By Larry LaRue
The News Tribune
PEORIA, Ariz. – Charles Gipson has spent the last four years of his life as a major league afterthought.
There are worse careers.
“Every year since ‘98, I’ve been fighting for that last spot on the roster,” Gipson said Wednesday in the Seattle clubhouse. “Every winter I read where the team has signed three, four, five players I’ll have to fight for a job.
“It’s a tough role for all of us. Every spring, you’re battling for your career.”
Gipson is 29 years old and grateful for each of the 252 major league games he has played. It says much about the way his career has gone, however, that those 252 games have produced only 224 big-league at-bats.
“I have speed, I can play defense, I have a major league arm,” Gipson said. “I think this team has groomed me to be a utility player. On another team, my role might be different.”
In a camp where few jobs are available, one of those that remains up for grabs is the 25th spot on the Mariners’ 25-man roster. The challenge facing Gipson is, to some degree, out of his control.
“There are a lot of factors, but it may just come down to Charles, Alex Arias and the Rule V infielder, Luis Ugueto,” manager Lou Piniella said. “If we have to carry 12 pitchers instead of 11, that would change things.
“We know what Charles can do defensively. What he probably needs to do this spring is a little more offensively.”
Gipson’s career batting average is .237, a bit deceptive in that he’s rarely ever played consecutive games and can go weeks, not days, between at-bats.
Defensively, he made the Mariners highlight reel a half dozen times last season – once with a remarkable throw from center field in Minnesota, another time with a diving, game-ending catch in left field in Anaheim.
Gipson played six positions: second base, third base, shortstop and all three outfield spots last year. He started only 14 games.
This spring, he’s studied the roster and determined his best chance to make the team is as an outfielder, so he’s taken relatively few ground balls in the infield.
“If Ruben (Sierra) is going to play a lot in left field, I might get most of my work spelling him late in games when we’re ahead,” Gipson said. “I can give Mike (Cameron) a break in center field when he needs it.
“We’ve got a lot of quality infielders in camp. I can’t see winning a spot there when we have Desi Relaford and Alex Arias and Luis Ugueto.”
Gipson has made it to the big leagues – and stayed in them – almost solely on determination and pure athletic ability. A 63rd-round draft pick out of high school in 1991, he spent six years in Seattle’s minor league system before playing a major league game.
He has rarely gone to sleep at night assured of being a big leaguer the next morning.
“When you’re the 10th or 11th pitcher on a staff or the 13th or 14th position player on a team, you’re always vulnerable,” Piniella said. “That’s where teams try to get better. There’s always somebody fighting you for those jobs.”
Gipson will fight for a spot that probably won’t be decided until the last day or two of camp. It’s a situation he’s familiar with.
“What would I do if I knew I had a job?” he asked. “Probably relax a little. I don’t expect that to ever happen.
“My situation here has never changed. If I’m in their plans, great – I love being part of this team. If I’m not, hopefully I’ll be in someone else’s plans.”
M’s sign injured Heaverlo: One day before season-ending shoulder surgery, right-hander Jeff Heaverlo agreed to a minor league contract for the 2002 season. That leaves five players on the Mariners roster still unsigned: Ben Davis, Joel Pineiro, Gil Meche, Ryan Anderson and Ryan Franklin.
Boone is humble: Bret Boone was asked to assess his swing a week into camp and was happy to oblige: “Exceedingly mediocre.” “I’m a terrible spring player, and I don’t know why,” he said. “The last week or so, it starts to come around. I’ll be good again by April 1.”
Short hops: Spring games begin today, but not all Mariners will be part of every game. “Somewhere between four and seven guys will stay back in camp every day to take extra hitting,” manager Lou Piniella said. “They’ll work out for another 90 minutes after we’ve finished in the morning, then get the afternoon off.” … When Ryan Franklin takes the mound today in the first exhibition game of the spring, he’ll take a new weapon with him and he’s as anxious as anyone to see how it works. Franklin has always thrown a split-fingered fastball, but in playing around with the grip this spring he found himself throwing it with one finger along a seam. The result, he said, was a pitch that looks like a fastball but drops out of the strike zone quickly. “It’s the kind you might throw with two strikes, and it looks great in the bullpen,” Franklin said. “Now we’ll see how it does in a game situation.”
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