PODCAST: Is Julio Rodriguez the Most Impressive Rookie in Mariners' History?
In this story:
One week after chatting with longtime USA TODAY baseball writer Bob Nightengale, our resident Seattle sports guy, Mario Lanza (creator of The Funny 115, author of When It Was Worth Playing For, and host of the Survivor Historians and Staff Picks podcasts) returns to the Jack Vita Show for our annual baseball conversation together.
This time, Mario's beloved Mariners are on the cusp of their first playoff berth since 2001, led by the soon-to-be American League Rookie of the Year. Is Julio Rodriguez the most exciting rookie in Mariners history? Mario and Jack dive deep into the Mariners' 2022 season, and assess the team's playoff chances, with just ten days remaining in the regular season. Meanwhile, the Cleveland Guardians clinched the American League Central for the fourth time in seven years, Sunday.
If the season ended Sunday, the Mariners would travel to Cleveland for a best-of-three American League Wild Card Series. Would the Mariners be better suited playing the Guardians, or moving up to the no. 4 or 5 seed to face either the Toronto Blue Jays or Tampa Bay Rays?
Mario and Jack have a discussion about Aaron Judge's phenomenal 2022 campaign, as he is just one home run shy of tying Roger Maris' single-season American League home run record, and Judge currently leads the American League in all three Triple Crown categories. Is Judge's 2022 season the single most impressive season from an offensive player, even more impressive than Barry Bonds' 2001 season? Should Shohei Ohtani be receiving more consideration for the AL MVP? All this, and much more, in a very fun episode of the Jack Vita Show!
You can follow Mario on Twitter, @MarioJLanza. Check out his website The Funny 115, subscribe to his podcasts Survivor Historians and Staff Picks, and buy his book, When It Was Worth Playing For on Amazon.
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