Mariners’ OF Ben Gamel talks spring training, Jaguars fandom
Feb 22, 2018, 3:03 PM | Updated: 3:32 pm
Ben Gamel is one of the many returning regulars in Mariners spring training. (AP)
(AP)
Baseball-starved Seattle fans are still more than one month out from the Mariners’ home opener. In the meantime, the team will open Cactus League play against the San Diego Padres tomorrow afternoon.
Mariners notebook: Getting ready for game 1
Mariners outfielder Ben Gamel chatted with 710 ESPN Seattle’s Bob Stelton and Tom Wassell Thursday. The trio covered Gamel’s spring training regime, the Mariners’ new slogan, and Gamel’s home team Jacksonville Jaguars.
Seattle’s new team slogan – “Good” – has received its share of good-natured jokes, but Gamel is a big fan of the motto.
“Essentially, it’s taking the good out of every situation, out of bad situations,” Gamel said. “If stuff’s not going to plan, instead of moping you say ‘good,’ and you learn from it and you keep grinding.”
Gamel, 25, played some of the best baseball of his career in June 2017. But his performance cooled off toward the end of the season.
“I think it was kind of a combination of, first of all, the league (adjusting to me),” Gamel said of the slide. “And you’re trying to hit yourself out of a slump, and you tend to do too much. I was trying to do too much instead of just competing. It just tumbled and tumbled, and then finally got back on track a little later in the season.”
The Florida-native (Gamel was born just outside of Jacksonville) also talked about the Jaguars’ impressive 2017 season and what he thinks the team should do with quarterback Blake Bortles. You can hear that conversation in his full interview with Bob and Tom here.
