Where's Christianson?

I was wondering if a Mariners pitcher has ever hit a home run. I couldn't remember any, and I couldn't find any info about it happening. -- Travis J., Corvallis, Ore.
When the Mariners joined the American League as an expansion team prior to the 1977 season, the designated hitter rule had already been established. Therefore, pitchers rarely got a chance to hit, and none hit a home run. According to the Mariners' public relations department, Mike Moore (fielder's choice on April 24, 1987), Brian Holman (error on April 20, 1990) and Mike Schooler (grounded out on Aug. 11, 1990) are the only pitchers to hit prior to Interleague Play, which started in 1997. The DH rule doesn't apply in games played in National League parks and, so far, none of the hurlers has hit a home run.

With all of the injuries to catchers this year, why hasn't Ryan Christianson been given a chance on the Major League club. He is hitting .299 for Triple-A Tacoma. Is it his defense that isn't good enough? -- Bill H.

The former No. 1 draft choice (1999) is not on the 40-man roster. Therefore, to make room for Christianson on the 40-man, the Mariners would have to remove someone. As of now, management feels it wouldn't be worth losing a top prospect to promote Christianson.

Call me a homer, call me ignorant, but I still think the Mariners can contend, especially in a weakened AL West. I wasn't following the Mariners in '95, but didn't that season start much the same as this one, as far as wins and losses go? With that in mind, I'd like to suggest a regular feature for your mailbag. Since I can't seem to look this up on MLB.com, each week, note what the current standings are and what the standings were on that date during the '95 season. -- Chris K., Duvall, Wash.

Beginning in August, 10 years after the '95 team started its remarkable stretch drive toward the franchise's first AL West championship, the Web site will provide occasional references to where that team stood on a particular date.

I was looking at Eddie Guardado's stats on the active roster page on seattlemariners.com and noticed that he has one career shutout, but no complete games. How is that possible? -- Shea M., Seattle

That is an error on the Web site and will be corrected. Guardado, who advanced through the Twins' Minor League system as a starting pitcher, became a full-time reliever in 1996. His last complete game was for Salt Lake in 1994 and his last shutout was with Nashville in '93.

How do you become a batboy or a ball girl for the Mariners? -- Melissa G., Rainier, Ore.

Batboys are hired prior to the season by the clubhouse manager, while ball girls are selected from a group of high school or college students called "Fielders," who also are hired prior to the season. They do various jobs during the season and the ones chosen to sit along the foul lines during games must be able to catch the ball reasonably well. For more information, contact the Mariners at (206) 346-4000.

How many uniforms do the Mariners take for each player when they go on the road? Do the players buy their uniforms or does the club provide them? -- Rod Day, Bigfork, Mont.

Every player packs two uniforms for each road trip, regardless of how long the trip is.

Ichiro primarily played center field during his career in Japan, and I heard the team approached him about moving to that position after Mike Cameron left, but he is still in right. Can you tell me exactly what happened? -- Frank L.

According to the Mariners' media guide, when Ichiro played for the Orix Blue Wave, he "won seven consecutive Gold Gloves for his solid defense and strong arm in right field." The subject of Ichiro playing center field for the Mariners never has seriously been considered, primarily because he is the best defensive right fielder in the American League.

I'm happy to hear that the recent request has been heard and that bios of managers/coaches are on the Mariners Web site. I want to go one step further. When will the info on the players be updated? It must have been years since the last update because the Web site still shows Jamie Moyer as having four children! -- Mary K., Eugene, Ore.

The players' biographies are usually updated at the beginning of each season. I will check into it and see if two more children can be added to Moyer's bio.

I understand that Ichiro is a natural righty. Why isn't he a switch hitter? -- Mike G., Seattle

Ichiro does everything right-handed except hit a baseball. When he was very young, his father sensed that Ichiro would become a fast runner and therefore taught his son to hit left-handed because it's a shorter distance to first base batting from the left side than on the right side.

Why did Seattle promote Mike Morse instead of Jose Lopez? Lopez was good enough to play last season, but why not this season? Was he injured? And why does Seattle have so many shortstops in its organization? Are some of them going to be moved to different positions or traded? -- Kien-Thiet Nguyen

Morse had been playing shortstop for Triple-A Tacoma, while Lopez has been playing second base and is regarded as a potential starter there next season if Bret Boone doesn't return. Lopez also has been bothered by a sore wrist. The Mariners have several good shortstops in the organization, mostly because a lot of good, young players are shortstops on their high school teams. Some of the current shortstops probably will be moved to other positions during their careers.

Source: http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/