Post by Fish Troll on Jun 18, 2008 14:26:23 GMT -5
SEATTLE (AP) -- It was Bill Bavasi's last ditch effort, the desperation of a frustrated man trying to find a spark and save his job.
Two weeks ago, Bavasi locked the doors in the Seattle Mariners clubhouse and forced his underachieving 25-man roster to sit together and be publicly held accountable for their spiraling season.
Childish? Yes. Punishment? Yes. Bavasi's last attempt at salvaging his job as Seattle's general manager? Yep.
"What I did was stupid," Bavasi said Monday after being fired. "The goal was to have them for once be in the same place at the same time after a game, after they had played real poorly. Sometimes you lose and sometimes you get beat, there is a difference, and we have lost too many games."
Whether getting beat or flat losing, there's been too much of it in Seattle this season, and Bavasi was relieved of his duties Monday morning in the midst of his fifth season with the Mariners. Seattle is 24-45, worst in the majors, with a roster many thought had the talent to challenge the Los Angeles Angels in the AL West this season.
Now, the Mariners and their $117 million payroll are simply hoping to avoid 100 losses.
"We've just got to win," Seattle manager John McLaren said. "It's kind of mind boggling what we've gone through and I've had a lot of nights staying up late trying to figure things out. We have talent, we play hard and for some reason that's not getting it done."
Two weeks ago, Bavasi locked the doors in the Seattle Mariners clubhouse and forced his underachieving 25-man roster to sit together and be publicly held accountable for their spiraling season.
Childish? Yes. Punishment? Yes. Bavasi's last attempt at salvaging his job as Seattle's general manager? Yep.
"What I did was stupid," Bavasi said Monday after being fired. "The goal was to have them for once be in the same place at the same time after a game, after they had played real poorly. Sometimes you lose and sometimes you get beat, there is a difference, and we have lost too many games."
Whether getting beat or flat losing, there's been too much of it in Seattle this season, and Bavasi was relieved of his duties Monday morning in the midst of his fifth season with the Mariners. Seattle is 24-45, worst in the majors, with a roster many thought had the talent to challenge the Los Angeles Angels in the AL West this season.
Now, the Mariners and their $117 million payroll are simply hoping to avoid 100 losses.
"We've just got to win," Seattle manager John McLaren said. "It's kind of mind boggling what we've gone through and I've had a lot of nights staying up late trying to figure things out. We have talent, we play hard and for some reason that's not getting it done."
sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/baseball/mlb/06/16/bavasi.fired.ap/index.html
