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Mariners Manager Scott Servais has been in tough spots before — you try calling pitches against Mark McGwire in 1998. But, planning for a 60-game season in the middle of a pandemic might top them all.
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AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY BRIAN BEAKY • CG EDITOR All photos courtesy Seattle Mariners
hen the quarantine first hit, Mariners manager Scott Servais figured it was an opportunity — a few extra weeks to coach up his young staff, and then bring everyone back together. Then, a few weeks became a month, then two, then three. “That’s when it started to wear a little thin,” he jokes. Servais has spent more than 40 years in baseball, so to be without it this spring has been one of the stranger experiences of his life. An 11-year MLB veteran, Servais had front-row seats to the careers of some of the greatest players in the history
of the game, including Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, Larry Walker and Mark McGwire. In fact, not only was Servais in Chicago during the epic 1998 home run chase, he called the pitch that Big Mac lined over the left-field wall for the record breaking No. 62, and was the first player to greet McGwire at home plate. At least the quarantine has been good for Servais’ golf game. A self-taught, single-digit handicapper who takes his golf clubs with him on any Mariners road trip that includes a scheduled off day, Servais has been making his way around the Seattle area’s top courses over the past few weeks,
from Aldarra to Chambers Bay. That’s all going to come to an end soon, though. In late June — less than 24 hours before this interview — Servais, and the rest of the world, learned that Major League Baseball would be officially returning in July to play a 60-game season, with an abbreviated spring training starting July 1. So, we picked up the phone to find out a little more about that golf game, whose name has more pull at golf courses around the country — his or his daughter’s — and exactly how one goes about planning for a season unlike any other in baseball history.
I believe your daughter, Jackie, works for the PGA TOUR? “Yeah, she does PR and media stuff for the Champions Tour. The guys she’s around are all the guys my age — Fred Couples, Jay Haas, the guys that I was watching on TV back when I was still playing. So, getting the chance to be on the driving range and talk to those guys about whatever — baseball, golf, different things — has been really neat. Last year, at the Boeing Classic, she was able to hook me up with a spot in the Pro-Am, where I got to play with Miguel Angel Jimenez. It was awesome. He’s one of her favorite players, and was really great to play with. Miguel knows nothing about baseball, so it was fun to be able to have a conversation that was just about golf, and learning about him.”
Where do you play golf around here? “I’ve been pretty fortunate to touch just about all of the better courses in the area — Aldarra is at the top of the list for me, Snoqualmie, Sahalee, Seattle Golf Club, Overlake, Chambers Bay. The first time I ever played Chambers was last fall, after the season was over. It was just me and one of our scouts. We got lucky and got one of those perfect days, probably 60 degrees in mid-October with not a cloud in the sky, and I shot 82. I walked away thinking I had the course figured out, then went back a couple of months ago and ... didn’t shoot 82. (laughs) But, that was a really fun round. I have a friend visiting from out of town this weekend and plan to take him there if I can.”
find a good course in the area when we have an off day. Last year, we had an off day in Milwaukee and got out to play Erin Hills; played Firestone, in Akron, on an off day in Cleveland; played Harding Park, in San Francisco, where the PGA Championship will be this year.”
Did he have an extra cigar for you? (laughs) “Yeah, actually, he did.” 16
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Do you have a regular group that you play with? “No, not really. I play a lot with my fellow coaches, especially when we get off days out on the road. I don’t play on game days at all, but we do try to
Why is it that so many baseball players play golf? “I think the eye-hand coordination is similar. And, guys love the challenge, they love the competition. Certainly, when guys get older and can’t play their sport, it’s a way to keep competing and bullshitting with each other. People say golf is a lot easier than baseball, but even though the ball is just sitting on the tee, and not moving, it isn’t so easy some days.” How did you pick up the game? “I grew up in a small town in Wisconsin, where there weren’t many opportunities to play golf. There cascadegolfer.com
