Wilson”s knee injury hurts every M”s player

Now I’m worried about the Mariners.

The Mariners officially have a challenge on their hands, and I don’t mean the anemic offense.

Dan Wilson is out for the season with a knee injury and his loss may have a bigger effect on this team than a three-week hitting slump.

If there is a heart and soul to the Mariners, Wilson is it.

“He is the kind of guy people want to be around,” said former catcher Tom Lampkin, who played for the Mariners – and with Wilson – from 1999-2001. “Players want to be around him when they’re struggling. They want to be around him when things are going well. They want to be around him when they’re going through problems off the field.

“He’s the kind of guy you want to share things with. He is very non-judgmental and he will help any teammate at any time.”

It’s hard to be that kind of friend when the team travels to Boston and Wilson stays behind in Seattle preparing for surgery on his ACL.

It’s hard to offer advice when Wilson’s everyday presence suddenly has been yanked away. An injury like this will require more of his time be devoted to rehab than the daily process of playing a baseball game.

If they’re smart, the Mariners will make sure Wilson stays involved. They need him to take part in the team meetings before the games and be in the dugout during them.

Wilson isn’t just the Mariners’ final link to the 1995 division championship team. He’s the last true leader from a roster full of them with Jay Buhner, Edgar Martinez and Norm Charlton.

“He’s one of those guys who knows how to lift spirits,” Lampkin said.

Beltre, Sexson need to emerge

Everyone keeps waiting for the Mariners’ hitters to break out of a slump that has lasted five weeks. Surely Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson will soon start belting the home runs Seattle is paying them to hit.

Maybe they will. But maybe they won’t, and that would be no surprise.

It has become obvious that Beltre is playing under intense pressure, a lot of it self-induced, to live up to not only his $60 million, five-year contract but also the monster 48-homer season he produced last year with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Manager Mike Hargrove, who said he prefers not to juggle the lineup, may have no choice but to give Beltre a day off to clear his head.

Sexson’s .233 batting average is a letdown, but he’s giving the Mariners most of what they are paying him $50 million to produce the next four years.

With seven home runs and 20 RBIs, he was on pace to hit 45 homers and drive in 130 runs.

But Sexson also is striking out at a horrific pace. At the current rate, he’ll whiff 194 times this season.

Remember mothers today

Every year in June, reporters working on Father’s Day stories approach Bret Boone, the son of former major leaguer Bob Boone and grandson of the late Ray Boone.

Today, Mother’s Day, Sue Boone is on Bret’s mind. She was there for the family’s three kids – Bret, Aaron and Matt – when Bob Boone wasn’t during his 19-year playing career.

“The women in this game get a lot of perks and we give them a great life,” Bret Boone said. “But they’ve got a tough job. The husband is on the road half the time and it’s the wives who are running the kids to practice and to school, making sure they are clothed and fed, doing everything.”