Seattle Mariners
Seattle Mariners, American professional baseball team based in Seattle that plays in the American League (AL). The Mariners were founded in 1977 and posted losing records until 1991 (an all-time mark for the longest period before a franchise’s first winning season). The team is the only current major-league organization to have never played in the World Series.
Seattle had previously been home to a Major League Baseball franchise for one year in 1969, and when that team—the Pilots, now the Milwaukee Brewers—relocated, local governments sued the AL for damages. In 1976 the league promised an expansion franchise in return for dropping the suit, and the Mariners joined the league alongside the Toronto Blue Jays the next year. The early Mariner teams, featuring players such as 1984 AL Rookie of the Year Alvin Davis and two-time All-Star second baseman Harold Reynolds, struggled mightily and routinely finished near the bottom of the divisional standings.
The team’s slow turnaround to respectability had its roots in the debut of centre fielder Ken Griffey, Jr., in 1989. Griffey quickly became the biggest star in the sport, and his ascendance sent fans to the ballpark and made the Mariners competitive. He joined with designated hitter Edgar Martinez, pitcher Randy Johnson, and right fielder Jay Buhner to lead Seattle to winning seasons in 1991 and 1993, but a postseason appearance eluded the team until 1995. That year, with the team threatened with relocation because of its substandard stadium and declining attendance, the Mariners rallied from an 111/2-game deficit to the Anaheim Angels with six weeks left in the regular season to win the AL Western division title. In the first round of the playoffs, the Mariners staged a similarly dramatic comeback against the New York Yankees: they won the five-game series after having trailed two games to none, with Martinez hitting a two-run series-winning double in the 11th inning of the final game. The team’s postseason run ended with a loss to the Cleveland Indians in the AL Championship Series (ALCS), but the renewed fan interest spurred county and state politicians to authorize the construction of a new baseball-only stadium, Safeco Field (which would open in 1999; it was later renamed T-Mobile Park). In 1996 shortstop Alex Rodriguez emerged as yet another superstar in the Seattle lineup, but these talent-laden Mariner teams made just one brief playoff appearance in the next four years.
Seattle returned to the ALCS in 2000, where they lost to the Yankees in six games. In 2001 Japanese hitting sensation Ichiro Suzuki joined the team, and the Mariners—now playing without Johnson, Griffey, and Rodriguez—went on an unlikely run and posted an AL-record 116 wins, but their historic season ended with a second disappointing loss to the Yankees in ALCS. Mariners management then began making a series of poor personnel decisions that led Seattle back to the bottom of its division. In 2008 the Mariners reached an ignoble low as they became the first team to lose 100 games in a season in which they had a payroll of $100 million or more. This debacle led to the hiring of new on-field and general management, and the Mariners began to rebuild in 2009.
The team’s efforts led to five consecutive finishes in either last or second-to-last place in its division, but the Mariners showed signs of promise in 2014, when Seattle—led by its longtime pitching ace Felix Hernandez and new free-agent second baseman Robinson Cano—won 87 games and finished one game outside of playoff qualification. Nevertheless, the team’s postseason drought extended to a major-league worst of 16 seasons in 2017. After another unexpected playoff chase in 2018 with 89 wins, the team decided to fully rebuild and traded away Cano and most its other veteran stars in the off-season, resulting in a 68–94 record in 2019. Two years later Seattle won 90 games to finish second in its division, but the team again failed to qualify for the postseason.