Captains Of Crunch

Sporting News, The, Oct 16, 2000 by Larry LaRue

Mariners relievers set Seattle's ship straight by clamping down on the White Sox

When the Seattle bullpen dominated the Mariners' three-game sweep of the White Sox in the American League Division Series last week, it wasn't so much a tour de force as a public exorcism.

"I don't know if anyone believed in us but us," lefthander Arthur Rhodes said, "but we had a little meeting after the season ended and told ourselves, `This is crunch time.'"

Against Chicago, the historically maligned Seattle bullpen pitched 11 2/3 innings and was very close to perfect, allowing only three hits and no runs. And it wasn't just one man.

Righthanders Brett Tomko, Jose Mesa, Jose Paniagua, Kazuhiro Sasaki and the lefty Rhodes all got work and all delivered the same emphatic zero.

Chicago knocked Game 1 starter Freddy Garcia out after 3 1/3 innings, but, even with the game going 10 innings, never scored again. That set the tone for a series in which the White Sox offense, which pried up more runs this year than any other A.L. team, never did break loose.

"They made every play, took advantage of every opportunity," Sox manager Jerry Manuel said, "but their pitching--their bullpen--was probably the difference in all three games."

It may have been the difference in the regular season, too.

In 1999 the team finished under .500, and the Mariners bullpen had a 5.94 ERA, the worst in the league. This season it was 4.47.

What happened?

When new G.M. Pat Gillick took over last fall, one of his first priorities was to reshape Seattle's relief corps, and he signed free agents Rhodes and Sasaki, now the closer. For the first time in years, manager Lou Piniella had the kind of bullpen he wanted and one that suited his starting rotation.

Without a starting staff of high-velocity arms--starters Jamie Moyer, Aaron Sele and John Halama top out anywhere from the mid-80s to 90 mph-- Piniella wanted relievers who could throw hard.

"That forces a team to speed up its bats late in the game," Piniella says.

Against the White Sox, Mesa, Paniagua and Rhodes all hit 95 mph on the radar gun, and they did it on strikes, not balls.

Just as important, perhaps, is that each member of the bullpen accepted the role he was given, even if it was an unaccustomed role. Mesa, for example, is a former closer who had 84 strikeouts this year in 80 2/3 innings as a setup man. Tomko, a former starter, turned in a solid 4.02 ERA as a long man out of the pen.

After struggling early in the season, Sasaki--a 32-year-old rookie with 10 years of experience in Japan--saved a team-record 37 games, shattering the major league mark for rookies.

Rhodes became the late-inning lefty Seattle hadn't had since Norm Charlton produced a dominant half-season in '95.

Paniagua emerged as another solid setup man, rebounding from a poor '99. This season he appeared in a career-best 69 games, winning three and saving five.

Still, who would have expected near perfection against Chicago?

"Lou did," Mesa says, laughing. "Before the series started, he told us we were going to have an impact on the series. He said he had faith in us. A lot of people still don't think we can do the job, but we believe."

Larry LaRue writes about baseball for the News Tribune in Tacoma.