1989 Seattle Mariners

 Most people don't know when the Seattle Mariners began. Many draw a blank for anything Seattle related before 1995, others would swear the team didn't exist until Ken Griffey Jr arrived. Trolls will say the answer was 1969, but then remember that was the ill fated Pilots, who did not rename themselves in Seattle but rather move to Milwaukee the following season.

The whole Pilots fiasco did anger the city of Seattle, who filed a lawsuit and ultimately were granted a new team for 1977 named the Mariners. The team was bad, for a long time, and thus were largely ignored by the baseball world. No one of note played for them much and it was hard for them to garner attention on the west coast. What these guys needed wasn't just a star player, but a generational talent to make the world look to the northwest and remember their name. In 1987, they finally had that chance and selected Ken Griffey Jr with the first pick of the draft.

Two years later, the Mariners were still struggling to field a winning team. But for 1989, they were ready to change things, putting Griffey on the roster and making the most important trade in team history while also cultivating young talent to compliment the other stars. Some of the most prominent names in Mariners history all played together for the first time in 1989.

Jim Lefebvre made his debut as a manager, and while he would go on to lead the team to it's first winning record in 1991, '89 was more losing with a 73-89 record and a 6th place finish in the AL West, 26 games behind the Oakland Athletics. On top of the debut of Griffey on opening day, the team would also bring in another future Hall of Famer when on May 25th, they traded away Mark Langston and a player to be named later (Mike Campbell) to the Montreal Expos for Brian Holman, Gene Harris...and a pitcher named Randy Johnson.

While '89 was another wasted season, with the new big names suiting up in Kingdome there was now this thing called hope stirring in the hearts of Mariners fans. In 1990 they would improve their record, '91 finally post a winning record, and continue their march to their first playoff berth in 1995 in which some of the players who first came together in 1989 made possible.

It's hard to believe that the future MVP and HoF talent only finished 3rd in Rookie of the Year voting. This was the only season in Seattle that Ken didn't go to the all star game or win a Gold Glove.

Making his debut alongside Griffey was Omar Vizquel, who would also go on to dazzle the baseball world with his long list of Gold Gloves. Many know Omar best for his Cleveland days, but it's worth noting he didn't get his start there.

The other 7 regular members of the lineup. No one on this team was lighting up the league leaders, with their best hitters being Davis with a .305 BA and 95 RBI; Leonard hitting just 24 Home Runs; and Reynolds with 25 Stolen Bases.

Bench players in Seattle. Buhner was another future star for the Mariners who was trying to figure things out as he was bouncing back and forth to the minors. It wouldn't be until 1991 that he sticks with the parent club for good.

If only the Expos knew what they had when they traded Randy away. Johnson was wild (more than usual) back in '89 and would slowly start to figure things out with the Mariners to be their rotations anchor through the 90s.

Langston was solid in his short time with the team in '89. And it's not like the Expos got much value from him, as he was back in the AL West the following year.

Besides the Johnson/Langston in the rotation, these were the men starting most of the games. Holman was the other guy who came in with Johnson. With a full season in Seattle, Bankhead was the team leader with 14 Wins and 140 Strikeouts along with a 3.34 ERA. Erik Hanson had 9 Wins and was the only other regular starter with a winning record.

Not a whole lot of leads made it to Mike Schooler, but he was able to hold down the fort with 33 Saves. Not a terrible option for a better teams bullpen with an acceptable chart to go with a control of 5.

Bullpen/Spot Starters. Legendary Closer from the original 2000 Showdown starter set Mike Jackson is featured here. No, the Bot wouldn't let him just be named Mike.

Finally, we end with bench player and future Hall of Fame DH Edgar Martinez. Still young, and still playing the field, Edgar wasn't too shabby at 3rd base. Clearly he gave up playing the field to better focus on his hitting ability, which all of Seattle was thankful for.