PEORIA, Ariz. – On the day Richie Sexson and Adrian Beltre hit home runs in their first game with the Seattle Mariners, something just as momentous took place Wednesday.
Bret Boone got a hit at spring training.
Boone, a notoriously poor hitter at this time of year, slapped a single on his second at-bat in Wednesday’s B game against the San Diego Padres and scored on Adrian Beltre’s home run. The Mariners won 9-3.
“I set the table,” Boone said, deadpanning his role as the No. 3 hitter in what, for at least one day, was a juggernaut lineup.
Boone was followed by Sexson, Beltre and Raul Ibanez, a middle-of-the-order look that may or may not be the norm this season.
Where Boone finds himself in the lineup is manager Mike Hargrove’s choice. Boone has long preferred to bat third, and he’ll be there again today against the Padres, but Hargrove will try other combinations this month.
Hargrove said the only thing certain in his mind is that Sexson will bat fourth most of the time this season.
“It may be Boone, Sexson, Beltre and Ibanez,” Hargrove said, referring to the third, fourth, fifth and sixth hitters. “Or Beltre, Sexson, Boone and Ibanez. I’ve played with this lineup for a long time. Sometimes when you’ve got a number of good hitters, it’s tough to get them in spots that they would like to hit in. But that’s a good problem to have.”
Hargrove said he has spoken to “a couple” of players about their place in the batting order to help solve any early problems that the lineup may cause.
“It’s difficult to put everybody in the three, four or five spot,” Hargrove said. “I’m not trying to stroke a player; that’s the last thing I would do. But I really believe that a person’s mental approach and mental outlook at this level are all-important. If you get a guy and put him into a spot in the lineup that he absolutely hates and he gives it his best shot, his best shot may not be all that he has to give. It might be that he hates it so bad that it’s just not clicking for him.”
Boone said he isn’t concerned with where he hits, as long as it’s third, fourth or fifth.
“I want to be somewhere in the middle,” he said. “If it’s third, great. It doesn’t matter that much to me, and it doesn’t matter that much to the others. I talked to Richie and Adrian and Raul, and they don’t care where they hit, as long as it’s in the middle.”
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