So long Richie Sucks-son

The Mariners finally released Richie Sexson today after three and a half years of underachievement and frustration. The one bright spot of Sexson's time with the M's was when he charged the mound and flung his helmet at Rangers pitcher Kason Gabbard for a pitch that wasn't even close to hitting him.

I remember before 2005 when the M's picked up Sexson and Adrian Beltre. Sexson had hit 45 homers two seasons before and Beltre was coming off finishing second in the NL MVP race. I thought we were on the road for greatness.

Sexon's first year was a success - he hit.263 and had 39 home runs. The next year, his batting average dipped, but he still managed 34 homers. But last year was just plain embarrassing. Sexson hit a meager .205 and only managed 21 homers. He was terrible. He was so bad, the M's benched him at the end of the seaso, citing an 'injury'.

In the last 3 1/2 years, Sexson has struck out 24% of the time he is at the plate...that is just terrible. He was simply trying to hard to impress the fans, who booed him every time he stepped to the plate. Seattle isn't known for having mean fans, but Sexson brought out the worst in them.

I think Sexson and Beltre rubbed off on each other. They both came in highly touted, and both failed to reach their expectations. Beltre hit 48 home runs with the Dodgers in 2004. Since he joined the M's the next year, he has hit 19, 25, 26 and 16 this year. His batting average has also never even come close to the .334 he hit in '04. The highest he's hit since - .276.

What the hell happened? Were they drinking toilet water for 3 years? Did they spend their offseason watching Gina Davis movies and eating Bon Bons? The M's have been one of the most tragic sports stories of the decade. In 2001, they weren't expected to be a contender. They had just got rid of A-Rod and their team was filled with mostly average players. So what did that team end up doing? They set an American League record for wins with 119 and had eight All-Stars, including AL MVP and Rookie of the Year Ichiro (.350 in his first season!!!!). Good things were to come....right?

So what's happened since then? Nothing - they haven't been to the postseason since. Seven years of agony for Mariners fans. And last year, when they finished above .500 for the first time since 2003, everyone thought this would be the year they get back to the playoffs......now they are on pace to lose 100 games and becoming the first team to do so with a $100 million roster. Ichiro is hovering at .300 and their star pitcher is on the DL.



Getting rid of Sexson had to be done. The fans gave up on him long ago. Beltre may be the next to go, because of his huge contract, even thought he's leading the team in home runs with 16. The average age of the Mariners players is 30.3 years old - the oldest team in the AL West and fourth-oldest in the AL. It's time to get rid of Raul Ibanez, Jose Vidro, Kenji Jojhima and Jarrod Washburn. Even though Ichiro is 34, he could play until he's 40 and he's got one of the best arms in the league.

Because of the Mariners' shortcomings year after year, I have become less and less of a baseball fan. It's hard to watch baseball when your team is unbearable to watch. If it wasn't for Ichiro, I would have given up on the sport of baseball all together. Every year I have become less and less of a fan...I think the fans in Seattle are starting to feel the same way.