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Meet the Mariners 2001: Dan Wilson

POSITION: Catcher
HEIGHT/WEIGHT: 6 feet 3, 214
AGE: 32 (born March 25, 1969)
COLLEGE: Minnesota
HIGH SCHOOL: Barrington (Ill.)
FAMILY: wife, Annie; daughters, Sofia and Josephine; son, Elijah
HOW ACQUIRED: Acquired with RHP Bobby Ayala from Cincinnati for RHP Erik Hanson and 2B Bret Boone, Nov. 3, 1993.
INSIDE INFO
PERFECT PLACE TO VACATION? "Jamaica. It's just beautiful weather and all that island scenery. I love the beaches."
WHAT'S PLAYING IN YOUR CAR'S CD PLAYER? "Probably some Elton John. I'm not really into new stuff. I'm more a classic rock guy."
MOVIE YOU'D LIKE TO HAVE HAD A BIT PART IN? "'Hurricane.' I would just like to meet him (Rubin "Hurricane" Carter). It's a very intriguing story. I'd like to understand what it was all about."
QUICK HITS
SPORTS CAR OR SPORT UTILITY? "Sport utility. It's better when you have a family. I've never really been a sports-car guy."
AISLE OR WINDOW? "Aisle. I like to stretch my legs out into the aisle. Then I get them run over by the (beverage) cart."
DOGS OR CATS? "They are equal to me. We have one of each, and I love them both."
RENT A MOVIE OR GO TO THE MOVIES? "Go to the movies. Going to the movies is more of an event. It's nice to go on a date every once in a while. You don't always have time when you have kids."
READING OR WRITING? "Reading. I'm just not a good writer. But I love getting into a real good book."


Wilson back behind the plate


PEORIA, Ariz. -- Being a major league manager is like being a tightrope walker. And most of the time there's no safety net. You pick your steps carefully, never being absolutely sure if your instincts will preserve you. So it is for Seattle's Lou Piniella as he puts together his best lineup for the 2000 season. Right now, he's got veteran Dan Wilson behind the plate. Wilson is a safety net of sorts, a smart veteran catcher who knows pitchers as well as anyone. "Catching is primarily a defensive position," Piniella said. "You need your catcher to control the game, to take charge of the pitchers, to be on top of things." That Wilson can do. "Given a choice between offense and defense when you look at a catcher, you always want to go for defense," Piniella said. Even so, during the final six weeks of the 1999 season, Piniella turned away from Wilson and toward reserve catcher Tom Lampkin when making out his daily lineup card. The Mariners weren't hitting a lick after moving to Safeco Field, and Wilson was too often hitless in Seattle. "It wasn't just Danny," Piniella said. "It was the whole offense. "You don't want to depend on your catcher for offense, but when nobody's hitting, you've got to play people who are hitting, and Lampkin was." That was then. In the now of a new century, Wilson is back behind the plate. He'd like to believe that he will make the adjustments that will bring his offense -- .281 before the All-Star break but just .246 after, including a dismal .179 in August -- back to his historic levels. He enters the season as a .262 career hitter. "I've been around long enough to know that there are a lot of aspects to catching," Wilson said. "Handling the pitchers is maybe the most important part of the job, but it's you can't get by thinking you can do that exclusively. You've got to hit. "Last year was one of those things. Sometimes your mechanics get off, and that eats into your confidence. That was the way it was for me for an extended period of time. But this is a new season, a chance to start fresh." So far this spring, the jury is out. Wilson came into Sunday's game in Peoria against San Francisco with a .227 batting average to show for 22 spring at-bats, and he went hitless in three at-bats to fall to .200. Wilson's frustration showed somewhat when he popped out in the fifth inning and slammed his bat into the ground before running to first base.

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