ANAHEIM, Calif. – Seattle Mariners reliever Bobby LaFromboise came jogging in from the bullpen on Friday night with a mixture of nerves and adrenaline coursing through his veins. He was fulfilling a childhood dream.
Growing up in nearby Downey, Calif., and playing at Warren High School and later Rio Hondo Community College, LaFromboise often envisioned himself standing on the mound of Angels Stadium.
“I grew up about 20 minutes from here and still live in the area, so this is pretty much home for me,” he said. “I used to go to games here all the time.”
LaFromboise even managed to work security for games when the Angels were playing the White Sox in the American League Division Series in 2005 when he was in college.
“We didn’t do a whole lot, but we got to go to the games,” he said.
So with close to 50 friends and family members in the stands, LaFromboise came in to pitch against Josh Hamilton with runners on first and second and one out in the 10th inning of a 2-2 game.
“I was a little excited, a little nervous,” he said. “That was a big spot and situation. But I always want to be out there.”
LaFromboise did his job better than expected. He sawed off Hamilton with an 0-2 fastball to get a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.
He exited the field to cheers from family and friends.
“That was part cool,” LaFromboise said. “Getting the loss wasn’t.”
It would have been a perfect ending for the local kid coming home.
Unfortunately, LaFromboise had to pitch the 11th and gave up the walkoff hit to Chris Iannetta with two outs to take the loss in the Mariners’ 12th walkoff defeat of the season.
“That pitch, I don’t regret throwing it,” he said of the slider Iannetta hit. “It was something different. He’d seen five straight fastballs from me. I threw it but it wasn’t great location and he made me pay for it.”
Short hops
After leaving Friday night’s loss with a stiff right groin, Seattle manager Eric Wedge said Erasmo Ramirez was feeling fine on Saturday. “We’ll see how he does moving around,” Wedge said. “We want him to take it easy today, but he should be ok.” Wedge expects Ramirez will make a start in the final home stand of the season. … Shortstop Brad Miller participated in a full pregame workout, including running the bases before Saturday’s game. Wedge hoped Miller would be available as a sub on Saturday night and be ready to start today. … With the Mariners’ walkoff loss on Friday night, they’ve now suffered 49 walkoff defeats in the last four seasons — most in baseball during that span. The teams with the second most walkoff losses during that time are the Cardinals and Reds with 37 each. Eight of those 49 walkoff losses for the Mariners occurred at Angels Stadium.
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