Would you watch a home-run derby involving Ken Griffey Jr. and other Mariners legends?
Jul 7, 2016, 11:19 AM | Updated: 11:24 am
(AP)
Edgar Martinez showed earlier this week that he’s still got it. At 53 years old, the Mariners legend and hitting coach put on a display during batting practice Tuesday at Minute Maid Park in Houston, smashing one pitch onto the train tracks, according to catcher Mike Zunino.
ROOT Sports Mariners analyst Mike Blowers told “Bob, Groz and Tom” that he missed his former teammate’s batting-practice session but talked to him about it afterward.
“His swing is still awesome and is not going to change, but he can’t see,” Blowers said. “Anybody who has been around Edgar in his career, he always did those eye exercises because it was an issue. That’s probably why he retired, more than anything.”
Blowers said Edgar tried his hand in the batting cage during spring training and the results weren’t pretty. Edgar told Blowers he needed to redeem himself. And he did. Even if he “cheated.”
“He said he’d been hitting for a week in the cages underneath the tunnels,” Blowers said. “So, like Edgar when he was a player, he was going to make sure he was prepared this time. Nonetheless, it’s still very impressive.”
Blowers, 51, said he hasn’t seriously swung a bat in more than a decade but would have enjoyed playing at the hitter-friendly Minute Maid Park. And, if he spent a week practicing, Blowers thinks he could hit one out.
“I think most former players could do it,” he said. “It’s not something I’m looking forward to doing, I can tell you that. And a few of those swings would probably be a little embarrassing, but I think I could get into one.”
That gave “Bob, Groz and Tom” an idea, a home-run derby among Mariners legends. Imagine the contestants: Blowers, Edgar, Jay Buhner and Ken Griffey Jr.
Then again, why stop there? Why not let Albert Belle, Barry Bonds, Frank Thomas and Junior slug it out for the old-timers crown?
“That’s what the home-run derby should be,” Tom Wassell said. “We just figured it out. It should be former players. See how far they can belt them.”
Bob Stelton: “Bring back Mo Vaughn, bring back some of those big guys.”
Dave Grosby: “I don’t think it would be as good as you think.”
Wassell: “Just for like an hour?”
Grosby: “An hour? You’d have a lot of guys heaving if they’re out there for an hour.”
Wassell: “They get 10 pitches and they’re out. We’re not talking about an all-night, three hours thing for these guys.”
Who makes your list of the past-their-prime sluggers derby? List your ballot in the comment section below.