Long day’s journey to Mariners camp for Carp

PEORIA, Ariz. — If the road to the big leagues didn’t have that one sharp turn in Anaheim, Mike Carp’s transition to the Seattle Mariners would have been smooth.

Instead, Carp spent half of his first week as a Mariner trying to reach Peoria after a traffic accident in Southern California caused him to be two days late. He worked out with the team for the first time Friday.

It hasn’t been the easiest way to join a new team, but if Carp gives the Mariners what they expect, both he and the club will be happy.

Carp is a 22-year-old left-handed slugger who the Mariners see as a nice fit at lefty-friendly Safeco Field. Whether he plays there this year depends on how well he hits the next six weeks and whether Russell Branyan, the current starter at first base, proves he deserves the job.

But first things first.

Just getting to spring training was an accomplishment.

Carp, obtained from the Mets in the December trade for J.J. Putz, had left his home in the Los Angeles area early Tuesday morning, figuring he’d reach Peoria in time to take his physical that afternoon and be on the field for the first full-squad workout Wednesday.

Then he hit a wet spot on an off-ramp and hydroplaned, causing his 2003 Mustang Cobra to spin.

“I did a little stunt driving,” he said. “I spun around backwards, then I spun again and hit the barrier.”

Carp wasn’t hurt, although the impact ruined the front end of the Mustang. It also wrecked any chance he’d report to spring training on time.

He went back home and pulled the pickup truck he drove in high school, a 1995 GMC Sonoma, out of his dad’s garage. It hadn’t been driven in months, and Carp had to jump-start it and change the oil.

He also needed to get the license up to date, which meant a trip to the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

“I spent three hours waiting for my number to be called,” he said. “I fell asleep waiting.”

It was 10:30 p.m. Wednesday before he finally hit the road again. He arrived in Peoria at 3:30 a.m. Thursday and abandoned any hope for sleep because he had a 6:30 a.m. appointment for his physical exam.

Then the doctor didn’t show, so all Carp could do was work out on his own, get a good night’s sleep and come back the next day. He did early Friday, passed the physical and soon impressed the Mariners with his swing.

“It’s only batting practice off 50-60 mph pitching, but that’s a swing you think can work in the game,” manager Don Wakamatsu said. “It’s a good swing, it’s compact.”

Carp, the Mets’ ninth-round draft pick in 2004, put together a strong spring training with the big-league club two years ago but followed it with the roughest year of his career.

He broke the tip of his right ring finger while trying to break up a double play early in the 2007 season with Class AA Binghampton. The injury kept him off the field for six weeks and off his game the rest of the season.

“That’s my pressure finger and I couldn’t really grip a bat or turn on an inside pitch at all,” he said. “That’s where I make my money, hitting the ball.”

He hit a career-low 11 home runs with 48 RBI and, for the first time, realized the stress baseball can put on a guy.

“It was a reality check for me,” he said. “I struggled a little bit my second year, but ‘07 was the first time I’d ever had to deal with failure and the frustrations that come with that. It made me a better player.”

Carp didn’t feel himself again until opening day last year, and his big numbers returned. He batted .299 with 17 homers and 72 runs batted in at, and ranked fifth in the Eastern League with a .403 on-base percentage.

“I’m happy I went through failure early in my career instead of getting to the big leagues and having it happen,” he said. “Now I know how to build from that.

“Now that I’m here, I just want to be me, have a good spring training and carry that into the season. I want to be in the big leagues and I’m going to do everything I can in this camp to get there.”

Read Kirby Arnold’s blog from spring training at www.heraldnet.com