Memoirs - 20 Years Of Mariners -- Ex-M Presley Goes From School Back To Baseball

With a high-school diploma in one hand and a Seattle Mariner contract in the other, Jim Presley said to himself that when his professional baseball career ended he would go to college.

True to his vow, Presley enrolled at Florida's Pensacola Junior College as a 32-year-old freshman in 1993.

"I enjoyed going back to school," Presley said. "I think you get more out of it the older you are."

Presley crammed two years of junior-college work into one and then transferred to the University of West Florida in pursuit of a degree in sports science with a minor in business.

But baseball's lure proved too great.

A year ago, Presley became a minor-league hitting instructor with the fledgling Arizona Diamondbacks, who will begin major-league life in the National League next year. Presley currently is working with the South Bend Silver Hawks in the Class A Midwest League.

"It was hard to turn it down simply because of who the job was with," said Presley, whose immediate supervisor, Mel Didier, also has links to the Mariners. Didier was the M's first farm director, in 1977.

Presley figures he is no more than two semesters shy of being a college graduate.

A third baseman, Presley played six years (799 games) with the M's, a streak of longevity unusual for that time (1984-89), when Seattle's players and managers came and went on a regular basis. Presley still ranks seventh or higher in eight of the M's career hitting categories, including fifth in home runs (115) and second in strikeouts (713).

His Mariner memories include the comings and goings of teammates - and the home opener in 1986 against the California Angels.

"Dave Henderson tied the game with a homer in the bottom of the ninth and I hit a grand slam in the bottom of the 10th to win it for us," Presley said. "That was pretty exciting."

After the 1989 season, Presley was traded to Atlanta.

"I can't say enough about Seattle," Presley said. "They treated me good while I was there."

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Jim Presley/bio

Age: 35 Home: Pensacola, Fla. Family: Jim and his wife, Pam, have been married 14 years. Children - Josh, 8, and Kendall, 5. Occupation: Minor-league hitting coach with Arizona Diamondbacks. Major-league career: Eight years (six with Mariners, 1984-89); one each with Atlanta and San Diego. Best year: 1985 - .275, 28 home runs, 84 RBI