Jeff Clement already has noticed a difference in the Seattle Mariners. There’s an energy and a feeling of uplift, not attitude, around the Mariners’ spring training camp this year
It has come from new general manager Jack Zduriencik and his staff, flowing through new manager Don Wakamatsu and his coaches, all the way through a team sprinkled with new players.
“I really feel like it’s moving in the right direction,” he said. “And to sign a guy like this who’s been around and who knows what it’s like to win in Seattle, I’m really excited.”
Ken Griffey Jr. is a Mariner again, and Clement believes the signing will be a boon not only t the lineup, but also to a clubhouse that hasn’t always been the best place to hang out.
Clement idolized Griffey when he was a kid in Iowa. During backyard ballgames with his friends, Clement would turn his cap around backwards and mimic Griffey’s sweet, powerful swing. And now that he’s a teammate, Clement can’t wait to talk with Griffey and let his words help him grow as a player and the Mariners progress as a team.
We won’t know for a while what Griffy’s impact will mean to what’s most important — victories and losses. But his impact on a clubhouse that was dreadful last year should be nothing but positive.
“With his experience, he’s been there, done that,” Zduriencik said. “There’s not going to be anything he’going to see that he hasn’t been through before.He’s going to relate to some of the young players on this ballclub. He’s going to relate to some of the veteran players. And he’s going to relate to those who are in between, those players who are just about to take off. If I’m a young player on this ballclub, I’ve got to be pretty excited. I’m going to have my ears open, I’m going to listen to what he says and I’m going to watch him. He’s going to bring a lot to the table that you’re not going to be able to measure in the boxscore.”
Nobody believes that more than Jay Buhner, the former Mariner who became one of Griffey’s best friends when they were teammates.
“They’re paying him $2 million and that’s an absolute bargain compared to what he’ll bring them,” Buhner said. “Even if he doesn’t hit a home run, he’ll more than pay for himself in all the fans he brings to the ballpark, all the autographs he signs and everything he does for the community.”
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