Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - Player Stories & Memories With Taylor Blake Ward

Episode Date: July 18, 2020

In this crossover episode with Locked On Angels, Taylor Blake Ward & D.C. Lundberg discuss some stories and memories they have about players they remember watching, players they've encountered, and players they grew up watching that they've encountered. Why does Chris Snelling hold a special place in Taylor's heart? Why did D.C. admire Eli Marrero? What do they have to say about Jeremy Reed, Willie Bloomquist, & Matt Tuiasosopo?Support us by supporting our sponsors:Rock Auto -- Amazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Thank you for tuning in to Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Here's your host, D.C. Lundberg. Word of warning, gang, I might be a little bit more incoherent than usual today. It is currently 10.42 p.m. Friday night, and I'm a bit tired. In fact, I think I checked out about 3.30 this afternoon while I was still at work. Ask any of the kids in my room today. They'll tell you that I was a little bit out of it. In any case, this is Locked-on Mariner's part of it.

of the Locked-on Podcast Network, of course, brought to you by Rock Auto. Please remember to download, rate, and subscribe to this program on Google Podcast, Apple Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher Radio, or whichever podcast again that you personally care to use. Ask your smart device to play Locked-on Mariners podcast or any of the other programs here on T-L-O-P-N-O-P-N-O-P-N-O-P-N-R-N-O-P-N-R-N-O-P-N-N-O-P-N-R-G.

Follow me, follow me on Twitter at D-C-S-O-U-N-N-E-R-R-G. you are scoring at home. A conversation with our guests today led to this episode, talking about a former Mariner, who was something of a fan favorite during his brief stay in Seattle, whose major league debut was, you know, pretty widely anticipated. Not as anticipated as Evan White's first game or something like that, but there was a buzz around the city of Seattle at the time.

Very much unlike the buzz at Minut Made Park the last couple seasons. I was at this man's major league debut. and I am referring to outfielder Chris Snelling. Here with me to talk about Mr. Snelling is the host of Locked on Angels, Taylor Blake Ward. Taylor, welcome back to the show. I'm really excited to talk about Chris Snelling, among other people. Yes.

I mean, the reason we brought up Chris Snelling is kind of fun and random for absolutely no reason, and I want to touch on a few things beyond that. But yeah, no, thanks for having me on, DC. I'm really excited about this. And, you know, as you're listening, and you're listening to Lockdown Angels and wondering, hey, what's with the Lockdown Mariners deal? We're doing a crossover episode a little bit different,

so we're going to have DC hosts. DC, thanks for hosting and working with the Lockdown Mariners. Love listening to Lockdown Mariners, love being on. And for the Lockdown Angels listeners, DC's a regular now. We're excited to have you on, essentially, even if you're playing host for us. So thanks, D.C. I very much appreciate it. Thank you very much.

I want to talk about Chris Selling's Major League, debut a little bit and kind of what led up to it. First of all, he is an Australian. He was born in Miami, Florida, however, North Miami, Florida. I think his parents may have been on vacation in the United States of the time. He holds dual citizenship, so, and he was signed as an amateur free agent out of Australia in 1999. I actually remember his major league debut quite well.

That was when I still had a thing for the Baltimore Orioles, and his first game was against Baltimore in Seattle. And I actually remember the bus trip down to Safeco Field at the time with my friends, Lewis and Jeremy. And we were talking about it. And the back of the bus was kind of talking about it too. And what I remember about Chris Snelling, most of all, Taylor, is the way he played the game. And that's probably why his career was so short, because he wasn't a very durable player. But he played his heart out, not unlike Ben Gamble does these days, diving for balls in the outfield,

just an all-out style play. Pete Reeser is a good example of a guy who played all out whose career was kind of hampered by injuries. You know, my Chris Snelling story is going to be totally different. I vaguely remember Chris Snelling is a ball player. I mean, I really vaguely remember him. I remember on video games, I would always trade for him, and I'll explain the reason why after, but, you know,

I always trade for him, and I'm like, hey, why isn't this guy hitting like 40 home runs for my video game team or whatever the hell it is? And, no, I mean, I love Chris Snelling, but it's for a totally obscure reason beyond what you're saying. So I'm all for hearing about his debut and hearing about his career. Well, his debut was really nothing to speak about. He went 04-3, started in left field, batted second. I think I might have been in his second game as well. I don't remember that one too vividly. He played right field that day. He went 0-4-3 again, but he did have a walk.

He did have a walk, and the Mariners trivia question will pertain to his first major league hit and home run, so I won't reveal that information. And in his eighth game that season, He was going to be a starter. He was going to be a starter for the Mariners because they needed somebody to play outfield for a while. He went up getting injured in the second inning of his eighth game quite badly, and that was his last game of 2002, and he didn't see the majors again until 2004.

As I said, he was an Australian. The walk-up music they chose for him was a little ditty called Down Under by Men at Work. I vaguely, very vaguely right now. Very incredibly vague. Yeah. Anyways, what is your Chris Selling story? Please, please share. So I was, he was, I'm trying to figure out if he was rehabbing or if he was on assignment. He was actually on assignment. So he was going through development in 2001 as a 19-year-old here in San Bernardino,

which is not that far from where I grew up. And he just happened to be the first guy that ever signed a baseball for me. I had never had a signed baseball in my life. I snagged a foul ball. I was 10, 9, 10 years old, something like that. And after the game, my dad took me over, and one of the ball players was walking by, and he's like, hey, do you mind signing a ball for my son? You know, it's the typical, you know, kind of whatever it is. And the guy was like, yeah, sure. And we chatted with him for about 10 minutes and realized that he was just this nice kid and

all these things. And he wasn't all that older than I was, which is weird to say because of how young I was. But sure enough, it was Chris Snelling. So I still have that signed baseball. and Chris Snelling was the first signed baseball I ever got. That's a good one to have, actually. And I have to correct something. After the eight games in 2002, ladies and gentlemen,

he didn't appear in another major league game until 2005. That's how long it took for him to get back. That's a fantastic story, Taylor. I don't have a signed baseball, actually. Well, I have a Joey Coraball, but I was not there to get it. I don't have that many. I really don't. I mean, you know, growing up, it wasn't a big deal to me

to have someone's autograph, and then you get into the business and you start asking, you know, you never ask for an autograph. You never asked for anything other than an interview. So, you know, it's, I don't have, I have a Ken Griffey's senior one that was, when I was working in the minor leagues, we ran across each other and he said something. And I said, do you know, I said, my dad's a big fan of yours. And he said, well, have your dad come down.

And my dad came down to the ballpark the next night. He was with Bakersfield, I want to say, with the Reds at the time, something along those lines. That sounds right, yeah. He signed a ball for my dad, and, you know, I ended up, it's on my shelf somewhere around there, and I have a, oh, Renteria. What was, not, no, no, no, no, no. Edgar or Rich.

Sorry, no, no, no, not Rentaria. It was Eli Marrero. Oh, okay. I have an Eli, I loved Eli Marrero so much that I asked him for an autographed baseball when I was working in Midd League Baseball. I loved Eli Marrera. So I think those are collectively, like the three signed baseballs that I have. Yeah, and I have one from Brad Miller, but it has some excess comments on it because Brad and I go back.

Nothing we can mention on the show. It's nothing brutal, but yeah, no, Brad's is a little more personalized. Yeah, maybe not on this show. All right. I have the Joey Corabal. I have only gotten one autograph from anybody in person. the back of the ticket stuff. The Mariners used to have players on the dugout before games where you could line up and get their autograph. And I only have one. And it's Jamie Moyer. Oh, that's a good one.

What struck me about Moyer is that he's not a large human being. He's about my height, obviously in much better shape than I've ever been. But I was like, man, this guy's my size. And he's pitching in the big leagues. And I thought that took me back a little bit. And I was probably in my mid-20s. I never really outgrew a hero worship as it were. I don't know. Jamie Moyer has two sons. He might have more. I only know of two of them.

Hutton Moyer was in the Angels Farm system and Dylan was in the Dodgers farm system. I think he had a short stint with the Meritor's Farm system like at the end of his career. But I saw Dylan, God, a month ago. I mean, I see Dylan around every now and then. And I've seen Jamie around. It's not like a, I haven't.

seen him in a one-on-one personal perspective, but Dylan, I've seen a personal perspective. You know, it was probably longer than a month ago. But yeah, I've seen Dylan recently. Very cool. I want to get back to a player you mentioned because you said you really like this guy. And from afar, I admired this guy's career, too. That's Eli Marrero. Oh, I love the Eli Marrero, man. He was, I don't know why. I just, he was a guy that I just really liked. And I'm trying to figure out the reason why it must have been something to do with like a, when he was with St. Louis and maybe visiting Dodger or something, but I just, I loved them. And I mean, he didn't have a long career. He didn't have a great career, but I loved them.

I can tell you exactly why I admired this guy as I did. It's because he was a catcher who could basically play all over the field. I've always valued versatility. And he actually did have a 10-year big league career. He stuck around for a while because of that. He has a 243 career average, which for a backup catcher, you're going to take any day. the week. He never played more than 131 games in the season, and he played one, two, three, four, five different positions for the Cardinals that year. It was 2002, and he could hit a little bit when he was in his prime. He was generally around the 260s when he was in his 20s, and then, of course, that dropped off, but Eli Amarero was kind of reminded me in a way of Joe McEwing, only Joe McEwing

couldn't catch. So Eli was, uh, Eli was with Bakersfield. There you go. I think it was Ken Griffey Sr. and Eli Moore. I think it was that day. And I talked to Eli. I talked to Ken because you got to chat with the opposing manager with the media and everything, kind of get the lineups and everything construed.

And I was talking to Eli, and that's when I was talking to him saying, hey, man, you know, I loved watching your career. I was a big fan all these things. And I said, you know, I don't know if this is weird, but can you sign this baseball for me? He was stoked. He was like, he was like, oh, God, this guy knows who I am.

and it's like, you know, and after that game, our scorekeeper made some kind of mistake, and Eli, after the game, came to me, you mother, son of a, you know, I'm just like, ah, crap. And then the next day, he's apologizing to me. I'm like, it's good. They're cool, man. Like, it's all good. But so it's like Eli turned the switch, man. It was so quick.

But I still love Eli, man. He is so cool. He is awesome. That's good to hear. We're running up on a break. I will pose the Mariners trivia question. and if you want to cut this out of your program, that's fine. No, I'm all for it. Let's do it.

This is a trivia is all about it, and I want to get it right. I don't think I've gotten one wrong yet. That's the thing. I was going to say, you usually get these right. This one's a little obscure. It is today, off whom did Chris Snelling collect his first major league hit? I know the answer. I know it. Yes, tell me the answer after this word from Rock Auto, would you please?

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I love Rock Auto. I have used Rock Auto for, gosh, 10 years at least. And they've got literally, they have parts for everything. From a Subaru that I've driven to my wife's Camry, all the way up to, I've looked this up. They have Ferrari transmissions. I mean, they have the works. I absolutely love Rock Auto.

So check them out. Rockado.com, all the parts your car will ever need. Absolutely. And remember to write locked on in their How Did You Hear About Us Box? So they know that Taylor and I sent you. What kind of Subaru did your wife have? I'm curious.

I drive a Subaru. That's why I ask. I've had two Forrester's. Oh, I've had two Forrester's. Yeah, that's right. You've had two Forresteresters. I right now drive an 06 Forrester that has about 235,000 miles on it.

That's fantastic. I got an 09 sitting right outside right now that has right around the same mark, I think, 220. Now we're advertising the other people, which we probably shouldn't do. But in any case, to reset the trivia question so Taylor can knock it right down, Chris Snelling's first major league hit took place in Tropicana Field in his third Major League Game on May 28, 2008, a ninth inning single off whom? Ooh, I don't know.

I thought it was his first home run. And the reason why I know his first home run is he only has. He had like six, seven home runs over his career. He had a two home run game against Jared Weaver in 0506, I want to say. Okay. And they noted who his first home run was against and was against Tanyan Sturts. And the reason I remember that is I love the Tampa deal because Tampa was horrible. And I like the horribleness of it.

So his first home run was off Tanyan Sturts. His first hit, I don't know. It's still against the devil race. Take a wild guess. any pitcher who may have been on the devil race in that era. Ah, an O2? Yes. Oh, gosh. Can we go to break so I can think about it?

Let's do that. I will actually read the rest of the spiel I have here. He'd hit his first Major League home run the very next day, May 29th, in the fifth inning, a two-run home run, yes, off Tanyan starts. More locked on Mariners and the answer to the trivia question coming up after this. Do you want to think about it or look up the roster or just go crazy? I'm trying to remember. I'm really trying to remember who was on that team.

So his first hit was not a home run. Now back to Locked-on Mariners and your host, D.C. Lundberg. Welcome back to Locked-on Mariners and Locked on Angels, ladies and gentlemen, this crossover featuring me, D.C. Lundberg, as the Locked on Mariner's listeners will have just heard my announcer, Joey Martin, tell you that fact. Also here with Taylor Blake Ward, the host, of course, of Locked on Angels. a wonderful program, which I am proud to be a, you know, a small part of. Yeah. Talking about, you know, it's just kind of some random players that we either grew up watching

or have had personal experience with. I have had personal experience, ladies and gentlemen, with so few players. Taylor obviously way more because he's in the industry. I am not. The answer to the trivia question, Taylor, one final guess before I let everybody know what the answer is. I just, for some reason, I feel like Chris Nelling's first hit was a home run. And I feel like, I know it was against Tanyan Sturt. So I'm trying to think it's, uh, shoots, man.

Was it, uh, Victor Zambrano? Oh, shoot. No, I'm sorry. I was hoping you'd get this right. It's not Victor Zambrano. Is it Tanyan Sturtz? No, actually, it's not. Ah, oh, man.

I'm bummed. I should know this. I don't know if you should know this or not. this is really obscure. It's Ryan Rup. Oh, no way. I'd never guess that. Never in my life. See, don't feel bad about missing that one. No, that one I would have never guessed. Ryan Rup gave up Chris Snelling's first major league hit.

We talked about Mr. Snelling. We talked about Mr. Marrero. Anybody else, Taylor, that springs to mind. Actually, do you have any memories of Joe McEwing playing? Because we talked about him a little bit briefly. I don't, man. I really don't. I wrote down six names. I literally wrote down six names of total obscurity. Let's go through those.

Well, I talked to Jeremy Reid today. Oh, really? Yeah, well, he was on a Zoom call with the Angels Media. And we talked to Jeremy Reed, and I was thinking, I'm like, Jeremy Reed was former Mariner. Like, that's a guy, you know, he was a top prospect that was kind of fun for a little while, more defense than anything. But, you know, he's the hitting coach for the Angels now.

So I was thinking about him. That's right. about, I was thinking about Raphael Soriano, who was pitching the night that I got the Chris Snelling signed baseball. Ooh. I've got a few names. And the catcher that night is actually Ryan Christensen. I have a huge, long spiel that I wrote out about Ryan Christensen.

So whoever you want to pick, man. Let's talk about Jeremy Reed a little bit first, because I remember him very distinctly as a mariner. I believe he came over from the White Sox in the same deal that netted the Mariners. Mike Morse in which the Mariners gave up. That's a great question. Yeah. Or a great note.

They gave up Freddie Garcia and Ben Davis in that deal when they were really out of it. Let's see. Traded by the Chicago White Sox with Mike Morse and Miguel O. Level to the Seattle Mariners for Ben Davis and Freddie Garcia. My memory did not fail me. And then the Mariners traded him away in December of 2008 as part of a three-team trade. Follow along with me, gang. Oh my gosh.

I'm looking at it now. It's a mess. The Mariners traded Reed, Sean Green, and JJ puts to the New York Mets. The Mariners sent Luis Val Buena, who I don't think I ever pitched at the Major League level to the Indians. The Mets sent Mike Karp, Ezekiel Carrera, Andy Chavez, Michael Cleto, Aaron Heilman, and Jason Vargas to the Mariners. And the Mets. Yes. My goodness.

The Mets sent Joe Smith to the Indians. Yep. Who ended up, I mean, a lot of really talented names. The first trade is a lot of talent, but this trade is unique. And then Cleveland. Yep. Sent Frankie. Frankie Boy, Frankie Gutierrez.

Fan favorite, Franklin Gutierrez, fan favorite, holder of the Major League record for most chances in a season in center field without an error. I love Frankie Gutierrez, same as everybody else, man. He was so much fun to watch. It is a shame he couldn't. We've talked about this on the show before. It is a shame that he could not stay healthy with the injury problems. And it was maybe a stomach virus or something like that, an illness where he could only play three or four times a week.

He had the potential injuries and illness aside to be a star. Oh, yeah. Oh, I mean, he was a five to a player. He was so special. Speed, defense, power, contact. He had the works, man. He could have been so good. When he played center field, the way he would go after.

balls reminded me of Devon White because they're much faster than they appear because they took such long strides and they just kind of loped after the ball but they would get there in an instant. Yeah, no, Frankie Gutierrez was just one of those guys you wish could have stayed healthy because this could have been, I mean, call me crazy, but I feel like he could have been Andrew Jones, you know? You know what, similar type, maybe with a little bit of higher batting average and not as much home run power, but I see where you're going with that for sure. Yeah. No, I love Frankie. No, go ahead. Sorry.

I was just going to say, who have you got next? I was going to toss it to you. Well, I mentioned Rafael Soriano. I mentioned Jeremy Reed. Chad Qualls was a guy I got to sign baseball from when I was a kid. I don't know if you remember Chad Qualls. I do. He had a pretty long career. He pitched 14 years in the big leagues. He was a good pitcher, man. He was a really nice. guy and we were in San Diego and these local, it was huge with Houston at the time. I think it was a year they went to the World Series with Houston. That'd be 2005, I want to say? I want to say that's

right. He was a young guy and some jerk was hazing him and my mom was trying to explain to me that you know, that's part of it. And I like said something out loud. I was like, shut up, man. They're just ball players. You know, I was like being a dumb kid. And this kid wanted to fight me. I was, Let's see, 2005, I was 13, 14. Actually, that ballgame was kind of fun. I had my orthodontas was in Tijuana. Oh, yeah? And my mouth was just killing me that day.

We came across the border and my mom's like, screw it. We're going to peco. Like, I'm going to make this a good day for you. We're going to have fun today. And so we sat next to the Astros bullpen and, you know, this guy's hazing the Astros and all this stuff. And I'm like, shut up, you idiot and all this. And I don't care about the Astros.

You know, I was actually there at cheer for the ballpen. Padres and, and Chad Qualls kind of smirked at me and smiling after the game, Chad Qualls kind of stuck around. He's like, hey, kid. And he threw a baseball to me and it was signed. I was like, hey, thanks, man. And I'm looking, you know, I have no idea who the hell Chad Qualls is. But, you know, from that day, I was a big Chad Qualls fan. So yeah, no. And, you know, I wrote down Corey Hart, Billy Butler for very odd reasons, very obscure. Both have to do with the High Desert Mavericks, which was a, it was a minor league team. in Southern California here that folded

just a few years ago. And Billy Butler, there was a sandwich or a burger that we made. It was a four-stag burger with chili, guack, bacon, just all kinds of disgusting. And he had to eat it with a four. I mean, it was, but it's what Billy would go

before games and go and grab from the concession stand. He would eat it before games. This thing destroyed you. I mean, it literally destroyed you. And Billy Butler only retired what two years ago if even a few years ago i was going to say yeah that's why he must have been at full-time d h yes very much so he was a he was a thunderous boy i think thunderous is a very good

way to describe his body type he's listed as six foot and 260 i'm very might be friendly that might be well i'm happy to hear that because i'm about six foot 230 and i thought i was large no you're not it's uh well speaking of large the other guy cori Hart. Oh, he was a big dude, but tall. 6-6-2-30. He had a good career. Corey Hart was a really good ballplay for the Brewers. He did have a very good career with the Brewers, spent one year with the Mariners, which was not so auspicious, but there were a few years in Milwaukee where he was very,

very good. He made two All-Star teams. Yeah, no, very talented guy. The thing with Corey Hart is another concession stand story is he would go up there and chat up this girl. He was, like, madly in love with this girl. and he ended up marrying her. Oh, really? He married a concession stand girl from High Desert Mavericks. That is super cool.

To my knowledge, they're still married. I mean, I never got to meet Corey, but yeah, I mean, just in the most random deal there. I just wanted to share those two stories. I think they're just two very interesting stories about it. And I don't know. You know, just I found it exciting. Yeah. Yeah, that's that.

That is a really neat story. Going up to a concession stand when you're a ball player, I don't think there's a, I don't, are there? a lot of players who do that to go get concessions before a game or? I think it used to happen more than it does now. I think, uh, okay. I think they've told a lot of staff, um, hey, you get caught sleeping with the ball players. You're out of here. And, uh, you know, I'm not knocking on Corey or his wife because it worked out, you know, and I'm, oh, yeah, beyond happy that it did. But I can imagine there's a lot of stories where it didn't work out, you

know, and, uh, yes, not a knock on the, the lovely ladies that work in sessions at ballparks or whatever they work in ballparks and not a knock on the 20-year-old kids that are coming through the minor leagues, you know, it's, uh, in a sense, sadly, it's human nature in a way, I guess. Um, but, you know, props to Corey Hart, man, and props to his wife. I don't know her name, but, you know, I love that story. It is a, it is a really neat story and, uh, and, and nothing, I guess. Yeah. I just, I just, I just, I've got, I told you I'd be incoherent tonight, ladies and gentlemen. It's all good. I've got one more for you. And I don't know if you have interested. Ryan Christensen, do you remember him?

I remember him coming up through the system. He never made the major leagues, but I do know the name, and I remember him. I think he peaked at AAA, but I could be wrong. Yeah, so he was on that first game with Chris Nelling that I was mentioning. He was catching. And he was a catching prospect. He was a first round pick in 99. I kind of did some research here.

He was supposed to, he was a big deal because he was playing in San Bernardino, and he went to school in Riverside, which is really, I mean, it's a, depending on traffic. you could get there in five, ten minutes. So he was a local kid. He was 20 years old, this rock star prospect, first rounder. That year, though, it was interesting

because he never made the majors, right? That's correct. So that 99 draft, I was looking up the Angels, the Angels gave up their first round pick, the 17th overall pick, because they signed somebody. Could you imagine, I'm sure you can figure out who it is. 99.

Could you figure out who the Angels signed that made them lose that first round pick? Oh, my gosh. I feel like you because this is something that, yeah, I need to know this because I was 14 in 1999, and this was when I was really paying attention to all 30 teams. I could basically tell you the starting rotations for all 30 teams. So who was the first base DH for the Angels in the early 2000s?

Oh, Movon. Yeah. That was quick. So, yeah, Movon. And the Red Sox ended up taking Rick S. S. S. Sodium. And, yeah, no, that's the point. He ended up being a two-way guy.

He made a AAA for 15 games in the Rangers organization. Ended up with Cincinnati in 2005. They made him a two-way in 06. That lasted a couple years. His final year was with the Dodgers and W doubly. But based purely on stats, he was a better pitcher. He was drafted as a hitter. But the Angel's second round pick in 99,

you want to take a wild guess of who it is? Angel's second round pick in 199. No first round pick, but their second round pick, I think worked out just fine. This is probably way off. Is it Adam Kennedy? No. Adam Kennedy was a trade for the Angels. Oh, okay.

My first thought was David Eckstein, but he was also a trade. He was as well. No, this was a homegrown kid who ended up a homegrown kid who had a pretty important part of that O2 run. That's kind of when I started checking out. Oh, my gosh. It's the big pitcher, the big tough pitcher whose name I can't recall. Yeah, John Lackey. That's it.

Yep, thank you. Yeah, no. I can see him saying, this game is mine, and I could not come up with his name. Oh, he was a monster. He was Max Scherzer before Max Scherzer. He was as intense as they came back then. You really was. The Mariners, though, they didn't have a second round pick,

and can you figure out why 99? They signed someone. Very obscure. Pretty good ball player. Was it Butch Husky? It was Jose Mesa. Oh. Yeah, well.

You know what? It didn't work out for the Giants who got the pick anyways because they drafted J.T. Thomas, who made it to AAA for all of three innings. Oh, no. So the Mariners did have a nice third round pick that year, though, who I'll tell you, this guy, I didn't realize he was drafted in 99 because he played until two years ago. he wasn't like a he wasn't really all that great sadly for long but it was uh willie bloomquist

oh yeah willie boom boom yeah yeah you got him in the third round in 99 99 you can you believe willie blumquist was a 99 draftee actually i can because i remember when he debuted also i'll yeah no that's fair you're absolutely right i'll tell a couple quick willie bloomquist stories in 2002 i want to say yes because he made his major league debil it later that year he was in spring training and hit close to 400, all of spring training. And there was talk, is this young kid going to make the Major League team? And he was one of the final cuts. And he didn't make it, but he was in September call-up.

Was Matt Tuosopo that same time? I think he might have been a few years later, just a couple of years later. They were both really big prospects. Yes, they were. And I have a Tuyasa-Sopo story also after I tell my second Willie Bloomquist story. When he was on the Royals and Jason Kendall was on the. Royals, the two of them got together and said, hey, after our careers are over, let's make a two-man bobsled team and try to make the Winter Olympics.

Yes. That's awesome. They never did it. I don't know if they tried, but they never made it. Although Willie Bloomquist did just recently retire, who knows, maybe 2020 in Beijing. My Matt Tuayas, my Matt Tuayas, so close, I hope they do. That'd be sure. I happened to be at an Arby's in the Northgate area in Seattle, and I paid with a car.

and I signed the paper and I made the offhand comments, save that that'll be worth something someday, which is, you know, of course was BS. And the lady behind the counter said, when Matt Tuiaasasopa was just in here, he had just been drafted. He signed his name and he had, and he signed his name with a number five at the end

because he was so used to signing autographs that way. That's funny. And he signed a fast food receipt that way. I know that's a really weird out there. Who gives a damn story, but no, it's cool, man. That's the whole point of when you and I chat is just random crap like that. It's so cool. You know what Matt's doing right now, though, right?

I think I wind up later working at that same Arby as a few years later. I don't remember what he's doing, no. He's a manager for the Brave single A team. Oh, that's right. Yeah, he's in the minors managing now. I'm going to pull up, let me see, Rome Braves. Do they have a roster available? See if Matt's wearing number five.

he was 27 with the Mariners. I don't think he ever wore five in the major leagues. That was his college number at the University of Washington. Marquez Tuyasasopo is his brother, former NFL quarterback. I believe with the Readers. Yeah, he was actually, he was interesting. He had just a chance of having a career. Yeah.

As a quarterback. I mean, I know he played for a while, but he had a chance to be a fairly decent quarterback. He was primarily, what, a second and third stringer from what I remember. I think he got a few spots starts. I don't think it was ever a long-term starter. I think he was fighting against, there was a kid out of Auburn, or I think Auburn, there was a kid that came up that was supposed to be the star quarterback

that ended up being a total bust, Jermichael something, if I'm remembering right. Oh, Jamarcus. Yes. Why can't I remember his last name? Is it Green? No. Jamarcus Russell. Yes, Jamarcus Russell.

I think he was fighting with Jamarcus Russell near the end there, and they went with Russell and two to his Sosopo went and I don't know what happened with him. I think he went up with the Jets. Matt does wear number 27 for the Braves as a manager. Yeah. Jason Hernandez and I have talked about this. I don't know about it on the air, but Matt Tuyasasopo was Mike Blowers called home run. Look into that if you don't know what I'm talking. I'm sure the mayor's going to look into that.

Absolutely. Actually, I'm going to talk to Jason here in 15, minutes. Ah, so you can ask him about it because Jason enjoys us also. We're in about 35 minutes right now, so I think we have to. Probably got to pull the plug, yeah? I think we got to pull the plug, unfortunately. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for listening to this Angels, Locked on Angels, Mariners' crossover episode. Taylor, anything you want to say before I wrap things up? No, man, I just love doing these shows with you. We've done, this is like our third, fourth show where we just kind of just chat about whoever and whatever.

I love doing these shows. And to the Lockdown Mariners listeners, thanks for bearing with my stories. And I hope you enjoyed them. To Lockdown Angels listeners, get used to it. I think we're going to do these kind of things once a week. I really do.

I mean, we're going to bring on a new host and just bring things on. But DC and I, I think you and I just work together well with this. So if you want to follow us on Twitter, we are at Lockdown Angels. I am at Taylor Blake Ward. I will not be with you.

This show is going to go up on Monday. We are recording on Friday. The show is going to go up on Monday. I will not be back with you until Thursday on opening day. I have a vacation schedule that was scheduled months in advance. So I will not be with you, but it was really pleasure bringing you locked down angels today and lockdown mariners. It's great being back on.

And, you know, this is how I usually close out my show. So I'm going to close out Lockdown Angels and D.C. Go ahead and close out Lockdown Mariners. But for Lockdown Angels, I'm Taylor Blake Ward, reminding you to dot your eyes, cross your teeth. and stay nasty, Anaheim. Thank you very much. And next time on Locked on Mariner's gang,

I will be joined by guest panelists, Mimi Bobeck, Junior Gorg, and a license plate. You will definitely not want to miss that one, so please download Raid and Subscribe to Locked on Mariters and Locked on Angels. On Google Podcast, Apple Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher Radio, or whichever podcasting app that your brainhead can think of.

Follow me on Twitter at DC underscore Lunberg. Follow Taylor on Twitter at Taylor Blake Ward. Follow these two programs on Twitter at Lockdown Angels and at LO underscore Mariners. This is my Saturday show. We will be back next week as the regular season inches closer and closer. Opening night in Houston is a mere week away. Have a great weekend, ladies and gentlemen.

This is Joey Martin saying join us back here next time for another edition of Locked On Mariners, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Ask your smart device to play Locked On MLB upon the conclusion of this program.