Mariners enjoy welcoming Ackley

By GREGG BELL AP Sports Writer

Story

Summary

Dustin Ackley has already shown his hitting fits better than his new Mariners uniform. Seattle's second overall pick in June's draft out of the University of North Carolina was formally introduced Monday at Safeco Field.

Story Published: Aug 31, 2009 at 5:43 PM PST

Dustin Ackley, the Seattle Mariners' top pick in this year's baseball draft, takes batting practice with the team Monday, Aug. 31, 2009, in Seattle.

SEATTLE (AP) - And Dustin Ackley thought his drawn-out saga of finally signing a contract was harrowing.

Seattle's second overall pick in June's draft out of the University of North Carolina was formally introduced Monday at Safeco Field, two weeks after he agreed to a five-year major-league contract worth $7.5 million just minutes before a league deadline to do. The outfielder was then given an oversized practice jersey with his college number 13 on the back. It made the 21-year-old look far smaller and younger than his listed 6-feet-1 and 184 pounds.

Ken Griffey Jr. loved that. As the nervous Ackley made the clubhouse rounds looking like a 12-year-old with wide blue eyes during his first hours on a major league roster, Griffey marveled that he had found a player skinnier than superstar Ichiro Suzuki.

Ackley had to borrow bats to hit - when asked if Griffey would let him use his, the slugger looked up, scoffed and said, "You're kidding, right?"

Good thing his mother Joy and 11-year-old sister Malia had flown in with the family from Walnut Cove, N.C. They were holding his spikes, turf shoes and glove in a black duffel bag.

"I hope I don't screw up or anything out there," Ackley said.

Finally, after shagging flies in left field with pitchers, Ackley jogged to the batting cage. He then showed his hitting fit much better than his uniform.

The only three-time All-American in UNC history sprayed line drives all over. Seattle general manager Jack Zduriencik stood with his hands in his suit pockets nodding his head approvingly in the box seats next to Ackley's parents.

On the field, scouting director Tom McNamara looked like he'd just test driven his favorite, brand-new car.

"He's a unique player," McNamara said of the top hitter in Tar Heel history (.412 over three seasons). "The game comes pretty easy to him."

More easily than his new look.

"Yeah, I think they got me one a little big," Ackley said of his jersey in the dugout following his first practice with the Mariners, about two months after his final college game with North Carolina in the College World Series. "They didn't know my size."

They will by February. Ackley will report to Seattle's instructional league in Arizona next week. He will play in the Arizona Fall League, competing against No. 1 overall pick Stephen Strasburg and others. Then in 5½ months, Ackley will report to spring training in Peoria, Ariz., already on the Mariners' major league roster.

"Our thought process was, he'd be here in a short period of time," Zduriencik said of Ackley reaching the majors.

Way cool stuff for a kid whose first major league experience was as a 5-year-old, with his father and his older brother Jordan at the old Busch Stadium in St. Louis in the mid-1990s. The family flew on Mom's perks as a flight attendant as a guest of Cardinals backup catcher Danny Sheaffer, a former minor league teammate of Ackley's dad, John.

"It's something I've always dreamed of," Ackley said of this first, temporary day in the major leagues. "I'm excited to get going."