Rick White, the very definition of a journeyman reliever, is in uniform with the Seattle Mariners in Texas – one of the many major league uniforms he’s worn in a pro career that began in 1990.

"I’ve been with 13 teams, some of them more than once," White said. "My dad says I should just keep pitching until I’ve played for all the teams."

A 38-year-old right-hander, White was released by the Houston Astros last month, picked up by Seattle and had been closing games with the AAA Tacoma Rainiers when he was brought up.

Sent down

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After they won the series from Minnesota and headed for a plane to Texas, the Seattle Mariners allowed themselves to look ahead to a four-game series against the Rangers.

"We owe them," Miguel Batista said.

Do they ever.

A year ago, the Mariners beat Tampa Bay when Jarrod Washburn shut out the Devil Rays, and flew to Texas with a 56-57 record and high hopes. The Rangers then swept that four-game series and started Seattle’s infamous 11-game losing streak.

Adios, any shot at a winning record.

Just three weeks ago, the Mariners limped into Texas

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In the Why Doesn’t My General Manager Dump This Bum And Get A Better Player File, place Horacio Ramirez.

Fans have listed every option they could think of and demanded Bill Bavasi pick one this month, and with Ramirez it was hard to see any upside to not making a move. He went into his start against the Twins with a 7.38 earned run average.

He came out with one of 7.15, and while that won’t staunch the calls for his removal from the roster, it was a huge step in

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Sometimes the contribution to a team doesn’t come on the field – and Willie Bloomquist and Ben Broussard are the two most obvious examples for the Seattle Mariners.

Both have had game-winning moments this season, but neither has had the chance to play regularly, despite injuries and slumps by teammates. Not once has either gone public with obvious disappointment.

Instead, each has remained a solid teammate and a factor in the clubhouse.

Broussard is a guitar-playing, song-writing entertainer who keeps team flights loose and is always being asked to play this song or that one. Bloomquist

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The one thing anyone who follows Major League Baseball has to learn eventually is that what a player does in April – or even April, May, June and July – doesn’t necessarily dictate what they can do in August.

Put another way, players who seem done at one stage of a season can and often do dramatically rebound. Sometimes it takes a trade. And sometimes is doesn’t.

No one who saw Jeff Weaver start the year 0-6, then head for the disabled list, was anxious to have the right-hander come back to the Seattle rotation. And even

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There’s a reason Seattle manager John McLaren hasn’t pulled Jose Vidro out of the lineup to make room for Adam Jones or anyone else – and Vidro helped win a game Friday to remind anyone who wondered why.

Veterans like Vidro understand the value of small things, and work to get them done.

Two sacrifice flies against the Chicago White Sox pushed home two of the five runs it took to win the game. That gave Vidro five sacrifice flies this month.

None of them was accidental.

"You get

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Horacio Ramirez will stay in the Seattle rotation for the simplest of reasons – the Mariners don’t see an alternative good enough to make a change.

Manager John McLaren said before Wednesday’s game that Ramirez, 7-4 with a 7.38 ERA, will make his next scheduled start. It will come in Minneapolis against the same Twins who pounded him Tuesday night.

What the team hopes to do with Ramirez between now and then is put some differential in velocity in his pitches, make better use of his fastball and tinker just a

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One of the best beat writers in the Northwest, Kirby Arnold of the Everett Herald, had a great column Sunday – the top 10 baseball moments he’d seen.

Rather than debate John McLaren’s moves or Adam Jones vs. Raul Ibanez, let’s change the pace and follow Mr. Arnold’s lead, but narrow it down. Let’s hear your top three baseball moments.

No hitters? Playoff wins? A day at the park with dad?

Think a bit and roll them out. They don’t have to have anything to do with the Mariners, just your personal favorites.

So here we

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