Greg Halman Remembering My Friend

It was May 31, 2011, and I attended a Tacoma Rainiers game. A friend of mine gave me a call that day and just offered me a ticket. Who turns down free tickets even if they are for a minor league game?

So before the game started, I figured I would get a couple of autographs from potential future Mariners. Over the course of two hours, I managed to get six signatures including one from a guy named Greg Halman. Halman went 1 for 6 that day with a triple.

After the game, my bud was supposed to give me a lift home, but instead I found myself sitting outside Cheney Stadium sitting on my rear with no ride. Little did I know that Halman and Mike Carp stayed an hour after the game for some extra time in the Rainiers’ batting cage.

Halman noticed that I was sitting and asked me if I needed a ride. Wasn't going to say no. Was I? Of course not. Greg though, asked if I wanted to come and hang out with him and Mike. Again, couldn't say no. So Greg drove me home and I have to say right then and there, I think Greg and I became friends.

Greg messaged me on Facebook five days later asking if I wanted to attend a Mariners game. He said that he had got the call-up and that he was starting, so I had to attend the game. I couldn’t miss his 2011 debut. And what a debut he had!

The Mariners went on to beat the Tampa Bay Rays 9-6, thanks to a four-run bottom of the eighth. Halman tied the game in the bottom of the 7th with a 2-run triple. Halman finished the game going 3 for 4 with 2 RBI’s. A week later, I decided to go to another M’s game. Halman came up in the bottom of the eighth with the M’s up 2-1 and on an 0-2 pitch, Halman crushed his first major league home run, 417 feet over the center field wall. The Mariners went onto win 3-1.

After that I met up with Greg outside Safeco and we headed over to the Pyramid Brewery to celebrate him hitting his first MLB home run.

It was during this point in my life where I had a job and I was making money so I could afford to spend $100 a night at the ballpark and out on the town as well. It was also during this celebration that I met his brother Jason.

Obviously not knowing what would happen in November, I had a laugh with Greg and his brother for about an hour. It wouldn't be until September 1st and 5th that I would see Greg play again.

Both games were something to remember. The first, I witnessed Greg hit his final professional home run as he went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI’s. I then attended Greg’s last and final professional game – I didn't know that it would also be the final time that I would both see and talk to Greg.

Greg finished off his baseball career going 3 for 5 with an RBI and he scored twice in a 12-9 Rainiers loss. After the game, Greg and I decided to go get a bite to eat. I asked him what his plans were for the off season. He told me that the following month he and several other major league ball players would be participating in the European Big League Tour. Adam Jones, Prince Fielder and Giancarlo Stanton among others, were to join him.

He then asked me what I had plans for over the next couple months, because he told me that he would be back in the Tacoma area around February to attend the Mariners Fan Fest.
I was going to be attending job corps in Oregon to study welding. I told Greg that I would try and make Fan Fest to hang out with him…..that never happened. The final words I said to Greg as we both left was “Later Greg, stay safe, and have fun in the off season. Cause come March, its time to go back to work for you.”

We gave each other a bro hug and before I got in my car he said five words to me; “No shine, no grind brotha.” I never thought that those would be the final words that Greg would say to me nor did I think that the fun times celebrating a great year, laughing, joking and having a fun time would be the last time that I saw Greg alive.

Greg’s entire baseball career, both minor league and major league, had amazing promise. Halman put up a career .207 batting average with two home runs in 44 major league games.
In the minors, he tore the cover off the ball. In 576 minor league games Halman posted a career .251 batting average with 118 home runs. Halman was also apart of the Netherlands team in the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

Some would say that Halman had a promising career if he could learn to be more patient at the plate, but nonetheless, Halman had a bright future with the Mariners and the Mariners had big plans for him in 2012. But sadly there would be no 2012 season for Greg Halman.
On November 21, 2011 Greg’s brother Jason began acting erratically. He arrived at Greg’s apartment kicking the door demanding that Greg should let him in. Jason then began to play music very loudly, Greg came downstairs to tell his brother to turn the music down.

Jason then pulled out a butterfly knife and began coming at Greg completely out of his mind. Greg put his left arm up to defend himself, the blade of Jason’s knife went past Greg’s arm and cut the left side of his neck. Within minutes, Greg was dead and I had no idea that it had happened. With everything happening 4,879 miles away, I was 10 hours away from finding out the grim news.

About 10 hours later, I went online and I typed in the Mariners site. When I saw the news, I didn’t know what to do or say. Not wanting to believe the news I called his cell and his mother picked it up.

For 10 minutes I stood in the hallway of my job corps dorm and broke down after talking with Greg’s mother knowing that a friend that I just started to get to know was gone. My friend Devin was the first person to just give me a hug trying to control me from crying so loud, all he told me was to “let it all out, there’s no shame in crying for a friend.”

Not being able to attend his funeral was tough, but what else has been tough is three years of my friend not being out there in the outfield for the Mariners. Making plays, driving in runs, and smacking home runs over the fence.

Jason Halman was arrested and charged with manslaughter, but was provisionally released. During Jason’s trial, psychiatrists said that he was having a psychotic episode at the time of him killing Greg.

He was then acquitted of the charges and was released to his family. Every day I miss Greg and I treasure the times that we hung out. He was a talent that never reached his full potential. Knowing what Greg could have done in 2012, makes us all wonder what could have been.

Greg Halman: August 26, 1987-November 21, 2011

The boys in teal are back with a new look!

April 4, 2016 is one week away! The Mariners come into the 2016 with a new look, a new GM, and plenty of new faces that hope to make an impact to push this team into their first postseason birth since their dramatic 116 win season back in 2001. So wait that means its been 1,2,3.....15 YEARS?! DAMMIT! Yup 15 years since the Northwest saw postseason baseball and because the stinkin Blue Jays made the postseason last year for the first time since 1993 we now have the longest postseason drought in baseball!

Yeah, that's not something I'm not going to brag about. Every year I'm always "that Mariners fan" who believes that this is the year we "finally do it", the year we finally win it all. To tell you the truth....its a possibility. With Jerry Dipoto the new GM he's done more than that bald idiot Jack Zduriencik did in his short brief time with the team.

Dipoto kicked off his Mariner GM career by making a huge splash to the season by trading Brad Miller, Logan Morrison, and Danny Farqhuar to the Tampa Bay Rays for Boog Powell, Nathan Karns, and C.J. Riefenhauser (who was traded a month later). JeDi, as I call him, then decided to go mad! He went mad! MAD I TELL YOU! Mad enough to make to sign Nori Aoki, trade for Adam Lind, trade for Leonys Martin, sign Chris Iannetta, resigned Hisashi Iwakuma, resigned Franklin Gutierrez, traded for Wade Miley, signed closer Steve Cishek, traded for Joaquin Benoit, signed Korean slugger Dae-Ho Lee, and signed Cuban slugger Guillermo Heredia.

As you can see JeDi has made some incredible moves that has given the 2016 Seattle Mariners more depth pitching and hitting wise that the Mariners have a great chance to not just make the postseason but possibly be a contender for both the American League West title and the AL pennant. If you look at the Mariners right now and told me that "this team isn't going to make a splash all season long" I would say you're dead wrong!

Lets take a look at the pitching shall we? The rotation is still undecided with the number 5 starter but currently we're going to see Felix Hernandez, Hisashi Iwakuma, Wade Miley, Taijuan Walker, and either James Paxton or Nathan Karns. So looking at the rotation to me.....I'm seeing 4 possible win right off the bat, that is if the hitting backs up the pitching. Felix is going to be Felix this year, that's for certain, he is coming off another stellar season but his strikeout rate took a dip and his ERA was the highest its been since 2011.

Felix is coming into Spring Training about to turn 30 and he has blonde hair and goatee. Felix is perhaps the player that will begin the season with one thought in his mind. and that thought is "this season is our year". Yes, I know all players have to be thinking that but Felix is coming into his 12th season without even 1 playoff game appearance. Felix has noted that as well, he's frustrated at the fact that he's about to be 30 and he's been in the league for over 10 years and never pitched in a postseason game.

Felix is not only holding himself to pitch like his career is on the line this year but he's holding himself to personally get this team to the postseason. My expectation for the King this year is this, watch him get 20 wins! Felix is pushing himself this year to perhaps pitch even better than his 2014 season, and with determination like that who can argue that he wont win 20 games this year?

Let's now talk about the Prince, the Fresh Prince of Seattle that is. Taijuan Walker is coming off his first full season in the majors and it looked like Walker was going to bomb it when he started. Walker went 1-5 with a 7.33 ERA in his first 9 starts, but after that he was a totally different pitcher. Walker went 10-3 for the rest of the season while keeping his ERA below 3 during that stretch. Walker is on my "breakout player" watch for this season. Walker will open the season at home in the Mariners home opener against the Oakland Athletics. This season I'm saying Walker is going to knockout 18 wins along with being an All Star and don't be surprised if you see a Fresh Prince no-no this year.

Kuma and Miley are even when I look at both of them. Kuma is coming off a 9-5 season where he tossed the Mariners fifth no hitter in franchise history against the Baltimore Orioles. Miley on the other hand is coming off a .500 record season with the Boston Red Sox, where he went 11-11 with a 4.46 ERA......not that impressive huh? Wrong, Miley may have lost 11 games but he was consistent, he went 6+ innings 22 times out of his 32 starts. Look you may not think that's still impressive but lets face it, last year the Mariners bullpen usually had to work 5 innings! We may have given up Carson Smith and Roenis Elias but hey if Miley can give us 6+ in 20+ starts I wont complain.

Kuma and Miley are on my radar to win around 14-15 games this year, maybe 16 with Kuma but I think 13-14 is more around Miley's reach. Now with the #5 starter you have both Paxton and Karns. Both are going to battle it out to the very end in Spring Training, that's when new manager Scott Servias will make his decision and name one of them the #5 starter. The way I look at it, whoever doesn't get the starting job is getting placed in the bullpen to be a long inning reliever in case our starter cant seem to do anything.

Paxton however is coming off another injury plagued season where a strained tendon in his left middle finger benched him in May and wouldn't see him pitch until September and he only made 3 starts in that month. Paxton finished the year with a 3-4 record with a 3.90 ERA. Paxton though is now still healthy in Spring Training and he lost 30 pounds during the off season, but Spring Training hasn't been nice to Paxton or any M's pitcher, but if Paxton gets the #5 starting role watch him win around 11-15 games, that is if he stays healthy.

Karns on the other hand hasn't had a good Spring Training either, but again like I said which Mariners pitcher has? Karns is coming off a 7-5 season with the Rays with a 3.67 ERA in 26 games started. Karns was part of the Miller/LoMo trade and currently I'm thinking Karns maybe put in the bullpen over Paxton. But Karns' strength is all there. Either way if Karns is starting or in the bullpen he has the ability to help you win a ball game. Karns struck out 145 batters in the 147 innings he pitched last season. Its going to be interesting to see who gets the job, whoever does I've got Paxton at 11-15 wins and Karns at 12-13.

Lets talk bullpen now. Charlie Furbush wont be in the bullpen to help out to start the season and don't expect him to for perhaps the first 2-3 weeks in the season. But in the bullpen we have a group of both young and experienced players pitching that will both help keep the Mariners in the ball game and help close out wins. First you have Tony Zych who's coming off his rookie year appearing in 18 games and starting 1, he had a 2.45 ERA with 24 strikeouts in 18.1 of work. While Charlie is out look for Tony to be your possible 6-8th inning man in close games.

Steve Cishek is your closer. While with the Miami Marlins he saved 88 games in 3 years and this past season he was used more as a set up guy. Lets face it, now with Carson Smith gone and that arrow shooting dip wad Rodney gone Cishek is your guy in the 9th. Before Cishek we will see Benoit to come into the 7th and 8th possibly to help keep the game within save rage for Cishek. Benoit is now coming into his 15th season and even though he's 38 he can still pitch. With age comes wisdom and Benoit has shown that, since 2010 his ERA hasn't been above 3 but one time.

The bullpen also has guys like Evan Scribner, who has one unbelievable walk to strikeout rate! Scribner in his 5 year career has 134 strikeouts and 27 walks in 147.2 innings pitched.......yeah he's that damn good! There's also Mike Montgomery who's coming off a good rookie year but struggled through the last half of the season. Montgomery will at least provide the bullpen with one of two left handed pitchers, the second is Vidal Nuno.

This year will be a whole new story for the bullpen, it'll definitely be better than last year that's for damn sure! This year watch the bullpen's ERA to hover around the 2.90-3.20 area. There doesn't seem to be any weakness in the bullpen for the Mariners, only thing that could be better is having Furbush to start the season but again I think the Mariners will be ok bullpen wise till his return.

Now, we come to the offense and this amazing group JeDi has put together. Lets first start off with our awesome second baseman Robinson Cano who is coming off an injury plagued season but did very well. Cano struggled during the first half of the season but caught fire in the second half, he finished the season with a .287 average, 21 home runs, and 79 runs batted in. Cano did strikeout a career high 107 times, it was the first time he ever struck out more than 100 times in his career. Cano though has been showing us he's fully ready for the real season to begin!

Just yesterday Cano crushed 3 home runs and drove in 7 runs. Watch out Mike Trout and Josh Donaldson cause you have some competition for the AL MVP. Yes, the AL MVP! Cano is ready to show that the Mariners aren't getting an age declining player. Be on the watch for Cano to smack 50+ doubles this season, while not only hitting 25+ home runs and driving in around 90-100 RBI's. Cano isn't just the only perennial All Star that Scott Servias's lineup has to offer. Let's not forget the "BOOMSTICK" Nelson Cruz, who is coming off his best season hitting wise in his career.

Nelson Cruz showed that even Safeco Field can be a hitter friendly ballpark. Cruz smacked a career high 44 home runs, drove in 93, and batted .302. Kyle Seager is another member of the Mariners Big 3 who is coming off a season that saw him clobber a career high 26 home runs. Cano, Cruz, and Seager are going to be the key players that really will provide the power, the hitting, and driving in runs ability for the team, not only that but now the Mariners have another power bat in Adam Lind.

Lind was acquired via trade from the Milwaukee Brewers, where he hit 20 home runs and drove in 87. Lind is not just providing another necessary power bat in the lineup but he's providing his glove to the mix as well. Lind is coming off a stellar defensive season with the Brewers and is going to be the everyday first basemen for the team. Backing Lind up though is the Korean slugger Dae-Ho Lee. This signing by Dipoto was highly crucial. With Jesus Montero's future with the team seeming bleak, Dipoto decided to go out and sign a guy who seems to get better the older he gets.

DHL came into the spring though weighing in at 282 pounds but has since then lost 32 pounds. Not bad huh? Lee slugged 31 home runs last year and drove in 98 for the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks. Lee is not just providing a player that can hit the long ball but again he's got something that Montero obviously doesn't have. A great glove. Just watching Lee in Spring Training he's made some great plays that Montero wouldn't have been able to make.

And while writing this I just found out that Paxton got optioned to Triple-A Tacoma......huh. How bout that writing and saw the news on Twitter. So looks like Nathan Karns is your #5 starter!

Getting back to both Lind and Lee look for both players to provide support in the lineup that will help provide driving in and creating runs for the team. I have Lind having another 20 homer season while with Lee could show us between 10-15 home runs.

Looking at the Mariners outfield all I can say is, what an upgrade! With Martin and Aoki getting signed and traded to the team we now have two great gloves in the outfield that the M's were lacking last season. Also Guti is still with us. Last year saw perhaps one of the greatest comeback seasons I've ever seen. With Guti possibly sharing a role with Seth Smith look to see Guti being in the lineup 3-4 times a week.

The Mariners also got faster this year. Aoki, Ketel Marte, Guti, and Shawn O'Malley (if he makes the opening day roster) will provide something that Lloyd McClendon didn't have, guys who can steal bases. That'll be something that the Mariners will need to do this season and that's steal more bases. As you saw with the Kansas City Royals stealing bases can win you games and a World Series. Also when you have speed in your lineup and on your bench......USE IT!!!

Behind the plate is Chris Iannetta, who some people didn't seem to like the signing. Come on people lets face it Iannetta is going to do something that Mike Zunino will be learning how to do in Triple-A Tacoma.......how to actually hit the ball. Yes Iannetta is coming off a season where he hit .188, so basically a Mike Z type of season, but he's still a career .231 hitter. Iannetta will also be providing a great arm behind the plate as well. Iannetta isn't Yadi Molina but hey he's definitely and upgrade to Mike Zunino.

So, I think I'm done talking about everyone who we will see this season to start the season against the Texas Rangers. Everything comes down to this final week of preparation for the Mariners, everything is counting on everyone staying healthy and injury free. In just seven days, and I can honestly say that I'm highly confident, the Mariners will begin their journey into baseball immortality. This is by far the season that I know that this team, who has struggled through out most of its franchise history, is ready to take that step to get back into the spotlight they had 15 years ago. The Mariners on paper are the team to beat! Even the Royals, who are the defending champs, have some competition with the Mariners. The M's have the pitching, defense, and offensive depth to pull off a playoff/pennant run this season.

A lot of skepticism is on this team, time for the Mariners to prove every doubter wrong and go out and PLAY BALL!!!!

Go Mariners!!!!!