Seattle Mariners former designated hitter Edgar Martinez joins the team at baseball spring training Saturday, Feb. 24, 2007, in Peoria, Ariz.
Story Published:
Apr 3, 2008 at 5:42 PM PST
Story Updated:
Apr 3, 2008 at 5:42 PM PST
Today’s my off day, yes, I am still here though. I kind of feel if you have a beat, you need to stay on that beat, so an off day for me just means I don’t stress as much. If I don’t get to it, well, it’s my off day anyway.
With that said some interesting stuff already. Edgar has arrived. Right now he is in uniform in the clubhouse talking to Vidro and Beltre. He looks like Edgar, but a little bit older. You kind of hope your heroes will stay the same always and look like they could step in tomorrow and rip a double, but Edgar looks more like a coach (an in shape and not too old coach) more than a player now. Still wears his hat on the very top of his head. Beltre does that too in practice. Asked him about it and he said it was because he hates to wear a hat so he barely puts it on.
I have two favorite Edgar spring training memories. Our job down here involves a lot of standing around and waiting for the player we need to talk to. I tend to hang out in the hall between the locker area and food room because I don’t like being in the locker area unless I am doing something specific. My first spring training, a couple days in a row, Edgar would pass by me in his shorts and workout tee carrying a Styrofoam cup filled with a grayish brownish terriblish looking smoothie of some sort. One day I asked him “what do you have in that cup, a steak?” He looked at me and said “It’s good!” I thought to myself, poor Edgar, he’s forgotten what good is. The next day he passed by with two cups, gave one to me and said to try it. It was awful.
The other story was just pure Edgar, the voice, the low key humor. It was a few years ago when shoes that looked like bowling shoes were in fashion. I had a pair on, which didn’t escape the eye of Bret Boone. Boonie finished up answering a question I asked him then said. “Is that everything? Good, now give Edgar back his shoes.” Edgar, who was seated a couple of lockers away rosining up a bat without looking up just went “Yes, give me back my choos.” So cute. And yes, the word “cute” will come up in my blog from time to time, get used to it.
Edgar will hold a hitters meeting tomorrow at noon, so there goes tomorrow’s off day!
Mike Hargrove is excited to have the opportunity for the hitters to talk to him. I asked if there was any danger of Edgar stepping on any toes on the coaching front and he said no, adding that “Edgar is the ultimate been there done that guy and he’s been there and done that a lot better than 99 percent of the players that have played this game. Anything he can give us whether it is advice on the mental aspect of the game, whatever he can do to help especially our young players, were going to take advantage of that.”
Hargrove has no doubt that the players will listen to a different voice. “I played 12 years in the big leagues and I was a good hitter and they will listen to what I have to say, but none of them saw me play. They all saw Edgar play so there is a more of an immediate impact there.”
I will keep you posted.
News and notes…
Just one this morning. Hargrove seemed to change his tune a bit from “I would be terribly shocked if Arthur does not make the team,” to “Arthur is not here to take George Sherill’s job, if it happens it happens. Arthur’s got to make the club and that’s got to be his first goal.” He was responding to whether or not he envisioned Arthur and Reitsma as the left right set up to JJ.
