Adam Kennedy and I talk about the 2002 Angels and the 2011 Mariners

During a lull in some of the post-game interviews last night, as we waited for Carlos Peguero to wander out to his locker, I began chatting with Adam Kennedy. I'd remembered how Kennedy's 2002 Angels squad had started the season off 6-13 until the Toronto Blue Jays team i was covering at the time happened to roll into Anaheim. Ah, yes, the 2002 Jays were a good cure for a lot of teams. That series, David Eckstein hit grand slams in consecutive games and the Angels never looked back. What's more unlikely than Eckstein hitting consecutive slams? Well, that would be Kennedy hitting three home runs in the clinching game of the ALCS a few months later against Minnesota. No second baseman had ever done that in one post-season contest. I doubt any will ever do it again. "We had a real good offense that year,'' Kennedy said. The one thing that team did not have, which the Mariners do, was a very good starting rotation. Jarrod Washburn was the staff ace. John Lackey ...