New Mariners Ads Are Up - Slogan Hysterically Stupid.

Seattle Mariners, "Ready to Play". It's almost as ridiculous as the slogan from the mid 80's "Hit it again".  I mean, well, 'duh'.  That they're 'Ready to Play' doesn't inspire visions of historic achievement, but after being one of the worst teams in the history of baseball, I guess you need to take baby steps, eh?

But putting that aside, the M's have their new crop of ads out - available on MLB.com - and you really have to hand it to Kevin Martinez, Jim Copacino and whomever else may have pitched in - they do some pretty funny ads year to year. I particularly liked "Encore" with Felix although I had to watch it twice because I was mesmerized by the size of Eric Wedge's stomach on first watch. I also thought the "Painful" one was well executed, and registered on the "had to be said" level in addressing just how bad 2010 was.  Well done.

That said, I hope to never see Fister's acting career once he leaves baseball.  My God, how uncomfortable does he look in that commercial?

The one thing that always makes me a little nervous is each year you watch these ads and you know with certainty that several of the featured players won't be around by the end of the season. I mean, how hard was it to watch that Ryan Rowland Smith ad from last year knowing that he was in AAA?  I watch these and wonder which commercial will be obsolete first.  My bet - it's the Fister/Vargas one. Something's gotta give there.

But head over and take a look and talk them up or down in the comments or over at the Facebook page - I'm interested to hear what you all think.

Go M's.

Metro Mediocre

A lot of slogan talk around Seattle these days. In the early 1980's a local contest came up with a sparkling idea, dubbing Seattle "The Emerald City." Nowadays we go by "Metro Natural," a tagline the Seattle Convention and Visitors Bureau surely paid a pretty penny for.

The Mariners have a long history of catchy slogans. "You Gotta Love These Guys" and "Sodo Mojo" to name a few recent ones. Nothing captured the mood of a team in need of optimism as well as the late 80's slogan "Anything Can Happen." If anything can happen, you have to wonder why the same thing usual did.

Fast-forward to 2007 and a Mariner team without an identity. Hard to believe the glory days of 1995 were over a decade ago. The incredible 2001 season was the most recent high-point. So how did we get here? And where is the team going? We'll bore you with those answers soon enough. For now, here is a list of potential team slogans going into the 2007 season, where anything CAN happen. It's a work in progress, so feel free to help us finish the list.

10. At Least Billy Swift Isn't Pitching

9. Felix Has To Be Better. He Just Has To.

8. HR Are For Hussies

7. Ichiro Was Here!

6. We Gotta Pay These Guys.

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