SEATTLE — Fans of the Seattle Mariners who turn out early for tonight’s game against the San Diego Padres might be asking themselves an understandable question.
The latest Turn Back the Clock promotional poster that will be handed out tonight features catcher Miguel Olivo and first baseman J
ustin Smoak in full get-up from the 1980s television show Miami Vice. And a longtime Mariners fan may look at the poster and wonder whether it’s really been that long since Olivo’s first stop in Seattle.
It only seems that way.
Since Olivo arrived in Seattle as an up-and-coming, soft-hitting prospect as part of the Freddy Garcia trade nine years ago, he’s grown into a clubhouse leader and power hitter who may be on the verge of putting up some historical numbers.
Through 70 games of his second stint as a Mariner, Olivo has already hit 12 home runs. That not only ranks as sixth in franchise history for homers by a catcher in an entire season, but it also puts Olivo on pace to set a team record in that category if he can keep it up.
“Right now, I’m not thinking about hitting a home run,” he said last Saturday night, one day after hitting his 12th home run of the season in the Mariners’ 5-1 win over Florida. “I’m just trying to make contact, and the ball’s been going out of the park.”
Hitting home runs is not entirely new to Olivo, who now has 93 home runs over five-plus seasons despite playing a position that isn’t known for its offensive power. He’s been a bit of a rarity — not only in Seattle but also in major league baseball.
Only two Mariners catchers — Dan Wilson and Kenji Johjima, who both did it twice — have ever hit more than 13 home runs in a single season. That duo shares the franchise’s season record (18, by Wilson in 1996 and Johjima 10 years later) for homers by a catcher.
Olivo — who came out of Tuesday’s game against the Braves with hamstring cramps and is listed as day-to-day — appears well on his way to breaking it, despite a slow start to the 2011 season. It took him 16 games to drive in his first run, and another three to hit his first home run. Through the month of April, he was hitting .217 with two home runs and eight RBI in 83 at-bats.
Olivo’s numbers only slightly improved in May before he had a torrid June, with eight homers and 19 RBI to lead the Mariners’ anemic offense as Seattle climbed back into contention.
“I’m taking better pitches,” Olivo said of his offensive turnaround this season. “I’ve been working in the batting cage more with the hitting coach (Chris Chambliss) and trying to do my best.”
Olivo has been working hard on his game since he first came into the majors as a Chicago White Sox up-and-comer in late 2002. After spending 2003 and part of 2004 as the White Sox’s primary catcher, he was dealt to the Mariners as part of a five-player trade that sent Garcia and Ben Davis to the White Sox for Olivo, outfielder Jeremy Reed and infielder Mike Morse. Olivo, who was 25 at the time of the trade, hit below .200 with 11 home runs over 104 games in two seasons with the Mariners before being traded to San Diego in July 2005.
As seems to be the way with so many ex-Mariners, his career took off from there. After a strong finish to his lone season in San Diego, Olivo has been a productive player in Florida, Kansas City and Colorado. The Mariners decided to bring him back in January, hoping to shore up a position that hasn’t gotten much offensive production since the early Johjima years in 2006 and 2007.
Olivo credits his offensive growth to the tutelage of ex-teammates like Sandy Alomar Jr. and Seattle’s Wilson, both of whom helped him learn the catching position and what it takes to survive against major league pitching.
“As I’m getting older,” Olivo said, “I’m becoming a better hitter.”
Mariners manager Eric Wedge said that Olivo has done plenty of damage throughout his career but added that the 32-year-old catcher is playing as well as he’s seen.
“He’s had a lot of big hits this year,” Wedge said. “I think he should know himself better now than he ever has as a hitter. That’s one thing, as a veteran guy, I think he understands what he’s doing better than he ever has — good or bad. That leads me that he can continue to get big hits for us and maybe even do it more consistently.”
Olivo still has a long way to go this season to make history with the Mariners, but he appears to be well on his way. And just look at how far he’s already come since the last time he was with Seattle.
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