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As we noted in the Shout Box, one way to recapture our coziness, to lounge in a Mariners Conversation Clubhouse would be to ... GASP ... use the comments threads.  Ironic, isn't it, how attached we became to the Shout Box?  Not everything new is a negative.  ;- )

If you do deign to use a comments thread, there will be at least one guy who will chat back atcha.  Much as Dr. D admires the Shout Box, he always preferred the comments threads.  You say potayto, I say potahto.

The carousel allows us to quickly scan for Jemanji posts.  That's what I use it for.  I love Jemanji posts.  Read each one at least a dozen times, changing one phrase for each read.  Bill James once claimed "hundreds" of re-reads for each article he wrote.  Jemanji/Dr. D/Jeffinator approves of this.

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The "Buy-In" headline referred to Edgar, not to Dr. D.  Even so, every series, SSI warmly advises you that we've got One. More. Series. to watch baseball with latent hopes.  And there's one more tonight, with K-Pax going into a second start.  Remember WBC-san's first start back (9.00 ERA) and then his second (three-hit shutout)?  Dr. D confidently prophesies an over/under of 14.5 for the strikeout column tonight.

Edgar was going to headline SSI today, which would be a big moment for him, obviously.  Lo and behold, he settled for headlining Fangraphs instead.  You go through the interview, and you think "Very nice."  Then you go to the comments on the interview, all of which consist of WHY IS THIS GUY NOT IN THE HALL OF FAME, and you realize it was even better than that.  In Rocky movies and in baseball blogging, it's all about the reaction shot.  

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REACTION SHOT:  THE BOSS

Well, he's a boss nominally.  He'll be senior to Edgar, in the dugout and in the GM's office, when he gets an accolade that exceeds getting his name onto the street outside the park.  On Mariners.com, Lloyd McClendon said

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"[Martinez] has done a good job," said Lloyd McClendon, himself a hitting coach for eight years for the Tigers before becoming the Mariners' manager last year. "Edgar works hard, the players like him. The fact is, our players are doing better. They're swinging the bats better. We're so quick to give guys the blame, so when players do good, give them the credit. Our guys have gotten better, and rightfully so, he should get the credit."

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It's probably just me, but that seems kind of reluctant, or faint, or hedging, or something.  Can you picture McClendon saying that Nelson Cruz "has done a good job"? Giving him an "A" for effort, that he's a pleasure to have in class?  Ah well.  You wouldn't be here if you didn't want twisted shtick.  That's mine:  McClendon is not quite comfortable playing a Derek Fisher role when Phil Jackson has deigned to be the assistant coach.  The more so if the Knicks had gone from 12-31 to 42-33 when Jackson sat down beside Fisher. 

Still, McClendon politely says yes, I agree, Edgar. Is. Good.  So there's that.

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REACTION SHOT:  THE PLAYERS

According to the breathless quote above, the players "like" Edgar.  And why would that be?  I dunno, what's the opposite of "Shrill"?  Do you prefer your boss to be Shrill, or otherwise?

9 times out of 10, the coach doesn't matter, but time #10 he's going to pull off a Marlins Jack McKeon or a Nuggets George Karl or a Sonics Lenny Wilkens.  The M's OPS+ remains at 120 for the second half, inches behind the Blue Jays for best offense in baseball.  This follows an OPS+ of 89 before Edgar got here.

Let me read that again.  Best offense in baseball?!

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I think it was Lee Trevino who compared his relationship to caddy Herman Mitchell to a marriage.  When Trevino mis-hit a shot, he'd yell at Mitchell and feel better.  When Trevino walked down the 18th in the lead, he had somebody to share it with.  ... wait, that might not be what Dr. D meant to say.  But having the right vibe from your coach, that can be "IT" as Silentpadna likes to say.  

Carl Yasztremski and Ted Williams, Shaq and Phil Jackson, any tennis player and Tim Gallwey, when you get the right band together that's when you hit your Perfect Storm, sink into the right frame of mind and sell 10 million albums.

The point is, the Mariners will go into 2016 as the chic pic, like they did this year.  What more could you want?

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REACTION SHOT:  THE EDGAR

Most of the Fangraphs interview is technical.  Shtick follows:

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Martinez on being direct to the ball: “We sometimes make (hitting) complicated, but the simpler it is – the simpler the mechanics – the better your chance are of hitting a fastball. Sometimes we think too much about the mechanics. If we go to the plate thinking about our legs or our hands, we’re not focusing on what we need to focus on, which is hitting the pitch. For that reason, we end up missing our pitch.

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Jack Nicklaus once said, some players you can see them stand over the ball going through a checklist.  They're done before they swing.  Nicklaus also said, if anything is forced or contrived about the swing, it will come apart under pressure.

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“How you position your hands is important. If you have them someplace other than where they are when you fire to hit a baseball, that’s not simple. I wanted to have my hands very close to where I was firing to hit a fastball. There are players who hold them low and have to bring them up, or they’ll hold them up and have to bring them down. Others have them in front and need to move them back. I think it should be simple. You should have them where you’re starting from your firing position.

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He uses the word "FIRE" three times in seventeen words.  Looking at The Edgar, you wouldn't picture him as somebody who would draw a .454 Casull and blast it at a fellow human being, leaving a cloud of pink mist and a pair of cleats and ankles on the pitcher's mound.  But, hey, still waters run deep.  It's okay to get Richard Sherman angry, but good luck to you if you're in the elevator when Russell Wilson snaps.

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On not opening up too soon: “We also get into habits in the bottom half, especially with our hips. That’s another habit that can be hard to change. Opening up too soon can be from always thinking about pulling the ball – you want to open up the hips first, to pull the ball. For a player who’s always been a pull hitter, it’s a tough habit to break if you want to help him start going the other way. Another reason for opening up too soon is being anxious. You’re trying to make it happen instead of waiting for the pitch.

“The way you think affects the way you react. If your mind is thinking, ‘I have to look inside,’ your hips are going to open up.

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Dr. D suspects we are getting the idea.  Norman Rockwell studied painting.  Wayne Gretzky studied hockey.  And The Edgar didn't hit .356 from the right-hand batter's box by no blinkin' accident.

You dig the mind-body Zen here?

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“When you’re in a slump – you’re not hitting the ball very well – it’s almost like your mind gets a little foggy. When you’re hitting very well, it’s like you know what he’s going to throw. You’re anticipating very well and aware of everything.

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Also known as "slowing the game down."  The phrase refers to anticipation.

Chess references are about as popular on SSI as Dustin Ackley references, but ... in 3-minute blitz chess, Dr. D's rating goes up or down by 200 points -- DAILY -- based on exactly this factor.  That's a standard deviation in chess.  In baseball terms it's the difference between .250 and 19 homers vs. .285 and 32 homers.

Random reaction shot from the Mark Trumbo side of the street.  Lloyd McClendon gushes, much more gushily than he gushed over Edgar,

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"[Trumbo is] starting to settle in real nice, and I don't think it's potential, I think it's proven," McClendon said. "He has a track record of hitting home runs and driving in runs, but he's also a leader in a lot of respects. I think he's starting to become comfortable with his teammates, and he's starting to lead on the field, and he has a tremendous desire to win. He's a pleasure to have on this club."

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I guess 1B is settled for next year, then?  Funny how quick Jack Zduriencik wised up.  Two months ago, this player was almost a satire of everything that was ever wrong about Jack Zduriencik.

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On confidence and video: “The only thing I like my hitters to watch (on video) is when they’re doing well. I don’t like them to dwell too much when they’re doing something wrong. It’s almost like they’re experiencing it again, and I want them to be positive. I want them to see, ‘This is what you’re doing when you’re doing well; just go ahead and do that.’

“Most of the time, hitters know when they’re doing something wrong. They know they’re opening up their hips or that their hands aren’t ready before the swing. They know when their swing is too long. I don’t need to show them.

“When I’m trying to explain something – staying inside the ball, or how he uses his legs – sometimes I’ll show players film of someone like Miguel Cabrera. Watching certain hitters is a good way to learn about the swing.

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This is avante-garde and it is Zen.  One story about a young gemstone apprentice who was trying to learn the difference between real jade or a good fake:  The Master smiled and made him hold a high-quality jade stone in his hand for six hours a day, two years.  When the two years were up, the apprentice was the second-best materials assessor in China.  The Master had invested one sentence in his apprentice.  But it was the right sentence.  That's the definition of Zen.

WATCH people doing it RIGHT.  You can learn anything that way.  And it's the funnest way.  Kids can do it.

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On talking hitting with his teammates: “I talked hitting with my teammates a lot. I talked to Bret Boone, Stan Javier, Jay Buhner, Alex Rodriguez.

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When Edgar got started, the guys on TV -- Buhner, Blowers -- were asked whether Edgar would make a good hitting coach.  Bone and Blow responded, he WAS a good hitting coach when he was a player.

Blowers' disappointment was palpable when Howard Johnson was fired.  But there are a lot of things in life that are like going to the dentist.  Those who avoid all short-term pain ... what's the saying?  Wise for a moment, fool forever.

Let's leave a pair of Gallardo-size cleats and ankles on the mound tonight,

Dr D