Blowers and Sims were remarking about how tight the guys were on the field before the game, grinding away in batting practice. That the locker room was apparently like a funeral home and people were afraid to breathe too loudly (paraphrasing and re-conceptualizing remarks made throughout the night).
The smiles in the dugout after we'd hung half-a-dozen on the Astros were pointed out several times during the broadcast and Blowers, who has the emotional range of petrified bark behind the mic, said "man is THAT good to see" with obvious relief in his voice. I could run over that dude's foot with my car and he'd say, "Well that stings a little, Dave. Probably gonna need to put some ice on it. Wouldn't want it to cause later problems."
But he's reveling on air in the positive vibes from the dugout like a man being freed from solitary and dropped off in a sunny park?
That's what concerns me. Wedge can say all he wants that Brendan Ryan needs not to gnaw the knob off his bat beaver-style when he's struggling at the plate, but if Wedge is encouraging this mentality in the clubhouse - to beat yourself up after a bad series - or at least can't short-circuit it, then yes he may be in trouble.
I remember vividly Jeff Cirillo's time with the Mariners. He didn't approach hitting the way Sweet Lou wanted his hitters to, and their "discussions" about hitting in the dugout when Lou had a bat in his hands and was talking while Jeff looked like he wanted to crawl into a hole and die.
So instead he crawled to the plate and died. Just a bad match of a player and manager. Luckily for those Mariners the team had been stuffed with players who matched up well with Lou's style. Cirillo was an outlier (although he was a reason we didn't make the playoffs in '02).
Do these Mariners and their personalities fit Wedge's style?
Wak was very zen-placid, and Wedge is the Sarge, but if these guys need a cheerleader instead... then yeah, change could be coming.
But to the manager position, or the GM one? We'd better start winning.
~G
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