Mariners embrace their inner child before MLB Little League Classic

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Julio Rodríguez walked out of the seats at Howard J. Lamade Stadium and down the tunnel. He made a right turn around the outside of the stadium, and as the crowd gathered began to grow and started following him, Rodríguez made an announcement.

“We’re going to the hill,” the Mariners center fielder announced.

Several minutes later, and after some needed crowd control, Rodríguez sat down on a borrowed piece of flimsy cardboard used by countless kids before him and checked off the kind of experience that only comes from a visit to the Little League World Series: sliding down the grassy hillside.

In that moment, Rodríguez wasn’t a 24-year-old professional. He was a kid, half that age and having fun with a life experience he might never get again.

The same was true for Logan Gilbert, Bryan Woo, Miles Mastrobuoni, Gabe Speier, Matt Brash, Luke Raley and other Mariners who climbed the grassy hill beyond the outfield fence at the Little League International headquarters and slid their way back to the bottom.

“We kind of got to experience everything,” Brash said. “We went and watched the games for a little bit. We signed for the kids, and then we slid down the hill, and then I went to the pro shop and I got to meet a bunch of kids on the way there. I think just the whole thing in general is just really exciting and it’s cool to experience it.”

For as cynical as a major-league season can make players and fans alike, there was a purity that came from the Mariners players and staff after making their visit to the Little League complex before crossing the Susquehanna River into Williamsport and facing the Mets at Bowman Field.

It was hot. It was humid. It was frankly a distraction in the middle of a playoff race. But the Mariners did their part in having genuine interactions with the players, coaches and parents they came across.

Just ask the players from Bonney Lake-Sumner Little League, who won an elimination game 3-2 Sunday morning then were whisked through all the postgame events so they could be the ones to greet the Mariners when their buses arrived at the complex.

And when the M’s walked off the bus, the players were in their uniforms, but the staff was all wearing green Bonney Lake-Sumner T-shirts the team had acquired.

“They were amazing. Like, the Mariners literally met with every single kid. They signed every autograph. They did everything that we could have asked them,” said Bonney Lake-Sumner assistant coach Chris Heacox. “And then it transitioned to being in the stands with them, and they’re literally just sitting there just talking about anything with the boys. They’re talking baseball. They’re talking life. They’re talking fishing. It was really cool to see it slow down and just have the chance to enjoy the day with them.”

After the Mariners arrived, they walked through a tunnel of autograph-seekers making their way from the parking lot up to Lamade Stadium. Everyone signed. Players signed. Coaches signed. The Mariner Moose signed. Even Rick Rizzs said he signed a couple of medallions commemorating the LLWS.

Perhaps no one signed more than Cal Raleigh, who even signed a toilet seat.

Once the initial chaos died down, Andrés Muñoz and Randy Arozarena made a point of visiting with the Mexico region champions from Chihuahua, Mexico, about an hour before they played Panama in an elimination game. Muñoz had an extended conversation with pitcher Gregorio Madrid, who asked for some tips on pitching.

“I told him to throw it right in the middle. Throw what you have and there is a reason why you are here,” Muñoz said.

Clearly what Muñoz said worked. Madrid then went out and threw a complete game in a 2-1 victory for Mexico to stay in the tournament.

While Muñoz and Arozarena were busy giving a pep talk to the Mexico team, Brash and Josh Naylor spent time with the team from Vancouver, B.C., after the Canadian champions won their elimination game about the time the M’s were arriving.

Naylor even smiled when posing for a picture with the kids from Little Mountain Little League.

“That was awesome. It was a big win for them,” said Naylor, who also did a brief television appearance with ESPN during one of the games broadcasted in the afternoon. “Just something I feel like I wanted to do, because maybe one of them look up to me being Canadian. So if I can impact their day, maybe it makes a lifetime experience, and maybe it changes their perspective on what they can do in their lives or in their careers.”

Players ended up with all sorts of swag. Mitch Garver and Speier traded their Mariners hats for Australia hats. Some ended up with pins. General manager Justin Hollander went shopping in the merchandise store. While Muñoz and Arozarena were talking with the Mexico team, M’s president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto and assistant GM Andy McKay took pictures with their phones from the stands like the parents of every kid playing in the event.

Taking it all in was manager Dan Wilson, who was back at the Little League complex for the first time since 1981 when he was a player and the tournament featured only eight teams and lasted just a handful of days.

Being there again brought back the memories and an appreciation for the interactions the kids playing this year were able to have with his players.

“To see all of it, take it all in and again feel the excitement that’s there, feel the joy about baseball that was there, really cool,” Wilson said. “And to see our guys interacting with players and playing ping pong, just hats off to our guys. They were awesome and connected with different guys on different teams. Just a really great event.”