In a season headed toward one of the worst in the history of the Seattle Mariners, hardly a week was as eventful for the franchise as last week.
They fired general manager Bill Bavasi on Monday.
They fired manager John McLaren on Thursday.
In between news conferences, games and conference calls, team executives met to plot the Mariners’ future and, more importantly, determine which players will and won’t be a part of it.
One thing’s for sure, there was more activity off the field than on it and, as a result, more good quotes than could fit in the next days’ newspapers.
This one, for example, is from Bavasi on the day he was fired: “The fact that we’re here right now, you’d knock me over with a feather with this record.”
Here are some of the most interesting comments as I clean out the quotebook:
n M’s CEO Howard Lincoln on who’s to blame: “Let’s not kid ourselves, we are all responsible for what happened. My feeling is that the time has come and gone for some of these player to get going.”
n McLaren on his disappointment: “I’m very disappointed in how this season unfolded, especially since I was the one singing the praises in spring training.”
n Bavasi on the underperforming team: “This club on the field can perform one hell of a lot better than it’s performing now. It has the capability. But they have learned to become dysfunctional. They have to unlearn that.”
n McLaren on a season gone wrong: “I reflect back to spring training and I never saw a red flag go up that we were going to run into a difficult period like this by any stretch of the imagination.
“Two things have been shocking to me in 32 years of baseball. This season right here and winning 116 games in 2001. I never expected either one.
“In spring training in 2001, we were 13-18 and we didn’t know what kind of team we had. Lou (Piniella) and I talked about it a lot. Then this spring training, we felt good about ourselves and here we are 17 1/2 games out. That’s the good, the bad, the ugly.”
n Bavasi on the players’ responsibility: “I think they need to grab each other by the throat every once in a while. We’ve encouraged that and we’re not getting it. In their mind’s eye, they think they are trying hard. I personally see people who are underperforming for no good reason. They have to take it upon themselves. They can’t look to a manager or to a coach to lead them out of this. Their ultimate rescue is going to be themselves.”
n Bavasi on team chemistry: “The chemistry in some respects is real good in there. They’re real nice guys. But it’s when they cross the line when some I think get white-line fever and some just don’t know how to play. That’s bad chemistry.”
n Bavasi on roster moves he would recommend: “One reason you make a change in the GM is because we’re real stubborn. I would not turn this thing over. I think this is the right talent base and if you could get just that one guy who would stir the drink, you’d have a much better shot.
“Who knows? It could come from this group. Somebody might get fed up enough where they actually have enough in their stomach to take care of themselves and have that extra left to take care of others.”
n McLaren on what he’ll do next: “I’ve always been from the school that I earn my money. Right now, I’ll try to regroup and get my feet on the ground and get my thoughts together. I made a couple of suggestions where I could help out in a couple of places, maybe scout a little bit. I want to work for my money.”
n Team president Chuck Armstrong on the rest of the season: “We want to win every game we can until the end of this season. Being realistic, where we are with the worst record in baseball, we’re already looking ahead to the future. There may be some deals with some teams that are in pennant races where some teams might be interested in some of our players.”
n Closer J.J. Putz on the players’ pride: “There’s a lot of proud guys in here and the fact that we’re playing like this is not easy to swallow. Whether or not we’re playing for the playoffs, there’s still a sense of pride. We’ve got to go out every day and lay it on the line. It’s not like we’re going out wanting to lose.”
Kirby Arnold covers the Mariners for The Herald.
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