PEORIA Tony Oliva Jersey , Ariz. (AP) —putting on a uniform each day is likely a 66-year-old who is nearly four decades removed from playing professionally, and has become a respected authority throughout baseball as one of the best infield instructors around.The move by the Mariners to hire Perry Hill as their first base and infield coach in the offseason went mostly unnoticed, but his influence is already making a difference.“Oh man, I think he saved my career, honestly,” said shortstop J.P. Crawford, one of the Mariners’ key offseason acquisitions of young talent. “I was having a problem where I couldn’t point them out or see them, and I took groundballs with him for a day and he fixed me and got me right. He brings energy to this team. We need him on our team. I love him. He’s probably everyone’s favorite on the team. He just brings so much energy to the team and he’s so important to us.”Crawford didn’t meet Hill until this year after he was traded from Philadelphia to Seattle and spent a few days in January in Arizona working with Hill. There’s plenty of opportunity for Hill to teach in Seattle, both with the current group of major leaguers that could use some refinement, and with the Mariners’ crop of prospects they hope will be in the majors in a few years.“I like the teaching part. Maybe a tweak here, tweak there to help somebody,” Hill said. “These guys are tremendous athletes or they wouldn’t be here to begin with http://www.twinsfanproshop.com/authentic-max-kepler-jersey , but sometimes they get off track and they need a road map and I’m kind of like a tour guide. They’re doing the tour and every once in a while they get off the path and it’s my job to get them back on.”The longest relationship with Hill belongs to second baseman Dee Gordon. When Gordon was traded from the Los Angeles Dodgers to Miami before the 2015 season, Hill was serving as the Marlins’ infield coach. Gordon had struggled at times in Los Angeles with consistency throwing and it was one of the first tasks Hill took on.Gordon was skeptical, at best.“He was enthusiastic about it. He was telling me how good I could be,” Gordon said. “I didn’t trust him. Just being honest, I didn’t trust him. It got better.”Ultimately, Gordon had to be open to some of Hill’s ideas. And it was one of the first drills that gained Gordon’s trust. Hill told Gordon to field a ball at second base, close his eyes and throw to first.“He tells me to throw a ball with my eyes closed. If I do everything right it will go right to the first baseman,” Gordon recalled. “I throw it, and listening for the chain-link fence, and ‘pow.’ I don’t believe it. Let me go over to shortstop and try. Second base is easy. I go over to shortstop, same thing. … I’m like, yo Kennys Vargas Jersey , this is crazy.”Gordon went on to win a Gold Glove in his first year with the Marlins, and in 2017 with Gordon playing 158 games, Miami had the best fielding percentage in baseball at .988.“He’s awesome. He cares. It’s not just a job for him,” Gordon said. “He cares about you doing the things to get better so you can be as good as possible for our team, for our defense. It’s not coincidence the teams he’s had have broken records for fielding percentage.”It was Gordon who was at the center of the discussions that eventually led to Hill leaving Miami and landing in Seattle. Mariners manager Scott Servais reached out to Hill last season when Gordon was moved from center field back to second base to get some idea of how long it might take Gordon to make the transition in the middle of the season. Servais had tried and failed to hire Hill many years ago when Servais was the farm director in Texas. This time, there ended up being a position for Hill after Servais reorganized his coaching staff in the offseason.“Far exceeded my expectations. Just the energy. The understanding of what it takes, doing the grind every day,” Servais said. “Perry has a system. He teaches a system. He knows it like the back of his hand — it’s not something that is data driven. It’s his eyes and teaching and having a feel for players’ strengths and weaknesses and addressing the weaknesses. And in a positive way to get the players to want to work. There is an art to coaching. It’s not a science, it’s an art, and he’s a pretty good artist.” SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Madison Bumgarner’s line from his exhibition debut didn’t look good, but the pitcher and San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy weren’t daunted.“It’s been five months since I’ve faced a hitter http://www.twinsfanproshop.com/authentic-max-kepler-jersey ,” Bumgarner said Sunday. “I’d say that’s the best I’ve felt, especially in a first spring outing, in quite some time.”Bumgarner was sharp in the first inning and retired the Chicago Cubs in order on eight pitches. He failed, however, to retire any of the six batters he faced in a 29-pitch second inning and all six eventually scored.Kyle Schwarber doubled to open the second and Addison Russell singled before Bumgarner hit David Bote on the helmet with a pitch to load the bases. Bote dropped to one knee but was able to walk off under his own power.“It was a weird play because the ball was not on top of him,” Giants catcher Rene Rivera said. “It looked like his head was over the plate and that’s when it hit it. It squared him up pretty good. He lost his balance and I tried to hold him a little bit.”Bote was examined by the Giants medical staff and was to be checked by the Cubs staff at the team’s facility.“Obviously, I don’t want to do that,” Bumgarner said. “That’s terrible. … I’m pretty good at compartmentalizing stuff and moving on to the next thing. That didn’t affect me. I am sorry for it.”Bumgarner gave up three more hits — although two were groundballs on plays that should’ve been made — before he was lifted.“He got ahead and allowed two-strike hits, a couple plays we didn’t make,” Bochy said. “It was one of those Cactus League innings. I was very pleased with where he was with his stuff. He got ground balls and they hit the hole a couple times. Overall, he got us where he could and felt great.”The 29-year-old Bumgarner is coming off back-to-back seasons in which he was slowed by injuries, making 17 starts in 2017 and 21 last year. He suffered a fractured left hand last March when he was hit by a line drive and said he’s fully recovered from that injury and his grip feels strong. The radar gun showed one of his fastballs at 93 mph Rod Carew Jersey , which also is encouraging.“I felt really good,” Bumgarner said. “My command in the zone could be a little better and it’s going to get better as we go here. For the first day, I was pretty excited about it. I felt good. A little tough luck with some ground balls there being just out of reach of some guys. It’s weird to say but I”m not concerned about that at all. It’s about how you feel, how you bounce back after the first inning and getting your work in.”“He wanted to keep the ball on the ground and he did,” Rivera said. “He did exactly what we wanted. It was good placement for them.”Rivera knows a little about Bumgarner from his few at-bats against the 2014 World Series MVP.“The last time I remember facing him was 2016 in the wild-card game and I was with the Mets,” Rivera said. “He did a hell of a job, complete game. When it comes to an important game, he’s going to be there.”Bumgarner threw a four-hit complete game in the Giants’ win over the Mets, with Rivera getting one of those hits. The catcher also hit a three-run homer off Bumgarner on April 28, 2014, in the fifth inning of a 6-4 Padres win over the Giants.But that’s in the past. On Sunday, Rivera and Bumgarner were on the same team.“He’s a pretty simple guy Brian Dozier Jersey ,” Rivera said. “He just attacks the zone. Let’s see what he’s going to do.”NOTES: Pablo Sandoval tweaked his side during Saturday’s workout and will be shut down for a couple days, Bochy said. … Joe Panik went 3 for 3, including a solo home run in the third, in the Giants’ 9-5 loss to the Cubs. “I felt comfortable right from the first at-bat,” Panik said. “Obviously, it’s always a process in spring training but I was feeling a good rhythm at the plate, and that’s all you can ask for.” … Buster Posey is not expected to catch until March 1 but could get at-bats as the designated hitter before that. Posey is coming off surgery to address a hip impingement and repair a torn labrum. He was expected to be ready by opening day.