Ran into a familiar face at the ballpark today that I was so happy to see. Andrea Bradley, otherwise known as Adam Jones’ mom. What was Adam Jones’ mom doing at a Mariners game you may ask? Well, Mike Morse gave her tickets.

I wrote last year about how Bradley was like a den mother to several of the young Ms. She lives in the Peoria area and has opened her home and her kitchen to many of Adam’s friends. Young men away from home everywhere appreciate a home cooked meal and ball players are no different. Mike Morse and Matt Tuiassoppo were among the regulars. Andrea told me that many would stop by her house for a meal regardless of whether or not Adam was in town. When Morse was rehabbing his hand last year, he would often come by for dinner and conversation. He is obviously a favorite of hers and recently he showed his appreciation by giving her a very special gift.

“He spent so much time here when he was rehabbing that he told me I had become like a second mom. He even gave me the first ball from his first major league game. It was mounted on a big stand and he asked his mom if it was okay if he gave it to me and she said he could.” She told me.

She was very touched by this and has a special day planned for Mike. She told me that she heard in one of my interviews with Mike that his birthday (March 22) was never a big deal because it fell during spring training. Well Andrea is going to make a big deal of it by throwing him a big birthday party. It is not a surprise (although I am told there will be surprises) so I am not giving anything away here.

As for her son, “He’s doing great, did you hear he hit a grand slam?” she said with a big smile on her face. “He hated to leave. He really wanted to play right field for the Mariners.” She misses him terribly and won’t be able to head to Florida to see him because of health issues. She does plan however to see him when the Orioles play in Los Angeles and Seattle. Yes, Seattle.

I asked if she still held a spot for the Mariners in her heart and she said absolutely. “In fact, check this out” she said as she pulled her scooter up and displayed the Mariners tee shirt pulled over the back rest. She then asked if we were still doing “that radio show” at Mc Duffy’s on Wednesdays and said that she would try to be there.

There is no question where Adam got his class.

Other news and notes.

Went down to field three to watch the “injury guys” throw live bp. Arthur Rhodes, Chris Reitsma and Mark Lowe faced Greg Norton, Charlton Jimerson and Mike Morse. Reitsma appeared to be a bit ahead of the other two, and John McLaren confirmed that the reports he got were that he looked “real good”. Reitsma shattered two of Jimerson’s bats with nasty sliders and the velocity looked good. I would suspect that we will see him in a game soon…I was supposed to have a sit down interview with Ichiro today for a future “Beyond the Baselines” but extra work (on Ichiro’s part) has pushed the interview to a later date. Ichiro and others including Charlton Jimerson and Willie Bloomquist were out on field 1 working on base stealing almost up until game time. Tony Phillips left the session very impressed telling me “Man I wish I could have played with that guy, he is so smart. If I had played with him I would have been at his locker with that translator every day. He could give me pointers on running and I could teach him on how to have fun.” No doubt…You may have read that Felix’s agent is in town to talk about an extended contract with the Mariners. Apparently a meeting is scheduled for Monday. Felix does not want to talk much about this but I am hearing that this is the very early stages and nothing is close…I talked to JJ after the game and he was happy with his performance. I then asked about more important issues, namely, if he has repaid Eddie Guardado for the “present” he left JJ earlier this spring. JJ assured me that something is in the works, “I don’t know if Eddie was smart enough to think and look ahead that they come to Seattle on opening day so, it will be interesting. There are snakes involved.”…I got an email from a listener in Japan last year wondering what happened to the trumpet player that could be heard at the games in past years. At the time I was told that the man was at the games but had been leaving the horn at home. You might notice if you listen, that he is back and he is trumpeting. I ran into the gentleman on the way down to the field after the game. He told me yes he is playing again and showed me the horn which turns out to be a one valved bugle and not a trumpet. “Never had a lesson in my life!” he told me…