Projo Sports Blog

By Steve Kelley
The Seattle Times

SEATTLE -- The ninth inning is a beast. It starts growling at a closer in the sixth or seventh inning. It announces itself loudly. It uniquely demands that a pitcher pay attention.

Everything about the ninth inning -- the circumstances, the attention, the importance of every pitch -- is magnified. It is as different from the seventh or eighth inning as mid-June is to mid-October.

The ninth isn't for the softhearted, or the softheaded. The ninth inning can carry a grudge. If a closer can't conquer it, the ninth can chase him clear out of baseball. It can haunt him for all eternity.

The ninth inning isn't for everybody, but it seems to fit Mariners closer David Aardsma like "The Hustler" fit Paul Newman. Aardsma appeared in 47 games out of the Red Sox' bullpen last year. He struggled with his control throughout the season, racking up a 5.55 E.R.A.

"A lot of it has to do with a guy's makeup, his character," said Mariners bullpen coach John Wetteland, "Right now, I'm trying to figure out what's not to like about David. He has plus-stuff. He has the ability to miss bats and that's a big deal for a closer, because sometimes you do need that strikeout.

"He's a very thoughtful, intelligent man. You know you're going to have him, the whole package, every day he comes to the park. He just does not miss a minute in the day to get better. When you have those kind of qualities, the sky's the limit."

The ninth is the closing kick at the end of a marathon.

"There is no safety net," said Wetteland, who had 330 career saves. "It's all you, and that inherently puts its own weight on the situation. The other 24 guys have put you in this position, and you're carrying the weight of those other 24 guys."

The ninth inning is all about the moment. The ninth inning, for closers, even has its own songs. In San Diego, Trevor Hoffman used to enter to "Hells Bells." For part of his career, Wetteland was introduced by Jimi Hendrix's "Wild Thing." Aardsma has chosen "Ladies and Gentlemen" by Saliva as his theme song:

"Ladies and gentlemen would you bring your attention to me for a feast for your eyes to see, an explosion of catastrophe like nothing you've ever seen before. Watch closely as I open the door. Your jaws will be on the floor."

Ladies and gentlemen, entering Saturday, Aardsma, 27, has 14 saves in 15 opportunities. He hasn't allowed a run in 22 of his last 23 appearances. He is throwing mid-to-upper 90s gas and locating it low and away, away, away. He has moved into the ninth inning, and he's thriving in the neighborhood.

"You have to have nerves of steel," he said before Saturday's game with Arizona. "But the flip side of it for me, and this is the constant battle, is trying to feel like it's nothing. Making it feel like it's three outs and there's really nothing going on.

"You have to eliminate what's important about that inning. Eliminate the pressure and just make it about that one pitch and executing that one pitch over and over and over again. And not letting any of the outside factors even play into what you're trying to do. Make that inning feel exactly the same as every other inning."

When Aardsma is pitching well, and it can't be done much better than he's doing it now, he is thinking pitch to pitch. He isn't thinking about the consequences of the moment. He thinks in literals, not abstracts.

"I struggled a little bit earlier because I let every pitch become so much more important than what it really was," he said. "Now, if I'm in a situation -- bases loaded, 3-2 pitch -- where I have to throw a strike, I'm not thinking that I have to throw a strike. I'm thinking, 'I am going to execute this pitch.'

"If you think about all those other things, then you're not going to succeed at what you're trying to do. And the ultimate feeling is when you throw a strike and it's the last out and you don't even realize that the game is over."

Wetteland asks all of his relievers who they are. Sometimes he gets answers like, "I'm Bob from Omaha," but he wants to know who the pitcher is on the mound. Aardsma understands the question.

"I'm Baksuz and I am a warrior on the mound," Aardsma said. "Baksuz is my alter ego. It's my warrior name, and that's my mentality on the mound."

Warriors understand the ninth inning.

 Tags  Boston Red Sox David Aardsma Seattle Mariners

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