Randy Williams has been to Houston and back, and he knows one thing about making that trip.
“It’s one heck of a commute,” he said Saturday.
But worth every minute of the 40-plus hours it took to drive home and fly back to Seattle.
Williams became a major leaguer Saturday for the first time when the Mariners selected him from the Tacoma Rainiers to provide some much-needed left-handed relief pitching.
It wasn’t as easy as going from Tacoma to Seattle.
After the Rainiers’ final game last Monday, Williams climbed into his fully packed pickup and began a 38-hour drive to his home in Houston. Three hours after he got home, the phone rang.
The Mariners were on the other end, telling Williams that reliever George Sherrill was having arm problems and he was needed back in Seattle. He kissed his wife and baby daughter good-bye almost as quickly as they’d welcomed him back home, and he flew to Seattle
“When I left, I told them I may be back tomorrow, I may be back in a month,” Williams said.
Make it a month. The Mariners shut down Sherrill for the season because of a tired arm and brought up Williams to handle the left-handed specialty role.
Williams handled that role, among most others, with success in the Tacoma bullpen. He went 7-2 with a 3.63 earned run average in 50 appearances.
“He can pitch long to middle to setup to close,” Rainiers manager Dan Rohn said. “He did them all for us.”
Comeback kids: Julio Mateo and Clint Nageotte, two right-handers on the disabled list, are scheduled to pitch simulated games on Monday and possibly be activated this week. Mateo has been on the DL since July 29 because of tendinitis in his right elbow. Nageotte has been out since Aug. 28 because of back spasms.
M’s recognize 9-11: On the third anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Mariners held a pregame ceremony that honored emergency workers, fire fighters and police, who mixed with members of the Mariners and Red Sox on the base lines during the National Anthem. Rob Duncan of the Mountlake Terrace Police Department sang the Anthem.
Kirby Arnold, Herald Writer
TODAY’S GAME
Opponent: Boston Red Sox
When: 1:05 p.m.
Where: Safeco Field
TV: Fox Sports Net
Radio: KOMO (1000 AM)
Pitchers: Seattle right-hander Gil Meche (4-6, 5.38 earned run average) vs. right-hander Derek Lowe (14-10, 5.01).
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
