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Paging Dr. Crane ...
ESPN.com staff

Somebody call Dr. Frasier Crane.


	The loss of Alex Rodriguez leaves the Mariners with a big hole in their lineup.

Alex Rodriguez has spurned the Great Pacific Northwest and bolted for the green -- and we do mean green -- pastures of Arlington, Texas. In his wake, A-Rod left behind a lot of Seattleites who are struggling to cope with depression and anger management.

Many of them work in ESPN.com's Seattle offices, just a few blocks from Safeco Field and the under-construction football stadium. Here are their thoughts on the loss of another Emerald City treasure:

Of all those people who left our fair city, the only one who has seen even moderate success has been Randy Johnson. And he is likely coming to the end of the line.

Shawn Kemp peaked out in the 1996 NBA Finals, no doubt about it. Junior won't do squat in Cincy. Joey Galloway is nursing a torn ACL in Dallas (on a poor Cowboys team, I might add). They all got what's coming to them: big bucks, no rings.

Cash is cash, but no matter how much you spend, you can't buy a championship -- just ask little Danny Snyder. If that is what you are ultimately after, it's not hard to get money in professional sports no matter who you are. (How much was Jim McIlvaine paid?)

Jim, Seattle

Before Monday, the worst sight I had ever seen was Dikembe Mutombo laying on the floor at the Seattle Center Coliseum, his arms outstretched, gripping the ball in joy after his Nuggets made the Sonics the first No. 1 seed to lose a first-round NBA playoff series in 1994.

Or maybe it was Joey Cora crying in a crumpled mass on the bench after the Mariners lost Game 6 of the 1995 ALCS to the Cleveland Indians at the Kingdome.

Or maybe it was Dave Krieg burying his head in a towel on the sideline at the L.A. Coliseum after throwing his third interception of the day and sealing the Seahawks' loss to the Raiders in the 1984 AFC Championship Game.

Or maybe it was the Mark Brunell pass that sailed over his receiver's head and into the hands of UCLA defensive back Eric Turner, sealing a loss that might have cost the University of Washington a share of college football's national title in 1990.

Or maybe it was that hastily called press conference at which the Mariners announced they would grant Ken Griffey Jr.'s wishes and trade him away from the only major-league city he'd ever called home.

Or maybe it was Randy Johnson, floundering through the first half of the '98 season, waiting for the M's to grant his trade request.


	Shawn Kemp left Seattle for Cleveland and now plays for rival Portland.

Or maybe it was Shawn Kemp's statement after the '97 season in which he said he would "never, never, never" wear a Seattle uniform again.

Or maybe it was Joey Galloway's bandana flapping in the wind as he played flag football during his '99 contract holdout, a dispute that would lead to his messy divorce from the Seahawks.

But no, after Monday, I now know that the worst sight I've ever seen can't match any of those past nightmares for a lifelong Seattle sports fan.

The new winner is a shot of Alex Rodriguez, smiling with a Texas Rangers cap atop his head. See, after Junior and Randy and the Reign Man and Joey all left town, Seattle fans prayed that one superstar might actually opt to stay in the Emerald City. After all, it's a great place to live, and the fans are always forgiving to a struggling superstar.

And if we did lose A-Rod, we figured at least it would be to New York or L.A. or Chicago or some other big-market city that could offer marketing opportunities that the Great Pacific Northwest could never compete with.

Instead, we find out that our 25-year-old wunderkind is going to a division rival that finished a whopping 20 games behind the Mariners last season, a team with no pitching staff in a city that will always follow football first and leave everything else a very distant second.

That means in less than three seasons, we have lost not only the majors' most feared pitcher, but perhaps the two best all-around players in the game. What other franchise in baseball history can boast such a dubious distinction?

Yes, the worst sight is A-Rod in that red hat with the bold white "T" on it -- at least until Gary Payton demands his trade.

Kevin, Redmond

Growing up in Washington, the first and only superstar I felt a connection with was Ken Griffey Jr. This wasn't the stuff of hero worship -- it was the realization of a 16-year-old sports fan that the 19-year-old running around in center field for the Mariners was something very special. Saying goodbye to Griffey was tougher than any other exodus from Seattle -- at the beginning of his career, he seemed the most human of the superstars, and in the end the most corrupted by his uncontrollable success.

Alex Rodriguez has never seemed sincere to me. He was groomed to claim baseball's biggest salary from the moment he batted .358 in 1996. He learned very quickly what to say, whom to say it to, and when to say it. In the end, feathers were never ruffled. Blood never boiled. A-Rod's departure was like a big-business acquisition, a decision made solely with the bottom line in mind. And if you're looking for one word to describe Rodriguez, I'll give it to you: corporate.

Greg, Olympia

It must be something in the water. It seems for every big sports moment in Seattle's past 10 years, there is a negative asterisk to follow.

A little more than a year after Husky football fans celebrated the 1991 national championship, the Pac-10 put the program on two years' probation for the actions of a gun-totting hillbilly, Billy Joe Hobert.

The Mariners won the city's heart with a gutsy run to the 1995 American League Championship Series. Despite ridding themselves of pouty Randy Johnson and righting the ship with Freddy Garcia, John Halama and Carlos Guillen, the Mariners then had to deal with Ken Griffey Jr., the guy who had as much talent as any superhero but as many personalities as a colony of Smurfs. Griffey, who would have you believe he is the most persecuted and scrutinized athlete since O.J. Simpson, forced the Mariners to trade him. But all things said and done, they were A-OK -- at least until A-Rod defected.

The Sonics' follies started pretty quickly after the 1995-96 season, when the team lost in the NBA Finals to Michael Jordan and the mighty Bulls. Shawn Kemp's gluttony for food, women and money quickly tainted his image and perspective of what was important for his future. So what do the Sonics do? They trade him for another player who let the excesses of success go to his head ... or should I say waist, Vin Baker?

Then, Joey Galloway, who lamented playing for a playoff-contending Seahawks team in 1999, decided to show up for the final six games of the season only for free-agency purposes. As far as I am concerned (and I think I speak for most of Seattle), good riddance. But the fans didn't know football guru Mike Holmgren would also dismantle the rest of the team. NFL Playoffs, we hardly even knew you. ...

What it all comes down to is that Seattle sports fans are sick of hearing the excuse that sports is a business. Last time I checked, sports were games before they were a business. And this business of sports has been no fun for Seattle lately.

B.T., Seattle

A-Rod? Screw him. Even though he claimed to be different, he's just like every other pro athlete -- greedy.

Vic, Tacoma

All hail Gary Payton, our only remaining superstar.

At least The Kid (Cincinnati), the Big Unit (Houston) and the Reign Man (Cleveland) all went to non-divisional opponents, and we got something in return (Cameron/Tomko, Guillen/Halama/Garcia, Baker). This A-Rod deal is the worst of both worlds -- he went to a divisional opponent and we got nothing in return.

Since he's in the AL West, at least we'll have twice as many games to boo him. What I propose is fans at Safeco litter the field with $1 bills upon his return. Because we all know A-Rod is all about money.

John, Seattle

I love Seattle sports.

I love it because David Henderson threw me a ball when I was about four feet tall.

I love it because the first year my father bought Seahawks season tickets the team went 0-8 at home and I could take anybody I wanted to the game at about midseason to watch Jim Zorn throw TDs to Steve Largent.

Most of all, I love Seattle sports because of Lenny Randle. I once watched him try to blow a baseball foul along the third base line. The crowd was in stitches. It's my favorite memory of Seattle sports. Just beating out the Sonics winning the 1979 NBA title and Efren Herrera's fake field goal on Monday Night Football against the Falcons.

Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez, Shawn Kemp, Joey Galloway and Randy Johnson never played Seattle sports. They convinced themselves they were bigger than the city. For the most part, they were right. Seattle is a small town.

Its fans base their hero worship not on stats and money, but on a sense that if an athlete were in the stands, he would root just as hard for the team. Ego-driven, overpaid, overappreciated, overrated athletes don't do well in a city this size. There's no room for so many large heads. If we lose, we lose. Just show us that you care by not lying to our faces or dogging it on the field.

Mark, West Seattle



	ALSO SEE: Thiel: Griefless in Seattle Caple: 2001: An A-Rod Odyssey Virtual GM: Who wants to spend $21 million? Rangers go for broke: A-Rod deal worth $252M Tale of the Tape: A-Rod vs. Tom Hicks Where are the Great 8 free agents headed? AthletesDirect: Alex Rodriguez answers fans' questions