Thank you for your Servais

Coaches and Managers at the professional level at least are basically hired on a temporary basis as firings are commonplace if things don’t go so well. Let’s face facts, it is much easier to fire a manager or coach than it is to fire the whole team. I know a few teams that a general manager put together and there was no way any head man could find success with the crew that went onto the field of play.

Last Friday, Seattle Mariners’ General Manager Jerry Dipoto fired Manager Scott Servais not because he wanted to but because the direction of the team was going from looking like a playoff team to playing itself out of the playoff picture entirely.

After dominating the New York Mets in a three game series in Seattle and routing the boys from the Big Apple in a Sunday night nationally televised game it looked like the M’s were ready for a run to the finish line and holding off those pesky Houston Astros. But Seattle was swept in Detroit, won one game against the struggling Pittsburgh Pirates and lost three more to the LA Dodgers. A 1-8 road trip put them in a precarious situation for the rest of the season. Now is the time to figure out how to get this group of guys out of a deep funk. Pitching good, hitting bad, strikeouts miserable.

So as a GM Dipoto had to make a very difficult decision and that was to fire his good friend Scott Servais. Now I don’t know how exactly it was done but Servais first found out through a media outlet of some sort meaning someone in Dipoto’s inner circle must have texted a source rather than let the GM handle things. Whoever that person is needs to be fired immediately. It is professional courtesy to have a face to face meeting when a firing takes place especially when it is a friend that is involved. Also fired was the Mariner hitting coach for obvious reasons.

After the firing it was announced that former Mariner catcher Dan Wilson would become the next Manager for the Seattle franchise. Wilson also announced that Edgar Martinez would be the new hitting coach a job he held several seasons ago. Wilson is the Manager not interim but that doesn’t mean he won’t be replaced at the end of the season. What Mariner fan doesn’t like Dan Wilson and/or Edgar Martinez?

The Mariners’ roster has been tweaked a lot and it always seems that a guy that Seattle traded becomes a much better player away from T-Mobile Park or Safeco Field. Jared Kelenic now a Brave and Dodger Teoscar Hernandez are having really good seasons after getting traded by the Mariners. Hernandez even won the home run derby at the All Star break. He did say that he loved playing in Seattle and I read that he was a great clubhouse leader but something didn’t click as Teoscar had trouble hitting in Seattle and he isn’t sure why. With all of the big tech companies in Seattle you would think they could figure things out. Personally I think it is the batter’s eye in centerfield. It is this big black wall designed by some tech guru I believe.

What would I do? I would get all of the information on players and their success in other ball parks to see what they have as that centerfield back drop. Most of these ballparks use a green area such as lawn or a green wall. If that isn’t the problem I stand corrected but something needs to change for the better.

Getting back to Servais, I must say that baseball is an interesting game. When you substitute for a player that player is done for the day. Other sports can freely sub. So a great defensive ballplayer that can’t hit very good may only go into a game as a defensive sub in the late innings to protect a lead. For Servais he was the one that put the lineup together on a regular basis. Most managers have a set lineup but on occasion you look at matchups. This guy hits their starting pitcher pretty good so he will start either in the field or as a designated hitter. They also have a hunch that this guy or that guy are due so they get put into the game as a pinch hitter and if they come through then the manager looks like he knew what he was doing if not that’s baseball. Good pitching beats good hitting more times than not except for the last nine ball games of Scott Servais’ tenure for the Mariners.

Servais will come back with some other team I’m sure. I like the guy and he did some good things for the M’s. Good luck and thank you for your service (Servais).

— Dale Anderson is a sports columnist from Ritzville. To contact him, email [email protected].