PEORIA, Ariz. — It feels a little like 1995 again around the Seattle Mariners.
Manager John McLaren has the first chair in the dugout, where he aided Lou Piniella as bench coach with the Refuse to Lose Mariners.
Sam Perlozzo is back as third-base coach, waving runners home now just as he did Ken Griffey Jr. with the winning run to beat the Yankees in the 1995 Division Series.
There’s new bullpen coach Norm Charlton, bringing the same swagger to the relief corps that brought life to the bullpen in ‘95. Lee Elia, the hitting coach then, is back as a special assistant. Jay Buhner, Dan Wilson and Rich Amaral have been here lending their expertise to the current Mariners, and Edgar Martinez may show up late this month to talk about hitting.
To some, it’s a much-needed re-connection with the best years the Mariners ever had, not only in 1995 but the playoff teams of 1997, 2000 and 2001.
To others, any mention of those days is a turnoff.
“To be honest, I think everybody’s tired of hearing about the ‘95 team,” said closer J.J. Putz.
He means no disrespect.
Putz was 18 when the Mariners made their miracle September surge to overcome the Angels’ huge lead in the American League West. He remembers the one-game playoff to beat the Angels for the division title, and he’s seen dozens of replays of Martinez’s double to score Griffey from first base to beat the Yankees.
“I think everybody knows that without the ‘95 season taking place, we probably would be playing somewhere other than Seattle,” Putz said. “But that’s 13 years ago. Nobody is worried about what happened 13 years ago. Were all worried about what happens starting March 31.”
Fair enough.
But among the flak the Mariners have absorbed since they last went to the playoffs was that they’d become disconnected with their best teams and biggest stars.
Oh, there are banners at Safeco Field signifying the 1995, ‘97, 2000 and 2001 teams. And occasionally there’s a video flashback to those seasons.
On a daily basis, however, the only connections with those teams were Dave Niehaus and Rick Rizzs in the broadcast booth. Buhner, Martinez and Wilson had their feel-good ceremonies after they retired and were rarely seen again, outside the times they’d drop in at spring training.
This year it’s different.
McLaren has brought back some old friends to the coaching staff in Perlozzo, Charlton and Elia, and he’s put Buhner, Wilson and Amaral to work during the time they’ve been at spring training.
Wilson felt like he had come back home during his week with the Mariners because it reunited him with so many who coached and played with him.
“These are the guys I grew up with in the game,” he said. “These are the guys who shaped me in this game.
“What was really neat about that whole situation was the group of guys we had and the chemistry we had among the players and the coaching staff. That’s what’s really special about what this group brings here. You have Lee and Mac and Sammy, Jay has been around, Richie Amaral came down. It’s nice to have that feeling and that camaraderie and that chemistry again.”
Buhner didn’t hesitate bringing up the playoff years when he talked with players. If they didn’t like it, too bad.
“I think some of the guys in here get tired of hearing it and get a little ticked off about it,” he said. “But sometimes you do stuff like that for a reaction, to tick a few guys off. Maybe those are the guys who need to get a fire in them a little bit.”
In Buhner’s view, it’s about maintaining tradition, which the Mariners teams since 2001 haven’t done.
“Granted, we don’t have a World Series, but what we do have is something special — 1995,” he said. “A lot of the coaching staff comes back to that, a lot of the faces you see around here.
“The guys who are new don’t realize how special that was and what it did for the city and the organization. They don’t have that close-knit tie. What people who’ve been here do remember is that it saved baseball in the Northwest.
“But moreover, it was an experience and a feeling that these guys need to get back to. There’s been a void of that the last six, seven years and I think that’s basically what they’re trying to do. They’re trying to motivate these guys and light a fire under them, put that carrot out in front of these guys and say, ‘Let’s get back to the playoffs.’”
Buhner, McLaren, Wilson and the old gang know they can’t overdo it. A small reference here and there is OK, but to bombard the team with tales of the great 1995 or 2001 seasons is a turnoff.
“It’s sort of a delicate balance because you don’t want to keep bringing up the past,” said Wilson, who remembers having Hall of Famer Johnny Bench around when he came up with the Reds. “You can’t overdo it.”
“I think tradition is great,” McLaren said. “You go play the Yankees, you’re talking about tradition. There’s nothing but Hall of Famers walking around there. I’ve heard comments here, ‘I get tired of hearing about the 1995, 2000 and 2001 teams.’ That’s when I walk away.
“That was a special group of guys and I was real proud to be a part of it. It’s part of our tradition, and we’re trying to make 2008 that way. I think we have a special group of people here and our intent is to take it even further. Those were special years, but we still haven’t done what we want to do, and that’s to win the world championship.”
Read Kirby Arnold’s blog on the Mariners at www.heraldnet.com
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
