Mariners Send Fab Four To Philadelphia Thanks To Last Year’s Exposure, Buhner, Martinez, Rodriguez And Wilson Join Injured Griffey On All-Star Team
Four Seattle Mariners were selected Tuesday as reserves for next week’s All-Star Game, ostensibly for their performances so far this season.
But Alex Rodriguez, who became the 14th-youngest player named to the game, isn’t so sure.
“We lose that playoff game to California last October, and it’s only Jay and Edgar and Junior who are going,” said Rodriguez, who is 20 years, 11 months and 19 days old.
Indeed, the four Mariners selected - outfielder Jay Buhner, designated hitter Edgar Martinez, catcher Dan Wilson and shortstop Rodriguez - each said the honor is further proof of the respect the Mariners garnered last fall in rallying to win the American League West and advancing to the A.L. Championship Series.
“We’re still getting dividends for that,” Buhner said. “No question that has a lot to do with us getting five players selected.”
The four will officially join injured outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. - who was voted in by the fans - Tuesday for the 67th All-Star Game at Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium. Cleveland also will send five players, but no other A.L. team will send more than three.
The most players the Mariners had previously sent was four last year, when Griffey was voted in as a starter and Randy Johnson, Edgar Martinez and Tino Martinez were selected as reserves.
As he did last year, Griffey is expected to travel to the game although he won’t be able to play.
Martinez will make his third appearance while Rodriguez, Buhner and Wilson will all go for the first time.
“They all really deserved it,” Mariners manager Lou Piniella said. “This really speaks to the brand of baseball these kids have been playing.”
For Wilson and Rodriguez, the invitation wasn’t something either was expecting when training camp began.
Rodriguez, in fact, was merely hoping to be able to hold on to the shortstop job he was handed based on his potential and sterling minor-league play.
“This is very emotional for me,” said Rodriguez, whose mother Lourdes is in Seattle for the week.
Rodriguez was selected as the lone backup to Cal Ripken Jr., ahead of veterans such as Omar Vizquel.
“The last two weeks I had almost convinced myself that I wasn’t going to make the team so I wouldn’t have a big letdown,” said Rodriguez, who went into Tuesday’s game batting .342 with 15 homers and 58 runs batted in.
Rodriguez said he began to think seriously of making the All-Star team in the last month.
“I had a good first month and my brother (Joe) started talking to me about making the All-Star team and I told him to not even talk about it,” Rodriguez said.
Wilson, meanwhile, said he never really gave serious thought to making the team until the phone call came at his house Tuesday afternoon.
“I hadn’t put too much emphasis on whether I might make the team,” Wilson said. “If I didn’t make it, I’d have three days off, and if I did make it, super.”
Wilson, hitting .307 with 12 homers and 50 RBIs, was selected along with Cleveland’s Sandy Alomar as a backup to Texas’ Ivan Rodriguez.
For Piniella, the selection of Wilson was further evidence that he made the right move in sending Bret Boone and Erik Hanson to Cincinnati before the 1994 season for Wilson and reliever Bobby Ayala.
Wilson, however, said being an All-Star won’t mean a thing once the game is over.
“You have to come out and prove yourself every game, every year,” Wilson said. “That’s not going to change.”
For Buhner, selected as one of four outfield reserves, the All-Star game had been a long time coming. The eight-year veteran had often been considered as one of the best active players to have never made an All-Star team.
“No doubt, this is something a lot of people had anticipated happening and it’s coming later than a lot of people anticipated it happening,” Buhner said.
Buhner said he wasn’t counting on being selected this year and had made plans to fly home to Texas to search for a new ranch during the All-Star break.
“You never know in this game what will happen,’ Buhner said. “There’s always someone that gets left out. It won’t really hit me until I’m out on the field rubbing elbows with everybody else.”
Buhner is hitting .298 with 21 homers and 68 RBIs after hitting 40 homers with 121 RBIs last season.
Still, Buhner has always been overshadowed in the Seattle outfield because of Griffey.
“It’s hard to get two guys on the outfield from the same team selected to the team,” Piniella said.
Martinez has made the most All-Star appearances of anyone other than Griffey, who has seven.
xxxx ALL-STAR BONUSES Bonuses players earned for election or selection to the All-Star Game, as obtained by The Associated Press from player and management sources: AMERICAN LEAGUE $75,000 Roberto Alomar, Baltimore. $50,000 Wade Boggs, New York; Chuck Finley, California; Ken Griffey Jr., Seattle; Jeff Montgomery, Kansas City; Cal Ripken, Baltimore; Greg Vaughn, Milwaukee; Mo Vaughn, Boston. $30,000 Brady Anderson, Baltimore. $25,000 Sandy Alomar, Cleveland; Albert Belle, Cleveland; Jay Buhner, Seattle; Joe Carter, Toronto; Travis Fryman, Detroit; Kenny Lofton, Cleveland; Edgar Martinez, Seattle; Mark McGwire, Oakland; Charles Nagy, Cleveland; Roger Pavlik, Texas; Dan Wilson, Seattle. $15,000 Roberto Hernandez, Chicago; Andy Pettitte, New York.
NATIONAL LEAGUE $50,000 Tom Glavine, Atlanta; Chipper Jones, Atlanta; Barry Larkin, Cincinnati; Greg Maddux, Atlanta; John Smoltz, Atlanta; Matt Williams, San Francisco. $25,000 Dante Bichette, Colorado; Craig Biggio, Houston; Kevin Brown, Florida; Ellis Burks, Colorado; Tony Gwynn, San Diego; Al Leiter, Florida; Fred McGriff, Atlanta; Mark Wohlers, Atlanta; Eric Young, Colorado. $15,000 Lance Johnson, New York. $10,000 Gary Sheffield, Florida.