By Rick Walter
As the Rainiers come back to Tacoma this week for an eight-game homestand, you would think a man who has raised his batting average 40 points in the past two weeks and leads the team in RBI might be at the center of attention. Chris Shelton, the man who was known only three years ago in Detroit for hitting nine home runs faster than anyone in American League history (13 games) unfortunately is sharing the dugout this season with Prentice Redman, Bryan LaHair, Mike Carp and Jeff Clement – who are pounding home runs out like nobody’s business. As of the start of this week’s series, the tally is 52 home runs for the team.
A stat like 24 RBI (Shelton’s team-leading numbers) will never be as sexy as 10 HR (Prentice and LaHair).
But Shelton, the author of two home runs himself last weekend in a game in New Orleans, is just a shade under .300 now and getting in a good groove.
“It’s getting where it needs to be,” he said.
After playing 11 of their last 15 games on the road, the Rainiers (20-19) take on Memphis, the second-place team in the PCL American North with a 20-16 record, a half-game behind Nashville (as of May 19). Memphis is in town for four games, followed by Nashville for four. The May 22 game will be followed by fireworks and May 23 is a Little Caesars Family Meal Deal. The May 24 game has a 1:30 p.m. start.
Shelton, 28, is one of many intriguing stories to follow as the Rainiers’ season moves ahead. After creating that huge stir in Detroit with his early 2006 home-run extravaganza, he cooled down and was eventually traded to the Rangers, who assigned him to the Oklahoma RedHawks.
This season Shelton signed with the Mariners as a free agent. He hit .460 – which was good, but not good enough to be playing at Safeco Field.
Yet.
“You just go out there and play as well as you can, and hope there is an opportunity at some point.”
In the past two weeks, Shelton certainly has it moving in that direction.
