No sooner had Eric Wedge finished his morning speech to the fully assembled Seattle Mariners spring group – some 63 players – than the winds roared and the rains, well, sprinkled.

Whatever he said inspired the team to run, hit, catch, pitch and endure a few hours of drills in miserable conditiions without complaint.

How miserable? The winds gusted to 40 mph at times, blowing over protective screens and smaller players.

Erik Bedard threw his bullpen, Ichiro Suzuki and Franklin Gutierrez ran down balls in the outfeld effortlessly despite that wind. And Wedge, walking from field to field, smiled throughout.

A little later, both Wedge and Ichiro will talk to the media. In the meantime, consider this: Jack Cust, working with the outfielders, didn’t drop a ball in a drill, handling everything without grace or mistake.