2-Year Journey Back To Baseball

HIS PLAYING career ended in 1975, his police career in 1995. So on his 46th birthday tomorrow, Andy Bottin returns to pro baseball.

EVERETT - Practice is over, and most of the players walk toward the locker room.

But the pitching coach stands near home plate, offering tips to a member of the Everett AquaSox struggling to throw strikes.

The pupil is not an Everett player, however. The gray hair under the navy baseball cap says this is no kid fresh out of high school or college.

It is Andy Bottin, the new batting and outfield coach for the AquaSox.

The Class A short-season affiliate of the Seattle Mariners is about to open its season. And soaking up the finer points of throwing batting practice alongside the promising prospects is a middle-aged former cop who is returning to pro baseball after a 20-year absence.

Bottin's career change begins in earnest when the AquaSox open their Northwest League schedule against the Bellingham Giants tomorrow at 7:05 p.m. at Everett Memorial Stadium.

Tomorrow is also the 46th birthday for Bottin (pronounced Bo-teen), who retired from the Seattle Police Department in January.

"This has been a dream come true, getting the chance to get back into the game," the Camano Island resident said. "I just love baseball."

Even after his playing career ended in 1975, his love for the game remained despite a long, circuitous route that carried him away, then back to the game.

Bottin went from cleaning furnaces for $5 a house to a 20-year career in law enforcement. He served in Vietnam, and is a Hall of Famer (in softball, not in Cooperstown). Bottin has won a world championship and his dad was best man at his wedding, but he also has had to get tough with gang members.

Nearly 30 years ago, Bottin was in a situation similar to the AquaSox he now coaches.

Bottin was an outfielder and a member of the first graduating class at Lynnwood's Meadowdale High School in 1967. Drafted and signed by the New York Yankees, he played two years in the Yankee farm system, then was drafted again.

By the Army.

He served two years, including an eight-month stint as a platoon sergeant in Vietnam.

Bottin then signed a contract with Class AAA Syracuse and was to report to the Yankees' spring training. He was just one step from The Show, one hot streak from the major leagues.

Bottin, however, never made it to that spring training. The Bottins' first son died a few days after birth, then his wife Jeni got sick with a blood disorder.

Because he did not attend spring training, Bottin was sent back to Class A. He was released in 1972.

Bottin couldn't stay away from sports, though, and eventually took up slowpitch softball. He played on the Price Enterprises team that won the USSSA World Championship in the mid-1980s and was inducted into the Washington State Softball Hall of Fame in 1993.

Softball led to his career in law enforcement. In a game against a police squad, a cop suggested Bottin apply to the police academy.

Bottin was a police academy instructor, a detective with the Seattle gang unit and an officer in Georgetown and Ballard. He also advised Mariner players on how police can help them deal with obnoxious fans.

He expressed an interest in coaching, and attended a few spring trainings, helping Mariner coaches. He also was a volunteer baseball coach at Stanwood High School.

Bottin was at spring training earlier this month when he was offered the AquaSox job.

Word quickly spread among the players that he is an ex-police officer.

"The guys have said, `Hey, you don't act like a cop,' " Bottin said. "What's a cop supposed to act like? My image of a cop is you're there to help people.

"There's a time when you have to be tough, but most times you don't."

His philosophy has served him well in his new profession. He prefers a laugh and a gentle nod of the head to make a point instead of raising his voice.

Bottin's strength as a coach? "I listen," he said. "A coach doesn't have to do all the talking."

Everett Manager Orlando Gomez said Bottin has been a good fit.

"He has a lot of confidence in himself . . . His confidence gets the players to believe in themselves."

He is happy to be back in baseball, the game that really didn't give him a fair shake 20 years ago.

It doesn't make sense to be bitter, he said, when there's so many other things to be thankful for. Such as his family, Jeni and daughter Danielle, 19, and son Andy, 13.

"We have choices. You can be happy with what you have, or you can be sad and try to put blame on a lot of things," said Bottin, whose 25th wedding anniversary is Sept. 3, the date of Everett's season finale. "We've had a lot of ups and downs, but I try to focus on the good things. Everything has come together for me. I have no complaints."

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AquaSox at a glance.

-- Level: Class A Northwest League (short season) affiliate of Seattle Mariners.

-- Opener: Tomorrow vs. Bellingham Giants, 7:05 p.m., Everett Memorial Stadium.

-- Stadium: Everett Memorial, 39th and Broadway.

-- Ticket prices: Reserved seats $7 adults, $5 children (14-under). General admission $5 adults, $4 children.

-- Home game times: Weekdays 7:05 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays 6:05 p.m., July 4 2:05 p.m.

-- Special attractions (for these dates, reserved seats $8.50, general admission $6.50): Famous Chicken Night July 23 vs. Yakima; Silver Bullets women's professional team exhibition game Aug. 23.

-- How to get to stadium: Northbound I-5: Take exit No. 192 (Broadway/Port of Everett), on left side of freeway. Go north on Broadway, turn left by Memorial Stadium sign into free parking lot south of stadium.

-- Tickets: 258-3673.