Mariners
Notebook: Day later, Edgar remains the same

By Bob Finnigan
Seattle Times staff reporter

E-mail this article Print this article Search archive Most read articles Most e-mailed articles

A day after Edgar Martinez announced his intention to retire at the end of this season, a Hall of Fame hat appeared in his locker.

But it was mere coincidence. Everyone in the clubhouse was given a cap commemorating this year's induction of Seattle hitting coach Paul Molitor along with former pitcher Dennis Eckersley.

Ironic or not, Martinez distanced himself from more speculation.

"I put them over there," Martinez said, indicating a spot atop a cardboard box in front of an adjacent empty locker.

Other than that, everything was as usual for the Mariners great. "Same approach as always," he said. "Keep working, prepare for games."

He batted third last night (Edgar Bear Night) before a crowd that jumped from approximately 32,500 (tickets sold) on Sunday to 36,290.

His routine after his announcement hardly changed, either.

Asked if he got many phone calls afterward, he smiled and said, "We turned off the phone. We went to my brother's house ... and I was in bed early."

He never talked with teammates about the announcement until yesterday.

"He gave me a ride to my house after we got back from the road trip Sunday night," Bret Boone said. "He didn't say a thing."
 
"I talked with a few of them when I got to the park (yesterday)," Martinez said. "They were surprised to hear the news, too. No one knew, only my wife (Holli) and my agent (Willie Sanchez)."

He admitted it feels odd, but likely not for long. "I saw Jay (Buhner) go through it and I figured what it might be like," he said. "It still feels strange."

But not strange enough to change his mind.

"Give me half an hour," he jokingly said, then shook his head. "No, I'm pretty comfortable."

Martinez played in all but five of the 86 games before the All-Star Game break, but has missed seven of the past 25 games since.

Of writing Martinez in the lineup, manager Bob Melvin said, "It's not a hard thing to do, believe me. We'll do as much as we can to get Edgar in the lineup the rest of the way. He's still putting up numbers, still a great player. Nothing he did makes me keep him out. The organization wants to find out about Bucky (Jacobsen) and we have to get him in the field as much as we can."

Bocachica recalled

Seattle brought outfielder Hiram Bocachica back and sent out pitcher Cha Seung Baek, who had been called up last week when reliever Mike Myers was traded.

"We needed a 12th pitcher in Tampa Bay," Melvin said. "Now, we have a couple of days off and some of the guys in the bullpen are long guys, like (Clint) Nageotte and (Matt) Thornton, guys who were starters at Tacoma."

Bocachica said he was glad he had stayed in the Seattle organization last month when he had been designated for reassignment to leave the 25-man roster. "I'm glad he chose to stay, too," Melvin said. "I love having him here. He's a good kid who can do a lot of things for us."

Notes

• Jacobsen and Minnesota's Justin Morneau were reunited for the first time since Jacobsen beat Morneau in the home-run derby at this year's Class AAA All-Star Game in Pawtucket, R.I.

• Ichiro is hitting .525 (21 for 40) in August, with the 21 hits leading the majors. Since the all-star break, the outfielder is hitting .483 (58 for 120), with his 58 hits also leading the majors.

• Scott Spiezio, not in the starting lineup last night, is hitting .173 (9 for 52) with one extra-base hit and no runs batted in in his last 14 games. His last hit to drive in a run was a home run on July 6 at Toronto.

• The recent 3-11 trip was the most losses for Seattle in a single trip since going 3-15 from July 25 through Aug. 10, 1980. It was just the fourth time the Mariners lost at least 11 games.

• Left-hander Aaron Fultz was optioned to AAA Rochester by the Twins, who recalled right-hander Matt Guerrier from their International League farm club. Fultz had an 8.31 ERA in his last four appearances and 4-1/3 innings. He is 3-2 with a 4.57 ERA in 47 games and 43-1/3 innings.

Fultz, 30, was signed by the Twins as a free agent during the offseason.

"He was having trouble getting lefties and righties out," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "More than anything, it's a confidence thing. It's time for him to go down there and get some confidence."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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