News
Bloomquist faces Mariners as a foe
Jack-of-all-trades playing plenty, producing for Royals
By Dick Kaegel / MLB.com
05/06/09 8:25 PM ET
KANSAS CITY -- Joel Goldberg, the Royals' TV broadcaster, approached Willie Bloomquist for an interview and asked what was making his old club, the Seattle Mariners, so successful this year."Well, they got rid of me, that was the biggest thing," Bloomquist quipped.
Good line, except that Goldberg's microphone was on the fritz. Credit Bloomquist with a hit, Goldberg with an error.
Bloomquist has been getting a lot of hits this season, his first with the Royals after spending his first seven Major League seasons with the Mariners. It must seem a bit odd to oppose them now in a different uniform.
"A little bit," said Bloomquist, now with the Royals. "It was kind of weird in Spring Training the first time I played against them. Hopefully that's kind of beyond me now, but it'll probably be a little different when I see those names and faces come up -- but it's the same game. You just have to go out and execute and do your thing."
Bloomquist was set to do his thing at shortstop on Wednesday night in the opener of a two-game series. He took the place of Mike Aviles, batting just .207.
On the other hand, Bloomquist has been on a tear, batting .378 in 16 games. He'd reached base safely in 24 of his last 45 plate appearances with 16 hits and eight walks. Since April 15, his average was .457 with a .545 on-base percentage.
With Coco Crisp getting a rest and David DeJesus moving up a notch to the leadoff spot, manager Trey Hillman had the hot Bloomquist batting second.
"I like Willie in the No. 2 slot," Hillman said. "I like what he brings to the table. He's probably got a little better working knowledge, having played with these guys the time that he has. I like it when he gets in the lineup, whether it's off the bench or as a starter. So I thought it was a good time to give Mike a day off."
On Tuesday night, Bloomquist gave a virtuoso performance on a hit-and-run play that keyed the Royals' game-winning rally against Chicago. In the 11th inning, Mitch Maier was on first base with one out. As Maier broke off first, drawing the second baseman to the bag, Bloomquist adroitly punched a ground ball through the vacant hole for a single. Maier later scored the game-ending run on John Buck's single.
That's the kind of bat work that a manager loves to see in a No. 2 hitter.
Bloomquist reported to Spring Training as a candidate for second base with Mark Teahen and Alberto Callaspo. Teahen won the job but, in the way things happen, he moved to third base to replace injured Alex Gordon. Callaspo got a shot at second and prospered -- he actually went into Wednesday night's game leading the Royals with a .379 average, one point above Bloomquist.
So Bloomquist became a man on the move; so far he's played right field, left field, second, short and even four innings at first base.
"That's why you never get too complacent and never etch anything in stone in baseball," he said. "Anything can change at the drop of a hat. You've got to be ready to adjust, move around and do things, and kind of expect the unexpected. It's not anything that's new to me. ... Ultimately, it's what's best for your team is what you've got to do."
The Royals are in first place, and Bloomquist isn't all that surprised because he caught a sense of a team on the rise when he reported to camp at Surprise, Ariz.
"I was just really impressed that we reported a week and a half before the opening day of Spring Training and we had almost the whole team there," he said. "So that, to me, was really impressive. You had guys that wanted to win and wanted to get better, so that's where it started for me."
The Royals opened the Seattle series with wins in six of their previous seven games.
"We're confident -- that's the biggest thing," Bloomquist said. "And we're playing well. If we get down early, we're battling back. If we get up early, we're trying to tack on and keep adding on. So it's been fun."
Dick Kaegel is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
