Broadcaster talks out of his fourth point of contact before the game and nails it.
http://www.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090930&content_id=7247054&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlbSEATTLE -- Talk about making some bold predictions.
Mariners television analyst Mike Blowers went a little farther than the edge in Toronto on Sunday afternoon, when he selected Matt Tuiasosopo as his "Pick to Click" -- and then watched in amazement as his predictions came true, one after the other.
"Dave Sims and I do a pregame radio segment every day called the 'Pick to Click' and I decided to have a little bit of fun with it," Blowers said on Tuesday. "I liked the way [Tuiasosopo] was swinging the bat and he was due to have a good game, so I decided to go with him."
As the interview with longtime radio announcer Rick Rizzs continued, Blowers became a little bolder with each prediction.
"I was thinking to myself that it was about time that he hit a home run," he added, "and Rick pressed me to keep going. It just went from there. I took it to another level, but never in my wildest dreams did I think it would happen the way it did."
Count the ways it did happen, just as Blowers said it would.
The former big league third baseman predicted that Tuiasosopo would hit a home run in his second at-bat of the game.
Tui came to bat for the second time, in the fifth inning, and hit a home run, becoming the 21st Mariners player this season season to go deep, tying a franchise record.
Why the second at-bat?
"I thought he would take some pitches in his first at-bat, because he's a rookie," Blowers said.
Oh, there's more.
Blowers also predicted that the home run would come on a 3-and-1 pitch.
"I knew the pitcher [Brian Tallet] had been known to be a little wild, so I figured Tui would get ahead in the count, the pitcher would challenge him on a 3-and-1 count and Tui would turn it loose and hit a home run. That was my thinking."
The count went to 3-and-1 and sure enough, Tuiasosopo hit the next pitch for a home run.
But wait, there's more.
Blowers also predicted that the ball would land in the second deck in left-center field.
The ball almost landed in the first row of the second deck in left-center field, instead bouncing into the Blue Jays bullpen, where it was retrieved and given to Tuiasosopo as a momento.
But wait -- there's even more.
Blowers even predicted that the pitch would be a fastball.
"When the count got to 3-and-1, I started to get a little excited," Blowers laughed. "And when Tui hit the next pitch out, I just started laughing. [Sims] didn't know what I was laughing about, because he hadn't heard the pregame show.
"Next thing I know, Kevin [producer Kevin Cremin] was high-fiving me."
So, how many times has the "Click to Pick" actually happened?
"Never like that," Blowers laughed.
