Mike was born in Germany, but went to high school at Bethel HS in Spananway, WA. He attended and played baseball for the University of Washington. He was selected by the Mariners in 1984, but didn't sign. He drafted again by the Giants in 84, but didn't sign. The Orioles tried in 85, But Mike didn't sign. Finally in June of 1986 the Expos drafted Mike and he did sign with the Expos. After being traded from the Expos to the Yankees on 8/29/89 for John Candeleria, he made his MLB debut on Sept. 1, 1989 against the Angels. Mike got his first MLB start on Sept. 5th against the Mariners.
In May of 1991 the Yankees traded Mike to the Mariners for a PTBNL and cash. The M's sent Jim Blueberg to the Yanks to complete the trade. After spending the rest of 1991 and most of 92 at AAA Calgary, Mike spent all of 1993 through 1995 on the major league roster as the starting third baseman. In the incredible playoff run of 1995, we were treated to "Blower Power." In November of 1995, Mike was sent to the Dodger for Miguel Cairo and Willis Otanez. After spending a season with the Dodgers, Mike came back for another playoff season in 1997. In 1998, he played for the Oakland A's. After spending most of 1999 away from the game, Mike signed with the Mariners again to finish out the season. That made him one of only three players to spend three separate stints with the Mariners, joining Norm Charlton, and Jeff Nelson for the honor.
After taking a few years off away from the game to spend time with his family, Mike joined the Mariners broadcast family in 2003 doing pre- and post-game on radio for the team. in 2007, Mike moved to the TV side to be the color analyst. On June 23, 2007 he started a sensation that still goes on at Safeco Field and on the road with the rally fries tradition. A fan sitting on the first base line tried for a foul ball and dumped his fries and tartar sauce on the warning track. Mike said on air that the fan deserved new fries for no ball, and now no fries. They did send down fries to him and did win the game. The next night a fan brought a sign to the park asking for rally fries, and once again the TV crew obliged. The Mariners ended up winning the rest of the homestand and tradition was born that carries on today in Seattle and on the road.
Mike became a household name after the Mariners game on September 27, 2009 in Toronto. On the radio pregame show he predicted that Matt Tuiasosopo would hit his first major league home run in his second at bat into the upper deck on a 3-1 fastball. That prediction made him seem like Nostradamus. We look forward to hearing Mike do color on TV again this year for the Mariners.
Wow, did not know about the Nostradamus prediction--very cool! That + Rally Fries = win.
ReplyDeleteBlowers also hit grand slams in back-to-back 1995 games and got a shot at 3 in a row, though couldn't pull it off. Glad he came back for broadcasting.