Episode 229: Bret Boone (Retired MLB Infielder)

[00:00:00] Welcome to episode number 229 of the Marine Layer Podcast. We've got former Mariner Brett Boone on the show today. He joins us to talk about Dan Wilson and Edgar Martinez, how he thinks they'll fare in their roles. He's here to talk a little bit about as well the Mariners and the start they've gotten off to this year, where he thinks they can improve what they've done well. He talks a little bit about his own media career and a little bit of reminiscing on his time as a player, especially during that 2001 season.

[00:00:27] And here's your guys reminder before we start this podcast, make sure you're staying on top of everything. If you're doing that and if you want to do that, there's one place to do it. Go over to our websites, MarineLayerPod.com. Everything's over there, you guys, whether you want to watch the episodes, if you want to listen, whether you want to join our Patreon, which we hope you do, you get priority on mailbag questions. If you want to buy our merch, it's over there. And if you want to see our live show schedule, which speaking of, we've got our first live show of the regular season coming up this Saturday.

[00:00:57] This Saturday, April 19th over at Queen Anne Beer Hall. Live show starts at 11 a.m. Watch party at 12 p.m. over at Queen Anne Beer Hall in Seattle. We're going to have giveaways. We're going to do trivia. We're going to take your questions. It's going to be a lot of fun. Plus, we're all going to stick around and watch the game. So come on out for that if you've got some free time. All right, let's get it rolling.

[00:01:31] And we welcome you to this episode of the Marine Layer Podcast. We're part of the Just Baseball Podcast Network. Sitting here recording postgame, Tuesday, April 15th on Tuesday night. Not the Mariners finest outing. It's not. I know this is me bringing in the episode. If you want some clarification, TJ's in New York this week. He is on for the interview with Brett Boone. So he's on for the full interview.

[00:01:54] But he's had some Wi-Fi trouble. It's been a little glitchy. So I'm just bringing in the show, taking out the show. But TJ will be on for the bulk of it. Anyway. Yeah, tough game here in Cincinnati in game one, huh? Luis Castillo. Didn't have it. Just didn't have it tonight. Goes four and a third innings. Six earned. Command just wasn't there. He walked a handful of guys.

[00:02:16] Guys. Yeah. Look, we're not going to make too much of one outing yet. But we talked about it plenty last year, right? That when this Mariners rotation goes out on the road, a lot of times it can be a bit of a different story. It wasn't really an issue for Logan last year. It wasn't really an issue for Wu last year. But it got to some other guys. Luis was one of those guys.

[00:02:38] And we'll see how he fares moving forward. But after what was a few really good starts to begin the year, tough outing in Cincinnati where he made his first return back to that ballpark since he was traded. So tough homecoming in a way for Luis. Were some positives to take away in this game. Dylan Moore. Oh, he looks unreal. He had three hits. Homer twice. Had no trouble getting to Nick Lodolo, who's been awesome this year entering this start for the Reds. He had a sub one ERA entering today.

[00:03:09] But Dylan Moore got to him. Mariners got some runs early. They just couldn't keep adding on and piling on. And unfortunately, pitching slipped as a result. Four runs can often win the Mariners a ballgame, especially with their pitching staff and with the way their bullpens pitched over the last week or so. Not tonight, though. Austin Hayes got to him with the three run homer. Gavin Lux. Four for four out of nowhere. I don't know where that came from because he's not off to a good start this year.

[00:03:35] But torch the Mariners tonight, that's for sure. Anyway, that's just a little recap of Tuesday's game. I'm sure we'll get into all of it much more on Friday's episode when we take your guys' questions for the mailbag. But yeah, there's a couple things to watch there, including the start of the viewing of how this pitching staff is going to fare on the road. Because obviously we want to hope last season was just kind of a one-off, right? And that it's not going to be like that every year, every time this rotation goes out and pitches away from T-Mobile Park.

[00:04:04] But game one wasn't the most ringing endorsement. Hopefully Bryce Miller turns it around on Wednesday when the Mariners get set for game two of this series. Anyways, all right. Oh, actually, one more thing. Shout out Ben Williamson. First big league hit. I think big league hits and the first ones are the coolest thing. Because we tweeted it, and I'll just say it here. It is such a culmination of everything a player's ever worked for when you get that first big league hit.

[00:04:31] Because going through Little League and going through high school and going through college where Ben Williamson thrived and then going through the minors where he didn't spend that much time, he worked his way through the minors pretty fast, but all of it combines into getting that call up to the big leagues and that first big league hit. That is a real, real testimony and culmination of everything a baseball player's worked for. So every time I see those first hits, I never get tired of watching them. They are really cool. So shout out to Ben.

[00:05:01] Got his first hit of his big league career here on Tuesday. Hopefully he keeps going, and hopefully we'll get to see that premium defense flash as time goes on here too, because I'm sure he's going to be playing a lot at third base. But yeah, those are the takeaways from Tuesday's game. All right. We're going to get to Brett Boone here in just a minute. A couple of housekeeping things. Again, guys, first live show of the regular season, our second ever live show, Saturday. It's at Queen Anne Beer Hall, 11 a.m., Saturday, April 19th. We cannot wait for it. Again, going to be giving out prizes.

[00:05:30] We're going to be doing trivia. We're going to be taking your questions. We're all going to stick around and watch the game. Mark it on your calendars. We're really, really, really looking forward to it, and we would love to have you guys there. So come on out for it. Saturday, April 19th, Queen Anne Beer Hall starts 11 a.m. And before the interview with Brett, let's take a pause here. Going to talk to you guys about our friends over at Pogaccia's Pub 85. If you need spots to watch the games with Mariner season now in full swing, you can head over there. It's an awesome time with your friends. There's great food. There's games. There's darts and pool.

[00:06:00] If you go during happy hour, awesome drink specials. There really, really are. It's 2 to 6 p.m. For happy hour, three and four dollar drinks Monday through Friday. Those are awesome deals, you guys. If you need a place to go plan a time with your friends and have some drinks and watch some games, head over there. Because all of that is over at Pogaccia's Pub 85 in Kirkland. We really love having Brett Boone on. I gotta tell you. He's gotten into the media world the last few years. I think he's really good at it. Good talker. Really knows the game.

[00:06:29] Has insight. You know, calls back to his playing career to really contextualize a lot of things. Which we appreciate because he has a bunch of insight that a bunch of us don't have. Especially getting to be around Dan and Edgar as much as he was. We pick his brain about that a bunch. And a few other things as well. So, I don't want to keep you. Again, TJ and I are both on for this interview. So, it's business as usual. And with that, let's get to our interview with Brett Boone. All right. We got Brett Boone on with us. Now recurring guest. He's a former Mariner's second baseman.

[00:07:00] He's also the host of the Brett Boone podcast, which you can find everywhere. Booney, it's great to have you back on. And the last time we talked to you, you talked about how when you got your start in media. That you weren't so sure about starting a podcast. And you weren't sure if it was going to be a fit for you. Now, maybe a year later since we've had you on. How are you still enjoying it these days? I'll tell you. It's a lot of work. And I laugh because I get calls once in a while from somebody that's thinking about starting a podcast. You know, they're done playing.

[00:07:28] And I said, well, you can do it. But I said, you got to prepare. As you guys know, you do a great job covering the Mariners with your podcast. So, you know the behind the scenes and what goes into it, the preparation. And it's been an interesting kind of journey for me. We've been up and running about four years. And I've learned a lot, to be honest with you. But it's a lot of work and a lot of prep. And, you know, learning being on this side of the mic, which I had never been on before. I've always been the one.

[00:07:56] You know, today's more my style. I'm getting interviewed. I've been interviewed my whole life. But when I'm the interviewee, or I'm sorry, when I'm the interviewer, that's a different animal. And it took some time. But I'm having a good time with it. And it's definitely, it's been a ride. But things are going really well. How do you decide what you're watching on a given night? See, it comes down to that. It's a good point.

[00:08:22] Because, you know, tomorrow, first thing in the morning, I've got to do a spot on Padres Radio. So I've got to have my eyes on the Padres tonight. You know, where I'm watching the Mariners a little bit. Because I go on Softie on Thursday afternoon. I've got to be up to date on what the Mariners are doing. And for you guys tonight, I've got to be up to date for that. I've got Atlanta that I did this morning. So I've got to keep an eye on Atlanta. Who knows what's next? You know, then I'll do one in New York. So I've got to watch, you know, Uncle Aaron. See how the Yankees are doing. I've got to see how the Mets are keeping up.

[00:08:52] So it's pretty much whatever I have coming up the next day. I try to put my eyes on those games. And if I have a busy, say, a busy Thursday and I've got three different things I have to cover, I'll tape a couple games and then whip through it. See where the scoring was. You know, see the key moments. And as you know, this is an entertainment business. So I'll find a key part, throw it into the minutia of my answer.

[00:09:19] And now all of a sudden it's, wow, Brett's been watching all the games. But sometimes I haven't watched them all. What, I'm curious, because it seems like not every player is someone who'll just go home and watch a bunch of baseball. They might just disconnect from it all. What's the difference for you between now and versus when you're a player in terms of how much you're watching, how much you're paying attention to the whole league? Right. Well, I'm in a different time when I was playing. We didn't have access to on-demand right now whatever we want to watch. So it was a little bit different.

[00:09:48] You had to plan it out and set your DVR if you wanted to watch a different game. For me as a player, I'd keep up with my family members. You know, Dad was managing a couple different tenures during my career. My brother was playing on different teams. So I'd keep up with that. But as far as watching games, I really didn't watch any games. I was down to I might watch a game if somebody's coming into town and there's going to be a starting pitcher that I'm going to face in the next series.

[00:10:16] I'll probably look through that and I'll watch that. See, oh, he's pitching guys in the lineup that fit my mold. Maybe that's how he's going to pitch me. So other than that, I was a big film guy. I kind of – these guys today I kind of envy because although sometimes I think it's a little too much, the analytical and the technology that we have. I think too much information in the wrong hand sometimes can be detrimental. At the same time, I wish I had what they have at their fingertips.

[00:10:46] I could pull into a city, have everything on my iPad, and watch the opposing team coming in. I can go through their whole bullpen and their whole starting rotation and have that all in my mind because I love that. I mean, before a series, I'd always be Carl was our cameraman and our video man. And I'd say, Carl, get those tapes rolling and let's find out. I want to see his last start and then I want to see the last time I faced him. If you've got anything else, whatever, you can get your hands on it.

[00:11:13] At the time, we're using floppy disk and throwing them in and rewinding and fast-forwarding. So I'm a little envious of the guys today, what they have at their fingertips. But I think it's for the individual to do what works for you, consume everything, and then decide for yourself what works best for the individual. Because one way is not the way for everybody. You know, it's too much intel for some people, like I said, can be detrimental.

[00:11:38] And then another player getting that same information, it may be very good for him. So you've got to know yourself with time and the ups and downs in this game and the more experience you get, you kind of settle in on what works for you. So that's actually a good segue because obviously Dan and Edgar are now in prominent roles with the Mariners as we transition into a little bit of talk about Seattle's team. And Edgar is obviously one of the greatest hitters to ever play the game.

[00:12:08] And you spend plenty of time around him and he is very much about, from everything we've seen and everything we've picked up on so far, he's very much about simplifying things. Some coaching staffs like to really dive into the analytics. Some teams like to keep it a little simpler. Edgar seems to be on the side of it. He's more of the latter. Do you think after the last regime the Mariners had that was a little more focused on the analytics that that's a benefit to these guys? I think so.

[00:12:35] I think anytime Edgar's in the room, and Edgar's very soft-spoken. He's not going to be a guy that shoves it down your throat if you want to listen. Edgar and what I found, and he helped me out a lot, was the mental side of hitting. It wasn't necessarily our swings were completely different, but when the ball's in the hitting zone, we did very similar things as hitters. It's just how we got there was a completely different journey. But my talks with Edgar through the years have been more behind the scenes of hitting,

[00:13:05] preparing for each and every at-bat, preparing for 162 games, having a formula, having an approach each and every at-bat, and not wavering from that. I remember coming back to Seattle, and I'd had some really good years. I'd had some tough years. If you look at my bubblegum card, that'll back it up. But I sat down with Edgar one day, and I said, Edgar, what makes you so good? I said, I know I can hit 25, 30 home runs.

[00:13:34] I know I can hit 300. I know I can drive in 100 runs. I've done it before. But how do I do that consistently? And that's where the dialogue started. And he basically told me, Booney, set goals. And I said, oh, I don't want to set goals because I don't want to not hit my goal. He says, that's the key. He said, set your goals high. And he goes, this year, I'll give you an example. 2001, he said, Booney, hit 350 this year.

[00:14:01] Hit 40 homers, and I want you to drive in 120. I said, well, I've never hit 350, I've never hit 40, and I've never driven in 120. He goes, but if you hit 320 and you hit 30 homers and you drove in 110, would you be happy? I said, absolutely. He goes, set your goals high. Well, that particular year, I drove in 141. I hit 37. So I was an Edgar believer. But we went deeper than that. It wasn't necessarily the mechanics.

[00:14:30] Mechanics, how you come about your swing, how you learn to be a good hitter is through trial and error. It's through failure. It's through getting your butt kicked and getting back up and learning from it. But what he taught me each and every day was have an approach. When you leave the on-deck circle, it's over. Whatever you decided you're going into that at bat with, stick to the program and don't waver.

[00:14:56] Sometimes you're going to get – sometimes that pitcher is going to beat you. But over 162 games, getting four or five at-bats every single night, if you take that approach, you're going to give yourself as the individual the best chance to succeed over time. And I implemented that in my Seattle years second time around, and it turned me into a completely different offensive player. I wish I would have found out earlier in my career to go about it like that, but I guess better late than never.

[00:15:25] And Edgar was a big part of that for me. If I'm going to try and simplify what you just said, and you let me know whether I'm right or wrong in how I interpret sort of the whole philosophy of how Edgar Martinez operates and how he tries to pass off information to others, is it just confidence? Well, confidence is – you get confidence from success. You know, you can act and say, oh, I'm confident all you want. But I can look you in the eyes and have a conversation with you.

[00:15:54] I'll know if you're confident. You won't have to tell me if you're confident. There's guys that have that fake bravado, and I've had to do it sometimes when I'm not seeing the ball well. My swing stinks, and I've got to find a way in the on-deck circle to let this pitcher know that I'm that guy that he doesn't want to pitch to. And I'll tell you what, every time I did that and I walked to the plate, he knew I wasn't confident. He knew I was over my last 12.

[00:16:19] I wasn't seeing the ball good, and it seemed like that first pitch was at the knees on the corner, strike one. On the flip side, when I was swinging good, everybody knew I was swinging good. I knew I was swinging good. I didn't have to say anything. It was a look, the way I walked. I don't know what it was. But I could feel when I got in the box, this guy's going to be really careful with me. And it's something, you know, I don't want to get woo-woo and magical and stuff like that. It's just something that you feel, and I've been on both sides of it.

[00:16:47] I know when the pitcher has it, and he's got my number that night, and I know when I have it, and that pitcher better not throw me a strike because I feel pretty good that one's going to land in the seat. So it's something that confidence is something that's earned, and it's earned through getting it done. It's earned through success, and the toughest part of playing this game, it's easy when you're rolling.

[00:17:13] It's easy when my swing feels great, and I'm squaring everything up, and I'm spitting on sliders in the dirt. That's the easy part. The tough part is you're not going to have that all year. That's why it's 162. I think it's the toughest thing to do is play 162 games as a hitter against big league pitching. What are you going to do when everything isn't right? And I learned that later in my career. Everything isn't three-run homer tonight.

[00:17:40] Maybe tonight, that swing, I've got to find a way to compete. I've got to find a way to work a walk and maybe get a hit, maybe turn a big double play and help my team win a game because I know I'm not the guy that's seeing it good right now. I think it's almost like a PGA Tour player. You know, you're not going to have your game every day, but the great ones find a way to just ping it around the golf course and stay in the tournament until they get their swing back.

[00:18:07] I think as baseball players, you've got to know, okay, I'm 0 for my last six. Let's not turn this into an 0 for 15. Let's go into survival mode, get a few hits, work before and after the game on the side, get it back to where I can be that guy that you better not throw me a strike. But it's knowing yourself and it's nothing you can't. The only way you can get it is through experience.

[00:18:33] What do you think Edgar can do for Julio specifically that other coaches couldn't do for him in the past? And I know this is a loaded question, but I think when they brought Edgar back in to be the hitting coach, that's where everybody's minds went is what can he do for Julio? So I'm curious your thoughts on it. The problem with Edgar is he was such a great hitter. And in layman terms is, oh, now you've got a great hitting coach. So it's all better now. Everybody's going to be great. Well, I'll tell you, I've had a lot of hitting coaches. And I'll give you a quick story.

[00:19:01] I had Paul Molitor in 2004, one of my favorite players. When I was a young player, I used to come out early and watch Paulie hit batting practice and just had a ton of respect for him. He was our hitting coach in 2004. One of the greatest hitters of my time, 3,000 hits, Hall of Famer. We had a great rapport. And I remember at the end of the year, I think I had a decent, I had an okay year. And I hit 25 homers, but my numbers were off from the year before.

[00:19:29] And I remember the last week of the season, we weren't making the playoffs. And we're in the cage doing flip work. And Paulie looks at me and he goes, he goes, Booney, I knew how to get a hit. I said, Paulie, I know that. So being a great hitter, being a great hitting coach, it doesn't matter. It's not for everybody. Us as big league hitters, we've got to be big boys. When we get in the box, nobody's going to be there with us to hit.

[00:19:56] And it's just doing, it's almost like the best hitting coaches I've ever had. They're psychologists. It doesn't matter what your repertoire is, what you did in your career. It's how can you put me in a mindset that I believe in myself? Lee Elia for me, when I played for the Mariners, was great. He'd walk by, say something subtle in passing. When he saw, I was really struggling. I remember in Texas, we went to Texas. We talked about hitting. I had a great series.

[00:20:26] Two weeks later, I'm sitting on the bench. And I'm kind of, you know, I'm 0 for 2. I struck out. I popped up. And Lee came by and he said, Booney, how you feeling? I said, Lee, you've been watching these last 10 at-bats? You know how I'm feeling. He goes, remember that conversation we had in Texas when you did that thing with your top hand? You might want to try that. And he just walks off. And all of a sudden, I've got hope as a player. Doesn't mean I'm going to go out and kill it. But I say, I do remember that.

[00:20:55] Oh, now all of a sudden, I'm looking for a for sure 0 for right now. And all of a sudden, that little subtle confidence booster, he said the right thing that registered. And all of a sudden, I got a chance now. Now, that's what a great hitting coach does. I think they put that putting that on Edgar is, oh, Edgar, the great Edgar Martinez is now the hitting coach. That doesn't mean anything at the big league level. You still, these are big boys. They got to do it when they get in the box.

[00:21:21] I think Julio Rodriguez, there's been a lot on his plate. He's a young player. His skill set is star quality, without a doubt. I watch Julio. I don't know Julio well. But just my observations from afar, watching as a baseball fan, as an analyst, is, man, this kid's got a lot on his plate. He thinks about it a lot. He really wants to be the guy.

[00:21:47] Offensively, the Seattle Mariners have struggled the last few years, been at the bottom of the American League. And I think Julio puts too much on himself, thinking, I'm the guy. I got the big contract. I'm on the cover of the media guide. I've got to go above and beyond. And that's when we have to take a step back. No one guy can just carry an entire team. But there hasn't been really a, you know, Cal Raleigh now a little bit is turning into that.

[00:22:17] He's kind of got a partner. Cal's proven that he's going to hit 25, 30 home runs and kind of be a big voice and a captain-type figure on that team. But it's really tough when you're that young doing it by yourself. Ken Griffey came up. He had a bunch of guys around him. He had an Edgar. Eventually, he had an Alex. He had a Jay Buhner. So he kind of had a cast with him. But that's the type of talent Julio is. I'm not going to say he's junior. That's not fair.

[00:22:47] Junior's the best player I ever played with. So that would be unfair to put that on Julio Rodriguez. And junior's one of the greatest players of all time. So that's not fair. But junior had that special skill set that not too many people have. And Julio's in that category of that special skill sets that you see with the Harpers and the Trouts of the world. It's just whether he gets enough experience to really tap into it and take it to the next level.

[00:23:14] Before we ask you about more of the players, I want to get your thoughts on Dan Wilson because you've also spent a lot of time around him in a clubhouse. What is Dan Wilson like in a clubhouse? And now if you were to project a little bit, what he's like leading this group of players in Seattle? I think Dan, when I think of Dan Wilson, I think high integrity person. I played with him for years. We got traded for one another. Then we got reunited. Oh, Dan, he's great. He's buttoned up.

[00:23:42] He's that straight arrow valedictorian president. He's kind of like my dad. He's a Bob Boone president. He was the president of your high school. He was the valedictorian. He was the nice guy. He was the guy that everybody loved. But he's also funny. He's got a dry sense of humor. He knows the game very well. He's a good people person.

[00:24:02] I think he's been around that organization quite a bit and wearing a bunch of different hats in the past couple years from going down and working with the catchers to instructional ball to doing some color on TV. So he knows that organization inside and out. He knows the players. He has a relationship. He has the respect of the players. And he's a real solid baseball man. So anytime you're taking over an organization and you're going to be the skipper, there's going to be a bullseye on you. But I think Danny's up for the job.

[00:24:33] The players, at the end of the day, managing is managing. That's great. And you've got to put your players in the best space to succeed. You've got to deal with egos. You've got to deal with personalities. That's the real job of managing. It's not, oh, should we bring the lefty in or should we bring the righty in? The computer will tell you that. Oh, should he go 80 pitches? Should he go 87 pitches? That's not the tough part of managing.

[00:24:59] The tough part of managing is my third baseman's really scuffling right now and my left fielder's having a tough time. My left fielder, I might have to give a hug to. But my third baseman, I need to kick him in the ass. And I'm going to get the same result. That's knowing people. I think it's like being the big-time CEO of a company. It's dealing with people. It's dealing with personalities, egos. And I think I saw when Scotty got let go a year ago and Danny took over, people were asking me, what do you think of Danny?

[00:25:26] I said, who better than Danny in that position right now? He's a respectable guy. Like I said, high-integrity guy. A lot of baseball knowledge. Great teammate. I gained a big appreciation for Dan Wilson post-career. Danny was a big part of our early 2000s run. But at the time, you think he's the catcher. You know, he hits eighth. He puts up some numbers. But I came to appreciate how much he meant to that team and that pitching staff as the catcher.

[00:25:56] Just like I look at a Cal Raleigh today. I look at Cal Raleigh, and that's great that he hits 30 home runs. But where his real value is is behind the plate. He's as good catch throw as anybody in the game, but it's more than that. It's the fact that when that starting pitcher comes to the ballpark, he's in a good frame of mind because Cal's behind the plate. And they have that relationship. Seems like he has that rapport with that starting staff. And that starting staff, as everybody knows, is very special, very talented.

[00:26:23] But the fact that they all love throwing to Cal Raleigh, that's such a plus in an organization. Danny was very similar to that in the early 2000s when we played together. He had the full respect of the staff. They loved throwing to Danny. And the credit catchers don't get is sometimes you come to the game and you don't have your best stuff. You know it. You're in the bullpen. I'm talking as a pitcher now. Slider ain't – it ain't – it doesn't have that bite to that.

[00:26:53] That fastball's a little bit off. But you got a catcher back there. You got a partner that goes, all right, but I know Danny. I know Cal. He'll get me through with my mediocre stuff. That's a huge thing for the mind. And that's – like I said, as I've gotten older, as I've gotten away from the game, I appreciate guys that were really good behind the plate. That's where their value is, is getting that staff through when they don't have their best stuff. And then the 30-plus home runs, that's not bad either for Cal.

[00:27:21] But, yeah, Danny was as good as anybody at the time. He wanted Edgar to come with him. Who wouldn't want Edgar to come? But it's not magic. These players still got to do it. And I know you guys, you're around it all the time. I'm sitting here as an ex-Mariner thinking, man, I wish they'd go out and get some offense to help those guys. And it just seems like year after year we're sitting in the same spot. Welcome to the club, Booney. Yeah.

[00:27:49] So, that being said, what have you made of the Mariners through the first couple weeks of the season? I think they're very similar to the team a year ago. I think Kirby coming back is going to be huge. I think Matt Brash coming to help Munoz at the end of the games. I think that's going to be a huge boon to their bullpen. The problem with not going out and really addressing the offense, to me, and it seems like Polanco is a little banged up.

[00:28:17] They're picking their spots when they're playing them in the field. But he's off to a great start offensively. Cal's picked it up recently. He's hit some home runs. But the problem when you've got that type of pitching staff, that good of a pitching staff, especially in 2025, it's not 1997 anymore where you go through the entire season with a six-man rotation. Maybe one guy gets hurt here and there. Today's game, it seems like guys are dropping like flies. Everybody's getting hurt every day.

[00:28:46] It seems like somebody else is going on the IL. So, when you've got a talented one through five starting rotation, that's great. Here's the next part. You've really got to stay healthy because if two of those guys go down, you're in big trouble. Whereas you look at teams that have the offense and the pitching, you look at, well, the Dodgers is kind of the epitome. It's really not fair.

[00:29:11] If one of their starting pitchers go down, they fill the spot with another potential Cy Young award winner. Everybody doesn't have that luxury. So, it really puts a – for this Mariner team, I think, to succeed, go to the postseason, go deep into the postseason, it's really imperative that this starting rotation stay healthy. In terms of the offense that actually has been good, I've been really impressed with what I've seen from Jorge Polanco this season.

[00:29:40] But it's been even more impressive because he's done it while battling through an injury, Booney. He's got the knee issue, he's got a side issue, and yet he's trying to gut his way through and be productive for the Mariners offensively. What is it like going to the park when you are just not feeling 100% and you know you have no other choice but that you have to play? Well, I'll tell you, not too many times in my career did I feel 100% for the majority of the time.

[00:30:06] But I remember briefly in 2002, the second half of 2002, I really – I hurt my Achilles. They had to make me a special shoe. I had to get it taped every day a special way, and I had a limp for the second half of the season. Well, all of a sudden, the second half of the season, my swing started to kick in, and I was playing really well. I had a great second half of 2002. And I'll tell you what, that pain in my heel, it made it a lot easier because I was getting two hits every night. So that's what Polanco's going through right now.

[00:30:36] He's banged up, he's hurt, but whatever those injuries are, they're not affecting him when that ball's in the hitting zone. Sometimes – and I hate to say this, and I don't want to bring this on anybody – but sometimes a little injury to the right area is good. For me in 2002, I was coming off a huge 2001 season, got off to a slow start in 2002, had the injury, and it kind of had to slow me down.

[00:31:00] It made me really think about my at-bats and not just go for it every time. And it really settled me in and kind of made me really think about the art of hitting it. It helped me a lot. Now, that being said, I don't want that Achilles because it was a pain in the neck taping it and having to do that every night. But sometimes it sounds funny, but the right injury to the right part of your body sometimes is really a plus as a hitter.

[00:31:28] And I'm not going to say that's the reason Polanco's hitting, but I'll tell you if you ask him right now, those injuries probably don't hurt quite as much as they would if he was hitting 180 right now. So what would your dream injury then be to kind of give yourself a kick in the rear end? Is it like an arm injury? I don't know. Well, the only thing – the only injury – you know, I was pretty lucky throughout my career to not have too many injuries. I had a knee problem before I came back to the Mariners in San Diego. I couldn't hit with that.

[00:31:57] No, I don't want that problem. I had elbow chips, but for the most part I stayed healthy, and the only time I really knew I was hurt, but I played through it and was successful was that 0-2 season I was talking about. It was unbelievable. It seemed like I just kept getting hits and thinking, wow, I've got to stay in this lineup. Even though I'm – I could move. I could move in the field. I could go back and forth. I just had a little bit of a hobble.

[00:32:23] And the doctor told me, you're not going to hurt it any worse than it is, and if you can play on it, go ahead and play on it. Well, if I wouldn't have been swinging good, I probably wouldn't have said, oh, I've got to go – at the time it was the DL. But the fact that you were performing, that injury tends to not hurt as much when you're throwing two out there every night. The American League this year, Brett, seems pretty down. Do you think the Mariners are good enough to be at the top of that?

[00:32:51] Well, I think you look at the American League West, and, you know, I was going through it. You look at the Angels. I think it's a feel-good story earlier in the season. You know, they're in first place, and I think that's great. But I look at that – I look at that team. I look at the Trout's back. But I look at the personnel on that roster. I don't see that being a postseason, go deep into the postseason team. So I'm actually surprised right now that they're at the top of the division.

[00:33:18] I think the A's are a little bit better than they were a year ago, but they've got a long way to go before they're a legitimate postseason contender. And then it leaves you to the three teams. Seattle Mariners, best pitching staff in the division. Texas Rangers are interesting to me. I think the Texas Rangers, 2023, had the best offense in baseball and just willed their way through the postseason. Boach made all the right moves, and they end up winning a World Series.

[00:33:46] When you come back 2024, you can call it, what do you want, a World Series hangover? I don't necessarily believe in that. But guys were hurt. They were banged up all year. Guys didn't have the offensive years that they were having. And pitchers were in and out. DeGrom missed pretty much the entire season. Well, this year you got DeGrom back. He's all right at the beginning. You got Evaldi, who's an absolute horse at the top of the rotation. And then you've got Maylee, who's pitching really good.

[00:34:12] Gray and Bradford are coming back, I think, either May or around midseason. That's going to be important for them. Their bullpen's okay. The offense is loaded with ability, whether they're going to do it or not, whether Seager's starting to pick it up a little bit. They need Simeon to be good. They need Garcia, who was the postseason hero in 23, to be really good. Guys like that, you know, the young kids, it's going to be a mix.

[00:34:41] So Texas is going to be in the mix. I think Houston is as vulnerable as they've ever been. Tucker, Bregman leaving. And it's not just their bats leaving, but I think it's their presence, what they've built there for the last six, seven years, when they pretty much had a stranglehold on this division. I think for the first time, Houston's gettable in that division. So I think it's going to come down to the Mariners, Houston, and Texas. I think it's a real competitive division. I don't think anyone's going to run away with it.

[00:35:10] And if you want to talk just who has the nod, I always look to pitching. Mariners have the pitching. But if you'd have told me a year ago that the Mariners are going to lead the American League in pitching and not go to the postseason, I'd say you were crazy. Well, that's exactly what they did. I think they were number one overall in the American League and didn't make the postseason. I thought that was impossible. I always thought, you give me the best pitching, I'll put a AAA team on offense out there, and I'll still go to the postseason.

[00:35:35] The Mariners proved a year ago that that's not always necessarily what comes of it. Yeah, it's kind of two years in a row. They might not have been the top of the league in 23, but they were pretty close. So this is back-to-back years with that rotation where they just haven't been able to get there. So let me ask you this, because you said you wish they'd go out and get offense. So I'll phrase it like this. Whether it would be it had been three months ago in the offseason or whether you could fast forward to the trade deadline now, whether it's a certain player you

[00:36:04] like or a certain type of hitter you like, what helps this offense to the point where you look at it and say, oh, this is a real needle mover? Well, for me, and I was pushing for it late in the offseason when Pete Alonzo was out there, and I said, you've got to make a big splash. Go get a Pete Alonzo. That's really going to help Julio kind of take the onus off him. You've got Alonzo, who's a guy that's going to hit 30 on a bad year. He's going to hit 40 when things are right. He's off to a great start for the Mets.

[00:36:32] That's the type of player I wanted to see them go out and get, you know, trading for a Tucker. I don't know if they would have done that within their division, but that type of player. I think at this stage, and especially now with Polanco being out, I'm sorry, not Polanco, Robles, who had a great stint with him last year, was off to a decent start, seemed to be one of those core players for them. He's out. Bliss is out, the young second baseman.

[00:36:57] And I look at this team, and you've got Polanco, who's sparingly, and hopefully he can get through these injuries. But other than that, you've got Raleigh, Julio, Rosarino, and Crawford are the only four regular big league players that Danny goes and he knows he can put in the lineup every day. I haven't seen too many teams be successful, with the exception of the Tampa Bay Rays, who are unicorns, and I don't know how they do it year in and year out. They're unbelievable.

[00:37:26] But for the most part, as a general rule, you don't have four guys and then mix and match five others at the other position, or four others, or no, five now with the DH. So it's going to be interesting to see what they do. You know, when a guy like Robles goes down and you're already offensively challenged, and it's middle of April, a lot of these teams right now, they're out, they're trying to get a feel for what kind of team they have. So there's not a bunch of people out there willing to trade a bunch of players.

[00:37:56] It's April 15th. You know, we want to decide what kind of team do we have? We're not ready to trade anybody right now, and we're not ready not to. So it's not like there's plenty of guys available at this stage of the game. It's going to have to get them through. I think these guys, Kirby coming back, and like I said, brash, that's going to be huge. Because if you're going to be pitching strong, you got to have all of them. You got to have all the horses, and they're coming back soon. We hope.

[00:38:24] I only got a couple more questions for you, Booney. One thing I think about here off of this topic is that, you know, the Mariners, whether they trade for this player or they sign a player in free agency sometime down the road, they want, I think they want to make better impressions on players. So players are more willing to come to them and want to play in an environment like Seattle. What kind of impact do you think Cal Raleigh signing an extension would have on players

[00:38:49] outside the organization with a player like Cal giving his stamp of approval of this team and this franchise by committing there? Well, I think, you know, I think when guys come to Seattle, they see the potential there. I saw it at its greatest in the early 2000s. There's nothing like it. And you can talk about playing in Boston or playing in New York during a pennant race. You know, the big playing in St. Louis, the big baseball have the reputation to be in

[00:39:18] real great baseball cities. Well, I'll tell you what, in the early 2000s playing for the Seattle Mariners, they can hang with any fan base in the country. But you got to win. And you got to want them to come out. You see, I've been watching like you guys have been watching the last few years when they just missed going to the playoffs. And you see down the stretch how that town turns out and how much electricity is in the air.

[00:39:46] Well, when you're winning all the time, man, they come out tenfold. I remember 0-1 just getting on the top step right before each and every game to take the field and just looking around. I mean, it's 47 strong every night. I don't care if it's Monday night against a last place team. It was packed. That roof was blowing off every night. Years later, I went to a Seahawks game when they were rocking. And it brought back memories. I said, this is what Safeco, now T-Mobile, used to be like every night.

[00:40:17] If you win, I've seen what that city could do. It's unbelievable. It's a great city. The people are great. The ballpark is beautiful. But players at the end of the day, majority of the players, they want to win. And they want to see management that wants to win. Jerry DiPoto's been there. He's developed the farm system. He's brought this pitching staff to the Seattle Mariners. For that, I've got to tip my cap.

[00:40:44] But I'm starting to look beyond that and think, well, obviously Jerry knows they need offense. He wants to go get a – who doesn't want to go out and spend and get great players? Of course he does. It tells me that Jerry's not making the final decision on who he's bringing. So I can't put the onus necessarily on him. He's developed a great pitching core that they have developed through the minor league system.

[00:41:11] At the end of the day, when people are yelling, Jerry, oh, he's not spending any money. Well, I don't think Jerry has final say on how much money they spend. So when you're talking about onus, there's enough to go around. Yeah. I would say you are absolutely 100% right on that. And we've talked about that probably one too many times on this podcast. So I'll end with this. Speaking of winning, I thought I'd wrap up with this question. I saw you answer it a couple weeks ago, but I'm just curious to hear you talk about it now a couple weeks into the season and here on our platform.

[00:41:42] Any chance the Dodgers break your record of 116 wins? I never thought I'd see a team that talented on paper. It's the best team I've seen on paper. Now, on paper is one thing. Going out and doing it's another. It's the best team I've ever seen in my lifetime. So I think what you saw that I said was if anybody could do it, it would be them. Still unlikely.

[00:42:10] It doesn't matter if you have an all-star team. To win 116 plus is just kind of unicorn stuff. I always talk about that year as it was a magic carpet ride. And you look back on it, we didn't talk about it much. We knew we were winning at a ridiculous clip and it was like, it's better not to talk about it. Just stay on the ride and enjoy it because it's never going to happen again. But if any team has the talent and the horses to do it, it's that Dodger team.

[00:42:39] And I think what separates the Dodgers from the rest of Major League Baseball, and I touched on a little bit earlier, is the depth. The depth of that roster. Clayton Kershaw, he's starting to throw. Signed back with the Dodgers. One of the greatest pitchers of all time. If he were to be, if everybody's healthy on that roster, Clayton Kershaw's seventh or eighth starter. That's how good they are. Nobody else can say that around baseball.

[00:43:06] A star goes down in the field, they replace him with another star. Nobody has the depth of the Dodgers. And I think depth is the most important thing in 2025. Like I said, it's not 1995 where depth, yeah, it's nice to have depth. But our everyday guys, we go out and play every day. It's not like that in Major League Baseball anymore. So the guys that stay healthy the longest and have the most depth usually are standing at the end of the season. Brett, I totally agree with you.

[00:43:33] But I thought it was so funny because Lyle and I were talking about this question. And I was curious. And I went and looked. I was like, all right. So the Dodgers right now through their first 18 games, I think we're 12-6. And I was like, you know one stat I do vividly remember? The 2001 Mariners started 21-5. I was like, it's... Oh, we won 20 in April. And then we won 20 in May. And everybody's looking around like, nobody does that. And after that, we didn't talk about it.

[00:44:01] We rolled into the All-Star break and we had like a 15-game lead. I remember that year what was so special because the American League West back then, we were the best division of baseball. I think the Oakland A's that year won over 100 games and ended up losing the division by like 14 games. And they won 100 plus. You know, they barely made the playoffs. But that was a different time. That was a special, special time.

[00:44:29] Special time in my life and I think the city of Seattle's life. The only thing is, and I hate it, I talked to the guys that were part of that run. And as great as that season was, and we'll, you know, until somebody breaks it, we'll always be the greatest regular season team. But there's kind of a negative connotation and an asterisk that everybody says.

[00:44:54] You know, the greatness that we showed that year, and I don't disagree with the sentiment, but it's almost like, oh yeah, but they didn't finish the deal, so they stink. And there's kind of a negative that comes with that 0-1 team because we didn't finish the deal, and we didn't. I think our biggest mistake that year is I think we took the postseason for granted. I really do. I think we got to New York. We had handled them during the regular season.

[00:45:22] It wasn't a matter of if we were going to win or not. We were going to win. It was just how many games was it going to take us. Then a few weird things happened, and the ghosts came out at old Yankee Stadium, and I was sitting on a bus driving back to the hotel just getting eliminated and looking around and catching the eyes of other players. And it was just kind of disbelief, like this isn't supposed to – how the magic carpet ride ends. And it did. And guys, still to this day when we get together, we say, how did we not finish the deal?

[00:45:52] But it's something we'll always have, 116, but man, it would have been sweet to bring it all home. All right, since we're talking about that, I've got one more follow-up to that. Say in a world you guys get past the Yankees, how do you guys think you would have fared against the Diamondbacks in that World Series with Randy and Schilling and all those guys? Oh, we get back – I think we'd have beat them. I think we went in – we won so much that year. We never lost – I don't know.

[00:46:20] I haven't seen – I haven't gone back and looked at the numbers. But I don't think we lost three series the entire year. So we went to Cleveland, and it was kind of like business as usual. Yeah, we're going to beat Cleveland, obviously. Well, they made a series of it. But we ended up beating them. And then we just had that attitude. Like, it wasn't from an arrogant vein. It wasn't arrogance. That team was a great team. It was a veteran team.

[00:46:50] But it wasn't an arrogant team. It was a confident team. That's as confident a team that I've ever seen. So we didn't go into Yankee with our chest puffed out. We just kind of went in there like, no, we're going to take care of business like we all do, always do. We're not going to worry about who's pitching, who's not pitching, where game one is, game four. We don't care about any of that. We're just going to go play, and we're going to win like we do all year. And for the first time, it didn't happen. Crazy. Booney, always fun.

[00:47:19] Always love catching up with you. Go check out the Brett Boone Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Again, thanks for hopping on. This was great. And looking forward to talking to you down the road. You got it, guys. My pleasure. Man, we love talking to Booney. He really is a good talker. He's good in media. I can see why he's gotten into it. We've loved having him on. Both times, he's been on the podcast now. And we're looking forward to having him back on down the road again because he's really fun to talk to. So shout out to Brett.

[00:47:48] Again, you can go check out his podcast wherever you get your podcasts. And meanwhile, for us, that just about wraps up this edition of the Marine Layer Podcast. You guys know the drill. If you want to listen to the full-form podcast or really do anything involving staying on top of our content, there's one spot to do it, guys. All over at our website. Marinelayerpod.com. You can watch our episodes. You can listen to the episodes. You can rate and review. If you're watching on YouTube, do us a favor, you guys. Like, comment, and please hit that subscribe button. The subscribe button really does help.

[00:48:17] It's the best way you can support the channel. So go do that. And then in terms of the rest of the stuff on our website, it's all over there. Our first live show of the regular season, you guys. This Saturday. We're four days away from it. Less than that now. We're right there. Saturday, 11 a.m., Queen Anne Beer Hall in Seattle. Live shows at 11 a.m. Watch party starts at 12. We're all going to hang out and watch the game. We are fired up for it. It's going to be a blast. We hope to see you guys there.

[00:48:44] Again, that's 11 a.m. start time, 12 p.m. watch party. All over at Queen Anne Beer Hall in Seattle. You want to stay on top of our Patreon? Go sign up for that. You want to get some merch? It's flying off the charts. People are getting it. People are sending us pictures. It's been really awesome. That's over at our website. So it's all there, you guys. Marinelayerpod.com. One-stop shop to stay on top of all of our stuff. If you want to follow us on social media, you can do so everywhere. At Marinelayerpod. That's TJ. I'm Lyle. As always, we thank you guys for tuning in.

[00:49:15] We'll talk to you soon.