Sheets Often There In A Pinch

It is the first major league pennant race he has ever been part of, although, in truth, Andy Sheets feels a bit like an asterisk in the Seattle Mariners’ run for a postseason berth.

“I take batting practice and take a seat,” he said. “Look at our lineup - where would I play?”

A rookie who has split time between Tacoma and Seattle this season, Sheets played shortstop when Alex Rodriguez was on the disabled list in April, platooned at second base for a time and for a few weeks was the Mariners third baseman after Russ Davis was hurt.

At the moment, his role is considerably smaller.

“I pinch-run sometimes for Doug Strange, and I’ve gone in for defense a couple times at second base late in the game after Doug pinch hits,” Sheets said. “When you go in there, you feel kind of anxious, like everybody wants to hit the ball to the new guy in there.”

Understand, he is not complaining. Sheets would love to play but has enjoyed watching, too.

“When the team won 10 in a row, that was awesome,” he said. “If we’d gone 5-5, even 8-2, we’d have been out of it by now. We had to win every game, and for 10 days, we did.”

Notes

Team CEO John Ellis and president Chuck Armstrong were in the Coliseum Thursday in part to root for the team, in part to look at the refurbished stadium. Their reviews? Two thumbs down. “Anyone who wonders why you can’t have a football and baseball facility ought to see this,” Ellis said. “It’s a mess.”