Steve Kelley / Times staff columnist
Bucky's already a hit

MARK HARRISON / THE SEATTLE TIMES Bucky Jacobsen dodges a pitch thrown behind him by Cleveland starting pitcher Scott Elarton yesterday. Jacobsen homered later in the at-bat.

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Baseball people call it a purpose pitch, the shoulder-high fastball Cleveland pitcher Scott Elarton threw behind Bucky Jacobsen.

It was an acknowledgement that, in only his third big-league game, Jacobsen was looking a little too comfortable, a little too un-awed at the plate. He was hitting the ball a little too often and a little too far.

In his first at-bat yesterday, he drilled a single up the middle, scoring Raul Ibanez and giving the Mariners a 2-0 lead. In his first nine trips to the plate, Jacobsen had reached base six times, hit one home run and barely missed hitting another.

A message needed to be sent, and Elarton delivered it.

"I was trying to think how high the pitch was, because it was quite a ways behind me," Jacobsen said after the Mariners' 7-5 win over Cleveland. "I don't mind being hit as long as it's somewhere safe. Then, I thought, 'OK, let's go to battle. You can either hit me, or you can get me out.' "

After the ball breezed behind him, Jacobsen, looming at home plate like some glowering Goliath, stared at Elarton. A stare that packed a punch.

"There was a little intimidation process," Jacobsen said. "I can't intimidate with my past, or what I've done. But I can look at him. Give him a little gamesmanship.

"It's part of the game and the part of the game I bring is being 6-4, 270, and I can look at him with the best of them. I don't know how big he is, but I know he's not 270."

Four pitches later, Jacobsen launched Elarton's slider into the center-field seats — his second home run in three games on a swing that seemed as effortless as waving.
 
Legends are made from moments like this. "Bunyanesque," manager Bob Melvin called Jacobsen's first series in the majors.

"I guess there's nothing better than, after a guy throws one behind you, you end up trotting around the bases," Jacobsen said. "When I was younger, if a guy threw at me or behind me, or even too close to me, I'd always try to hit a home run on the next pitch. It usually ended up with me getting out with an ugly strikeout.

"But today I just calmed myself down and told myself it's just part of baseball. You can take it as respect, I guess. But I don't think I've done enough in my illustrious three-day career to earn respect yet."

Jacobsen has put some fun into this root-canal-of-a-season. He's the shot of personality the team hasn't had since Jay Buhner retired. He has brought energy to a city that has been looking for something since April.

He turned the Cleveland series into a "Weekend at Bucky's."

He has become an instant hero. As likeable as your favorite sitcom actor. Appreciative for the opportunity that has finally come.

When he got hit by a Rick White pitch in the seventh inning, Jacobsen smiled as he jogged to first.

"Didn't hurt," he said. "He got me in my fat."

He takes the game seriously, but not himself. And, knowing the future has no guarantees, he is doing what he should be doing: enjoying every pitch.

"I don't know what it is, to be honest with you," he said. "It's a combination of a lot of things. Being big. Bald. Being named Bucky helps. But I'm just going to roll with it. Take it while I can. It's the moment I've been waiting for, and I'm going to soak it up while I can.

"I grew up as a Mariner fan, so I know Mariner fans are always looking for a silver lining, and this season hasn't gone the way the fans or the team wanted it to. I think the fans see a couple of changes going on, and they like the idea of the changes."

In his first three games, Jacobsen has been on base in 10 of 13 plate appearances. He hit two home runs, scored four runs and drove in five. After 7-1/2 years in the minors, he hit .625 in his first weekend in The Show.

This is what he has been talking about all of those years riding from Ogden to Beloit, from Stockton to Huntsville to Indianapolis to New Haven, from Tennessee to Tacoma to the big leagues.

With his family watching from behind home plate, Bucky Jacobsen was as mighty as Casey and as promising as Buhner.

Steve Kelley: 206-464-2176 or skelley@seattletimes.com