If you troll the blogosphere for the latest news on the Seattle Mariners, more than likely you come across several threads posted calling for the heads of President Chuck Armstong and CEO Howard Lincoln. The "terrible twosome," as they have been referred to, are deemed responsible for the mess the current Mariners are in. Both have been part of the Nintendo ownership regime headed by Hiroshi Yamauchi for the past 17 years. In large part, this is the same group that brought in Lou Pinella as manager in 1993, drafted Alex Rodriguez, and brought in fan favorites Jamie Moyer, John Olerud, and Mike Cameron. The ownership group was also responsible for bringing in overseas talent in the form of Kaz Sasaki as the closer, who won Rookie of the Year honors, Shigetoshi Hasegawa, a talented middle relief pitcher, and most notably, Ichiro Suzuki, who won Rookie of the Year, Gold Glove, and MVP honors in 2001.They also would get the new "Safeco Field" constructed in 1999, deemed a top 5 stadium then and one of the top venues still today.
