THE NUCLEUS: Final fling for M's Party of Five? Zuken e3 viewer. Sun Mariner's Tab By Chuck Stark, Sun Staff — Because of the uncertainty surrounding the future of two of baseball's most popular and productive players, Seattle's Ken Griffey Jr.

And Alex Rodriguez, it's been suggested that people better be prepared to tip-toe around the Mariners this season. That perception, however, was as far from reality as Seahaven, the made-for-TV world created in the movie 'The Truman Show.' Sure, there's a feeling of urgency surrounding the Mariners, who stumbled through an underachieving 76-85 season after winning the A.L. West the year before.

August 17, 1999 cameraman Alain Dutartre was killed when a car driven by a stuntman overshot a jump over tanks and struck him also injuring Jean-Michel Bar. See more » Goofs. This is a list of board wargames by historical genre (and some subgenres) showing their. 1898: The Spanish–American War (Avalanche Press, 2000); 1904–1905: The. Blue Max (Game Designers' Workshop, 1983) - Les Ailes de la Gloire. 2005); Ultimatum: A Game of Nuclear Confrontation (Yaquinto Games, 1979).

And, yes, Junior and A-Rod, who can become free agents after the 2000 season, have basically given M's management an ultimatum: make a serious commitment to building a World Series contender or risk losing them to a high-market team that will. The M's are as loose as Jim Carey is eccentric. Carey, the limber-limbed actor, played the role of nerdy, naive Truman Burbank in 'The Truman Show.' John Mabry, who got an up-close view of The Mark McGwire Powerball Show a year ago with the St. Louis Cardinals, said Carey would fit right in with Seattle's bomb squad. 'It's a loose team,' said Mabry, taking part in his first spring camp with the Mariners.

But at the same time, they're professional about the way they go about their business. 'They've got guys who have been here for 10 years and they pretty much got the gist of what's going on.

I think that gives Lou (Piniella) a lot of flexibility in how he handles his camp and it makes it an easier transition for the new guys coming in.' Mabry's locker this spring was within sunseed-spitting range of a nucleus of All-Star talent that few teams can equal. There you'll find the mischievious and playful Griffey and his bald-headed cohort Jay Buhner. When they're not talking about their tank-like Hummer vehicles, they're usually directing verbal assaults at somebody. Nobody is spared.

The day after being featured in a fashion layout in April's POV magazine, the clubhouse exploded with laughter when A-Rod showed up wearing a pair of pastel-colored slacks. David Segui dubbed them 'yellow clown pants.' Griffey quickly grabbed a pair of sunglasses and said, 'They're not too bad as long as you protect your eyes.' Buhner needled A-Rod, asking how much he paid.

'You can ridicule my clothes, but not what I paid for them,' said a laughing A-Rod. The graceful Rodriguez, who dazzles you with his baseball skills and movie-star looks, and the classy hitting machine Edgar Martinez are in the cubicles across the aisle from Griffey and Buhner. Mix in catcher Dan 'The Quiet Man' Wilson, a stabalizing force who doesn't seek center stage in the M's Comedy Clubhouse, and you're talking about a Party of Five that'll be hard to replace. These players have been part of the most exciting moments in Mariners' history, but they've never been to a World Series and the window of opportunity is closing. Some think it's passed. Randy Johnson's gone.

Frontline starting pitchers, Jeff Fassero and Jamie Moyer, are 36. Buhner's 34 and Martinez is 36. Buhner, Martinez and Griffey have been teammates in Seattle since 1989. It only seems like Rodriguez, still a pup at 23, and Wilson, who just turned 30, have been here that long. They joined the M's as bit players in 1994. A year later, they were part of the 'Refuse To Lose,' team that charged all the way to the American League Championship Series. By 1996, Rodriguez and Wilson joined Buhner, Martinez and Griffey on the A.L.

All-Star team. Now, with the millenium approaching and a new stadium to break in, the M's have surrounded this fivesome with a bunch of new faces. But it's the old faces who are leading the way. 'You look up and down the lineup and you can pick an all-star with your eyes closed,' said Mabry. 'These guys are tremendous players.' Buhner, plagued with a knee injury that eventually required surgery, only played in 72 games a year ago.