Piniella Takes Day Off To Play Grandpa Lou

The Seattle Mariners will be a leaderless group today in Boston - Grandpa is going home.

Manager Lou Piniella took advantage of the East Coast trip and a scheduled off-day Monday to fly home to Florida, where he’ll spend time with his wife, his son and his first grandchild, Kassidy.

“I haven’t seen her and this is as close as we get to home,” Piniella said.

Piniella booked two flights home Sunday night, one in the early evening in the event of a short game, another four hours later should the Mariners and Orioles get tangled in a four-hour affair, as they did on Friday.

Someone joked that if Seattle was well ahead - or way behind - in the game late, the manager could get himself thrown out in time to make the plane.

“It crossed my mind,” he said.

Piniella even handed off post-game interview responsibilities, telling writers before the game that they’d get to talk to coach Lee Elia.

“I don’t care what he says, as long as he doesn’t rip the manager,” Piniella said.

Early Tuesday, he’ll fly to Boston, where the Mariners and Red Sox will open a three-game series.

Notes

In the nine games since Alex Rodriguez was moved to the second spot in Seattle’s lineup, he’s batting .436 with five home runs and 16 RBI… . Pre-game Camden Yards visitors included Larry King, escorting Cindy Garvey and Jay Buhner immediately grabbed King and posed for a photo… . Last season, Dan Wilson’s ninth home run came in Seattle’s 131st game. When he matched that career-best total on Sunday, he did it in the Mariners’ 42nd game… . When Ken Griffey Jr. singled against Mike Mussina in the third inning, it was his first hit in 15 career at-bats against Mussina.