Opponent: Baltimore Orioles
When: 4:05 p.m.
Where: Camden Yards, Baltimore
TV: FSN (cable)
Probable starters: Seattle left-hander Jamie Moyer (1-2, 6.26) vs. righthander Kurt Ainsworth (0-1, 9.88).
Quinton McCracken had the idea first, thinking about what to do with an unexpected night off.
“A lot of teams, you get a rainout and it’s 25 guys, 25 cabs,” the Seattle outfielder said. “I thought about this team, how many new faces were here, and thought it might be a good chance to get to know each other.”
On Monday, about 30 minutes after the Seattle-Baltimore game was postponed, McCracken approached veteran teammates Edgar Martinez and Bret Boone with a proposal. What did they think of a team dinner?
“It just worked out that most guys didn’t have family here, weren’t already committed to something else,” Boone said. “We had 17-18 guys at dinner.”
From a 25-man roster, that was almost everyone on short notice.
“We went to a steak place across from the team hotel and everyone just started talking,” Martinez said. “I’ve been to a team party at the end of the season, but even then everyone’s not there. This was the first time I’d ever been to a dinner with so many guys.”
“Guys got on each other, there was a lot of conversation, a lot of laughter,” Dave Hansen said. “No coaches, just players.”
McCracken and a few teammates tried to coerce manager Bob Melvin into loaning them his credit card for the night. He wasn’t sold.
“Win some games, we’ll talk,” he joked.
Some three hours after they’d started, Mariners players were finished eating and the tab was just over $2,800. The waitress was told to get a credit card from rookie Matt Thornton, who’d been called up Monday.
“I thought they were teasing,” Thornton said. “But I gave her my card and she came back and it was all totalled up and she said, ‘Sign here, please.’ I think I got a little pale.”
“We had him going,” Jamie Moyer said. “I told him, ‘You pick this one up, the veterans are really going to like you.’”
Thornton signed the check. Boone and Martinez then told the waitress to tear it up. They split the tab, including a tip of more than $400.
“Worth every cent,” Martinezsaid. “We all got to know each other a little better. It just came together on the spur of the moment. Maybe it will make a difference, maybe it won’t. But we had a lot of fun together.”
Closer to returning: Rafael Soriano will make a two-inning relief appearance Friday for San Antonio, then be returned to the Mariners for evaluation. The expectation is that by the time Seattle opens its homestand on Tuesday, Soriano will be in the bullpen.
“He was so effective late in games for us last year, that’s the role we want him in now,” Melvin said. “I think we’ve missed that the last few weeks. It’ll be good to get him back.”
Around the horn: Utilityman Jolbert Cabrera, a right-handed hitting specialist who has played seven positions in his career, likes second base and center field the best. Against left-hander Matt Riley on Tuesday, Melvin slid Cabrera into the lineup in center field. … If you’re in Baltimore on Aug. 3, you’ll get the chance to see a doubleheader when the Mariners and Orioles make up Monday’s rain out. It won’t come cheap, however – Baltimore will charge two admissions, one for the game that begins at 1:05 p.m., another for the 7:05 p.m. nightcap.
Larry LaRue
The News Tribune
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