During the slow trot around the bases to think about the home run in his first major league plate appearance, Greg Dobbs didn’t get nostalgic.
“I was thinking, ‘Don’t trip,’ just get to home plate,” he said Thursday after nearly a full day of congratulatory phone calls and hand shakes.
Dobbs, among the Mariners’ four minor league callups this week, homered off Indians pitcher Bob Wickman in the ninth inning Wednesday. He became the first player in Mariners history to homer in his first plate appearance and the 88th player all-time to do it.
“It was a special night for myself, my family and my wife,” he said.
Dobbs’ parents, Ken and Monica Dobbs of Riverside, Calif., were at the game, along with his wife, Heidi.
He only wishes it could have been a better night for the Mariners, who lost 9-5 to the Indians.
“It was special, but I’ve got to put it in perspective,” he said. “I want to help the club, and it was bittersweet because I don’t like to lose ballgames.”
Bucky waits ‘till next year: Bucky Jacobsen had played through the pain in his right knee for two years, and he figured he could wince through the final weeks of this season.
Then he had a magnetic resonance imaging exam this week and was surprised to learn that his season is finished because of cartilage damage that requires surgery. He will have it done next week.
“I don’t want to be done playing, but at the same time it takes a toll on your mind and on your body when something’s hurting all the time,” Jacobsen said.
He finished with nine home runs, 28 RBI and a .275 average, numbers he’s confident would have been higher had he felt good. He altered his stance at the plate to accommodate the sore knee, and he said it also affected his ability to drive the ball to the opposite field.
“There’s definitely more that I can show,” he said. “I don’t like to make excuses, but I played at 75 or 80 percent and I didn’t turn on as many balls as I wanted. I was looking more and more like a slow player, and that’s not what I am.”
The Mariners expect Jacobsen to be at full strength by spring training, which could be vital in his effort win the designated hitter job.
“I know nothing is guaranteed, and it shouldn’t be,” he said. “As long as they bring me back in spring training and give me the opportunity to win the job, then I’ll win the job.
No longer a last-place pitcher: His role hasn’t changed much from early this season when he pitched for the Mariners, and neither have the numbers.
Mike Myers couldn’t be in a more different place, or a happier one, now that he’s with the Red Sox.
“I’m having a blast,” said Myers, traded by the Mariners to the Red Sox on Aug. 6 in exchange for cash and a player to be determined. “It’s a good group of guys, they’re loose and they have fun.”
And most important, the Red Sox are winning. They entered their four-game series against the Mariners just two games behind the first-place Yankees in the American League East.
Myers hasn’t felt the day-to-day thrill of a division race since 2002, when he played for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
“It’s exciting when every game means something and it’s important not only what you’re doing, but what the opposition is doing,” he said.
Myers went 4-1 with a 4.88 ERA for the Mariners and had a 5.40 ERA in 13 appearances with the Red Sox entering the series in Seattle.
Free hand: Mariners third baseman Justin Leone had the cast removed from his left hand Thursday, three weeks after he broke a bone when he was hit by a pitch.
“I can actually clap with two hands now,” Leone said. “I’ve been doing a lot of that lately.”
TODAY’S GAME
Opponent: Boston Red Sox
When: 7:05 p.m.
Where: Safeco Field
TV: Fox Sports Net
Radio: KOMO (1000 AM)
Pitchers: Seattle right-hander Ryan Franklin (3-14, 5.31 earned run average) vs. right-hander Curt Schilling (18-6, 3.38).
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