MARINERS HISTORY

The Seattle Mariners are a Major League Baseball team based in Seattle, Washington. They are one of four teams that play in the Western Division of the American League. The Mariners were added to the American League in 1977, and were for many years perennial non-achievers. Despite having stars such as Alvin Davis and Gaylord Perry, the Mariners did not have a winning record until 1991. By the mid 1990s, under manager Lou Piniella, the Mariners added a core of strong players built around center-fielder Ken Griffey, Jr., pitcher Randy Johnson and designated hitter Edgar Martinez. They won their first division title in 1995, having trailed the California Angels by 13 games in mid-August. Their dramatic championship run that year was halted in the American League Championship Series by the Cleveland Indians. The Mariners won the division title again in 1997. The Mariners uniform consists of the colors Navy Blue, Emerald Green, Silver and the logo design is a baseball on an 8-pointed compass. The Mariners have never appeared in the World Series and the team has never won the American League Pennant. The Seattle Mariners have won three American League West Division titles (1995, 1997, and 2001) and have won one Wild Card in 2000(AL). The home ballpark of the Seattle Mariners is the SAFECO Field (1999-present) in Seattle. In 2001, The Mariners captured their third AL West title, fought back from the brink of elimination in the best-of-five Division Series against the Cleveland Indians, advancing to the AL Championship Series, falling in five games to the New York Yankees. Ichiro missed by one vote of being a unanimous Rookie of the Year selection but made up for that by being named as the league's Most Valuable Player. By the end of the 2002 season, manager Lou Pinella had left the Mariners for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Seattle then signed manager Bob Melvin, who helped the team to a great start in the 2003 season, but despite this the team did not make it to the playoffs. Lou Piniella served as the Mariners' manager since 1993 and compiled a 631-596 record. Piniella was honored with the American League (AL) Manager of the Year award in 1995. The Mariners have only one Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1991. Known for his notorious doctoring baseballs (throwing a spitball), Perry won 314 games over a 22-year career starting in 1963. A five-time All-Star, in 1978, Perry became the first pitcher to win the Cy Young Award in both leagues. He is also distinguished, along with his brother Jim, for being the second-winningest brother combination in baseball history--second only to the “knuckleballing” Niekro brothers, Phil and Joe. In 1983, he became the third pitcher in the same year to surpass longtime strikeout king Walter Johnson's record of 3,509 strikeouts. Steve Carlton and Nolan Ryan were the others. Perry, as most pitchers are known for was not renowned for his hitting ability, and in his rookie season of 1963, he joked, "They'll put a man on the moon before I hit a home run." But on July 20, 1969, just hours after Neil Armstrong had landed on the moon, Perry hit the first home run of his career. Ichiro Suzuki made history again in 2004 by breaking a record that lasted 84 years. Ichiro passed the single-season record for hits set by George Sisler in 1920 with his 257th and finished with 262 while claiming the American League batting title with a .372 average.