Mariners call-ups making themselves right at home

Travis Blackley arrived in the Safeco Field clubhouse for his fourth big league start Wednesday with a new warm-up tool that brought a melodious tune to the locker room.

As a reporter sifted through a pack of Tacoma Rainiers Class AAA trading cards, pulling out the half dozen that were now, like Blackley, a part of the Mariners roster, the rookie pulled out a sleek left-handed electric guitar and turned his back on the small group around him.

Hooking up to a mini-amplifier that produced different guitar effects, Blackley began strumming and picking a few licks to calm his nerves and hands before facing the Oakland A's.

"Just like Jimi Hendrix," the Australian left-hander remarked in homage to one of Seattle's most renowned legends.

Next to him, fellow call-up George Sherrill, who made his debut last Friday, observed: "I guess when you get to the big leagues, you gotta' make your own music."

None of the former members of the Marniers' top farm club has made more music with his instrument -- a stick of lumber -- than Bucky Jacobsen, since the 6-foot-4 slugger arrived in Seattle July 15.

The hero of Seattle's 6-5 win over Oakland on Wednesday, Jacobsen blasted the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the 10th inning 434 feet over the center-field fence for his third major league homer in his first six games.

"It's a dream come true," gushed Jacobsen, 28, who has a .292 batting average, a .667 slugging percentage, and a .452 on-base percentage since joining the lineup.

Still, neither he nor any of the other recent call-ups will be caught shopping for real estate just yet.

For Jacobsen, it was 10 different minor league teams in seven years before making it to Seattle, and he plans to continue living halfway between Tacoma and Safeco Field -- Federal Way for now -- until he's sure he can stick with the Mariners. Some of the call-ups live in Renton, but most know they might be sent back to Tacoma if things don't work out.

With his immediate success and adulation from fans that throng around him seeking autographs, Jacobsen says he doesn't really feel any pressure in his new environment.

"Pressure is a negative term, I think," he said. "I have an opportunity, and I want to make the most of that opportunity. I look at it as that I'm blessed to be in the big leagues right now, and I know I want to play here for a long time."

The most recent addition from Tacoma, left-handed pitcher Bobby Madritsch, arrived two hours before game time Wednesday. Madritsch made his major league debut in the top of the 10th and ended picking up the victory when Jacobsen hit his walk-off homer.

"The thing that really kept me grounded was that a lot of the guys I played with in Tacoma are here," Madritsch said after his whirlwind first day in Seattle. "I didn't feel like I didn't know anybody or that I'm the new guy. I feel right at home and I'm just happy to be here."

The call-ups and rookies all help bolster each other as they learn their way around the city, the stadium and the big leagues.

"It's cool when you see young guys get a shot," Jacobsen said. "You put a lot of effort and hard-fought sweat and tears into this game, and a lot people still never make it."

With so many newcomers from Tacoma -- five since July 1 -- the mood in the Mariners clubhouse is certain to change for the final months of the season.

"We have quite a few guys here who didn't go through what we went through in the first half," manager Bob Melvin said. "When you have some new people in there, the past isn't a part of it. It's all about the present and now."

Other players recalled from Tacoma currently on the roster include pitchers Sherrill, Mike Myers and J.J. Putz and third baseman Justin Leone. Others who have gone up and down between the two clubs include pitchers Matt Thornton, Clint Nageotte and Gil Meche and infielder Ramon Santiago.

If things work out the way they have in his first week or so in Seattle, Jacobsen could be looking to say goodbye to Tacoma and to his temporary home in Federal Way.

Asked where he would like to live in the Emerald City, Jacobsen said, "I have no idea, no idea. I love water and I like to golf, but I don't know the Seattle area all that well."

That seems certain to change, just like the Mariners roster in the coming year, and the addresses of several more players to come.

P-I reporter Angelo Bruscas can be reached at 206-448-8010 or angelobruscas@seattlepi.com

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