Mariners finally find their way home

Baseball: Seattle Mariners manager Eric Wedge (pictured above) returned to his house Thursday for the first time in nearly 21/2 months.

From Washington state to Arizona, to Japan, back to Arizona, to California, to Texas and finally back to the Pacific Northwest, Seattle’s two-month, transcontinental spring training/opening road trip will finally come to an end tonight when it hosts Oakland.

“I was just talking to my wife – we’ve been gone forever,” Wedge said.

All the traveling has been taxing on the players and coaches. But the Mariners are off to a respectable 4-4 start considering the circumstances surrounding a road trip that started in Asia and concluded in Texas.

Some of the excitement about Seattle’s start was tempered by dropping three of four in Texas, but the Mariners will play the next nine games at home. Oakland, Cleveland and the Chicago White Sox come to town for three games apiece.

All told, the M’s traveled more than 15,000 miles by air, including 11,500 to and from Tokyo.

• Mariners game story, B3

Associated Press

Hill, McCoy agree with Seahawks

NFL: The Seattle Seahawks are bringing back linebackers Leroy Hill and Matt McCoy after agreeing to one-year deals with each. Hill and McCoy have spent their entire careers with Seattle and Hill is just one of two players on the Seahawks’ roster who remains from Seattle’s NFC championship team in 2005.

Hill is coming off the first full season of his career. After playing just one game in 2010, Hill started all 16 games at outside linebacker for the Seahawks and finished with 89 tackles and four sacks.

McCoy missed most of the 2011 season with a knee injury.

Associated Press