Mariners
M's say Japan trip would involve A's instead of Angels

By Bob Finnigan
Seattle Times staff reporter

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As far as the Mariners know, if the Seattle club opens the 2004 season in Japan, they will do so against Oakland.

A Seattle-Oakland series would make up the two-game 2003 opening set in Japan that was canceled because of the Iraq conflict in March.

Word about a month ago was that Major League Baseball would have definitive information for the participants by the end of October.

"We've been keeping in touch with the commissioner's office on what will happen," said Randy Adamack, Mariners vice president of communications and the club's point man on scheduling. "It has always been our understanding that if we play over there, we'd be playing Oakland."

There was a conflicting report from Los Angeles this past weekend that the Anaheim Angels could open next season against the Mariners in Japan.

According to the 2004 American League schedule, Anaheim will open the season against Seattle in a four-game series, April 5-8. However, that series is to be played at Safeco Field, and it is unlikely that the Mariners would give up four home dates, or even half that many, to open in the homeland of Ichiro, Kazu Sasaki and Shigetoshi Hasegawa.

If Seattle does open the season in Japan, it would not be against the New York Yankees, as has often been rumored, since former Japan star Hideki Matsui joined the New York club. Beyond the Mariners' reluctance to participate in such an event, it is contrary to the common-sense guidelines Pat Gillick, former Mariners general manager, helped MLB develop.

"As Pat pointed out, to keep the competitive balance," Adamack said, "you want teams from the same division and from the same time zone."

Commenting in the L.A. story, Bob DuPuy, MLB's chief operating officer, did not specify which teams could play in Japan, saying only, "We're trying to arrange for the season to open in Japan."

This seemingly is not easy for MLB. There reportedly is opposition from some Japanese teams, who at one point were considering starting their own season earlier than the usual time around April 1, possibly to steal thunder from the visit by MLB teams.

The Mariners have not been able to release their schedule, which has not been finalized. A major part of the holdup is the possibility of opening the season in Japan.

"If we did that, we'd ideally like to move our presently scheduled Opening Day, and give our players an off day on April 5 to help them recover from the long trip," Adamack said. "It's kind of tough on your fans to release a schedule and not be certain of your opener."

If Seattle opens in Japan, the Mariners would like to open at home on Tuesday, April 6, against Anaheim at Safeco Field, moving the April 5 game to an open date on Sept. 13, when the Angels come back to town for their final visit.

As was arranged last spring, the Japanese trip would occur in late March, with the teams given time on return to re-acclimate themselves and overcome jet lag. Whether they go or not, the Mariners are expected back in time for an inaugural two-game exhibition series, April 3-4, to help the Padres open their new downtown park in San Diego.

While the schedule calls for the Mariners to play their second series in Oakland from April 9-11, the thinking is that that series would be left intact and that games to be played in Tokyo would be drawn from series in Oakland in July and September.

"From our perspective, we'd like to get our schedule done and out," Adamack said. "I think anyone would understand that we'd like to start selling our various season-ticket plans for next year. But it's tough to do that without even knowing when your Opening Day is going to be."

Note

• The Mariners and the Class A Inland Empire 66ers have extended their affiliation through the 2006 season. The original contract with the San Bernardino-based team would have run out after the 2004 season.

Bob Finnigan: 206-464-8276 or bfinnigan@seattletimes.com

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