Mariners president Chuck Armstrong says progress made in past year is "remarkable"

A quarter-century of running the Mariners still left Chuck Armstrong unprepared for his darkest hour.

Armstrong's voice shakes as he describes last September, a 101-loss season winding down, the Mariners in dire need of player, coaching and front-office makeovers, and fan ire directed mostly at him. Having just nixed a proposed trade of Jarrod Washburn to the Minnesota Twins, the longtime team president was getting lambasted in the mainstream press and in online forums. The full-on frontal assault shook him like past criticism never had.

"No matter what we did, it seemed like it was wrong," he said. "And at the time, it seemed, they didn't trust us to do anything."

One year later, the Mariners, having rebounded to a winning season, are doing plenty right, largely because of hires overseen by Armstrong. Written off by many last year, Armstrong was the driving force behind the hiring of general manager Jack Zduriencik and had key input in the selection of manager Don Wakamatsu and his coaching staff.

Not to mention his role in repatriating Ken Griffey Jr. to Seattle. Armstrong used finesse behind the scenes to sign the Mariner, which fit his plan to restore a sense of professionalism in the clubhouse.

"I think the biggest accomplishment of the team this season was the whole turnaround in pride and discipline," Armstrong said.

Armstrong was drafted into the military during the Vietnam era and later enrolled in the U.S. Navy's Officer Candidate School, known for its strict code of conduct and meticulous scrutiny of shortcomings. He admits his uniform was never the best-pressed and his boots weren't the shiniest when he served on active duty.

"But my guys, we always got pretty good results," he said. "And we cared about each other."

Armstrong's latest reading material, Anton Meyer's "Once an Eagle," provides a glimpse of where he'd like this team to head.

Meyer's classic, written during the Vietnam conflict, is regarded as the definitive work in outlining "core values" held by the military. And this season has been about instilling values in the Mariners, whether it's the jacket-and-tie dress code implemented by Wakamatsu for trips, or the warrior-style bonding encouraged in the bullpen by coach John Wetteland, replete with ancient battle helmets.

The words "belief system" have become a catch phrase for players and coaches trusting in one another. It's a work in progress and one that Armstrong, once rumored to be close to retirement, plans to oversee for as long as it takes.

"We're not done," Armstrong said. "For me, I serve at the pleasure of our ownership. But I want to see this thing through, to get back into the playoffs and hopefully the World Series."

And he admits there is a ton of work remaining.

"We've really only got about five or six positions that are solidified for next year," Armstrong said.

That's one reason he accompanied the team to Toronto last week, believing the road can be the best place to focus. He took the coaching staff to dinner — all the coaches have been invited back for next season — and began planning for 2010.

Armstrong said the team won't know its 2010 payroll until mid-October. The team had budgeted for 2 million fans, and while it should exceed that by about 200,000, Armstrong says prices of tickets being bought are lower.

"People used to come to the ballpark and say 'Give me the best available ticket,' " he said. "Now they say 'Give me the cheapest available ticket.' "

What impact that has on next year's budget remains to be seen. The Mariners have about $40 million coming off the books from the trade of Washburn and the end of contracts for Adrian Beltre and Erik Bedard.

One of the first things they'll do is try to bring back Russell Branyan to solidify first base or the designated hitter slot. The Mariners will also have to make a call on their catchers, with two years and $16 million owed Kenji Johjima.

There has been talk of the Mariners buying Johjima out so he can return to Japan. Armstrong will only say that Johjima is under contract. The catcher's agent, Alan Nero, insists he has no plans to request a buyout.

The Mariners also must decide whether Bill Hall and Matt Tuiasosopo can fill the gap at third base expected to be left by Beltre, and whether to bite the bullet on an $8.4 million option for shortstop Jack Wilson.

And of course, there is Griffey, a player Armstrong can get misty-eyed about.

Walk through Armstrong's luxury suite at Safeco Field and he'll point out an innocuous round table near the back, where Griffey signed his first contract. Griffey is also in many of the framed photographs on the walls, one of them shipped to Armstrong by the slugger after his triumphant Seattle return two years ago with the Reds, signed: "To Chuck, thanks for the homecoming."

Armstrong insists he didn't force Griffey's homecoming this year on anyone.

What Armstrong and CEO Howard Lincoln did, when interviewing GM candidates, was talk about "what we thought the Seattle Mariners stood for, which we think are all that is good and right about professional sports ... that we wanted top-quality individuals, as well as top-quality players."

Zduriencik's views from the outside meshed entirely with the changes Armstrong and Lincoln envisioned. Armstrong had been privately horrified by information he'd been getting about the team's clubhouse.

"Losing 101 games was terrible," he said. "But more so, internally, the pride and the discipline that didn't exist. Then you saw people that do have so much personal pride. ... Nobody prepares any better on a day-to-day, 12-month basis, than Ichiro. He and I had conversations about, 'What have we lost here and are we going to be able to get it back?'

"I think it's remarkable, the progress we've made here in just one year."

Armstrong says this was why Wakamatsu felt strongly about bringing in Mike Sweeney, to help "instill pride in the organization and change the culture back to what it had been."

Griffey was not yet in the plans. Only later did Zduriencik and Wakamatsu decide Griffey would fit.

Armstrong's lobbying helped play a vital role in Griffey's decision to return.

"He might be the biggest reason we still have baseball in Seattle," Griffey said of Armstrong. "He cares about the city, the fans and the team more than anybody I know. He's a great man, and a lot of people don't know how great he is."

Armstrong is staying mum on Griffey's future. The Mariners don't expect any decision before the season ends.

Griffey's late February return eased the public heat on Armstrong. But Armstrong barely had time to savor it when blindsided by a serious family health issue.

Armstrong wants to keep the ongoing situation private. Last season, he'd been struggling with another family issue throughout the second half, which only worsened what he felt daily while enduring constant criticism.

This year, things are easier on the baseball front. And rather than being tempted to walk away from the game, he finds the M's still give him joy while coping with life's challenges.

"I've got baseball in my core," he said.

The Mariners, a world of change later, have it back in their core, as well.

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