Seattle Mariners,
professional baseball team and one of four teams in the West
Division of the American League (AL). The club, named by local fans
for the region’s maritime history, plays at Safeco Field in Seattle,
Washington, and wears uniforms of white, teal, blue, and silver.
The Mariners reached the playoffs for the first time in 1995 with a
late-season comeback. Manager Lou Piniella was named AL manager of
the year, pitcher Randy Johnson won the Cy Young Award, and Edgar
Martinez captured his second AL batting title. During the late 1990s
center fielder Ken Griffey, Jr., and shortstop Alex Rodriguez led
the club and were regarded as two of baseball’s top all-around
talents. The team made the postseason again in 1997 and 2000. After
sluggers Griffey and Rodriguez left the Mariners for other teams,
Seattle became known for its high-quality pitching and defense.
In 1969 the Seattle Pilots became the Northwest’s first major league
team, but after one season the franchise moved to Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, and became the Milwaukee Brewers. Major league baseball
returned to Seattle in 1977 when the Mariners joined the AL along
with the Toronto Blue Jays. Seattle’s early teams featured
outfielders Ruppert Jones, Leon Roberts, and Lee Stanton and
infielders Bruce Bochte and Dan Meyer. Mike Parrott and Enrique Romo
led the pitching staff.
From 1977 to 1988 Seattle went through seven managers and dozens of
starting lineups, finishing no better than fourth place in the West
Division. Because the team lacked an adequate minor league system,
the club took on many veterans nearing the end of their careers. In
1979, 36-year-old Willie Horton won the AL comeback player of the
year award as Seattle’s full-time designated hitter. Outfielder Tom
Paciorek put together four solid seasons from 1978 to 1981, and Hall
of Fame pitcher Gaylord Perry collected his 300th career victory in
1982 at age 43.
The team landed four promising rookies in 1984: first baseman Alvin
Davis, pitcher Mark Langston, third baseman Jim Presley, and
outfielder Danny Tartabull. Davis led the Mariners with 27 home runs
and 116 runs batted in (RBIs) and earned the AL rookie of the year
award.
The Mariners continued to attract new talent throughout the 1980s.
Second baseman Harold Reynolds, an outstanding fielder, joined in
1986, and third baseman Edgar Martinez and pitcher Scott Bankhead
arrived in 1987. Power-hitting right fielder Jay Buhner and pitcher
Erik Hanson joined the team in 1988. A year later, 19-year-old
center fielder Ken Griffey, Jr., pitcher Randy Johnson, and
shortstop Omar Vizquel arrived. In 1990 Ken Griffey, Jr., and Ken
Griffey, Sr., became the first father-and-son duo to appear in the
same lineup.
In 1991 Seattle broke the .500 win-loss mark for the first time.
Despite delivering the team’s first-ever winning season, manager Jim
Lefebvre was replaced by Bill Plummer. The next season Martinez
accumulated a .343 batting average to capture his first batting
title, but the team dropped to last place.
In 1993 Plummer was replaced with Lou Piniella, who had managed the
Cincinnati Reds to a World Series championship in 1990. The 1993
season marked the second time the Mariners finished above .500. In
the strike-shortened 1994 season the club slumped even though
Griffey led the AL with 40 home runs and Johnson led the major
leagues with 204 strikeouts.
In 1995 Seattle won its first division title in a late-season rally.
Martinez, now the Mariners’ designated hitter (DH), earned his
second batting title, hitting .356 to go with his league-best 52
doubles. Johnson won the AL Cy Young Award after posting an 18-2
win-loss record and leading the majors with 294 strikeouts and a
2.48 earned run average (ERA). Piniella was named manager of the
year. In the first round of playoffs Seattle defeated the New York
Yankees, but the Mariners lost to the Cleveland Indians in the AL
Championship Series.
Seattle missed the playoffs in 1996 but Rodriguez, who was drafted
by Seattle in 1994, had a breakout year. He won the AL batting title
(.358) while hitting 36 home runs and leading the league in runs
(141), doubles (54), and total bases (379). The Mariners won 90
games in 1997 and captured the division title for a second time.
Griffey led the AL in home runs (56), RBIs (147), runs (125), and
total bases (393) to win the league’s most valuable player (MVP)
award. Johnson won 20 games and Rodriguez anchored the infield. The
club, however, fell to the Baltimore Orioles in the first round of
the AL playoffs. The Mariners slumped in 1998, and halfway through
the season the team traded Johnson to the Houston Astros. After
playing in the Kingdome, a covered stadium, since the team’s first
season, the Mariners moved to the outdoor park Safeco Field midway
through the 1999 season.
Before the 2000 season, Griffey, who was scheduled to become a free
agent at the end of the year, made it clear that he did not want to
re-sign with Seattle. The team then traded him to the Reds, who play
in Griffey’s hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. Despite the loss of their
star, the Mariners qualified for the postseason as a wild card team
in 2000. The team was greatly improved by the addition of relief
pitcher Kazuhiro Sasaki, who had been a star in Japan. Sasaki posted
37 saves in 2000 and was named the AL rookie of the year. Seattle
defeated the Chicago White Sox in the first playoff round but fell
to the Yankees in the AL Championship Series.
Before the 2001 season Rodriguez left the Mariners, accepting a
$252-million contract from the Texas Rangers that set a record for
professional athletes. Seattle retained its remaining key players
and signed another Japanese star, outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, who had
won seven consecutive batting titles in Japan.
CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Mariners have never appeared in the World Series and the team
has never won the American League Pennant.
TOP MANAGER
Lou Piniella has served as the Mariners' manager since 1993 and has
compiled a 631-596 record. Piniella captured the AL Manager of the
Year award in 1995.
MVPS
Ken Griffey Jr. (1997)
Ichiro Suzuki (2001)
CY YOUNG
Randy Johnson (1995)
ROOKIE OF YEAR
Alvin Davis (1984)
Kazuhiro Sasaki (2000)
Ichiro Suzuki (2001)
RETIRED NUMBERS
The franchise has not retired a number. |
