Borders enjoys journeyman role
Pat Borders is a journeyman catcher without pretense, a Seattle Mariner on borrowed time – so he’s having fun with the role. For the fourth time since joining the team May 20, Borders moved his Safeco Field clubhouse locker Friday, going from one side of the locker room to another. Why?
“I figure if I keep moving, it’s going to be harder for them to find and release me,” Borders said. “And if I don’t start hitting soon, they’re going to be looking for me.”
Eventually, it may come to that. Borders knows he’s not the future of the organization – more a stop gap to that future.
Still, in the 23 games he’s started, the Mariners’ record is 13-10.
No one is having more fun than Borders.
A rather conservative fellow and an avid supporter of the military, Borders was expressing outrage at his favorite cable channel – the History Channel.
“I tune in there every chance I get to look at the history of wars and weapons, the good stuff,” Borders said. “Last night, they had some UFO special. Who wants to watch that?”
Borders, safely ensconced in a new cubicle, soon had a new set of Mariners teammates laughing.
Coming and going
As expected, Scott Spiezio came off the disabled list and rejoined the Mariners after a rehabilitation assignment in Triple-A Tacoma, and infielder Jose Lopez was optioned back to the Rainiers.
“Scott will have the same role he had before his injury,” manager Mike Hargrove said. “He’s a switch-hitter who was hitting well in Tacoma, especially from the right side of the plate. He’ll be a right-handed pinch-hitter off the bench and get the occasional start somewhere.”
And Lopez?
“We want him back up here on a more permanent basis,” Hargrove said.
Spiezio hasn’t played for the Mariners since April 20. Lopez played in six games with Seattle, batting .250 with a pair of doubles and four RBIs.
Players huddle alone
The Mariners held a players-only meeting before the game, and Hargrove was asked what such meetings produce.
“Any time players take on leadership of the club, it’s good,” Hargrove said. “Most of the time, something good comes out of it. I’ve been with clubs that held them when you were winning.”
Someone asked what he thought of this one.
“I wasn’t invited,” Hargrove said.
Short hops
Eerie stat of the day: How’s this for consistency? Aaron Sele pitched precisely 28 2/3 innings in April, again in May, then again in June. … No matter what Mike Morse does in July, he’ll always have June. Morse’s batting average was .357, the highest for a Mariners rookie in that month. After making three early errors, Morse hasn’t committed one in his last 16 games.