It’s 9 o’clock (Mountain time). Do you know where your pitchers and catchers are?
Right now, they’re in the Mariners’ spring training clubhouse here in Peoria, Ariz., getting an earful from manager Eric Wedge and pitching coach Carl Willis. At 9:30, everyone heads to t
he practice fields for their morning workout, and it’ll be interesting to gauge the mood/intensity/focus.
Wedge is an intense guy and he definitely gets people’s attention, although Willis will do most of the speaking this morning. Wedge said he would get the meeting started and then make a few wrapup comments, and Willis said anyone with a pulse would head toward the practice field with a new sense of motivation.
“I’m the unfortunate one who gets to speak after Eric,” Willis said. “It’s kind of hard to hold the attention of everybody after he gets finished. Our personalities are different. I don’t know how these guys will feel when they walk into the door, but I know how they’ll feel when they walk out the door for the first practice.”
I asked Willis if, knowing Wedge the way he knows him, the players realize what they’re about to experience the next six weeks.
“I know that they’ve seen his press conference on video,” Willis said. “I get the sense they’re excited about it. He brings energy and passion and motivation, and he brings confidence. Guys find it fun to go out and play for someone who’s giving you energy. You don’t have to create it all for yourself.”
A couple of notes before we head outside (where it’s supposed to top 80 degrees today):
• Outfielder Ryan Langerhans is in the house and says his surgically repaired left elbow is doing well. He’s been throwing three days a week since Jan. 1. “It’s getting pretty close,” Langerhans said. “I could make a throw in a game right now if I really had to.”
• On the first day of camp, a lot of people like to look at players and decide if they’ve lost weight, gained weight, gotten stronger or weaker. I’m not such a good judge of that, although reliever Dan Cortes definitely has a new appearance.
Cortes cut his long hair in January. He said it had reached shoulder length and, since he figured the team would make him cut it anyway, he took out some clippers and buzzed it himself. He started with a Mohawk, which his sister said looked awful, so he kept clipping until he had a complete buzz.
It’s only temporary, though, because Cortes says he’ll let it grow long this season.
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