SIX SHOOTER - Trader Jack in The Hot Seat with The Pistol

SIX SHOOTER target this week is none other than Trader Jack Buchanan (seen here at a recent fan "rally" in "Seattle". 6 tough questions for the owner of the Seattle Mariners and architect of the new MBL. When last we left TJ, he was mumbling the word Bottalico outside a Bay Area North Shore bar. We caught up with Buchanan at his winter haven, 90 miles off the coast of Florida.....

1. The M's gave up 19 runs in the last two games of the MBLWS. With all those young guns, is the bullpen an area of concern for the 2006 Mariners?

(Jack) No. Most of those runs were off our starters, actually. Nathan and Gonzalez should form a powerful tandem for some time to come, and Aaron Fultz has been signed to provide balance to Bob Howry in the set-up role. I think our pen will be stronger next year and our rotation considerably weaker (since I know the MBL stats).

2. You chose an AL city to own a team in, yet the M's don't use the DH. Why?

(Jack) The DH should be outlawed from MLB, too. As a long-time Cardinals fan, I always have enjoyed small ball rather than the softballish scoring exhibited in MLB today. I am bored by Coors Field-type slugfests. When I reentered the league, the Cardinals were obviously taken, so I moved Klug's Athletics to Seattle, a city which offered a pitcher's park and has been a casual favorite of mine since visiting there in 1993.

3. What is your favorite Peter Spellos film?

(Jack) Silent or talkie?

4. Should their be asterisk next to Barry Bonds name if he surpasses Hanl Aaron's HR record?

(Jack) Yes.

5. Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Garner or Jennifer Love Hewitt?

(Jack) Jennifer Buchanan?

6. One last time: Pete Rose, Hall of Fame?

(Jack) Yes, but only if it is the National Gambling Association Hall of Fame. He should not be allowed near Cooperstown, and anyone that thinks he did not bet on baseball hasn't looked at the evidence.

Next up before Christmas will be former Cubs owner and current brother James Spelllos...