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Leonys Martin's current projected stats would nestle comfortably onto some line or other of Stormin' Gorman Thomas' baseball card:
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| Center Fielder | K | HR | AVG | OBP | SLG | Remark |
| Leonydas 2016 | 162 | 30 | .252 | .331 | .462 | Not pictured to your left: an SSI Best Bet |
| Thomas 1980 | 170 | 38 | .239 | .303 | .471 | |
| Thomas 1985 (Seattle) | 126 | 32 | .215 | .330 | .450 | |
| Thomas career | 151 | 30 | .225 | .324 | .448 | 114 OPS+ (Leonydas currently 124) |
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For some reason my childhood memory is of Thomas hitting .219 with 34 homers; his career line is like that but he has no real season like that (except the one with the Mariners). Thomas was actually a consistent .500+ slugger in his prime, five years.
And the modern game would probably put alligators in a moat around center field if it saw Gorman Thomas headed towards it. The point is, Harvey's Wallbangers got an all-or-nothing HR game out of their center fielder, and that was really put the last burst of wind velocity into a maelstrom of extra-base hits.
Remember the Wallbangers?
In 1982, they hit their peak:
Despite hitting with the pitcher, that team had seven home run hitters. ... my brain is getting REALLY old. Did anybody else space out on the Brewers' move to the NL in 1998? And that before they did, they played in three (3) AL Divisions the previous 15 years?
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Anyway. The Wallbangers were baseball at its funnest. (1) UZR is not fun. (2) Banging walls is fun. (3) I won that ten-word debate just now. (4) Gorman Thomas was the face of the rampage; in the first 43 games of this season, Leonys Martin has been the most distinct stylistic oddity in the M's lineup, too.
....
... what were we saying? Oh yeah. The Mariners have home run hitters too; after their Big Three, certainly Lee/Lind are as much of a threat to bang as was Ted Simmons, for example. Seth Smith we don't have to sell you on. Dr. D just told Franklin Gutierrez that he can't punch any more and Guti walked over and knocked Dr. D into next week.
So if you get Chris Iannetta hitting 16 homers (as he has done) that's Don Money 1982; if you get King Leonydas hitting 19-29 that takes care of either Molitor or Yount. Given a coachable set of hitters to work with, Edgar is seeing to it that we get some bases out of our Scrubs. ... bases, pshaw; we're getting doubles off the wall.
The Mariners are on pace for 222 homers, despite playing in Safeco. Jack Zduriencik dreamed of running this exact team. Jerry DiPoto constructed it literally without trying to do so.
BABVA,
Dr D
Brewers >> Rollie Fingers too, at the end of his career. Gotta love the gaudy mustache straight outta the 1890's. Didja ever wonder if, along with his GREAT arm and pitchability, Fingers had the added weapon of distraction because of that eye-catching mustache? I'm just kidding...I think. Or am I?
With that ridiculous chin mullet of his (the puff-ball beard). So glad he shaved it off...and yet...what if it was the source of his powers?
In seriousness...yes, these Mariners can hit for power and grind away at the pitcher a lot like the 1997 Mariners could (OK...not QUITE that good...but close!) and they can pitch a little bit as well.
First of all, in the endless expanse of the Internet, no other person has ever or will ever compare Leonys Marin to Gorman Thomas. This is indication of an inordinately expansive mind! :)
I had entirely forgotten that Gorman Thomas EVER played an inning in center field.
You gotta hand it to Harvey Kuehn--that man was DEDICATED to his approach.
Fun historical fact: I remember as a very young fan when Kuehn was traded for Rocky Colovito. That was the AL home run champ for the AL batting champ. Think about that audacity by the GMs.
Trades were so much more fun before free agency...