New general manager Jack Zduriencik interviewed seven men for the Mariners' managerial job before hiring the first Asian-American ever to be a big-league manager.
Don Wakamatsu, most recently Oakland's bench coach, takes over a club that John McLaren and Jim Riggleman guided to a 61-101 record this year -- worst in the American League, despite an enormous payroll. "I'm not going to sit up here (and) promise the moon," Wakamatsu said at his introductory press conference on Nov. 19. "Obviously, someone promised the moon last year and it didn't work out. I think there's talent. I think there's youth. ... I think there's starting pitching that's pretty deep, a pretty good closer.
"Just with osmosis, we ought to be better than we were last year."
Wakamatsu has extensive experience throughout the Mariners' division, having coached or managed in the organizations of AL West rivals Oakland, Los Angeles and Texas. His big-league playing career consisted of 18 games with the White Sox in 1991, but Wakamatsu, a catcher, had a lengthy minor league career that included stints with the Mariners' Class AA and Class AAA affiliates.
The other finalists for the job were Red Sox bench coach Brad Mills, White Sox bench coach Joey Cora, Diamondbacks third base coach Chip Hale, Class AAA Portland manager Randy Ready, Boston third base coach DeMarlo Hale and St. Louis third base coach Jose Oquendo. None has any big-league managerial experience.
