TORONTO — Daren Brown hadn’t even officially spent a game as the Seattle Mariners third base coach before he was talking about rigors of the job.
He wanted everyone to know being a base coach is much tougher than people think. It’s more than just relaying a few signals and trying not to get hit by wayward line drives.
“There’s a little more to it than just that,” he said. “There’s decision making: Who’s at third, who’s at second, who’s at first, how each of them run, outfielders’ arms on the field. There are plenty of things from a decision-making standpoint, so it’s not just standing out there, giving a few signs and talking to guy a when he gets to third.”
The Mariners announced the addition of Brown on Thursday. Earlier in the week, third-base coach Jeff Datz announced he had been diagnosed with cancer and would miss time with the team.
Brown has coached plenty of third base in his career, and unlike the big leagues, minor-league managers coach third base during games. If you’ve been to any Rainiers games during Brown’s lengthy tenure, you would have seen the tall Oklahoman standing in the third base coach’s box.
It’s one of the reasons why Mariners manager Eric Wedge decided to bring Brown up.
“Brownie has obviously been managing for a long time and coaching third base for a long time,” Wedge said. “He’s familiar with everything we are doing.”
Technically, Brown was Wedge’s predecessor as the Mariners manager. Brown was the interim manager for the last 40 games of the 2010 season after Don Wakamatsu was fired. Wedge was hired after the season.
But there was no awkwardness. Brown went back to managing the Rainiers and he’s built a solid relationship with Wedge over the past few seasons.
“I feel like I have gotten to know him,” Brown said. “We communicate quite a bit during the season. Obviously, there is spring training when I’m with them. I know what he’s about. And he knows what I’m about.”
“We weren’t sure how it was going to play out at first,” Wedge said. “It’s at the point where Jeff might miss some time; we decided this would be a more permanent move. Brownie’s very familiar with me and how we do things. He’s familiar with the players having managed most of the guys. It all works.”
Brown was all smiles before Friday’s game at the Rogers Centre against the Blue Jays. It didn’t matter that he was working on just a few hours of sleep, having flown the red-eye flight out of Seattle to get there.
It will be a process for Brown to adjust. He needs to learn the runners, the league and the speed.
He joked a little about the Mariners team speed — or lack thereof — when it comes to deciding on when to wave home speed-challenged runners like Jesus Montero, Kendrys Morales and Michael Morse.
“They just give me a little bit more time to make a decision,” he said.
While Brown is appreciative to be back in the big leagues, he hopes that his stay is short and Datz returns sooner rather than later. He’s just acting as a placeholder.
“Jeff is the third base coach here,” Brown said. “Right now, we all just want him to get healthy. I’m just filling in till he gets back.”
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