HeraldNet: Searching for (an offensive) personality



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Mariners Blog

July 1, 2008

Searching for (an offensive) personality

Posted at 7:58 pm by By Kirby Arnold

There's an old hockey axiom that says the best defense is a good offense. The Seattle Mariners, obviously, aren't playing hockey.

And, with a club that has scored fewer runs than any team in the American League, the Mariners aren't playing offense either. They aren't a power-hitting team and they aren't a running team, and without those two elements you get what this season has become.

“We don’t really have an identity as one or the other,” manager Jim Riggleman said. “But that’s OK. There’s still the potential there to play good baseball.”

How? With good defense and pitching, Riggleman says.

Unless some hitters named Johjima, Vidro and Sexson turn themselves around, it'll have to take massive amounts of defense and pitching.

“I like any kind of offensive style that works,” Riggleman said. “But my point is that it’s secondary to pitching and defense. Generally, if you have athletic people, you have a good defense. ”

And when you have a good defense, usually you have an offensive team capable of running. These guys?

"That’s just not who we are," Riggleman said. "If you try to force that, we’re going to be running into outs.”

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