Shawn O’Malley back in Tri-Cities with Mariners Caravan

The last time Shawn O’Malley was palling around with a Moose, they were putting up a lot of wins for Southridge High School.

Back in the day, it was Travis “Moose” Mattair. Today, O’Malley is hanging out with the Mariner Moose.

O’Malley, former player Mike Blowers, pitcher Cody Martin and the Moose visited patients and their families Friday at Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland as part of the annual Seattle Mariners Caravan.

The group later held a meet-and-greet at Columbia Basin College.

“This is great,” said O’Malley, a 2006 graduate of Southridge. “I was just walking in with one of the workers here and they said, ‘Aren’t you from here?’ I said I was born in this hospital. To be back here and give back to the kids is really cool.”

And the Moose?

“It’s kind of fitting,” O’Malley said of playing with one Moose and working with another. “I don’t know who is funnier, Travis or him. The (Mariner) Moose is a great guy to have on the trip, but he doesn’t talk much.”

O’Malley, 28, was a sophomore on the 2004 Southridge baseball team that won the state title with a 6-4 win over Kentwood. As a junior, he was named the Big Nine Conference Player of the Year, hitting over .500 without committing an error.

An outfielder/infielder, he was drafted in the fifth round (139th overall) by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2006 and spent the next few years bouncing round the minor leagues.

Not long ago he thought about hanging up his cleats, but his wife, Samantha, convinced him to give it one more year.

“A couple of years ago my father (Rich) had passed,” O’Malley said. “I was just kind over it. I didn’t know if I wanted to do it any more. It was getting hard. My wife looked at me and said, ‘Give it one more year. Just go and have fun.’ Kind of like Kobe Bryant and Derek Jeter did, it was my farewell tour. I had a really good year and made my (major league) debut that year (Sept. 7, 2014, with the Los Angeles Angels). I’m really fortunate she made me stick with it.

“It is a grind —being hurt, going through some adversities. But to finally get called up was really special. Now that I’m with the Mariners, it is even better.”

The Angels released O’Malley after the 2014 season, even though he played in the Triple-A All-Star Game. The Mariners then signed him to a minor league contract with an invite to spring training last season.

“I don’t know all of it, that’s why we have sports agents,” O’Malley said of his release from the Angels. “I became a free agent. The next day the Mariners called. I didn’t know what to do, except say ‘I’ll do it.’ I was fortunate to get an opportunity to play with them.”

Being a Mariners fan his whole life, it was a dream come true to sign with Seattle.

“I was a huge (Ken) Griffey fan, and Blowers was there,” O’Malley said. “They were heroes to me growing up, and now I get to hang out with them and work with them. It’s really cool.”

O’Malley played most of last season with the Tacoma Rainiers (Triple-A), where he hit .297 with 50 runs scored, 39 RBIs and 20 stolen bases.

He was called up the Mariners on Sept. 1. In his first game with the Mariners, he went 3-for-4 with three singles, two RBIs and a stolen base in an 8-3 win over the Houston Astros. He finished the season with a .262 average with 11 hits, one home run, seven RBIs and three stolen bases in 42 at-bats.

Each day he went to the ball park, he hoped it wasn’t his last.

“It was September — there was no place to go,” O’Malley said. “Hopefully this year, I make the team and we get to the playoffs.”

Blowers, a veteran of the caravan circuit, is entering his 10th season as the Mariners television analyst. He did three tours as a Mariners player (1992-95, 1997, 1999), and played five years with Ken Griffey Jr., who was named to the Baseball Hall of Fame last week.

“We all knew long ago that he would be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and that’s what he is,” Blowers said. “We are excited about July and his speech, but to have been a teammate of his for five years and watch it right up front and close, it is something I am really proud of. I think the city of Seattle, all Mariner fans everywhere and the organization are really excited and thrilled for Kenny. I’m glad he’s going in as a Mariner and glad he had the highest percentage of all time.

“He was 19 years old when he started,” Blowers continued. “Everyone remembers the smile and him running all over the place. I’m glad he is still with the organization. He calls this home, too.”

Martin, a 6-foot-3 right-hander who played four years at Gonzaga, was claimed off waivers Oct. 19 by the Mariners. He previously had played for Atlanta and Oakland. The California native has been with the caravan just a couple of days, but the transition has been smooth.

“The first people from the Mariners I met was a couple of nights ago in Coeur d’Alene when I joined them,” Martin said. “I’m having a great time, and it’s great to be back in the Northwest. Last night, we went out to dinner with Shawn’s mom (Karla), we hung out, it was awesome.”

Martin, a seventh-round draft pick by the Atlanta Braves in 2011, said he is finding the caravan to be a fun experience.

“We were in an elementary school yesterday (in Walla Walla), and it was like we weren’t even there,” Martin said. “All eyes were on the Moose. We were talking baseball, and they weren’t even paying attention. He’s the man. It was funny.”

This story was originally published January 15, 2016 at 2:02 PM with the headline "Shawn O’Malley back in Tri-Cities with Mariners Caravan."