PEORIA, Ariz. — In the morning, Seattle Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu may look at the radar gun to gauge the velocity of Mark Lowe’s fastball.
In the afternoon, he’ll look Lowe in the eye and ask about his childhood.
That’s the kind of on-field/off-field evaluation the Mariners’ new manager and his staff are doing these days as they put names, faces and psyches together in an effort to build a better ballclub.
“We’re talking to players and getting inside their heads a little bit,” Wakamatsu said. “We want to see what kind of makeup they have so we can make the right decision.”
Most days after the Mariners come off the practice field, Wakamatsu will invite a player or two or three into his office and, along with a coach, get to know them.
One day it could be the catchers, another day the starting pitchers or middle infielders.
Wakamatsu delivers his expectations in these talks, but it’s also an open discussion where he learns who he’s managing and the players learn who he is.
“This is the first time I’ve ever had a coach really get in there and want to know me as much as he possibly can,” said Lowe, who hopes to win the closer’s job. “Coming to a brand-new team, a manager needs to know where everybody is coming from.”
How detailed do the discussions get?
There’s the baseball talk, obviously. Then there’s the personal side.
“He’ll ask what your childhood was like,” Lowe said. “That can be important because it allows a person to know how to get somebody going, or what it takes to make you understand.
“Communication is important. If you know what everybody is about, you can go to each one of them and communicate in your own way. And it gives us comfort to go to him and be able to tell him anything. It’s positive on both sides.”
While the true evaluations will take place when exhibition games begin next Wednesday, these get-to-know-you sessions form a good base for good communication between the players and staff, Wakamatsu said.
“He wants to know what you think about things, then he just sits back and lets you talk,” said Roy Corcoran, who also is competing for the closer role.
Corcoran had Wakamatsu and pitching coach Rick Adair laughing until it hurt when he met with them the other day.
He wasn’t telling them any jokes or singing “Rocky Top” like he did at spring training last year. But, speaking with his thick Louisiana drawl about life at home in tiny Slaughter, La., where the family gathers to “chit chat” and he enjoys working on his truck, Corcoran broke them up.
“He had us in stitches,” Wakamatsu said.
“Well,” Corcoran said, “I wasn’t telling them anything but the truth. I was just me being me. I like to have a good time and I enjoy those conversations. They were asking simple questions _ where do you live, do you have any brothers or sisters, how was it growing up?”
Being serious, Corcoran appreciates the effort Wakamatsu and the coaches are making to know the players beyond what they can do on the field. It will help their communication when times aren’t so jovial.
“You’ve got to understand that this is the game of baseball and things happen that aren’t in your favor,” Corcoran said. “It’s a very good thing that they’re taking the initiative to get to know you personally as well as on the field.
“It makes you feel more comfortable and it’s going to take a little weight off you when you’re able to go in there and talk to them one-on-one instead of being tentative.”
Read Kirby Arnold’s blog from spring training at www.heraldnet.com
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