Yes, it is only the end of April

but the Mariners have found

one of those key players

that could make quite a

difference.

By Amaury Pi-GonzalezSeattle, Washington.

Here at SAFECO Field they have a

very nice situation on the second

spot hitting after the ever present

Ichiro. His name is Randy Winn and

he came over to the Mariners

as part of a deal for manager Lou

Piniella. Lou was a real fan favorite

in Seattle, but Winn is soon becoming

a very popular player for

Bob Melvin’s troops here in the

Pacific Northwest.

Randy Winn has been playing

center and left field, sometimes

he starts the game in left but

ends in center (Mike Cameron is

fighting a groin pull).

It is amazing what a good player

can do in a lineup as old as the

Mariners, with guys like

Edgar Martinez, Mark McLemore

and John Olerud.

The arrival of Randy Winn meant

to the Mariners rookie

manager Bob Melvin that he

can put the “hit and run”with

frequency. When you have Ichiro

and then Winn it is not brain

surgery for a manager to

think about the run and hit

or hit and run(choose the one

you like)early in the game in

order to give his starters an

early lead.

Crowds at SAFECO are down

8,500 per game from the average

of last season during April. The

economy here in this part of the

country is really hurt, plus

(according to the people that

have lived here for years)has

been a very cold April.

Last night’s game against

Detroit, a 6-0 victory for Joel

Piniero and the M’S the temperature

was 47 with lots of chilly wind

coming in from left field.

Bob Melwin “I like Winn a lot,

he brings flexibility to this

ballclub”,

For the moment the M’S

are in first place and after beating

the Indians (sweeping them

for the first time in a 3 game

series since 1993)and now

playing Detroit, they will probably

leave for New York this Monday the 28th

of April in first place.

This next roadtrip should be very

revealing. The M’S rotation of

Garcia-Moyer-Pinieiro-Franklin

and Meche(Meche has been doing great

after almost 2.5 years of inactiviy)

is one to be thinking about this

year if they realize their potential

they could give the A’S a real

tough fight.

Next week the Mariners are in

New Yokr for 3 against Yankees

and next weekend in Detroit

for 3 against the “little cats”.

Then they will come back for

3 against those same two

teams here at SAFECO.

I am leaving for the Bay

Area after tomorrow;s(Sunday)

game against Detroit. Will

be working the series in

Pac Bell between Giants and

Dusty’s Cubs… See you then !!

Adios for the momento.

————————————————–

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez is broadcasting

all 81 home games this season

for the Seattle Mariners NEW Spanish

Radio Network, covering Washington

and Oregon with 6 stations. Pilot

station is KKMO 1360 AM Radio

Sol(Seattle-Ttacoma). Also

Amaury is flying to the Bay Area during

the summer as he will continue for

the 10th year to be the Spanish Voice

for the SF Giants over KZSF 1370 AM

radio in the Bay Area, doing 25 Giants

weekend games in Spanish.