The Mariners GM once struck out his manager back in their playing days
Back during their playing days, Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto struck out his current manager Scott Servais.
By
Mike Axisa
•
1 min read
The Mariners are under new leadership. Former GM Jack Zduriencik was let go last year and has been replaced by former Angels GM Jerry Dipoto. Dipoto replaced manager Lloyd McClendon with Scott Servais, who he worked with in Anaheim.
Back during their playing days, Dipoto and Servais faced each other a handful of times. Dipoto was a right-handed pitcher with three teams from 1993-2000. Servais caught for four teams from 1991-2001. Here is the GM striking out his manager back in 1999:
That matchup took place on April 22, 1999. Here's the box score. Dipoto came out of the bullpen to strike Servais out with the bases loaded to end the sixth inning. The Rockies were up 8-3 on the Giants at the time and Colorado went on to win the game 8-5.
Astute observers will notice former big league utility man F.P. Santangelo is standing at second base in that video. Santangelo is currently the Nationals television color analyst for MASN.
Despite that strikeout, Servais owned Dipoto during their playing careers. He went 3 for 5 (.600) with a walk and a hit-by-pitch (.714 on-base percentage) in seven plate apperances against his future GM. Dipoto did strike him out twice though.
Dipoto and Dave Stewart of the Diamondbacks are the only current GMs who have played in the big leagues. Stewart played 16 seasons in the show and won 20+ games in four straight seasons with the Athletics from 1987-90. He faced current D-Backs manager Chip Hale nine times. Hale went 2 for 7 (.286) with two walks (.444) against Stewart.
Nationals GM Mike Rizzo, Tigers GM Al Avila, Twins GM Terry Ryan, and Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins all played in the minors but did not reach the big leagues as players.
(h/t Reddit)
