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I saw Jack Zduriencik at the airport.

Actually, no. I might have seen Jack Zduriencik at the airport. Very likely, I saw a shaved-head, stocky man who just happened to resemble the Mariners'general manager. It probably wasn't him. Even though he did have those narrow glasses and that general manager swagger.

Regardless of if it was the real deal Jack Z or just some look-alike, he was off before I had a chance to stop him. And while I stood in line at the airport Starbucks and the bald man took off down terminal C, I got to thinking:

If he was the real Jack Z and I ran to stop him, what would I ask? More accurately, what would I ask him that would best serve this blog?

Obviously, I couldn't ask him anything too detailed. An airport-cruising Jack Z doesn't have the time or the patience to outline the Mariners' ten-year plan to some middling blogger. I also couldn't ask him anything too commonplace.  Something like, "What do you think of the Mariners chances this year?" A question like that would make us here at the Volcano look amateurish. Soft. Like we're talking out our butts.

No, if I was going to stop Jack Z in the airport and ask him something, it had to be perfect. Something quick yet poignant. Easy to answer but offering much. A question, or questions, Jack Z would reflect on later during his flight. Questions that, of course, would serve a Rainiers fanbase. 

So while guzzling my extra large Frappuccino, I came up with the three questions I would ask the Mariniers' general manager.

1.    What do you think of the remodeled Cheney Stadium?

2.    What do you think of Tacoma? Do you have a favorite restaurant/bar?

3.    Do you have any baseball news the Weekly Volcano can break that hasn't already been spouted by Shannon Drayer's twitter?        

That's it. My three questions for Jack Z. I also thought about throwing in a, "When are you going to give us back our Mike Carp?" But I don't want to be selfish. Carp is doing fine in the big leagues. As much as we would love to see him back in a Rainiers' uniform, we know he is where he belongs. Sniff, sniff.

Plus, I'm starting to get used to Driscoll's #LangerhansTrampStamp.

Notes ...

-The Rainiers (37-41) have finally cured their post-Ackley era jitters. The team has won four in a row, including a 12-2 trouncing over the Las Vegas 51s on Saturday.

-The  Rainiers' recent success is due in no small part to Ackley's replacement, Kyle Seager. In five games with the Rainiers, Seager has hit .500 with an OPS of 1.137. We understand that his eighteen at-bats are a small sample size, but if he continues at even a fraction of this pace we might have the next team star on our hands. And while being the next team star is glamorous, it also means he is the butt of a lot of Rainiers Minute jokes. We're sorry in advance, Seager.

-Speaking of team leaders, how about Rainiers starting pitcher Chris Seddon? After a shaky start to the season, Seddon has calmed down. In his last four starts Seddon is 3-1 with an ERA of 2.81. On Saturday, the tall man from Cali tossed a season high eight innings. Good stuff, Seddon. If the Volcano was any lesser sort of rag, we might write something like, "Seddon has really settled." But we won't write that. It could tarnish our reputation.

-On Friday night the Rainiers will play the Fresno Grizzlies at home, which means the team will miss Skateboard Giveaway night at Cashman Field in Las Vegas. That's right, in the coolest promotion ever, the first 2,500 fans to attend Friday night's game will receive a free skateboard deck. It's a shame the Rainiers are out of town before Friday, because, you know, that Kyle Seager is a killer on the vert ramp. Rivals Tony Hawk, even. Or so we hear. 

The Rainiers try to continue their recent hot streak tonight at 7:05 p.m. Be sure to pay careful attention to tonight's broadcast because we here at the Volcano have a suspicion that Mike Curto has recently immersed himself in rave culture. Curiosity killed the cat, Mike. 

UPDATE: Earlier today, Ryan Divish of the News Tribune reported on his twitter that Mike Curto will call some of the Mariners game on Wednesday. According to Divish, Curto will do the play-by-play for the third, sixth and seventh innings.

We here at the Weekly Volcano would like to congratulate Mr. Curto. Whether it's a one-time thing or it turns into something bigger, this is one call-up that is certainly well deserved.

Also, we can't help but think this call-up is a tiny bit rave related. Let's just hope Rick Rizzs doesn't get wind of Curto's raving days down in the Las Vegas dessert. Otherwise we might have a rave-related nickname on our hands. Mike "the glowstick" Curto, or something like that.

LINK: The "Rainiers Minute" collection