SPORTS
Saturday, August 19, 2017
East Oregonian
Page 3B
MLB
Seattle employs 1st full-time female scout in over 50 years
By TIM BOOTH
Associated Press
SEATTLE — Nearly two
years ago, Amanda Hopkins’
phone rang. It was a call she
dreamt of receiving, one that
broke barriers and made her
a part of baseball history.
Almost immediately, her
competitiveness took over.
“She put a sign up on her
bedroom door saying, ‘Stay
out, we’re opponents,’”
recalled her father, Ron
Hopkins, a special assistant
to the general manager for
the Pittsburgh Pirates. “In
other words, my bedroom is
off limits to you, there is info
in here. I got a kick out of it.”
The 24-year-old Hopkins
is now about to complete her
second year as an area scout
for the Seattle Mariners. Her
responsibility is the Four
Corners area of the South-
west, taking her to destina-
tions like Greeley, Colorado,
and Hobbs, New Mexico,
two of the more challenging
places to get to from her base
in the Phoenix area.
She is also the first
full-time female baseball
scout in more than 50 years,
breaking through a barrier
that required diligence on
her end and willingness by
the Mariners organization.
Yet, Hopkins does not
view herself through that
prism or want to be viewed
as a trailblazer. She’s a scout
. That’s it.
“I think if anything people
AP Photo/Elaine Thompson
Amanda Hopkins talks on a panel on women in baseball before Tuesday’s game
between the Seattle Mariners and the Baltimore Orioles in Seattle. Hopkins, 24, is
about to complete her second year as an area scout for the Mariners, a position that
has made her a part of baseball history.
are more shocked sometimes
when I will go meet with a
player in the office or some-
thing like that. Maybe they
just know, hey the Mariners’
scout is coming in to meet
with you today and they walk
in and they’re like, ‘Oh.’
That kind of thing,” Hopkins
said. “It’s usually more of
like a shocked look. But
then they’re more curious,
they’re like, ‘How’d you get
into this?’ And they kind of
like want a brief rundown of
how I got to where I am. All
the players, all the coaches,
are incredibly respectful to
me.”
While she is believed to
be the first woman to work
as a full-time baseball scout
since Edith Houghton in the
middle of the 20th century,
Hopkins has been around
baseball since she was a
child.
She traveled with her
father to games, regularly
making trips to the Alaskan
Summer League or the Cape
Cod League in summers.
She would run the radar gun
and pass along the speeds
to her dad when she was as
young as 8. It was obvious
early on she possessed the
same critical eye as her dad.
“She learned at an early
age the difference between
a curveball and a slider. As
she got older it just sort of
grew on her,” Ron said.
“I’d go out with my dad
and they’d be like ‘Oh what
do you want to do when you
grow up?’ And I’d tell them,
‘I want to be a baseball
scout,’” Amanda said. “It’s
like this little girl telling
them that and it’s like, ‘Oh
that’s cute. She wants to
be like her dad.’ But really,
I think it was kind of like
she’ll grow out of it. That’s
kind of what everyone
thought.”
Instead, her passion
for the job only grew. She
majored in psychology
while playing softball at
Central Washington Univer-
sity, yet that failed to satisfy
her desire to be around
baseball.
“The whole time I was in
there I wanted to be a base-
ball scout,” Hopkins said.
“And I remember probably
my freshman year, sopho-
more year, I was like I really
don’t want to do anything
but that. So why am I trying
to almost talk myself out of
it and find a different path?”
Hopkins served as an
intern in Seattle’s baseball
operations department in
the summer of 2014, but
worked mostly with amateur
scouting. A year later, she
was sponsored by the Mari-
ners to attend scout school
and about a month after
returning she got the offer.
“I was a little nervous
myself because I knew she
was going to be breaking
a little bit of a barrier and
she was pretty young,” said
Tom McNamara, who hired
Hopkins and is currently
a special assistant to the
general manager with the
Mariners. “I went into Jerry
(Dipoto’s) office and I had
a lump in my throat and I
said, ‘This is what I want to
do.’ And he was all for it. He
didn’t even hesitate.”
When she was hired in
December 2015, Hopkins
was reluctant to talk about
her place in baseball history.
She wanted more experience
as a professional before
talking about a career that
was just getting started.
“She was down in
Arizona in the beginning
and I would check on her
and finally she said, ‘Tom,
I’m OK. You don’t need to
check on me every other
day,’” McNamara recalled.
Hopkins was part of a
panel earlier this week about
women in baseball orga-
nized by the Mariners. She
is starting to get comfortable
with the history she has
made. But she doesn’t want
that to be her entire story in
baseball.
“I have so much to learn
still. This is such a profession
that takes so many years to
fully understand and you’re
continually
learning,”
Hopkins said. “My dad, 40
years into scouting, is still
learning something every
time he goes to the park.
So I definitely think that I
just want to be the best area
scout I can be right now. But
I love the scouting aspect of
it. I really think that I want
to stay in the scouting side
of the game.”
MARINERS: Ariel Miranda starts Saturday’s game
Continued from 1B
Mariners in the first game of
a 12-game trip.
MLB Statcast has been
measuring home runs only in
the last three seasons. Some
players doubt the validity
of the measurements, and
some of the Mariners had
doubts whether it was even
Cruz’s longest homer. But
catcher Mike Zunino, who
had two doubles and drove
in two runs, said “you could
have told me 500 (feet) and I
would have believed it.”
Cruz acknowledged that
he “squared it up pretty good,
yeah.”
Erasmo Ramirez won his
first game for the Mariners
since April 1, 2014.
Ramirez, who was traded
back to the Mariners on
July 28 after pitching 2 1/2
seasons with the Rays, gave
up one run and two hits in
six innings, leaving the game
with a 6-1 lead.
“It feels weird because
it’s no more than a month,
but ... we have to fight for
the playoffs so I cannot just
come in here and give up,”
Ramirez (5-4) said. “I have
a lot of friends on the other
side, but at the same time it’s
a game and I have to play for
AP Photo/Chris O’Meara
Seattle Mariners’ Mike Zunino follows through on
his two-run double off Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Austin
Pruitt during the fourth inning of a baseball game Fri-
day, Aug. 18, 2017, in St. Petersburg, Fla. Mariners’ Ben
Gamel and Guillermo Heredia both scored.
my team at this moment.”
Hits by Robinson Cano,
Cruz, Danny Valencia and
Ben Gamel helped the Mari-
ners score three runs in the
first off Rays starter Austin
Pruitt. Back-to-back doubles
by Guillermo Heredia and
Zunino and a single by Jean
Segura brought in two more
runs and made it 5-0 in the
third.
Cruz’s home run off
reliever Brad Boxberger
drove in Seattle’s final run in
the ninth.
“It’s great when he gets
hot because they’re not just
singles, they’re doubles and
homers,” Mariners manager
Scott Servais said.
Pruitt (6-4) gave up six
runs and 11 hits in seven
innings,
throwing
107
pitches in his sixth major
league start.
Kevin Kiermaier, playing
for the first time since frac-
turing his hip on June 8, led
off the sixth with a double off
Ramirez and scored Tampa
Bay’s run on a sacrifice fly.
“A long wait for that to
happen again, but hopefully
you’ll see plenty more of
that in the next month or so,”
Kiermaier said.
Wilson Ramos had three
hits for the Rays, who lost
for the seventh time in eight
games and fell four games
below .500 (60-64) for the
first time this season.
TRAINER’S ROOM
MARINERS: 3B Kyle
Seager lost about 12 pounds
while missing two games
with a stomach virus, and
“he still looks pretty thin,”
according to Servais. ... OF
Jarrod Dyson (strained groin)
said he felt better Friday, but
Servais wanted to give him
another day off. ... Heredia
was in the lineup after nega-
tive X-rays on a forearm that
got hit by a pitch.
RAYS:
RHP
Matt
Andriese (stress reaction,
right hip) took a ground ball
off his shin and left Friday’s
rehab start at Class-A Char-
lotte after just two pitches.
UP NEXT
Mariners LHP Ariel
Miranda (7-6) will face Rays
RHP Jake Odorizzi (6-6)
on Saturday night. Miranda
pitched the only complete
game of his career against
the Rays on June 4, a 7-1
Mariners victory.
SEAHAWKS: Fant rolled into by teammate Britt
Continued from 1B
with two weeks remaining in
the preseason.
Fant was injured midway
through the second quarter
when he was rolled into by
teammate Justin Britt and
immediately fell to the turf
in pain. The team training
staff attended to Fant on the
field and placed an air splint
around his lower right leg
before he was taken away.
The team announced
Fant had a knee injury and
may have significantly
changed Seattle’s plans
for the offensive line. Fant
took over at left tackle
midway through last season
and spent the offseason
reshaping his body to be
stronger going into this
season. Earlier this week
offensive line coach Tom
Cable said Seattle was set
on the left side of the offen-
sive line with Fant at tackle
and Luke Joeckel at guard.
Fant’s injury overshad-
owed what was an other-
wise solid performance by
the Seahawks. Williams
continued to make a bid
for a roster spot with an
acrobatic 27-yard catch,
followed by his 1-yard TD
on Seattle’s opening drive.
He nearly had a second
TD but couldn’t haul in a
deep pass from Wilson near
the goal line in the second
quarter.
Minnesota’s Sam Brad-
ford was 7 of 11 for 95 yards,
leading three drives for the
Vikings before calling it
a night. Taylor Heinicke
threw a 21-yard touchdown
pass to Bucky Hodges in
the fourth quarter.
BENNETT
SITS:
Seahawks defensive end
Michael Bennett sat during
the national anthem for the
second straight game of the
preseason.
Bennett was alone sitting
on the Seahawks bench
during the “The Star-Span-
gled Banner.” But team-
mates showed support for
Bennett with center Justin
Britt standing alongside
with his hand on Bennett’s
shoulder. Defensive back
Jeremy Lane also stood
next to Bennett.
KICKER REVENGE:
Walsh took great joy in
having success against his
former team that released
him last season. Walsh
made a pair of 52-yard field
goals in the second half and
made gestures toward the
Minnesota sideline after
each kick. Walsh pointed
at the sideline after his first
make and walked toward
the bench and appeared
to say something after the
second.
Walsh nearly had three
made kicks of beyond 50
yards but a 53-yard attempt
in the first half hit the
Sean Meagher/The Oregonian via AP
Portland Timbers’ Jeremy Ebobisse (17) is taken
down during an MLS soccer match against the New
York Red Bulls in Portland on Friday.
TIMBERS: Defender
Mabiala sent off with
red card in 80th minute
Continued from 1B
Valeri, who scored the
lone goal last week in the
loss to the Reds, took a
pass from Diego Chara
in the corner and caught
New York goalkeeper Luis
Robles off guard from atop
the box.
In a scoreless first
half, the Timbers couldn’t
manage to break through
despite a few good
opportunities, Darlington
Nagbe’s shot from some
20 yards out in the 39th
minute that caromed off the
crossbar.
Portland
defender
Larrys Mabiala was sent
off with a red card in the
80th minute after pulling
New York’s Gonzalo Veron
down outside the penalty
box. Fidel Escobar’s free
kick went just wide.
Timbers
goalkeeper
Jeff Attinella was able to
deflect Sal Zizzo’s header
in the 90th minute before
Mattocks’ goal as time ran
out.
Robles, New York’s
captain for the game, made
his club-record 164th start.
The Red Bulls will visit
Sporting Kansas City in the
U.S. Open Cup champion-
ship game Sept. 20.
If you were suddenly transported into
the presence of God and you heard a
prosecuting attorney listing all the reasons you
should be sent to hell, how would you plead?
Guilty or not guilty?
Th e apostle Paul said, “All have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God? (Romans 3:23). Th at makes us
guilty as charged. What is the penalty for our sin?
“Th e wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord?
(Romans 6:23)
AP Photo/Stephen Brashear
Seattle Seahawks offensive tackle George Fant
is helped onto a cart after he went down on a play
against the Minnesota Vikings during the first half of
an NFL preseason game on Friday in Seattle.
crossbar.
START
COOKIN’:
Vikings’ rookie Dalvin
Cook ran well in the
first half against most of
Seattle’s starting defense.
With the Vikings bringing
back Latavius Murray
slowly from ankle surgery
in March, Cook had seven
carries for 40 yards in
the first half, including a
15-yarder. Cook also had
one reception for 10 yards.
KICKIN’ IT: Both
of Minnesota’s kickers
converted their oppor-
tunities in the first half.
Marshall Koehn hit from
29 yards in the first quarter
and Kai Forbath was good
from 51 yards just before
halftime. That was the only
opportunities for either
kicker as the Vikings had
only two drives inside the
Seattle 40.
CELEBRATE GOOD
TIMES: Davis’ touchdown
was his first since signing
with the Seahawks in the
offseason and he had a
unique celebration. Davis
ran into the end zone then
laid down using the ball as
a pillow as his teammates
joined him to celebrate.
It was the most extensive
of any of the touchdown
celebrations.
What could we say in our defense? “God
demonstrates His own love towards us, in that
while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”
(Romans 5:8)
Because Jesus became our substitute, the penalty has
been paid. But we must accept His forgiveness as
a gift . Th e only requirement is that we recognize
our need and accept His off er.
“If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and
believe in your heart that God has raised Him from
the dead, you will be saved… For ‘whoever calls
on the name of the LORD shall be saved”
(Romans 10:9, 13)
If you haven’t done so before, tell Jesus that you
believe He died as your substitute and accept
the free and undeserved gift of forgiveness.
Th at’s the only way to be right about
your wrong, to be accepted by God,
and to be sure of heaven.
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