M's Broussard nursing his dream

PEORIA, Ariz. — It isn't really a stretch to envision Mariners backup first baseman Ben Broussard playing some right field this season.

After all, his teammates apparently have no trouble picturing him as a male nurse.

Broussard has taken quite the razzing throughout his career for a one-line entry in his media-guide biography that mentions how he was once "a nursing major" while attending McNeese State University in Louisiana.

A flustered Broussard often tried to point out that he was actually a biology major, excelling at subjects like anatomy, physiology, chemistry and high-level mathematics. Not that this explanation played any better in major-league clubhouses, and Broussard ultimately gave up on selling the truth.

"It's kind of a weird thing, but I never actually made it to nursing school," said Broussard, hitting .298 this spring, including a double in the Mariners' split-squad loss to the Chicago Cubs in Mesa, Ariz., Monday.

"It was something I was thinking about pursuing. I was a biology major, so I'd have had one of those degrees that I could get right into nursing school, or I was thinking about med school. But they didn't put that in the bio. They just put nursing, and it's been there ever since."

Despite the misgivings about his bio, the 30-year-old Broussard, acquired from Cleveland last summer in return for outfielder Shin Soo Choo, could easily have wound up a nurse had baseball not worked out.

"I wanted to be a doctor, that's what I was doing it for," Broussard said. "Nursing was possibly something that I could do along with baseball — get out quick and then make some money. I was thinking about possibly being a nurse anesthetist or even something surgical, where there are a couple of years of school afterwards."

But the only thing Broussard needs to nurse now is the $3.55 million he got in a one-year deal with the Mariners this offseason. But just as he did with his schooling, he's now working on a fallback plan aimed at securing more playing time.

The Mariners are still figuring out the composition of their bench and whether Broussard can do more for them on the roster or as a trade component.

Broussard lost his shot at a designated hitter job with Seattle when the Mariners traded for Jose Vidro. To do more than just be Richie Sexson's backup at first base, he's now working out in right field. It's a position Broussard hadn't played since before entering the majors in 2002, and he has had to make plenty of adjustments.

"Just going back on fly balls, the sun and certain factors," he said. "You have to play certain guys a certain way, back up certain bases. If a ball's hit over your head and you pick it up, you've got to already know where to throw it.

"The cutoff man's going to be in that general area," he added. "But sometimes, you're running after the ball and if there was a guy at first, you're wondering 'OK, am I throwing home? Or is it going to be to third?'

"You've just got a lot to think about."

Broussard did his share of thinking as a student, racking up "mostly A's and B's" in high school, then a 3.37 grade-point average in college, until his blossoming baseball career ended his studies. His GPA was high enough to make Broussard a second-team Academic All-American in 1999, though he insists his scholarly ways haven't made learning his new position any easier.

"Maybe just the work ethic," he said.

Broussard worked out in right field extensively with Mariners coach Mike Goff last season, but never played the position in an actual game. So far this spring, he has played six games in right, and manager Mike Hargrove says he's comfortable using him there.

"Benny's a good athlete," Hargrove said. "He adds some pop to our lineup. And if he's not in the lineup he gives us a pretty good left-handed bat coming off the bench. He can play left and right field and play first base. Not many people can do that."

Not many can do that and be an aspiring professional guitarist and songwriter as well. Broussard released a debut solo album in 2005, and music appears to be his post-baseball future, not nursing.

"Things have changed a little since then," he said. "I've got a job now. A pretty good one. Now, I'm just doing all I can to keep it."

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