Geoff Baker joined Mitch in the Morning today to talk about the first three games of the Cleveland Indian series. To give you a picture of how well we have done so far, the Mariners have struck out 28 times, the team has struck out more than they have hits (23)., this according to Mitch.

In the first two games, the Mariners lost at the end of the games. The first one in the 10^th inning and the next in the bottom of the 9^th, the reason is they cannot hit with runners in scoring position. It seems like that is the theme for the M’s struggles this year is being able to capitalize when they have players on base.

“There getting the guys on base, they really are, they have been for a solid month now and I would be really worried if they weren’t. The problems we’ve had in the past three years have been the constant inability to get guys on base. They were some of the lowest on base totals in the history of the game. They are getting the guys on they’re just not driving them in,” said Baker.

Baker explains that it could be tightening up in key situations, some can be due to luck, but if they’re getting on base he believes they will start bringing the runners in. Don’t expect them to be the best offense in the league, but they will compete.

During this series, the Mariners have struck in the double digits twice, but Baker doesn’t believe it should be looked into as bad as it sounds.

“I don’t mind the stuck outs so much, and if you look around baseball now a days there tends to be less emphasis on the negativity on strike outs as long as you get on base,” Baker told Mitch.

Now we move onto Jesus Montero’s plays on Saturday. The play they talk about happened during the bottom of the 9^th with a force out at home. Brendan Ryan makes a great diving effort and throws it home for the out and Montero leaves his foot off of the plate and the Indians win.

When asked what Geoff Baker thought of Montero’s efforts, he simply answered with, “It was no good, it was bad.”

With every negative there are always some positives. One positive and surprise is how well Raul Ibanez has hit during this road trip so far. He has hit five homeruns in five days at age 40.

The Mariners have their last game today and have Iwakuma pitching. They are trying to avoid the sweep and hopefully get back on track and playing like how they were before this road series.

By Miles Liatos  Sports Radio KJR

Mike Holmgren had something to say about Bruce Irvin and Adderall on his weekly visit with Mitch Monday morning.

He said the players know what they are getting themselves into when they take PEDs banned by the NFL, but they are willing to “roll the dice.” Holmgren said his daughter, who is a doctor, told him signs of Adderall leave the body in a week. Players are therefore able to take the stimulant with only some risk of being suspended.

Holmgren said he dealt with a similar situation in Cleveland with a player he didn’t identify. The player said he had taken Adderall, but told Holmgren he didn’t know it was a banned substance. Holmgren said that’s what all players have told him after being found to have taken a banned substance.

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t know. Ignorance is not an excuse,” Holmgren said. “They do it because they think they’re not going to get caught and they like the feeling.”

Mitch then asked Holmgren how a coach is to deal with a suspended player like Irvin. Holmgren said he couldn’t fine the player any money, but he could “Scare the heck out of him,” by giving him a kind of ultimatum.

“If he does it again … If he doesn’t care about me, if he doesn’t care about his teammates, I don’t want [him] here,” Holmgren said.

Mitch pointed out Carroll is a player’s coach, and questioned if such a mentality can be detrimental to a team. But Holmgren said trust is important in a player-coach relationship.

“When they get farther from arm’s length from you, all you can do is educate them the best way you can, and then pray for them,” he said. “Because they’re going to be out there and they’re eventually going to have to make choices themselves.”

Mike Holmgren was on the air for his weekly segment during the 9am hour.

By Miles Liatos  Sports Radio KJR

This week has been filled with dissenting voices filling KJR airwaves about the NBA’s relocation decision over the Sonics.

Enter Steve Kyler from Hoopsworld.com, the most recent one.

Kyler addressed one of his tweets after the NBA Board of Governor’s vote during “Mitch in the Morning” today.

Sources said that Seattle group was compelling and that more owners were probably in favor of Seattle vote, but that Stern swayed the vote.

— Steve Kyler (@stevekylerNBA) May 16, 2013

Mitch pointed out how it seemed David Stern was influencing the vote. After presentations by the Sonics and Kings ownership groups April 3, Stern said he wouldn’t have much of a hand in the process.

“My role is to make sure that they (the ownership groups) focus on the issues,” Stern said. “I don’t think they need to be influenced.”

But Kyler said he didn’t think Stern influenced the votes of the NBA owners.

“He was doing exactly what he said he was going to do, be an advisor and look out for the best interest of the league, and make sure the owners understood the big-picture implications for all involved,” he said.

The “big-picture” concept involves sending the right message to other teams in the league who are on the verge of financial insecurity. Kyler said in the short-term, Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer offered much more than the Kings in terms of immediate payout.

But by keeping the Kings in Sacramento, Stern effectively outsourced a message to teams who will have to face questions about financial and regional security in the coming years. That message is “If you support your team the team will stay,” he said. Kyler mentioned the Milwaukee Bucks, Atlanta Hawks and Memphis Grizzlies as recipients of said message.

By Trenton Jocz, Sports Radio KJR

Basketball roots in Seattle run deep. Whether a player grew up here like Jason Terry, Jamal Crawford or Avery Bradley, or didn’t play here until reaching the pros like Gary Payton or Slick Watts (or Kevin Durant for that matter), Seattle has as strong of a basketball community as any.

A couple members of that community, Watts and his son Donald, who himself played two years (’97-’99) at the University of Washington, visited Mitch in studio to promote their inaugural benefit event tomorrow night for his foundation, Angels in Sports. They also gave their thoughts on the the future of basketball in Seattle after yesterday’s vote in Dallas that saw the NBA deny relocation for the Sacramento Kings franchise.

Being very practical about not succeeding in bringing to the Kings to Seattle, Donald said, “Just like … in a game or a competition and you have a loss, it’s very important to understand why you lost, what the truth is, so that you can get the win the next time, prepare yourself for the next battle and to go into the next battle ready to win.”

Considering the Board of Governors prior recommendation to keep the Kings in Sacramento (regardless of whether the vote was 7-0 or 4-3) as well as the fact that expansion isn't realistic until the league completes a new TV contract, yesterday’s outcome seemed to be a fait accompli, but the latter issue also represents hope. Donald echoed this sentiment, saying, “I think that TV scenario and starting those negotiations has a lot to do with it. I know before the vote went down, that was the conversation that was started and maybe the initiation of the TV negotiations was to spur getting something done in the way of expansion and Stern has a way of kind of hinting things without saying things and to me it sounded like what he was saying.”

Slick also expressed optimism in regards to the resolve of the Hansen/Ballmer group, saying “Steve is a solid citizen, he’s a solid human being and at one time he had that attitude that he was going to step back […] but he said for the fans of this city, [they] deserve a team and I think he’s in it for the long fight.”

As for his feelings on David Stern’s role on the initial departure of the Sonics in 2008, the elder Watts said, “To hear the city council tell you that the Sonics had no cultural values, I was more hurt from that statement than what David Stern did. Lenny Wilkens, Bill Russell’s here, Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp, all these guys always working hard for the community and to hear that we have no cultural value, I think David heard that, so he got with his boys and he said, ‘Hey, I’m gonna show you how to slip out of town.’”

However, Slick still hasn’t lost hope in Stern helping an NBA franchise find its way to Seattle. He said, “David is a businessman. He knows in his heart that Seattle is a great place for basketball. He knows it.”

For more on Angels in Sports, visit angelsinsports.org.

Mitch had Bob Condotta on to talk about his coverage of the owner's meetin in Dallas. They go over what he saw and what he interprets on the whole situation with the NBA and the future of basketball in Seattle.

By Miles Liatos  Sports Radio KJR

We’re biased about the Sonics over here in Seattle, whether we want to admit it or not.

The bias shows Seattle is dying for a basketball team, but it also shades our eyes to just how much the Kings deserve to keep theirs.

Former NBA player and GM Steve Kerr joined the show today and expressed optimism about the Seattle market for basketball, but he was equally optimistic about the NBA’s desire to reward cities for supporting their teams for many years.

That sentiment rings ironic for Sonics fans who had their team stripped from them after 41 years of loyalty. Mitch opined that perhaps the NBA is sending the message: “Had you (set money aside for an arena deal) we would have leaned in your direction and protected you as well, but you didn’t do those things.”

But there’s an obvious difference between the Sonics move and the Kings upheaval. For one, the economy was “In the tank” when the Sonics moved, Kerr said. Seattle was also still recovering financially from two sports stadiums built in SoDo.

Not to mention the Key Arena had yet to be paid off.

“Everything that’s in place now for Sacramento is not there for Seattle and that’s the biggest difference,” Kerr said.

The NBA Board of Governors are scheduled to meet at 11am PT today. Sports Radio KJR has learned from multiple sources that Hansen and Ballmer made a presentation to the NBA last night and the two sides are in ongoing conversation.