Players deserve credit for Mariners' turnaround season

The delightful, transformative 2009 Mariners walk off the field for good today. It's our last chance to see them whole, this motley collection of future Hall of Famers and waiver-wire refugees, of plucky overachievers and successful reclamation projects.

Unlike a year ago, it'll be sad to see the end of this season.

Teams with slightly above .500 records tend to be more frustrating than endearing, but in this case, considering how much the Mariners have grown (up?) in a single year, amazing wouldn't be an exaggerated label.

It's impossible to give general manager Jack Zduriencik and field manager Don Wakamatsu too much credit for the turnaround, but for a change, let's turn the attention to the players. This season has been both an ode to the new bosses and a testament to the surprising things that happen when a team takes a blue-collar, prideful and united approach to rebuilding.

You've heard of the little engine that could. The Mariners often had the little lineup that, seemingly, couldn't. And yet, they did it anyway.

The seminal moment of this season came in May when Wakamatsu challenged ace Felix Hernandez like no one ever had, using a timeless sports cliché — to step up. It turns out that Hernandez wasn't the only one to heed the command.

If you were to make an epitaph for this ballclub, it would be fitting to write the names of every player who participated this season on top of four simple words: We all stepped up.

They fought through deficits, through losing streaks, through strings of blowout losses. Every time we thought they would collapse, they responded.

They did it with unlikely contributions. They did it with Ryan Langerhans hitting walkoff homers, with Doug Fister rescuing the starting rotation, with Josh Wilson playing a slick shortstop.

They did it with young players flashing impressive improvement. They did it with Jose Lopez becoming a dependable run producer, with Franklin Gutierrez turning into a breathtaking star center fielder, with Hernandez living up to his King Felix nickname.

They did it with Ichiro feeling reinvigorated, with Russell Branyan and David Aardsma having career years, with Ken Griffey Jr. providing tickles even when the homers weren't flowing.

And that's merely where the praise begins. There are so many reasons to like this team. Rob Johnson's influence as a young catcher. The entire bullpen. Mike Sweeney's leadership.

Last season, as they fell to 61-101, the Mariners had a clubhouse burdened with too many malcontents and ne'er-do-wells. This season, you have to search much harder to find someone who didn't do something positive to steer this franchise toward its goal of sustained excellence.

The Mariners are a long way, longer than their record indicates, from achieving that aspiration. But they have momentum again.

"You reflect back on the first day of spring training," said Wakamatsu, a rookie manager. "Very few of us knew each other. We've grown a lot. It's a pretty special season."

The players grew to trust Wakamatsu faster than expected. After all the preseason talk about clubhouse disharmony, the Mariners had no major issues. It helped that Wakamatsu leads them in a clear, straightforward manner. It helped that Griffey and Sweeney kept the team both focused and loose.

But more than anything, it was about the individual players taking ownership of the team and being accountable to each other.

"I was hopeful that they would start to believe in themselves, not so much what I was preaching," Wakamatsu said. "I think we've been able to accomplish that. You go all across the board, and I think the biggest thing is we've been able to give these guys some experience to win here."

Josh Wilson, whom the Mariners claimed off waivers in June, wound up having a bigger role because of shortstop Jack Wilson's injury. Josh didn't know what to expect when he arrived. Like many of his teammates, he realized he was in a situation conducive to winning.

Asked why the Mariners, who survived despite injury problems this season, were able to bring in so many players and not suffer, Josh Wilson said: "It's a good clubhouse. I'm sure there are guys around the league in not-so great situations finding a way to succeed, but it helps to be with players like this. This was my third team this year, and at first, it was like, 'OK, here we go again.' But coming here has been great, being with guys who have the same mindset and getting a chance to take advantage of the opportunities I've been given. I couldn't have asked for better."

Zduriencik recalled his first meeting with the team during spring training. He remembers telling the players that he wasn't looking at the season in terms of wins and losses. He had a simpler way of evaluating them: He wanted to look into their eyes at season's end, shake their hands and be able to say he was proud of them.

No doubt, he'll get to do that today.

Jerry Brewer: 206-464-2277 or jbrewer@seattletimes.com, Twitter: @Jerry_Brewer