Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik made final call on Don Wakamatsu's hiring

Several prominent members of the Mariners' front office were seated near the rear of a Safeco Field conference room Wednesday as Don Wakamatsu was introduced as the team's newest manager.

Among them was chief executive officer Howard Lincoln, the team's highest ranking official outside of absentee Japanese billionaire owner Hiroshi Yamauchi. But while a few of the newer executives were pointed out to the media, none were asked to speak and Lincoln maintained a conspicuously low profile.

The show instead was left entirely in the hands of general manager Jack Zduriencik, fitting because he alone had final say over who his new field boss would be. Some top officials, including team president Chuck Armstrong, were said to be strong supporters of onetime Mariners infielder Joey Cora when the search began.

But once it ended, the 45-year-old Wakamatsu had the backing of the only man who mattered.

"It was my decision," Zduriencik said. "I listened to all those who sat in on the interviews. Don had a brief meeting with Howard. He had spent some time with Chuck.

"I listened to what my baseball people said, the guys that sat in on the interviews with me," he added. "Lee Pelekoudas, Tom McNamara, Tony Blengino. As we came through the office, he met some of the other people. But when the day was said and done, you go with your gut feeling, you go with your instincts.

"I listened to everyone's opinion, but we didn't put together a voting chart ... I asked them for their opinions, they gave me their opinions. But when the day was said and done, I went with the guy I felt most comfortable with."

And that alone might inspire confidence in legions of disgruntled Mariners fans, many of them perceiving that interference from above is largely responsible for the team's slide from its glory years. Wakamatsu wasted little time in letting folks in on personal details about himself and his immediate family.

He held up a card handwritten by his daughter, Jadyn, 10, that read: "Knock 'em dead."

She'd given it to Wakamatsu before his interview last week and he's carried it around in his briefcase ever since. He also paid tribute to his wife, Laura, seated in a corner of the room next to the assembled media throng.

Once that was done, the former Oakland Athletics bench coach gushed about the 101-loss Mariners team from 2008.

"Again, we've talked about the fact that a lot of smart people, some in this room, had predicted that the Mariners were going to be pretty good," he said. "Within the game, some of the coaches from different organizations really thought that they'd have to win 95, 100 games to beat the Mariners last year. And in Oakland, we were one of those guys."

Wakamatsu said that a key will be his ability to communicate with players and let them know what's expected of them.

"For me, you've asked me several different times, the press has, about whether I think we can win," he said. "I think we can win. I'm not sitting here telling veterans that, 'Hey, we're going to try to rebuild here.' And Jack's saying the same thing. We're going to try to win right away. Whether we can or not, I think it's going to take a lot of work this winter."

Wakamatsu was known somewhat to Armstrong and others with the team, having been a player-coach at Class AAA Tacoma in 1995 and 1996, where he teamed with current Mariners left fielder Raul Ibanez. Zduriencik said that past connection -- and the fact he was born in Oregon and spent two years of his childhood in Bremerton -- helped when it came to the final decision.

It was about five years ago, when Zduriencik began seriously contemplating a career as a GM, that he made a list of potential managerial candidates based on conversations he'd had around the game.

"Don always came across as a guy who, someday, would have the qualities to become a major-league manager," Zduriencik said of Wakamatsu, a Texas Rangers bench coach at the time. "Little did I know, that at this point in time, Don would be our selection."

Zduriencik had spent the past 48 hours double-checking his instincts with former Texas Rangers manager Buck Showalter, Rangers GM Jon Daniels, A's GM Billy Beane and others.

"The thing I think that Don brings to the table is tremendous consistency," Zduriencik said.

"His work habits are impeccable. In fact, Buck Showalter said, 'You won't beat him to the ballpark and he'll be there when you leave.' I thought that was a tremendous tribute from a guy who I consider to be a fantastic worker."

Mariners catcher Jamie Burke knows Wakamatsu, who played the same position as him, from his time with the Rangers and Angels.

"He wants to be individually connected to each player," Burke said. "By the time spring training is over, he'll know every player personally and a lot about them."

Pitcher R.A. Dickey, who knew Wakamatsu in Texas, feels he could be just what the team's clubhouse needs.

"I think that might be where he does his best work, to be perfectly frank," Dickey said. "Obviously, there's a need for that.

"He's a real players' kind of manager, great communication skills, there's pride there, but not so much pride to get in the way. It doesn't hinder getting to the bottom of what the problems really are. He's good at that. His attributes enable him to do that. He's a real players' style kind of manager."

And the style Zduriencik chose when given the leeway.

Geoff Baker: 206-464-8286 or gbaker@seattletimes.com.

Read his blog daily at www.seattletimes.com/Mariners