Originally published Monday, April 7, 2008 at 12:00 AM

Today's Button Winner | Mariners shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt has a big fan in Ephrata

We asked readers to choose one Mariners player for whom they'd like to wear a campaign button. We made one for each player as part of our...

We asked readers to choose one Mariners player for whom they'd like to wear a campaign button. We made one for each player as part of our special preview section, "The Great Debate,"(Seattle Times, March 30) — so that is what the best entry for each player will receive. We'll publish one button winner a day.

Today: Yuniesky Betancourt.

First place

My favorite player is Yuniesky Betancourt. We went to spring training and I got to see him play. But I think it is great the way he came to the USA in order to play baseball. The biggest reason is the we share the same birthday: Jan. 31st. Of course, I am a lot older. Enough to be his grandma — 75 years and loving it.

— Frankie Goodrich, Ephrata

Other top entries:

"Yuni dives through the air. He'll never get to that one, folks. That has extra bases written all over it. But wait, Yuni has caught it and flips it from his knees to Lopez, who fires to first for a 6-4-3 double play that will retire the bottom of the 7th inning. My oh my!"

I hear that so many times a game that I know that the skipper has a "jewel" at shortstop.

— Riley Calcagno, Seattle

I would like to wear a Yuniesky Betancourt campaign button because I think he is the best shortstop in the American League and is a great all-around player.

— Nick Aemmer, Buckley

Without a doubt, it would be a Betancourt button that I would like to wear. It is Yuni who will be playing the most important infield position of shortstop, where he needs to step up defensively and start dictating how things go on up the middle. His 23 errors last season were hard to watch, but I believe he will significantly decrease that number this year. The youthful love and presence that he brings to the Mariners is something that I love to watch and support day in and day out.

— Steven McGinley, Shoreline

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