Drew Storen ‘dorked out’ over trade to the Mariners
Jul 29, 2016, 2:08 PM | Updated: 2:19 pm
CHICAGO – I had a chance to catch up with reliever Drew Storen, who joined the team Wednesday in Pittsburgh, before the Mariners’ opener against the Cubs. On the field the Mariners are hoping to catch lightning in a bottle with Storen, much like they did Tom Wilhelmsen. Off the field, he looks to be a nice addition to the clubhouse as he is clearly thrilled to be joining Seattle. Storen is a lifelong Mariners fan.
“This is not the first time I have worn a Mariners jersey,” he told me in the pregame radio interview.
Storen grew up in Indianapolis, the son of the sports director for the CBS radio affiliate there. Through his dad’s job, he was able to have a number of sports encounters most kids could only dream about, including spending time with the Pacers and being the bat boy for the Expos. But his No. 1 desire was to see Ken Griffey Jr. play.
“I was a die-hard Mariners fan as a lot of kids my age probably were,” he said. “Any time they came to town, I would come to Chicago; my dad would take me up. My 9 year old birthday present was to go to the Kingdome.”
The young Storen got to catch a few games in the Kingdome as well as see the Blue Angels, who were in town for Seafair. The highlight, though, was watching Junior.
“He was my guy,” he said. “When I got traded here I kind of dorked out a little. Even seeing Edgar (Martinez). It was kind of cool.”
Storen should have the opportunity to meet Griffey next weekend when his number is retired. In the meantime he is looking to settle in to the Mariners pen and rebound from what was a disastrous start to his his season with the Blue Jays. Doing so in a Mariners uniform would have a little extra significance.
