Perfect day at Safeco Field. Dave Niehaus honored before the game, blue skies, Blue Angels flying overhead, Edgar in the house, Silva bending but not quite breaking. Doesn’t get much better.

Dave thoroughly enjoyed the ceremony. I love it when he throws his arms up in the air to accept the applause. I loved listening to the montage of his calls as I was driving in today. It is pretty remarkable that we have had the same voice from day one. Listening to the early stuff to me showed just how good he is. In the early days he had not yet had time to build the stories or ascend to beloved broadcaster status. He did possess however a great radio voice and incredible energy that made it sound like this was the place to be. This is what you must listen to at this very moment.

Of course that took not only painting but enhancing the picture back then because quite often he was watching some not so good baseball in a pretty empty Kingdome, but we listening to the radio we were none the wiser taking in his portrayal. He helped get this franchise through some tough years and did it beautifully.

Got here in time to see Erik Bedard test out the arm today. He took thirty throws from sixty feet and should do so again tomorrow. No timetable on when we will see him back on the mound but I would imagine that if he checks out okay in the next couple of days he will be put on a throwing program.

In the give credit where credit is due department, I have been pretty hard (but honest) in my appraisals of Yuni’s work ethic of late. Well I am happy to tell you that I saw him at early batting practice yesterday and saw him doing extra leg drills in Texas. I hope they keep pushing him. I hope they keep pushing him to the point where he can finally push himself. Some interesting psychology here.

Some say that Betancourt could have benefited from more time in the minor leagues. With his talent it was hard to keep him down, but in retrospect, there were things that were missed. Things that could have been more easily developed when he was without the major league tag. Again, there was no denying his talent. The question is, was the foundation there? He came up in a completely different system and as much as I think he doesn’t quite “get it” I suspect that he and where he came from and how that makes him what he is now as a ball player is not quite understood either.

He is by no means a bad guy. I do not think he wants to anger anyone by not taking extra work or by “big leaguing” it. I am told by teammates that it can be very difficult for them to get him out early. Why? I have also been told that some of them have been angered by his attitude (nonchalant) after losses, losses that perhaps he contributed to with an error or horrendous series of at bats. If he doesn’t get it, how do you get through to him and make him get it? As frustrated as I get watching him I know there is too much talent there to give up on. And as I said above, I am convinced that he is not a bad guy. But before you can fix him you have to figure him out and that has not been easy.

Some observations from the road trip. He clearly wasn’t happy with his benching. He told the skipper as much. On the first day in Texas I saw Yuni sitting on the bench a few hours before the game. He was moping. I asked if he was okay and he said yes. Bear in mind that Yuni has improved but limited English. I said he wasn’t smiling as much and he lolled his head to one side and said with a sigh “I’m bored.” Really? Granted his teammates were inside watching videos and playing ping pong, but he couldn’t find something to do? Couldn’t grab a coach and say let’s go work?

The next day Yuni again was not playing. This time because of a sore elbow according to the skipper. The temperature was hovering around 100 and batting practice on the field was optional. Needless to say, the guys decided to hit inside. A few however did come out to throw. Then a beautiful sight. I looked up from the bench and saw trainer Rick Griffin standing on the left field foul line and Yuni doing sprints. He would sprint to centerfield then walk back to the line where Griffin was. You could tell he was not enjoying it in any way shape or manner. I think I even caught him grumbling. This went on for about ten minutes. Then there were agility drills. Then Griffin ran him through a drill where Yuni shuffled from side to side firing back balls that the trainer was firing at him. Then a strange thing happened. Yuni started to smile.

This is the Yuni we know. A guy who can smile through work, tough work. The question is, how do you get from the grumbling to the enjoying of the work. Better yet, embracing the work because he knows it is going to make him better. That’s where you have to know something about the guy. Different things make different ballplayers tick and sometimes you have to work at figuring out just what the key is.

Example. Jose Lopez. The organization was so worried about his work ethic, his focus, that they very publicly challenged him in the off season, then brought in players that supposedly would be competition, give Lopez a push. It was completely unnecessary. I don’t think they quite had a correct read on him and I actually suggested this to an executive during the off season.

It may have been a lucky guess, it may have been a misread on my part or it flat out may have been coincidence, but I had a different read on Lopez. In getting to know him the past couple of years it became apparent to me that Lopey likes attention. He wants to be a star. When he is around, he wants you to know it. In a very good natured way he will let you know that he is in the area. It definitely is, hey look at me, but not in an annoying way.

I first got this idea in 2005. Lopez had been up briefly in 04 then called up again in 05 along with Felix Hernandez. Felix was getting a ton of attention as we were all aware of what he should be. One day in Minnesota I put my microphone down on the bench as I talked to a couple of players on the dugout steps. When I turned around I saw Lopez heading for the microphone which he picked up and in a “Marsha, Marsha, Marsha” singsong voice said “Felix, Felix, Felix.” “You want to do more interviews Jose?” I asked. “That would be nice,” he replied with a smile.

How does this translate to the field? My theory was that if you buried Lopez in the batting order he was going to swing out of his shoes trying to hit home runs to get attention. I’m hitting 8th or 9th, they must not think much of me. I better swing a big bat.
Then a funny thing happened. They put him in the two hole and gave him instruction. Take a pitch, give Ichiro a chance to steal. Hit Ichi over. Give your teammates an opportunity to see some pitches. He had his orders and he followed them. Whenever asked how hitting 2nd was different than lower in the order he would answer with, “I have to get Ichi over, I have to give him a chance to steal. I need to hit to the right side of the field. Maybe I have to steal a base too.” Three out of four aren’t bad.

The point is, they gave him something to do which in turn I feel made him feel important in the order. I am convinced that a big part of his success was because of this. Then they took him out of the 2 hole and he went back to a lot of his old habits. Swung early, got pull happy again.

Talks of him fading late and what a problem that was began to spring up. His coachability was questioned. He very well nearly lost his position, and he certainly was challenged. I would remark to other members of the media that they should just put him back in the 2 hole. I took it one step further and ran the theory by a team exec at the Winter Meetings. He said I might be on to something. I don’t know if he truly bought it or not, but I put it out there.

So I am not sure if hitting second has been truly good for Lopey, or if Lopey is good for hitting second, if that makes any sense whatsoever. The end result is all that should matter. But still, did psychology play into this at all? We will never know. What also shouldn’t be missed is the work he put in this past off season playing almost a full winter ball season. He takes a couple of weeks off then gets back at it. Interestingly enough, and this goes back to my attention theory, he does it to get better and get into shape and because he wants his fans in Venezuela to have the chance to see him. He has told me this several times.

Would this work for Yuni? I don’t know. Unlike Lopez, I don’t feel his wild swings hitting 9th are a cry for attention, rather I think his problem is he thinks he can be one type of hitter when he should be another. He needs to be more Omar Vizquel and less childhood hero Ken Griffey Jr. His skill set is much more similar to Little O’s. And that is not a bad thing to be. The question is, how do you sell him on this. What is his motivation? This is the challenge for the coaches.

Plus with all that said, personality and Shannon’s crack baseball psychology aside, I still think hitting him second could help. Give him very specific instructions. Take a pitch and give Ichi a chance to steal. Hit to the right side. Move the base runner. Steal a base if you get on. It appears he sometimes does not have a plan at the plate. Well give him one. I am sure they have done this in the 9 hole, but what about the more specific 2 spot? The team is not going anywhere this year so why not give it a shot? And while we are at it, why not challenge him to get ten stolen bases between now and the end of the year. What have you got to lose?