SEATTLE -- Mother’s Day came early this year for Angie Mentink, and it lasted for more than just one day, as geographical coincidence led the Mariners broadcaster to Sutter Health Park for this week’s series vs. the A’s, just five miles from where her oldest son, Jaxen, is a freshman catcher on the baseball team at Sacramento City College.
Mentink spent three days with Jaxen and even got to watch his Panthers team practice in person, while Jaxen -- sporting a custom Mariners jersey that reads "Panda" for his nickname -- took in a few games during Seattle’s ninth straight series win.
Through it all, Mentink soaked in what she described as surreal parallels between her becoming the first woman to hold a full-time color analyst role for the Mariners this season and Jaxen learning how to navigate life away from home.
“Seeing him go through that, it's also reminding me sort of those exact same lessons that, yeah, it's probably going to be hard,” Mentink said. “It often is when you're doing something for the first time. It's hard to change people's minds about what should be. And so I'm kind of reminding myself as I'm reminding him. I think we're both teaching each other lessons.”
Mentink is as familiar of a face as there is on the Mariners’ telecasts, having joined the organization in 1997. But before this year, she’d almost exclusively been a pre- and post-game host and sideline reporter, other than occasionally subbing in the booth.
Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, but it can be admittedly hard for Mentink to not let naysayers get under her skin. She’s even worked with Mariners mental performance coach Adam Bernero, who’s become a key behind-the-scenes figure in the organization.
“There was a day where I was just having a day,” Mentink said, “and I had just gotten off the phone with [Jaxen], having this conversation about how much I believed in him and how good he was, and how I have loved to see his development. And then I just was like [to myself], 'Hey, ding dong, listen to your words.'”
What viewers don’t see is Mentink’s extensive prep work, especially now that her primary role is much different. Each morning, she typically reflects on more granular details that she noticed the night prior -- for example, if Cal Raleigh would consider cutting the laces on his glove after a catcher’s interference call on Monday. She then brings that information to players and coaches for follow-ups, which in turn is stored then used on the air.
“I want to be overprepared -- have 15 different things, and I might only use one or two of them,” Mentink said.
Jaxen described his mom as “my biggest role model by far.”
“The barriers that she's broken, the records she's achieved and just the accomplishments that she's done in this industry -- where a lot of it has been dominated by men -- and she has just like blossomed in, is phenomenal,” Jaxen said. “And just as her son, I hope that she inspires women to go and do this kind of thing, and to go and just stand out and be great.
“I get goosebumps talking about it. Like, it's just awesome. I mean, it's just the coolest thing.”
Beyond her broadcasting role, Jaxen gets giddy when talking about Mentink’s impact on his passion to play baseball. She and her husband, Jarrett, built a backyard batting cage at their suburban Seattle home when he was in third grade.
“She'd have a glass of wine in one hand and then throwing a ball in the other,” Jaxen said, marveling at his mom’s ability to mix in curveballs to the BP routine. “I’m not kidding.”
And a few years later, Mentink helped launch a 12U baseball team that Jaxen was part of -- and that she also coached. Mentink has also been heavily involved with her youngest son, 17-year-old Chase.
“She's taught me every single fundamental about my game,” Jaxen said, later adding specifics: “She taught me to be able to hit any pitch, where a lot of guys need to guess and they're like, 'Oh, I hope a curveball is coming.' They're timing up for a curveball. She taught me how to sit dead right on a fastball and be able to adjust to offspeeds.”
Though Mentink and Jaxen will be apart this Mother’s Day, they made up for it in a very special way this week in Sacramento.