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I INTRODUCTION 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.
II NOTABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS
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. Noted for their smooth defense and powerful batting, they became regarded as two of baseball’s top all-around talents.
III FRANCHISE HISTORY
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 victory in 1990. The 1993 season marked the second time the team finished above .500. Before the strike-shortened 1994 season the Mariners drafted Alex Rodriguez. When the abbreviated season started, the club slumped despite Griffey leading the AL with 40 home runs and Johnson leading the major leagues with 204 strikeouts.
Martinez won another batting championship in 1995, hitting .356 to go with his league-best 52 doubles, as Seattle won its first division title. 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.
The Mariners won 90 games in 1997 and captured the division title as Griffey led the AL in home runs (56), RBIs (147), runs (125), and total bases (393). 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 club 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 the Mariners. The team then traded him to the Reds, who play in Griffey’s hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio.
IV WORLD SERIES RECORD
The Mariners have never played in the World Series.
"Seattle Mariners."Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia 2001. © 1993-2000 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
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