Rock Jock Talk: Episode I – Jon Wells of “The Grand Salami” Magazine Talks Future Of the Seattle Mariners [VIDEO]

Welcome to the inaugural installment of "Rock Jock Talk" with me, your host, Todd E. Lyons, Esquire. I have spent the last 18 years as a morning disc jockey on 94.5 KATS-FM but am every bit as big a sports fan as I am a rock-'n-roll aficionado.

I'd like to use this space from time to time to speak with local and regional sport-minded folks, athletes, writers, broadcasters, coaches and more, to give you some deeper insight to the Yakima Valley, Central Washington and Pacific Northwest teams and players we all love.

My first guest on this maiden voyage is, appropriately, a man who has spent considerable time covering the Seattle Mariners.  Jon Wells is the publisher and editor of The Grand Salami magazine - an alternate publication that chronicles the ups and downs of the M's.

Mr. Wells has also published a people's history of the franchise in book form entitled Shipwrecked. His tome points a finger squarely at the Mariners front office and ownership for putting profit ahead of winning and wasting a mid-90's team laden with future Hall-Of-Famers (Ken Griffey, Jr., Randy Johnson, Alex Rodriguez, Edgar Martinez, Lou Piniella) who somehow managed to never even make it to the World Series.

In part one, we discuss how the magazine came to be, and how, just 51 days after their miraculous playoff run of 1995 - which, for all intents and purposes, saved the fate of big league baseball in the northwest - the club decided to trade one of its up-and-coming star players.

On Monday's upcoming episode,we'll have part two of this interview and get Jon's prediction for 2016 and his take on the new Mariners regime.

I hope you enjoy Rock Jock Talk. Please feel free to offer your suggestions for future guests in the comments below!