No one knew about Lou Piniella's reputation for chewing up and spitting out young pitchers as well as Bryan Price. For seven years, working as one form of minor league pitching coach/instructor or another in the Seattle system, Price was often a sounding board for many of the kids who came back from Seattle complaining about Piniella's way. "There was a lot of talk in the minors," Price says. "And a lot of kids, before they even made it to the big leagues, were thinking this is going to be a tough place to pitch because of Lou. They were afraid if they didn't do well, Lou would ship them out."

But what would Price, a career minor leaguer, do when he finally got the call last season to be the Mariners pitching coach? Say something? To Sweet Lou? Maybe something like, "Hey, Lou, do you know these kids are scared to death to pitch for you?" Well, there's a simple answer to that question: "No freaking way."

"I wasn't going to say a thing," Price says, "because I hadn't dealt with him firsthand. But one of the first things Lou said to me was, 'I know what my reputation is, but I'm going to tell you, I do have expectations when these guys come up. I expect them to throw the ball over the plate. I expect them to give up hits. But if a guy can't come up here and throw strikes and hold runners, I'm going to get frustrated.' I thought for a minute, and I was like, well those are my expectations too. So let's go."

Says rookie reliever Ryan Franklin, "We all know Lou hates walks. So we all know we'd better be aggressive in the zone or else. It's not real confusing, you know?"

Price has learned to play the buffer well by reminding his staff that "Lou knows it's not as simple as throwing the ball over the plate" and that "Lou thinks like a hitter, and there's a lot we can learn from him."

Obviously, positive results will do wonders for a man's mood, but it does appear Piniella has loosened up. "He's not as animated as he used to be," says Norm Charlton, who has pitched parts of eight seasons under Piniella. "You don't see him pacing the dugout, ranting and raving anymore. But he's the same guy. He wants to win as bad as ever. He's just calmer.

"That probably has a lot to do with the team he's managing. He's still tough on young pitchers, especially when they don't go after hitters. But the attitude of the guys we've got here right now is, if I go out and walk the first two guys, well, the manager's got every right to be ticked off."

Says Price: "Lou and I agree that our pitchers need to bring three things to the mound -- their head, their heart and their balls. If they do that, we have no complaints."

This article appears in the July 23 issue of ESPN The Magazine.