Whether you’re a Kingdome diehard or a new era T-Mobile Park fan,
the
Mariners will always be nostalgic for
Seattlelites. The team has certainly had their ups and downs – after debuting in 1977, the
Mariners mostly spent the next couple of decades building a reputation for disappointing performance. By the ‘90s, though, there was a glimmer of hope.
Slowly,
Seattle’s ranks were stacked with some of the sport’s most electrifying players. In came legends like center fielder Ken Griffey Jr., shortstop Alex Rodriguez, and fastballer Randy Johnson. During these years,
Seattle managed several solid – but not spectacular – seasons, winning 90 games in ’97 and 91 games in ’00.
But that was just the beginning.
Although the
Mariners lost all three of the aforementioned legends by the end of the ‘90s, their loss was perfectly timed with the arrival of Ichiro Suzuki, the Japanese transplant who won both Rookie of the Year and MVP in 2001. Alongside him were hometown favorites like slugger Bret Boone, who easily had his best season in the
MLB that same year, and the starting duo Jamie Moyer and Freddie Garcia.
This promising early aughts lineup took lift the
Mariners saw in the ‘90s to its peak – a score of 116-46, tying the record for most wins in a season set by the 1906
Cubs.
Seattle’s Elo rating hit 1604, a higher performance peak than any of the 17 other franchises currently playing the game. Teams like the
White Sox,
Twins and
Tigers, who have all been playing ball since 1901, have never even touched 1600!
Sadly,
Seattle wasn’t able to capitalize on that outstanding regular season, dropping the ALCS to the
Yankees in five games. The
Mariners, along with the
Washington Senators, are still the only current franchises to have never made it to the
World Series. But boy, was it an exciting time – and for such a young team, the
Mariners have some impressive feats under their belt. And as
Seattle loyalists, we’ll always be here for our boys, waiting to see what’s next.