Mariners Update

Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, September 4, 2001

Opponent: Tampa Bay Devil Rays

When: 7:05 p.m.

Where: Safeco Field

TV: Fox Sports Net (cable)

Radio: KIRO (710 AM)

Pitchers: Seattle right-hander Aaron Sele (3-5, 3.49 earned run average) vs. right-hander Ryan Rupe (5-11, 6.86).

Shed a little tear: There’s no crying in baseball, huh?

Well, that wasn’t sweat fogging up Jay Buhner’s eyes Monday night as his emotions absorbed the full impact of the standing ovation from the 45,000 at Safeco Field.

Buhner, preparing for his first at-bat in Seattle after a season-long recovery from a foot injury, said he had to step away and compose himself as the ovation continued for almost a minute.

And yes, he said, his eyes got a little misty.

“I tried to hold back as best I could, but what the hell. It’s emotions,” Buhner said. “Everybody has them and you try to control them as best you can, but it was a pretty incredible moment. I certainly wasn’t embarrassed to shed a tear.”

Buhner said he had hoped just to tip his cap to acknowledge the fans and get on with his first at-bat at home since last year’s playoffs.

“I didn’t want to make a big scene,” he said. “But it didn’t happen that way. It took me a couple of extra seconds to regroup a little bit and go on from there.”

Buhner certainly didn’t go lightly with his effort on the field. He made a sliding crash into the base of the wall in foul territory trying to catch a foul ball near the left-field line, and he beat out an infield single for his first hit.

“That’s only fitting isn’t it? I got to show off my speed,” he said. “Speed kills.”

Tuesday, Buhner said his foot was sore.

“But it is every day when I wake up and get going,” he said. “The more I go out and run around and stuff, it loosens up. That’s part of it. I’m still going to have good days and bad days until I get some time off and let it unwind and heal on its own.

“Regardless of what happens from here on out, just to step onto the field was a pretty incredible moment.”

Insurance behind the plate: Veteran catcher Pat Borders joined the Mariners on Tuesday as an emergency third catcher. In his first few minutes as a Mariner, he caught mostly grief from an old acquaintance.

“Pat Borders, I thought you were finished,” Mike Cameron shouted. “You and Randy Myers. All you old guys are trying to jump in on to this.”

Borders, a veteran of 11 major league seasons, played briefly with the Chicago White Sox in 1996, when Cameron was a rookie there.

“He’s giving it to me now because I gave it to him five years ago in Chicago,” Borders said.

The Mariners signed Borders last month and sent him to Class AAA Tacoma, where he was 3-for-11 with one home run. He had spent the summer with the Devil Rays’ Class AAA farm club in Durham, N.C.

Despite his age, 38, and his large family – he and wife Kathy have six children – Borders has no plans to abandon his baseball dream. Seattle is Borders’ eighth major league club.

“As long as I feel like I can contribute in some way I want to keep playing because I enjoy it,” Borders said. “My kids enjoy watching me play, whether it’s Triple-A or big leagues. I’ll stay at it until I feel like I’m hurting the team. I don’t want to give up on myself too early. I think I’ve still got something to give, and I hope someone gives me a shot.”

Borders spent most of his career with Toronto, where he played from 1988-94 and won two World Series rings. Mariners general manager Pat Gillick was GM with the Blue Jays when they drafted Borders in 1982.

“I’ll be forever indebted to him for that and for giving me another shot here,” Borders said.

Thought for the day: Bret Boone wears a tattered, sleeveless T-shirt with “Chicks dig the long ball” printed across the front. Every day, Boone covers “the long ball” portion of the phrase with a thought of his own, usually appropriate for the occasion. Sometimes it’s serious, other times a bit vulgar, but most often it’s funny.

On Tuesday, Boone used it to poke fun at his teammates who had five infield hits the night before. It said:

“Chicks dig choppers off the plate.”

Honoring Cal: The Mariners will salute retiring Cal Ripken Jr. on Sunday before his final game in Seattle. A pregame ceremony, during which Ripken will be showered with praise and gifts, will start about 1 p.m. Sunday’s game will start at 1:35.

Bobble mania: The first 20,000 fans into Safeco Field on Saturday will get a Kazuhiro Sasaki bobble head doll and, after surviving the crush of fans grabbing Ichiro Suzuki dolls in July, the Mariners have established a strict set of procedures. Among them: