By Miles Liatos  Sports Radio KJR

There were 120 writers who voted for Lebron James as the 2012-13 NBA MVP, so one would think the 121st would follow suit.

Apparently Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe didn’t get that memo.

Washburn joined Mitch today to talk about his decision to vote for the Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony instead of James. James is now a four-time MVP, but the “unanimous” distinction will elude him, at least for this year.

“It’s not like I stopped him from winning it, and I had no idea it would be a unanimous vote,” Washburn said. “I did not call the other 120 voters [to ask] ‘Who are you voting for?’”

Washburn said he has been receiving scrutiny for the vote. However, he said he will stand by the MVP perspective regardless of what other people think. Because Anthony plays on a less-talented Knicks team, he falls under the distinction of more “valuable” than James is to the top-seeded Miami Heat.

Anthony helped the Knicks win their division for the first time in nineteen years, according to the New York Times.

“This is not a loaded team,” he said. “You take Lebron off the Heat, they’re still a loaded team. You take Carmelo off the Knicks, they’re a lottery team. That’s my argument.”

Gary Washburn joined us during The Daily Schnoz. Follow the link to listen.

By Miles Liatos  Sports Radio KJR

The Mariners too often tease fans with flashes of hitting brilliance before sloping back into mediocrity. Seattle will hope that isn’t the case as the team has actually started hitting well of late.

Larry Stone joined Mitch this morning to discuss the M’s newfound success at the plate. He particularly mentioned Michael Saunders, Mike Morse and Kendrys Morales as players who have come alive in the series against the Angels and the Orioles.

Morse did play well in the seven-game homestand, hitting .333 over that stretch with three home runs in the past four games.

Saunders, since coming back from the injury in the April 29 6-2 win over the O’s, has four hits in the three-game stint with a home run and three RBIs.

Morales has gone 8-for-26 in the last homestand, with 3 RBIs and a double in Wednesday’s game against the O’s.

“The ripple effect on the whole lineup is encouraging,” Stone said.

In the last seven days the Mariners have batted .287, an improvement on the season-long .245 that ranks 24th in the major leagues. But it’s too early to proclaim the lineup saved in Seattle, Stone said.

“We just have to see if they sustain it. They started the season real cold, and they’ve been hot for seven games,” he said.

But the improved hitting breathes some hope into a baseball city that has watched one month of below-average baseball. That means that any ideas of bringing up minor leaguers to turn over failing major leaguers can be put to rest, at least for now.

The prospect of bringing up hot-hitting shortstop Nick Franklin (batting .377 for the Tacoma Rainiers) will probably not leave anyone’s mind anytime soon. But there’s a problem with the batter in the Mariners organization; it has nothing to do with his bat, for once.

“The question with [Franklin] is defense, and can he handle major league shortstop, and there’s a lot of division of opinion on that [within the Mariners organization],” Stone said.

Stone said it wouldn’t be wise to put Brendan Ryan in the lineup who is batting .149. Although Ryan’s defense is superb, his offense is a clear liability. Replacement Robert Andino hasn’t been batting well either, so Franklin would be an upgrade in that respect.

The question is whether he would be serviceable on defense.

But the Mariners may not have to really answer that question, at least for a week or so, as their lineup is looking to continue its blossoming ways in the series that starts tonight (4:07 PT) in Toronto.

Listen to the full interview with Larry Stone here.

 Mitch interviewed the six time pro bowler on Friday's show:

MORE PICTURES HERE

Bob Condotta talks about what went wrong in Seattle's bid to relocate the Sacramento Kings and if he still has any hope left.