Scott Servais on Mariners’ clubhouse scuffle: ‘It’s unfortunate, but it’s something that happens’

On the day that three more September call-ups brought the total of Mariners players in the clubhouse to 35, a scuffle broke out. The majority of the altercation was away from the eyes of reporters, who were awaiting the daily meeting with manager Scott Servais when Dee Gordon politely asked that the media clear the clubhouse.

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This is not out of the ordinary. Players will sometimes hold impromptu players-only meetings, and with the timing it seemed appropriate that could be the reason.

It wasn’t.

Minutes later, yelling, scuffling and a number of voices could be heard right on the other side of the clubhouse doors. For a brief moment that scuffle crashed into the doors and several players could be seen trying to pull teammates off of each other. The combatants at the bottom of the pile could not be seen, however.

Servais was on the field when this all broke out and hadn’t had time to completely assess the situation before he spoke to the media. One thing was certain, however: these things happen. You hear about them over the years, usually happening long after the media have left the clubhouse following a game. This was more public, and as such, Servais talked briefly about it.

“It’s unfortunate, but it’s something that happens,” he said. “It’s part of the game. You’ve got very competitive people who play the game. They want to win.”

It is understandable that frustrations could boil over. The second half of the Mariners’ season has been largely disappointing, and with playoff hopes dim, the season is heading toward an end they had not anticipated. The key now is to make sure whatever the issue is doesn’t linger.

“You listen,” Servais said when asked what his role is after these kind of incidents, admitting that similar things happened almost every year of his playing career. “You listen to players. You talk to them, hear where their concerns lie. Certainly how our season has played, we just haven’t been consistent and frustration mounts from a number of different places. Whether it’s the manager, coaching staff, players, everybody. Along the way there are going to be some bumps in the road. Stuff happens. That’s all there is to say about it.”

Stuff happened. We will see how the Mariners respond on the field.

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