Not quite a year ago, the Seattle Mariners won their 61st game on the final day of a disappointing, frustrating and at times never-ending 2008 season.
And on that day, Sept. 28, 2008, a good portion the Mariners fan base was actually unhappy that the team won, because it meant that they wouldn’t finish with the worst record in baseball and would not have the top pick of the 2009 draft.
It may have been the low point for the franchise in the Safeco Field era. And change was soon on its way with a new manager and general manager.
One of the first milestones of the new era was reached on a sun-drenched Sunday at a sold-out Safeco Field.
The Mariners got their 61st win of the 2009 season, and not in game No. 162. Seattle’s 10-3 win over the New York Yankees came in game No. 118. And the fans weren’t secretly hoping for them to lose.
It’s safe to say the Mariners have exceeded expectations. Perhaps it was only fitting that the win equaling last season’s win total came on a day when 45,210 – the majority of them Mariners fans – jammed Safeco, and Seattle (61-57) shook off three straight losses in beating the team with the best record in baseball.
“The number one goal that we came in with (this season) is to try to regain the confidence of the fans,” Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said. “If you watch us play, what I’m most proud of is that we don’t give in and these guys play hard.”
Perhaps the most telling aspect of the change isn’t Wakamatsu or general manager Jack Zduriencik but in the clubhouse itself. Trying to find players, who were a part of the 2008 misery isn’t easy, many have departed – most on their own terms.
Gone are such players as Yuniesky Betancourt, Jose Vidro and Richie Sexson.
Two of the remaining players from last year, Jose Lopez and Ichiro Suzuki played major roles in Sunday’s win and this season’s resurgence.
Ichiro, who is second in the American League in batting at .360, was 2-for-5, providing a key two-run single that helped the Mariners score five runs in the seventh inning and break the game open.
Lopez finished the day 3-for-4 with two doubles and drove in three runs adding to his team-high total 71 RBI.
When asked about the significance of getting win No. 61 in early August and not in the final game of the season, Ichiro responded through his translator: “It makes me think, ‘Man, we lost a lot of games last year.’”
But joking aside, there is a difference in the team’s play, whether it is a product of winning early or an overall change in the attitude of the leadership and players.”
Or, as Ichiro said, “It’s both. We have a lot better human beings.”
Lopez echoed the sentiment.
“This year we are playing together,” Lopez said. “I think last season people put their numbers before wins.”
That’s not exactly a recipe for success.
Wakamatsu and his staff have fought hard to change that mentality to the point where they will simply move on from players that can’t figure it out.
When asked if some of the players needed to learn what it takes to win, Lopez was forthright.
“To win every day? Yes,” he said. “For everybody, I think we had to learn.”
While players such as Ichiro and Lopez can only hope to forget about last season’s misery, a major reason for this year’s success has been players who had no association with the dysfunctional group last year.
Take for example Sunday’s starter, Doug Fister, who was mired in the Double-A ranks a year ago. The lanky right-hander turned in another solid start, pitching seven strong innings, allowing just three runs on eight hits to a potent Yankees offense to get his first big league win.
“It starts with the starting pitching and Doug Fister was outstanding,” Wakamatsu said. “This guy really has a feel for pitching.” He also has a feel for deflecting credit.
“It’s still a team game and a team win,” Fister said. “Yeah, I was out there pitching, but it takes everybody in the dugout to make it happen.”
Fister will never be confused with Felix Hernandez in terms of overwhelming stuff, but everything he throws moves a little and he doesn’t seem to get rattled.
His teammates gave him a 2-1 lead in the third on a two-run double from Lopez, but the Yankees took it right back. Fister fell behind to Nick Swisher 3-0 with a runner on in the fourth. Fister gutted an 85 mph fastball down the middle, and Swisher crushed it over the wall in center.
“I need to make a better pitch on the pitch before that to not put myself in that position,” Fister said.
After that he wasn’t in many bad positions. Fister worked perfect fifth and sixth innings. In the seventh he got into a bit of trouble as Robinson Cano and Derek Jeter each hit soft singles, but he was able to get Johnny Damon to ground out to Wilson, who made a nice play at short to the end the inning.
“The sixth and the seventh show what kind of character this guy has,” Wakamatsu said.
Ryan Divish: 253-597-8483
ryan.divish@thenewstribune.com
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