A little less than 10 years ago, as the 1999 Seattle Mariners stumbled through a losing season, manager Lou Piniella issued a plea to management.
No, not THAT one. Piniella wouldn’t scream for another hitter for a couple more years.
In 1999, Piniella knew from the moment the Mariners made their midseason move into Safeco Field that they needed to change their formula. The natural grass, spacious outfield dimensions and heavy outdoor air worked against a slow-footed fly ball-hitting team, which basically is what the Mariners were in ‘99.
Sure, they had guys capable of running — like Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez and David Bell — but that lineup also contained Edgar Martinez, Dan Wilson, Jay Buhner and Butch Huskey, who essentially rendered the Mariners as a station-to-station club.
Piniella knew it would take more than mashers at Safeco Field, and the final numbers that season proved him right.
In 39 games at the Kingdome, the Mariners hit 75 home runs and scored 268 runs. In 42 games at Safeco Field, they hit 47 homers and scored 186.
“We need athletes,” Piniella often said.
In the offseason, the Mariners had a new general manager who gave Piniella what he needed.
Pat Gillick traded away Griffey, but in return he got a center fielder who could hit, run and defend — Mike Cameron. Gillick signed versatile veteran Mark McLemore, who still had plenty left in his legs, his bat and his leadership in the clubhouse. He signed John Olerud, a first baseman who ran like a snail but made up for it with doubles down the lines and into the big gaps at Safeco.
Combining those players with Martinez, Rodriguez, Wilson and young infielder Carlos Guillen, the 2000 Mariners won 91 games and reached the American League Championship Series.
They also introduced Seattle to small-ball or, as a lot of us who grew up around National League teams knew it, real baseball. The 2000 Mariners hit, ran, hit-and-ran, bunted.
They played defense. Nobody who was there will forget Cameron’s leap to rob Derek Jeter of a home run.
They played unselfishly. Hitters gave themselves up in order to advance runners into scoring position. Regulars took a seat on the bench without complaint as Piniella moved versatile players like McLemore and David Bell around to keep everyone fresh.
The starting pitching was good but hardly brought high expectations with Freddy Garcia, Jamie Moyer, Aaron Sele, Gil Meche, Paul Abbott and John Halama.
Having gotten so used to the old style of Mariners baseball, I remember asking Larry Bowa, the third base coach in 2000, just what it was that made that team so effective.
“Speed and defense,” he said. “Speed and defense don’t slump.”
One year later, the Mariners added to it with a guy named Ichiro at the top of the lineup and another named Boone in the middle, and the 2001 team tied the major league record with 116 victories.
I’ve tried all week to suppress any connection between this year’s small-ball, defense-and-pitching-oriented Mariners and the 2001 team. Nothing can — or maybe ever will — compare with that group.
But there’s a lot that looks similar to 2000. That team, along with this year’s Mariners, was desperate to rebound from a humbling season in which a lot had to change.
It will take the remaining 150 games to learn just how close those two teams are.
But if the retooled 2000 Mariners could improve by 20 victories and reach the playoffs without Griffey, who says the 2009 Mariners can’t take a similar step forward? After all, they’ve replaced Jose Vidro, Richie Sexson, Brad Wilkerson and Raul Ibanez.
They now have athletes, more than what Piniella got in 2000.
And they have the elements that don’t slump — speed and defense.
These guys may not reach the playoffs, but they’ll be fun to watch.
Read Kirby Arnold’s blog on the Mariners at www.heraldnet.com/marinersblog
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