After yet another disastrous road trip for the Seattle Mariners on Aug. 2, the CEO and General Manager Jack Zduriencik stated the organization had full confidence in manager Don Wakamatsu. After hearing this I said to my husband, "He will be out in a week." That's what is always said just before someone is fired. The following Monday, Wakamatsu was fired.
Wakamatsu is the "sacrificial lamb" for the worst season in Mariners' history. Hard to believe that after some of the seasons in the 1980s but it's true. Wakamatsu didn't trade pitcher Cliff Lee to Texas. In fact, Zduriencik was in the booth with the announcers that evening after the trade. When asked how Wakamatsu had taken the news, Zduriencik stated that he hadn't had a chance to speak with Wakamatsu. He'd call him for a long talk the next day. The CEO and GM didn't talk to his manager before, during or after he traded away the best pitcher on the team. But Wakamatsu, the first Japanese-American manager in baseball is fired?
Wakamatsu's .464 is the fifth best winning percentage among Mariners' managers. OK, maybe winning hasn't always been the Mariners' tradition. Also fired were pitching coach Rick Adair and bench coach Ty Van Burkleo. Performance coach Steve Hecht was released. They didn't have anything to do with the disastrous off-season trades either.
Adrian Beltre (2010 all-star) was let go via free agency as he didn't have the "pop" the Mariners wanted. We got Milton Bradley - "Mr. I-have-anger-management-issues" - instead. He went to rehab to deal with them.
Injuries this season and poor decisions during the off-season have resulted in catcher, first base, shortstop and left field positions being played by committee. One should not have to know anything else about the team and it would be a losing season. Some of those key positions need consistency.
"I don't think it's fair to say the manager's responsible to take the blame, because he's not," Ichiro Suzuki said. "It's the whole team's responsibility."
Former Mariners slugger Jay Buhner, the night after the firing, stated that there had been seven managers in nine years. That doesn't build a team or team spirit. Suzuki was the only player on the team during those seven managers in nine years.
Dave Neihaus, Hall of Fame announcer for the Mariners said "This is a bottom-line type of business. If you don't win, you are fired."
Apparently Cougar football isn't a bottom-line business as head coach Paul Wulff is still here. Nothing is going to erase the last two seasons. Losing by 44 points a game in 2008 and 29 points a game in 2009 disgraced his alma mater.
There has been disgrace after disgrace to WSU football but Wulff is still with us. He seems to have a contract for life or something like it. Going into the 2010 season, WSU is only favored to win over Montana State. If we lose that game, I predict that we will go 0-12. Of course we will still have Wulff next year.
Jean M. Chapman is a founding member of the Pullman Civic Trust and served as chairwoman of the Whitman County Planning Commission for nine years.
