Of all the what-ifs the Seattle Mariners and their fans have to ponder this year, one of the biggest is Omar Vizquel.
The veteran shortstop was traded from Cleveland to Seattle last December, pending a medical examination – which he failed because of a surgically-repaired right knee.
What followed the collapse of that deal was Seattle acquiring free agent Rich Aurilia, and Vizquel gradually returning to full health with the Indians.
Offensively and defensively, Vizquel is having a better start than Aurilia. And no one wanted the deal to go through more than Vizquel.
“I wanted to go home,” said Vizquel, a former Mariner who still lives in the Northwest during the offseason. “My son (Nicholas) is in school in Seattle, I’d have been able to be with my family more. I’d have been home again.”
Now 37, Vizquel began his major league career with the Mariners in 1989 as a great fielding infielder without much of a bat. In the years since, he’s become a nine-time Gold Glove Award winner with a .273 career average. He began the night Wednesday batting .302.
What happened in December?
“My knee was probably 60 percent, and I was rehabbing with the idea of getting it ready for spring training, not Christmas,” Vizquel said. “All of a sudden the Indians call and say I’ve been traded to Seattle but I’ve got to have the knee checked out.
“I hadn’t even been running yet.”
Seattle team doctors examined Vizquel and gave the Mariners a short and long-term prognosis based on what they saw. And what they saw concerned them.
“I understood, but I knew my body,” Vizquel said. “I knew I could be ready to play again.”
Vizquel said the knee wasn’t what he considered totally sound until the regular season began, and then he had to play into game-shape – something players can’t do on the sidelines.
“It would have been great for me, going back to Seattle,” Vizquel said. “I’m happy here. This team has some great young kids and it’s fun to be part of the turnaround. I’m enjoying myself.”
He’s also a free agent after this season.
“I’d like to play another two or three years, but we’ll have to see who’s interested,” Vizquel said.
Boone break: Bret Boone wasn’t in the starting lineup on Wednesday, but it was more to give him a mental break than a physical one. Though Boone still has a tender hip, he wanted to play.
Bonus panel bonanza: How to explain Seattle’s 6-1 record in extra-inning games? Manager Bob Melvin tried: “We play our best when we’re in position to win. So many games we start behind three, four runs and that’s draining on a team. Put us in position to win, we’re a better team.” Whatever the reason, the Mariners have outscored their opposition in extra innings 16-1.
Maybe he wasn’t ready: J.J. Putz threw prior to the game and was declared available, three days after being hit on the right foot by a line drive. He pitched one inning, giving up four hits – including back-to-back homers – and wlaked one.
Steady Eddie the prankster: Eddie Guardado made sure the Seattle clubhouse wasn’t quiet with a pregame prank that had the whole team in hysterics. It’s an old gag, but Guardado played it on three young visiting clubhouse attendants. He bet he could lift all three of them completely off the floor if they were tied together. Once bound and helpless on the bathroom floor, Guardado’s assistants poured all manner of foul-smelling leftovers on the kids. Guardado had such a nice touch even his victims were laughing.
Larry LaRue,
The News Tribune
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