Mills enjoyed talking baseball with Mariners

Brad Mills was standing in line at the airport at 6 a.m. Monday, ready to get on his flight to Seattle to interview for the Mariners manager's job, when he looked up on the board. His flight had been canceled.

"Just something you have to chuckle at and work with," the Red Sox bench coach said by phone yesterday from his offseason home in California, where he returned Monday night. "Their travel agent did a great job at 6 in the morning. I had to take a connecting flight through Las Vegas. I got there about three hours late for the interview."

And that was after finding out only two days earlier that he would be interviewing. Not a whole lot of time to prepare for his first interview for a major league managing job. But, Mills said, he didn't really need all that much time. He knew what he wanted to say, and how he wanted to say it.

"It was good for me to reflect back, all those questions and all the preparation, I had really prepared for an interview my whole career," he said. "Manager in the minor leagues 11 years, being in the major leagues for 10 years as a coach and a scout. All those experiences came to light.

"I enjoy talking about baseball. This is my life. I've been in the game for coming up on 30 years. That was the most exciting for me, the most interesting for me, the ability to share my interest and passion for the game with guys I've never spent time with before and gotten to know before.

"It's fun to talk baseball . . . to reflect back on the experiences you've had in the game, the start to finish and the successes and failures. How you can turn some of those failures into successes and keep moving forward. They have so many positives working for them. It's going to be an exciting opportunity."

Mills is one of seven candidates being interviewed by the Mariners this week, and will be followed tomorrow by a fellow member of the Red Sox staff, third base coach DeMarlo Hale.

White Sox bench coach Joey Cora (brother of Red Sox utilityman Alex Cora) and Diamondbacks third base coach Chip Hale interviewed yesterday.

Though the Mariners asked about Sox pitching coach John Farrell, he declined an interview.

"I'm excited for DeMarlo," Mills said. "He's not only a good person and a good guy, he's a good baseball man. He's going to do a great job there. His friendship means the most to me. There's no contention there at all."

Red Sox manager Terry Francona had his left knee scoped last Thursday, but he has yet to have the back surgery he had said he would need to correct the numbness he has felt in his arms for five months. Francona, who announced Oct. 21 (just after the Sox finished their season) that he would need the back operation, was scheduled to meet with doctors yesterday to determine whether he would in fact go through with it. It is now not certain that he will have the surgery.

Amalie Benjamin can be reached at abenjamin@globe.com