Single, all the way.
That’s how it appeared anyway.
Line drive to left.
No chance for anything more than a one-bagger.
And then … the runner rounded first and didn’t slow down a jot.
Late throw to second and … safe.
He had a double.
It happened in a game last weekend. A meaningless exhibition game.
Meaningless?
Tell that to Willie Bloomquist.
Explain to him that he had already made the M’s roster.
Explain to him that it didn’t make any difference if he settled for a single.
Explain to him that he might have hurt himself chugging hard for second.
Explain to him that … oh, hell, save your breath.
He isn’t gonna listen.
That’s the way he plays.
All out.
They have a word for guys like him.
They’ve been attaching it to his name ever since … well, probably ever since he first pulled on a uniform.
“He’s a winner,” said Terry Mosier, who covered sports for The Bremerton Sun when Bloomquist was playing high school ball at South Kitsap. “Things happen when he’s in the game.”
Singles become doubles.
Balls that look like hits end up in his glove.
“He is,” Mosier said, “the type of guy who never stops working or learning.”
What Willie knew when he hit that ball to left field against San Diego the other day: “I got out of the box pretty well, and my thinking was the ball was hit down the line and I knew that it was a left-handed left fielder and if I get thrown out, so what?
“Ichiro (Suzuki) would be leading off the next inning, but if I take a gamble and I’m safe, I’m in scoring position and I can score on a single as opposed to a double, if I’m still at first. It’s a calculated risk, so I figured, make him throw me out.”
The Padres left fielder will know next time: Don’t give Willie Bloomquist an inch.
You think the Anaheim Angels learned anything from the tape of that game?
Shame on them if they didn’t.
We may find out today.
The Port Orchard native is in the M’s starting lineup for Day One of the 162-game grind known as the major league baseball season.
Though he wasn’t scheduled to be the starting third baseman, that’s where he’ll be when Jamie Moyer throws the first 62-mph changeup of the game.
Manager Bob Melvin penciled Bloomquist into the lineup after starter Scott Spiezio strained his back late in spring training and wasn’t able to get back on the field.
“With Jamie out there, you see a lot of balls (hit) at third base, and Willie has a lot of range over there, plays a nice third base,” Melvin said before a workout Monday. “And be brings a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of energy out there.”
Enthusiasm? Energy?
What is this Knute Rockne twaddle?
‘Tisn’t coach-speak when put in a Bloomquist context.
That’s exactly what he brings to the game.
Notice his uniform afterwards.
Dirty.
If it’s not smudged from his diving into a base, he’ll stain it from making a diving catch. And that catch could come from any one of several places: third base, shortstop, second base, first base, left field, right field.
He played ‘em all last year, the first time he’d spent an entire season in the big leagues.
Guess what position he worked on in winter ball? Center field.
So when do you put on the tools of ignorance, Willie? “I caught once in junior high,” he replied.
Third base seems like a nice fit. He hit the tar out of the ball (31-for-91 = .341) when he played there last year.
“Probably because it was the place I got to play every day for a while,” he explained. “You get your rhythm and your timing more than when you’re coming off the bench.”
Bench is a dirty word to Bloomquist. He wasn’t put on this earth to sit and watch.
Why do you think he trained himself to play so many different positions? Better chance to get in the game, right?
Oh, and about winter ball. Center field wasn’t the only place he played. “Wherever they needed me,” he said. “I didn’t really care where I played defensively. I just wanted to hit.”
Something he didn’t get a chance to do much of (196 at-bats) last season. Something he should get a chance to do a lot more of this season … if Melvin is smart. And he is.
He likes Willie. Liked him enough to put him on the team even though he didn’t hit well in spring training.
Melvin knows what he has in uniform No.16: He has an entire team.
So what’s your comfort zone, Willie? Third? First? Center? What?
“I used to say second, but the last three years I’ve played all over the place, so it doesn’t really matter,” he said.
“It’s, ‘be comfortable with the uncomfortable.’ “
Willie may appear comfortable when he’s introduced before today’s game, but he guarantees that he’ll have a good case of the trembles. “I think anyone who wants to go out and compete is going to have a little bit of the jitters,” he said.
His team growing up was the M’s. And, yes, he dreamt of being in the starting lineup on Opening Day. He thought it could happen, but didn’t expect it to. And now that it’s about to … “I probably won’t sleep at all tonight. I’ll probably just be wired all night.”
Great.
Just what the Angels want to hear.
A wired Willie Bloomquist.
That’s like a kindergartener in a chocolate factory.
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