Back to Business
Back from the first basketball trip. Took a couple days to catch up and now back to blogging business...
I wanted to take a few minutes to write about the hire of Don Wakamatsu, the new Manager of the Seattle Mariners. Many might not know that the first Asian-American manager in Major League Baseball spent a little time here in Bakersfield. Albeit as an opposing manager for the High Desert Mavericks, whom he guided to a second place Cal League finish in 1998 while snatching up manager of the year honors, it's still nice to know another piece of baseball history once yelled at umpires from the dugouts at Sam Lynn.
That aside, the big story behind Wakamatsu is his heritage. Being an Asian-American and the first to manage a Major League team is not only a big deal for history's sake, but for the Mariners as well. Hiring Wakamatsu was a good compliment to the huge Asian following the team already has thanks to Ichiro Suzuki, and it caters to the enormous Japanese fan base that calls Seattle home.
I suspect that Wakamatsu's Japanese heritage, his families history which included stints in interment camps in World War II was no doubt a factor in the Seattle front office decision making. Who wouldn't want a manager that looks like and has a name like a big chunk of the population you're trying to sell tickets to. Not saying this is a bad thing, actually it's a smart thing. Which franchise doesn't want to sell more tickets?
That being said, Wakamatsu is a good fit for Seattle. His time in the minors as a player and coach allow him the patience and expertise to deal with the young talent on the Mariners roster, while his name echoes of similarities of many Seattle fans.
I hope it was that experience and ability to win ball games that prompted Mariner management to hire this particular new skipper. After all, hiring a manager that looks like a big part of the Mariner fan base is all fine and dandy, but let's face it, if he can't win ball games, he might become a part of that fan base faster than Ichiro can say "sianora!"
I wanted to take a few minutes to write about the hire of Don Wakamatsu, the new Manager of the Seattle Mariners. Many might not know that the first Asian-American manager in Major League Baseball spent a little time here in Bakersfield. Albeit as an opposing manager for the High Desert Mavericks, whom he guided to a second place Cal League finish in 1998 while snatching up manager of the year honors, it's still nice to know another piece of baseball history once yelled at umpires from the dugouts at Sam Lynn.
That aside, the big story behind Wakamatsu is his heritage. Being an Asian-American and the first to manage a Major League team is not only a big deal for history's sake, but for the Mariners as well. Hiring Wakamatsu was a good compliment to the huge Asian following the team already has thanks to Ichiro Suzuki, and it caters to the enormous Japanese fan base that calls Seattle home.
I suspect that Wakamatsu's Japanese heritage, his families history which included stints in interment camps in World War II was no doubt a factor in the Seattle front office decision making. Who wouldn't want a manager that looks like and has a name like a big chunk of the population you're trying to sell tickets to. Not saying this is a bad thing, actually it's a smart thing. Which franchise doesn't want to sell more tickets?
That being said, Wakamatsu is a good fit for Seattle. His time in the minors as a player and coach allow him the patience and expertise to deal with the young talent on the Mariners roster, while his name echoes of similarities of many Seattle fans.
I hope it was that experience and ability to win ball games that prompted Mariner management to hire this particular new skipper. After all, hiring a manager that looks like a big part of the Mariner fan base is all fine and dandy, but let's face it, if he can't win ball games, he might become a part of that fan base faster than Ichiro can say "sianora!"
posted by Corey Costelloe at
7:34 PM
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