The pink backpacks are  back.

Rookie relievers Chris Jakubauskas and Shawn Kelley are toting them around, keeping them filled with snacks and things.

Kelley said he keeps his backpack filled with healthy foods, while Jakubauskas has a backpack full of candy or other high-sugar snacks.

The pink backpacks have become something of a tradition, starting several years ago, I believe, when cluhouse prankster Eddie Guardado was around.

Speaking of Kelley and Jakubauskas, they have changed numbers. Jak, who was No. 71 during Spring Training, is now wearing No. 41. “It worked well for Tom Seaver”, he said.

Kelley, No. 66 in camp, now has No. 23 on the back of his jersey.

“They wouldn’t give me No. 24,” he said, smiling.

I didn’t have the heart to tell him No. 23 was worn a few years ago by Scott Speizio.

— Jim Street

It is Opening Day here in the Twin Cities, although Opening Night is more like it.

As you can see from the above picture, taken from my really high hotel room, the Twins’ new, outdoor stadium is moving right along. It is supposed to be finished well before the Twins open the 2010 season.

Not that cold weather is a bad thing, but I just came back from a brisk little walk to and from Target (also the name of the new ballyard) to pick up some things. It is very sunny, but my bottom teeth were colliding with my upper teeth. Yes, it is a little chilly here and I can only imagine what it will be like next season when the Twins open their new facility sometime in April. It figures to be a wonderful facility when it is finished and I’m looking forward to seeing my first game there.

In the meantime, the Metrodome will be packed and warm for tonight’s regular season opener between the Mariners and Twins.

It will be the first time left fielder Endy Chavez has played here and he practiced a lot on catching fly balls during yesterday’s workout.

Asked how it went, he said, “You can’t take your eye off the ball once you see it leave the bat or you will lose sight of it.”

The teflon roof happens to be about the same color as a baseball so total concentration is necessary and sometimes even that isn’t enough. It is worse during a day game with a cloudless sky. Maybe it will be cloudy for Thursday afternoon’s series finale.

My most vivid memory of the Metrodome — other than the incredible noise made by the fans during the 1991 World Series — was being in the press box covering the Athletics when Dave Kingman hit a towering popup straight up. The ball went up, up, up — and never came down. It amazingly went into one of the holes in the roof. The Twins catcher and infielders covered their heads with their gloves, not wanting to get hit by a ball they couldn’t see.

The ball was found the following day and as part of the pre-game festivities, was dropped from the roof. Can’t remember if it was actually caught.

Another memory is watching a ball Mark Whiten hit fly, fly away so far that it reached the wall above the football press box in right field, slamming against a curtain that covers the outer wall of the place. I guessed the ball must have traveled at least 500 feet, and I had good eyes back then.

Got off to a bad start yesterday during the workout.

Working on just a few hours of sleep because of my early flight from Las Vegas, On my way to the press box following manager Don Wakamatsu’s pre-workout media session, Outside the  visiting clubhouse I asked the clubhouse attendant if there was any coffee available. He said he had just dumped it out. He went one way, I thought, and I went the other. I walked into the clubhouse to ask for a Diet Coke to sip on while I wrote my stories in the press box — there was nothing available up there except some electricity for my computer, thank goodness. As I started to say, in a kidding way, to another clubhouse attendant, ‘so you dumped the coffee…would it be possible to get a Diet Coke?’…the dude I had just talked to walked through the door behind me and chastised me for “not believing him.” Yikes!

Perhaps the hospitality will be better in the new stadium.

— Jim Street

As you know, when the Mariners begin the season on Monday night, Ichiro Suzuki won’t be in the lineup. He remains in Peoria recovering from the severe fatigue caused by a bleeding ulcer.

He’s not here, but his jersey is and it will be hanging in the visiting dugout at the Metrodome in every game the right fielder misses — starting on Monday night.

It was something the “team decided”, manager Don Wakamatsu said prior to Sunday afternoon’s workout at the indoor facility.

Ichiro is still expected to rejoin the Mariners in Oakland on Friday, work out with the team during the three-game series, return to Seattle and hopefully miss just the first game of the three-game home series against the Angels.

Also, Wakamatsu announced his starting linuep for Opening Night.

And here it is:

1. Endy Chavez, LF.

2. Franklin Gutierrez, CF.

3. Mike Sweeney, DH.

4. Adrian Beltre, 3B.

5. Ken Griffey Jr., RF.

6. Jose Lopez, 2B.

7. Russell Branyan, 1B.

8. Kenji Johjima, C.

9. Yuniesky Betancourt, SS

P. Felix Hernandez.

— Jim Street

The Mariners Opening Day roster is set.

There are a couple of surprises, but none bigger than Woodinville’s own Matt Tuiasosopo being on it.

His terrific camp, which actually ended with the Mariners last week in Peoria when he was sent down to Triple-A, had a happy ending as he basically replaces Ichiro Suzuki on the roster.

Without further adieu (I am on a strict deadline) here it is:

Pitchers (12): RH David Aardsma, RH Miguel Batista, LH Erik Bedard, RH Roy Corcoran, RH Felix Hernandez, RH Chris Jakubauskas, RH Shawn Kelley, RH Mark Lowe, RH Brandon Webb, LH Ryan Rowland-Smith, RH Carlos Silva, LH Jarrod Washburn.

Catchers (2): Kenji Johjima, Rob Johnson.

Infielders (7): Adrian Beltre, Yuniesky Betancourt, Russell Branyan, Ronny Cedeno, Jose Lopez, Mike Sweeney, Tuiasosopo.

Outfielders (4): Wladimir Balentien, Endy Chavez, Ken Griffey Jr., Franklin Gutierrez.

The Mariners outrighted pitcher Jesus Delgado to Triple-A Tacoma and re-assigned to the Minor League camp, LH Tyler Johnson, RH Chad Cordero, C Jamie Burke, infielders Chris Burke and Chris Woodward and outfielder Mike Wilson.

The team also officially put Ichiro on the 15-day disabled list.

— Jim Street

Some lifestyles will change for some of the Mariners that suited up for today’s final Spring Training game.

Soon after the final out, manager Don Wakamatsu will inform nine of the players that they are not going to be on the team charter headed for Minneapolis.

Basically, all but a few roster spots have been determined.

Questions remain on who the backup catcher will be, either Rob Johnson (my pick) or Jamie Burke; who will replace Ichiro on the roster, which will be real interesting, and how the bullpen shapes up.

That is the area of most concern heading into Monday night’s regular season opener, but a little of the angst was removed during Friday night’s game when right-hander Roy Corcoran tossed two scoreless innings. He needed that.

“I think it’s a situation where he put a lot of pressure on himself, especially in Arizona where the ball doesn’t tend to sink,” Wakamatsu said. “We kept saying, even though he was giving up runs and he didn’t have great outings, that his stuff was getting better. Obviously, he was as sharp as I’ve seen him (Friday night). It was a valuable two innings for him to build a little confidence going into the season.”

It appears that right-handers Chris Jakubauskas and Shawn Kelley will land spots in the bullpen.

Stay tuned….

— Jim Street

Greetings from Las Vegas.

Not that it is windy here, but the batting cage just moved about 10 feet towards the pitching mound. That is not a good sign for a pitcher in tonight’s game between the Mariners and Rockies.

The Mariners arrived from Peoria about an hour ago and I’m sure it was a bumpy landing. My colleague, Larry Stone from the Times, said the final 30 minutes of his flight last night was among the bumpiest he ever been on in his life.

He was so happy to have a safe landing that he got off the plan, put a quarter in a slot machine — and won $5…Nice investment.

The lineups are here:

1. Endy Chavez, LF.

2. Franklin Gutierrez, LF.

3. Adrian Beltre, 3B.

4. Russell Branyan, 1B.

5. Mike Sweeney, DH.

6. Rob Johnson, C.

7. Wladimir Balentien, RF.

8. Ronny Cedeno, 2B.

9. Chris Woodward, SS.

P. Jarrod Washburn.

— Jim Street

Stunning news this morning….Ichiro is going on the 15-day disabled list.

The medical tests he had taken on Thursday in Peoria revealed that a bleeding ulcer was the cause of his uncharacteristic fatigue, a down-in-the-dumps feeling that kept him out of the Mariners final three games in Arizona.

The bleeding has stopped, but he needs time to regain his strength and therefore will miss at least the first eight games of the regular season. He is eligible to come off the DL on April 15.

This is the first time in his MLB career — if not his entire professional career — that Ichiro has been placed on the DL. He played all 162 games last season and missed just 16 games his eigtht years with the Mariners.

My guess is that Mike Wilson will land a spot on the 25-man Opening Day roster and either he or Wladimir Balentien will be the right fielder in Monday night’s regular season opener.

But more on that later today after manager Don Wakamatsu speaks to the media prior to tonight’s game against the Rockies.

— Jim Street

The Mariners break camp today following their noon game against the Padres and here are some of my refelections from almost seven weeks of Spring Training in Peoria, which actually went pretty fast.

1. The one-on-one instruction the players received from manager Don Wakamatsu and his attention-to-detail coaching staff is something that I believe will pay off down the road. Players know what is expected of them, beginning with the T-E-A-M concept. The Mariners must manufacture runs via solid situtional hitting — which I will call The Wak Way — to be successful this season. 

2. The return of Ken Griffey Jr., and arrival of Mike Sweeney, has given the clubhouse a totally different atmosphere. There was comaraderie in this camp, thanks largely to Sweeney and Griffey going out their way to mingle with players of all nationalities. Hopefully, the cliques that existed last season are a thing of the past. I made the comment last year that if the Mariners had a “team dinner” it had held at four different restaurants.

3. Camp coordinator (and bench coach) Ty Van Burkleo ran a smooth camp that seemed to go off without a hitch, when it came to the fundamental drills. It helped that for first time in memory, which for me goes way back to the really early ’70s, there was not one day of camp interrupted by rain. The Valley of the Sun lived up to its reputation.

4. Shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt had a 22-pitch game and the game didn’gt even go 15 or 16 innings! That many pitches in one day might be the most astonishing stat of the spring. Did he have any walks? Well, he had one free pass (and struck out just twice) going into today’s game, but he seems to be learning the importance of making a pitcher work hard during every at-bat.

5. You have to feel bad for Chris Shelton. He had a great spring and was leading the team in hitting (.460) when he was re-assigned to the Minor Leagues on Wednesday. That’s the price a player has to pay when he’s not on the 40-man roster. I hope Shelton goes to Tacoma, continues to work hard and hit well. Remember, the same 25 players that start the season rarely end the season. He’ll be back. Perhaps the same fate awaits outfielder Mike Wilson. He was released early in camp, 29 other MLB clubs passed on him, so he re-signed with Seattle. As of today, he leads the team in home runs (8) and RBIs (19). The eight dingers is a club record for Spring Training, and he still might not be on the 25-man Opening Day roster.

6. I’m also surprised another team, especially one from the National League, didn’t claim Mike Morse off the waiver wire. He’s a terrific hitter and would be a solid reserve for a NL team, which use its bench a lot more than AL teams. I could see Morse being a right-handed version of Phillies sub (and ex-Mariner) Greg Dobbs.

7. The biggest camp surprises were pitchers Chris Jakubauskas and Shawn Kelley. They spent the final week of camp on what Jak called “Survivor Island”, the row of lockers usually occupied by sure-fire camp cuts. They stuck around from start to finish and kudos to them.

8. Most improved: Third baseman Matt Tuiasosopo could start for many Major League teams right now, but as long as Adrian Beltre is ahead of him on the depth chart, Tui must fine-tune his game and wait for September.

9. Oh, that pitching. Granted, the playing conditions in Arizona in the spring-time favor the hitters. But a team ERA of close to seven runs a game? Yikes!

10. When camp opened, one of the big questions was who would replace J.J. Putz as the closer. As camp ends, one of the big questions is who will replace J.J. Putz as the closer.

The next stop for the team is Las Vegas for two games against the Rockies. Then it’s on to Minneapolis for the regular-season opener on Monday night, the first game in the final season of the Metrodome, a facility built for football.

The bad news is snow is in the forecast with temperatures dipping into the mid-20s at night and climbing into the 40s during the day. As you know, the Metrodome has a roof, so inclement weather is not a big deal. But it certainly will be a big deal next season — and beyond. The Twins’ new ballpark, which will open in April 2010, will be an open-air facility without a roof. What were they thinking?

May I make a suggestion — have Opening Day next year also be Earmuff/Wool blanket/Handwarmer/Seatwarmer Night.

In the meantime, thanks for the blog-action and I promise to answer as many of your emails as I can — probably during one of those upcoming cold, blustery days in Minneapolis.

— Jim Street

It has been a rough spring for reliever Roy Corcoran and he received a little pep talk yesterday.

Actually, a big pep talk.

“I talked to mama and she said I had better get my (rear) in gear,” Corcoran said this morning in the Mariners clubhouse.

Mama Corcoran (Barbara is her first name) knows best and she doesn’t beat around the bush. She tells it like it is and she’s been following the progress of her No. 2 son on the Internet.

The numbers have raised her eye-brows just a tad, as they say in Slaughter, LA.

Yes, indeed, mama Corcoran is more than a little concerned with that 12.79 ERA Roy has going into the final days of Spring Training.

“It had been close to two weeks since I called her and she was worried,” Corcoran said. “She was happy I called. We talked for a little bit and then she asked me how I felt. I told her I feel fine and she asked, ‘Then what’s the problem (with your pitching?). She keeps tabs on everything and knew I have been struggling.”

“I told her that I was just getting hit around. She gets into me pretty good, and I need that. It was a good, old-fashioned ‘get it in gear’ talk, and she did most of the talkin.'”

Corcoran is scheduled to pitch one inning in today’s game against the Indians in Goodyear.

The Mariners lineup:

1. Endy Chavez, LF
2. Ronny Cedeno, SS
3. Russell Branyan, 1B
4. Adrian Beltre, 3B
5. Mike Sweeney, DH
6. Wladimir Balentien, RF
7. Kenji Johjima, C
8. Franklin Guttierrez, CF
9. Chris Woodward, 2B
P Chris Jakaubaskas.

In other news, Ichiro Suzuki was still feeling under the weather and was not in camp. The right fielder experienced some light-headedness on Monday but played for three innings before leaving the game.

Manager Don Wakamatsu said Ichiro probably is a little worn out from the World Baseball Classic and his status will be day-to-day.

— Jim Street

Another day, a different lineup.

The method to manager Don Wakamatsu’s madness put right fielder Ichiro Suzuki in the three-hole for today’s Cactus League road game against the Brewers.

“I  brought it up to him the other day and will talk to him again today about it,” Wakamatsu said. “Do I foresee him as the third-place hitter? No. But it gives me another viable option if I got with more of a run-and-gun offense. It’s not about Ichiro coming in and hitting 40 home runs. I’m smart enough to know I need him to be right mentally and we don’t go off the deep end where all of sudden it’s messing with the routine that he has been awfully success with.”

In other words, don’t get used to seeing Ichiro bat anywhere but leadoff.

Today’s lineup:

1. Endy chavez, CF.
2. Jose Lopez, 2B.
3. Ichiro Suzuki, RF.
4. Wladimir Balentien, LF.
5. Russell Branyan, 1B.
6. Kenji Johjima, C.
7. Yuniesky Betancourt, SS.
8. Ronny Cedeno, 3B.
9. Ryan Rowland-Smith,P

The Aussie pitcher, who went 2-for-2 against the Rockies earlier this spring in Tucson, returns to the plate in today’s game. He used Jeff Clement’s bat the last time, Clement was sent to the Minors a couple of days ago and took his bats with him.

“I’m going to use one of (Mike) Wilson’s bats,” Rowland-Smith said. “I’m looking for more power.”

— Jim Street