slight margin. And, you know,
anything could happen in their two games.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
I don't see.
Speaker 4 (18:14):
I'm going to disagree with Vegas, who rarely makes mistakes,
but I think they did on this one.
Speaker 5 (18:19):
Well, the stat on Vegas has been wrong on these
heavy favorites all the time. Over the last 30 years,
it's been a preseason favorite of 5-1 or better 20 times,
and those teams are 0-20 winning the Super Bowl. So
what's interesting is we figured out today that the Mariners'
odds in Vegas... To win the division.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
500.
Speaker 5 (18:38):
And the Rams' odds to win the Super Bowl are
exactly the same.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
How about that?
Speaker 5 (18:42):
Which team has a better chance?
Speaker 3 (18:48):
Probably the Rams.
Speaker 5 (18:50):
I think so, too.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
I mean, maybe if the Astros lose tonight and you're
four out, we can ask you that question again tomorrow.
I mean, Larry, I can't remember what popped into my
head 30 seconds ago or what you said last week.
So there's no way I'll remember any of this conversation,
by the way. By the way, do you take anything
for that, honestly, at your age?
Speaker 5 (19:08):
Like ginkgo biloba or something like that?
Speaker 3 (19:11):
Ginkgo biloba?
Speaker 4 (19:14):
No, I do not take anything. That's a rude question.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
It is not! It is not a rude question. I'm
asking you for some advice.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
Come on!
Speaker 3 (19:26):
No, I don't. I don't.
Speaker 5 (19:27):
All right.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
Well, if that changes, let me know. Larry, you're the best.
Love you, and we'll talk in a week.
Speaker 4 (19:31):
Thanks, Larry. All right. It's my anniversary tonight, so we
may go out to the ramp for a nice romantic dinner.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
How many years are we talking about?
Speaker 4 (19:42):
It's our Jackie Robinson anniversary.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
Wow. 42 years. God bless her, by the way. 42
years with you. Where did you guys meet, by the way,
you and your wife? Tell us the story.
Speaker 4 (19:53):
Well, yeah, we met in Yakima when I was working–
My first job out of high school. She's from Wenatchee.
She was working at the hospital in Toppenish, and we
met through mutual friends. And that was back in the mid-' 80s, early-' 80s.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
You ever think when you were in Berkeley running around
with your hippie outfit on that you're going to meet
your wife in Yakima, Washington and be together for 42
years at minimum?
Speaker 4 (20:17):
That was... I would have told you you were nuts
if you had told me that.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
Larry, you're the man.
Speaker 4 (20:21):
Love it.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
And we'll talk in a week. All right, buddy. See you.
Speaker 4 (20:24):
All right. Thank you. All right.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
Larry Stone with us. I still haven't figured out what
that question was going to be. I'm telling you, it
was in my brain and then it was gone. It
might be an ADD thing. It might be a senior
moment thing. I don't know, man. I just know it's
happening a lot more often.
Speaker 5 (20:37):
Well, I do know being with you the last 25
years that in about 15 minutes, you're going to go, Oh.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
That's right. I remember what it was. A buddy of
mine suggested something that I should take, like a memory
type thing, and I forgot what it was. I mean,
isn't that ironic?
Speaker 5 (20:53):
Isn't it ginkgo?
Speaker 3 (20:54):
No, it was something else. Isn't that from memory? Something else.
Speaker 4 (20:57):
Creatine?
Speaker 3 (20:58):
No, it wasn't creatine. It was something else, and I
totally forgot what it was. Yeah, maybe it was acid. Oh.
That'd be pretty damn funny. You think the bosses would
allow that to do a show on acid, by the way?
I mean, as long as you got the dump button working,
we should be okay. All right, we're going to break.
We have a lot more to get to, including we're
going to give the audience a chance to benefit from
our predictions for the Mariners the rest of the way.
(21:19):
I'll explain. Jackson and Dick don't even know what the
hell's going on.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
I have no idea.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
Next on 93.3 KJRFM.
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