Monday, August 22, 2005

Memo to the Seattle Times: Steve Kelly is Pile

Seattle’s Worst Sports Columnist opens his large overzealous pie hole again. Steve Kelly is a glorified crybaby whose opinions are flaunted upon the pages of Seattle’s largest newspaper. I have read this scumbag’s column for a while now and not once have I come away thinking you know what Steve makes a good point here. He uses the smallest of incidents to create drama and publicity for his articles. In his most recent article "M's better off without selfish Franklin" Kelly blasts Ryan Franklin for being Selfish and an embarrassment to the team.

First off Kelly, you complete waste of space, get your facts right. Franklin did not go after an argument with Brian Price. He came into the dug out pissed off BP told him to cool down in the back so Franky left to let off steam. When BP said that was enough that’s when the argument ensued. In no way did Franklin chase down BP as you insinuated in your article.

You go on to say that Franklin is a crybaby about getting no run support. What the hell man!!! He hasn’t gotten any run support for the better part of two years including a year were he was in the top 5 in ERA in the entire league. His ERA this year is unimportant when you give up 2 runs and are pretty much guaranteed a loss. Let the man finally say something about this. He has been quiet this whole time until recently. Let the man say something.

I feel strongly that you, Steve, are out of line here. It’s a frustrating time for all Mariners and to let of some steam is expected. BP can handle himself, Franky can handle himself. They both don’t need you to call them out or ask management for a release. I know I am not the only Mariner fan that doesn’t think too highly of your work. Stick to WNBA basketball, maybe they can teach you some solid fundamentals and perhaps some respect for someone who needs support right now, not to be ridden out of town.

If you would like to read the article I am referring to click this link here:

PILE OF CRAP

While I believe Franky's time here to be over I in no way have any harsh feelings for the guy. He is a competator and a horse. 3 years he had filling the 5th man whole and he did it admirably. I wish him the very best and hope he finds a home somewhere in thE future as I find it hard to believe managment will bring him back. Cheers franky and don't listen to a bum like Steve "I think I am god and always right" Kelly.

END RANT

10 comments:

  1. OK then. Apparantly Travis doesn't like Steve Kelley.

    Franklin's not the best, and did cheat, but Kelley went a litte overboard. There aren't too many sports writers taht aren't arrogant asses, so it shouldn't be surprising.

    I'd still be for keeping him on in the long relief role, but I don't think he'd be too happy about that. Maybe he could go start for Lou in Tampa Bay.

    9th in the AL in ERA in 2003, and good long relief work in 2001 deserve some recognition, but I don't see Franky being a part of the future.

    I wish Felix pitched everyday.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous9:47 PM

    ...I do wish that Travis would let us know how he really feels about Stevie-boy Kelley !!--having been away for a few days I was catching up on the sportsd pages and I, too, must admit I was a bit taken aback at Kelly's spending an entire column on l'affaire Franklin - either it wasn't that big a deal as Grove indicated or it doesn't matter since its unlikely Frankie will be back here next year..

    ..we can't have nor want the scribes to be cheerleaders but seems to me Kelly could have picked a better battle than this one--I agree tha Art Thiel is the man--have you all read his book on the M's? - its definitley not "Out of Left Field" if you know what I mean

    ..so what's ahead--a protest march outside the Seattle Times--or a big celebration on Friday night--I'll take King Felix and not dignify Stevie

    ReplyDelete
  3. And seriously....of all things Steve Kelly could rant about-he picks Franklin?

    Weird.

    ReplyDelete
  4. it's because he can't think of anything good to write. I hate him

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous9:45 AM

    who cares about Steve Kelley when you have the sanity and clear minded thinking of 'mariner magic'. franklin has pitched reliably if not brilliantly and kept his mouth shut for 2 years now. i hope he gets a new start somewhere and some respect along with it.

    glad we have somewhere to get our facts straight, big daddy. rock on!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sorry, folks, but I'm actually thankful for the Kelley article. As much as he's a lame-brain himself, it's good that someone in the Seattle press actually has the cojones to call this team out, and in particular someone who's really, really made things worse for this team recently.

    Hargrove really was trying to defuse the situation and really trying to keep some semblence of control over this team.

    However, even if it is in the passionate heat of frustration, a true professional never, ever goes after a guy physically in front of the camera and the fans. Franklin went after Price, even if it isn't as serious as it first seemed. Whatever the story, whatever the reason, what Franklin did was uncalled for.

    It was Franklin's second strike against the club in the very recent future, and the M's definitely do not need anyone on the team bringing negative attention to them.

    And, Maaaaah, get YOUR facts straight. Franklin's incessant whining hasn't stopped. Sure, it probably gets blown out of proportion here and there, and at times he's had legit reason to be frustrated, but it doesn't stop the fact that he always is whining about something, and trying to shift the blame of his sucktitude on someone else.

    The one thing Franklin can be counted on is to give up at least one home run and at least 5 runs a game. Whether it comes in 3 innings or 7, it's still consistent. Kelley may be a bad writer, and certainly has issues. But at least he's not toeing Lincoln's line, and is willing to go out on a limb and blow a fuse on this team and Ryan Franklin.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Travis definitely has a soft spot for Franklin so his anger is not surprising.

    Ppaul-I am for calling out the team when it's necessary, but this just seems like a pointless article. We're talking about the 5th starter here, do we really need to be marching on the SafeCo offices if they don't get rid of Franklin?

    In fact I would argue that this call-out really isn't all that gutsy. Calling out management to get rid of a guy they would have to be idiotic to keep really isn't sticking your neck out there. Why not call out management for creating what we have seen the past two years? What about this nonsense at the catcher position? Or Willie Bloomquist hitting in the 2-hole on a daily basis?

    Calling out Franklin is the easy and obvious thing to do.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sure, it's easy to pick on Franklin, and probably not very productive in the long run. However, I slightly disagree that Franklin is the least of our problems. Kelley could've gone off a bit on the less-obvious, and I'll assent that he's probably not got the brains or the popularity to take on someone who'd be harder to pick on.

    Do you think anyone in the Seattle media has the cojones to call out Hargrove? Ichiro? "Locked on Sports" has a tendency to call out the un-obvious at times (i.e. when he called Ichiro out early last season), and yet still trips over himself to make some very strange conclusions (i.e. NOT wanting to throw in the towel and call up the rookies back in June). But now that Ichiro has reached "sacred" status (after besting Sisler), do you see people calling him out? I sure don't. Would I like to? Yes.

    This team lives and dies by Ichiro's streakiness. It's helped a little by having a legit run producer back in the lineup (Sexson), and would be helped further if Beltre can find some sustained success. But the sole reason why Ichiro won the MVP in 2001 (in spite of Boone's overall better production) is that he was a total force to be feared -- on the bases, in the field and at the plate. I don't see that anymore, at least consistently. That's part of the problem. As is Adrian Beltre's slow start. But I digress...

    I understand Travis' lovefest for Franklin. I get to deal with it every time we have a family gathering -- my season-ticket-splitting-with-friends sister loves both Franklin and Bloomquist, and have no clue as to how anyone can criticize either of them. I experience a lot of this out of folks who don't read the M's blogs. There are a lot of people who just love both Willie Bloomquist and Ryan Franklin, and think they're really good ballplayers.

    I don't think that's as obvious in M's Fandom as we here in the blogosphere assume it to be. The hatred towards Franklin's performance (not necessarily towards Ryan himself, although there is a lot of that too) really only exists, up until Kelley's article, in the M's blogosphere. As much as there are many, many other things to call the M's out on, I'm still a little happy that at least something obvious to most M's bloggers was elevated into print. My point is -- people outside the M's blogosphere love Franklin just as much for his "grit" and "competitiveness" as they do Willie Bloomquist. For him to get some legit bad press instead of un-justifiable good press (i.e. front-office spin) in the mainstream media is a bit refreshing (even if it does come from Kelley).

    No matter how Franklin tries to downplay it (or, as typical, pawn it off on something or someone other than himself) the fact remains that he tested positive for illegal PE's. That's a huge stain on the organization, and on his own character. And, I can agree with what Jeff Nelson said on KJR this afternoon that Franklin is struggling with his respectability and his relationship with the team, the front office, and the fans.

    I'll concede, in that light, that Kelley's article could be considered a cheap shot against Franklin, akin to kicking him while he's down. And, I admit to feeling a little guilty when I look at it in that perspective. But, if it takes a slap across the face every once in awhile to wake people up to reality, then maybe that's the consequence.

    Now I feel like a jerk. Or maybe I shouldn't. Ryan Franklin is not a good pitcher. Maybe I'm wrong in my belief that he's a conceited, prima-donna, whiny blamer (but that's not just based on how he comes across in the media), and he could be a decent guy who gets more $hit dumped on him than he deserves. But I'm tired of people giving Franklin's pitching skills much more props, and I'm glad someone in the mainstream press finally called for his release.

    Just like I'm glad fans were booing Spiezio. I felt bad for the guy -- I really am a compassionate person -- but it's what needed to happen to get him away from Seattle. My big frustration, though, is that Seattle fans are much more willing to accept a team full of mediocre-to-bad fan favorites than a complete, competitive team from Ace Pitcher to 25th man. If it takes shedding a negative light on the seemingly obvious, even when they've been knocked down a little bit (by their own actions -- not necessarily by others').

    Sorry to hijack this cool blog with a bit of negativity and contrarianism. The deal I make of things definitely isn't worth the time I often spend on them. But that's the cool thing about blogging. It's like sports radio. Without the radio...

    We're all M's fans, so we're on the same team -- that's what really matters, right?

    :-)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Don't feel bad Paul. That's why the blogosphere exists-to share opinions.

    Two things we all agree on:
    1. We love the Seattle Mariners
    2. Steve Kelley kinda sucks

    The problem with someone like Kelley and the guys on KJR is they don't do enough research and there are a lot more "average fans" listening to them than reading our blogs. When I was home for a few days in July, that guy "Softy" was talking about how there is no way Guardado was pitching with a torn rotator cuff. That was reported in the Seattle Times. I knew that and I have my own job, own life, and live across the country. Why doesn't he know that?

    ReplyDelete
  10. i still think Kelly is a pile, Runner up is Softy he's a pile too. I need to find something positive here. ahhhhh Felix, I feel better now

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.