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M's fans want to know: Can Dan Wilson hit?

Dan Wilson's seventh season as a Seattle Mariner may have been as eventful as any, though off the top of his head he can sum it up with two thoughts. "On the one hand, I had a tough season. On the other, the team got to the American League Championship Series, and that was great to be part of," Wilson said. Wilson thinks a moment, knowing he cannot leave it at that. Proud as he is of the Mariners 2000 wild card run, 'tough season' doesn't begin to describe his year. "I let people down last year. I let my teammates down. I wanted to contribute, and at times I felt like a hindrance, like a weight around their necks," he said. At 31, Wilson is not a man to focus on the negative, but after batting .235 with five home runs and 27 RBI last season, he is candid as ever. He expected more of himself - and knows the team did, too. "Most players are going to have good years and down years, and last season was the most frustrating for me. You learn a lot when you're struggling - or you try to," he said. "I've never been afraid of hard work." Three days into his eighth spring training as a Mariner, few players in camp have put in more work than Wilson, or had more help. Manager Lou Piniella has talked to him. Hitting coach Gerald Perry has worked with Wilson in the batting cage 90 minutes before team workouts begin each day. And then there is Lee Elia - the former Mariners hitting coach brought in this year as a coaching consultant. "Lee's like a father figure to me in baseball," Wilson said. "I love Gerald Perry, he stuck by me all last year and worked and worked with me. With Lee, there's just a different rapport. Lee was with me years ago, and we just clicked." This spring, Wilson is something of a project in camp. A Mariners team that lost Alex Rodriguez is a bit short of offense, and the lower end of the lineup will have to be more productive for the team to contend. "We need Danny to hit," Piniella said. "He fell into some bad habits last season, and I think we can turn it around." Elia, Perry, Piniella and team video whiz Carl Hamilton poured over tapes of Wilson's swing last year, and it didn't take them long to find problems. There was a hitch in his bat as he cocked it to swing. There was no weight shift as he swung. There was no drive off his back leg. "One thing I know about hitters is you can't give them two or three things to work on at once, because nothing seems natural then," Elia said Sunday. "You work on one problem, correct that, and when a player is comfortable you go to the next one. You look at tape of Dan in the batting cage (Saturday), and he's already shifting his weight, putting a better swing on the ball." "Last year, I got so far off that an adjustment just didn't seem possible," Wilson said. "With Lee and Gerald this spring, I feel like I'm building a foundation I can stick with. "The first three, four days down here, I've felt great, but I've been around the game enough to know three days mean nothing. It's just a start." On a franchise that has seen superstars like Randy Johnson, Ken Griffey Jr. and A-Rod, Wilson has been a supporting cast member since 1994. An All-Star once - 1996 - he none-the-less became a fan favorite. It may have been his self-effacing manner, his absolute willingness to remain in the background and contribute whatever he could. "I can't really tell you why I've had such a good relationship with the fans in Seattle," he said. "Maybe it's because only a few of us - me, Jay (Buhner), Edgar (Martinez) and Jeff (Nelson) live up there year 'round. Maybe it's because there are so few of us left from that '95 team. "But one of the reasons my wife and family and I love living in Seattle is the way people have treated us. I've always been grateful for that, and I was more grateful last year than any other. "Baseball becomes your life during the season, and it's hard not to take it home when things are going badly. I hope I did a good job of not taking it home every night, but I'm not sure of that," he said. "I know the game demands total concentration, and it's hard to just turn that off at the park. "When you struggle, it can begin as something physical, something mechanical, but it becomes mental, too. Once it's mental, it's even harder to overcome. Players aren't unlike fans that way. If you hit well, your confidence goes up. When you don't, it lags." This spring, they are putting Wilson's swing back together a small piece at a time, and he is smiling more often as the results show. He studies his swing, nearly as much as he studies the pitchers he will work with this spring - including a number of them he's never seen before. "The pitching staff excites me," he said. "This is the best bullpen I've ever caught, it's a solid rotation and we're playing in Safeco Field. As a catcher, I loved Safeco Field." And as a hitter? Wilson laughs. "I loved it a little less as a hitter," he said. "But in our first full season there, we got to the playoffs."

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