A month and a day from now, on Feb. 13, the Mariners’ spring training camp begins in Peoria, Ariz., with reporting day for pitchers and catchers.
There will be a fair number of new players to get to know this year, so we thought we’d make some introductions here. Oh, you probably know about Brendan Ryan’s stellar defense, Adam Kennedy’s veteran presence and Miguel Olivo’s … well … his smile.
But did you know Ryan can display some fancy footwork when he isn’t gobbling up grounders with his glove? Here’s some pregame video from a fan:
And if both the hands and the feet fail him, Ryan might be able to do some acting. Or act as Robert De Niro’s body double. Or just sit in bars and do his De Niro impersonation. Here he is during his Cardinals days with an old friend of the Mariners, pitcher Ryan Franklin (along with a blonde who’s there, apparently, to raise the good-looks average):
Speaking of acting, Ryan has nothing on newly acquired Mariner Adam Kennedy. Back in the glory days with the Angels, Kennedy appeared in a scene on the short-lived TV series She Spies. In this video, he joins David Eckstein and Scott Spiezio (remember him, M’s fans?) and proves that acting should be left to the professionals (little wonder She Spies had such a short shelf life).
Miguel Olivo also got his acting schwerve on with the Colorado Rockies when he took part in this commercial:
Tom Wilhelmsen may or may not make the Mariners’ roster out of spring training, but he’s a pretty cool guy who has more going for him than pitching. Here’s his self-description in a video from last season when he was with the Everett AquaSox:
Of course, no review of the Mariners’ hidden talents would be complete without a repeat performance of this photo shoot by Felix Hernandez and Garrett Olson. Last fall, they made like Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta for ESPN The Magazine.
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