A year ago, Willie Bloomquist turned September into a personal playground – batting .455 in a dozen games for the Seattle Mariners and showing he could play just about anywhere on the field.
This September, he’s rarely gotten off the Seattle bench.
“I understand the situation and if I were the manager I’d probably do exactly the same thing,” rookie Bloomquist said Saturday. “You play your veterans, your best guys, in the situation we’re in.
“The difference is, I didn’t play much last year when the season was still up in the air. I played mostly when we were out of it.”
And this year?
“If there’s a crucial situation, I might get the chance to do something,” Bloomquist said.
The 25-year-old Port Orchard product has appeared in 85 games this season, batting .245 while playing shortstop, third base, first base and left field.
His current position is cheerleader, and he’s making the most of that, too.
“All of us on the bench want to win as much as anybody,” Bloomquist said. “There are a lot of teams today who’d trade places with us, because we’re still in the hunt.
“From spring training on, this is where teams want to be. This is where players want to be – there is no higher level than the one we’re at.”
Warming up at the plate: John Olerud’s swing still isn’t where he wants it, but his single Saturday extended his hitting streak to eight consecutive games – during which he’ s batted .345.
Similarly, Bret Boone’s three hits pushed his streak to six games in a row, and he’s batted .440 in that stretch.
“The last month, whatever, we’ve struggled as a team, and the guys you expect to get things done – me included – haven’t done it,” Boone said. “There’s nothing we can do about that now.
“What we can do is our jobs the rest of the way. We can make this fun, make it matter.”
Short hops: Running off the field after a pre-game warmup Saturday, Ichiro Suzuki stopped for an elderly woman in the stands behind the Seattle dugout. Stretching full out, he was able to reach a ball to sign for her. Then she asked for a kiss. “Not today,” Ichiro said, and scampered off smiling. … For all his problems at the plate this season, Ichiro’s four hits Saturday gave him 202 for the season – 642 over his first three major league seasons. Only one man in baseball history, Lloyd Waner, had more with 678. … When Ryan Franklin became the fifth starting pitcher with 10 or more wins on Friday, he pushed the Seattle 2003 rotation into club history – only one other Mariners rotation ever did it. That was the 2001 group of Jamie Moyer, Freddy Garcia, Paul Abbot, John Halama and Aaron Sele. … Boone stole his 16th base of the season, matching Mike Cameron for third place on the team. Ichiro has 32 stolen bases, Randy Winn 21. … With seven more innings Saturday, Joel Pineiro ran his season total to 205 2/3 innings with one start remaining. He joins Ryan Franklin (206) and Jamie Moyer (200) at that plateau, and Freddy Garcia has 193 innings with two starts remaining.
Larry LaRue, The News Tribune
Today’s Game: Seattle concludes the series in Oakland with a 1:05 p.m. game that will be televised on FSN. Probable starting pitchers: right-hander Gil Meche (15-11, 4.34) vs. right-hander Rich Harden (5-4, 4.64).
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