Almost everybody knows that the Seattle Mariners have not made the playoffs in what feels like forever. While the blame has gone to a number of different places such as: not enough offense, poor coaching, a bad stadium, etc., the only clear thing right now is that the Mariners are not winning ballgames.
A few years ago, the Mariners signed manager Eric Wedge to try and turn the franchise around. However, after three losing seasons, Eric Wedge decided to not take his 2014 option with the team and was no longer the manager for the Mariners. This left the Mariners with the task of finding a new manager that could possibly turn the franchise around.
While the search included a lot of top notch candidates, only one was chosen—Lloyd McClendon who is the new skipper for the Seattle Mariners. McClendon was the manager for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 2000-2005 from which he became infamous for a tantrum where he got out of the dugout and took one of the bases with him off the field. He then became the bullpen coach for the Detroit Tigers for a year before becoming their hitting coach the next year. The Tigers are known for being a very strong hitting team so adding him to our roster could help improve the offense.
McClendon is an old-school type of manager who keeps everything in perspective. This is the reason why I have high hopes for the new skipper. The Mariners are a very young team and having an old-fashioned manager around could help them mature into true ballplayers.
When McClendon was introduced as the new manager in a press conference, he had a few things to say about the direction of the team, “This is a golden age for the Mariners.” If you think about it, it could actually be true. Some of the main rookies like Kyle Seager, Dustin Ackley, Justin Smoak and others now have a few years of major league experience under their belts, and new rookies like Brad Miller, Nick Franklin, Mike Zunino and James Paxton all looked really good in their playing time last year. Then the veterans on the team like Felix “The King” Hernandez and Raul Ibanez are also sticking around to give the young players more direction for what it is like to be a real ball player.
The team now is in the hands of McClendon and it is now his chance to see what he can do with this struggling franchise. He also has a saying that he holds true and expects the team to abide by as well: “My motto is simple. I respect my opponents. But I fear nobody. And I want my players to take on my personality, how I approach the game and how we go about our business.’’